State of the English Cities 1 Volume State of the English Cities Volume 1 Price £60 (two volumes not to be sold separately) State of the English Cities A Research Study Volume 1 Authors Professor Michael Parkinson, European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University Professor Tony Champion, University of Newcastle Professor James Simmie, Oxford Brookes University Professor Ivan Turok, University of Glasgow Martin Crookston, Llewelyn Davies Yeang Bruce Katz, The Brookings Institution Alison Park, National Centre for Social Research with Alan Berube, The Brookings Institution Professor Mike Coombes, University of Newcastle Professor Danny Dorling, University of Sheffield Richard Evans, European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University Norman Glass, National Centre for Social Research Mary Hutchins, European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University Professor Ade Kearns, University of Glasgow Professor Ron Martin, University of Cambridge Professor Peter Wood, University College London March 2006 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: London Photographic Acknowledgements: Images reproduced by kind permission of: Top left: Trams in Nottingham, Nottingham City Council Centre right: Couple on sofa, Newcastle Gateway Initiative Bottom left: Manchester Millennium Quarter, Manchester City Centre Management Co. Ltd The findings and recommendations in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of proposed policies of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU Telephone 020 7944 4400 Web site www.odpm.gov.uk © Crown Copyright 2006 Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown. This publication, excluding logos, may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium for research, private study or for internal circulation within an organisation. This is subject to it being reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the publication specified. For any other use of this material, please write to HMSO Licensing, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ Fax: 01603 723000 or e-mail: [email protected]. Further copies of this publication are available from: ODPM Publications PO Box 236 Wetherby West Yorkshire LS23 7NB Tel: 0870 1226 236 Fax: 0870 1226 237 Textphone: 0870 120 7405 E-mail: [email protected] This document is also available on the ODPM website. Printed in the UK on material containing 75% post-consumer waste and 25% ECF pulp ISBN: 10 1-851128-45-X 13 978185112845-7 Reference No: 05 HC 03595/1 Contents Volume 1 Page no. Acknowledgements 4 Foreword 5 Section 1 Places Matter Chapter 1 Towards a new urban agenda 9 Chapter 2 Evaluating policy for English cities 14 Section 2 Processes, places and people Chapter 3 The demographic shape of urban England 33 Chapter 4 The competitive economic performance of English cities 65 Chapter 5 Social cohesion in English cities 109 Chapter 6 Liveability in English cities 155 Chapter 7 Public attitudes in English cities 178 Chapter 8 English cities in an international context 204 References 245 Glossary 263 Volume 2 Acknowledgements 4 Foreword 5 Section 3 Policies – helping or hindering? Chapter 9 Have policies made cities more socially cohesive and liveable? 7 Chapter 10 Have policies made cities more competitive? 37 Chapter 11 Have policies made cities better governed? 67 Chapter 12 Policies on the ground 95 Section 4 Positions and prospects Chapter 13 English cities: picking up, catching up, staying up? 111 Chapter 14 Policies for cities – what's next? 133 Appendix 1 State of the Cities database current indicators 151 Appendix 2 Primary urban areas by local authority district 155 References 161 Glossary 177 State of the English Cities: A Research Study Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without the sustained help and support from a wide range of colleagues. In particular we would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions made by the following: The members of our research teams: Jay Karecha, Richard Meegan, Jean Parry (European Institute for Urban Affairs, Liverpool John Moores University), Juliet Carpenter, Andrew Chadwick (Oxford Brookes University), Dimitris Ballas, John Pritchard, Bethan Thomas (University of Sheffield), Joanne Abbots, Dave Fitch, John Flint, Carol McKenzie (University of Glasgow), Mark Johnson, Miranda Phillips (National Centre for Social Research), Peter O’Brien (Llewellyn Davies) Colleagues in the SOCR project team at the ODPM: Greg Clark, Rachel Conner, Joanna Disson, Sarah Fielder, Christine Gough, Mark Kleinman, David Lunts, Angela Ruotolo, Keith Thorpe. The members of the SOCR Project Advisory Group: Joan Bailey, Jon Bright, Greg Clark, Sarah Fielder, Christine Gough, Paul Hildreth, Michael Kell, Mark Kleinman, Jacky Moran, Keith Thorpe (ODPM), Jacob Nell, Simon Ridley (HMT), Maria Kenyon (DTI, Small Business Service), Peter Bunn, Paul Steeples (DTI), Angelina Cannizzaro (DWP), James Shaw, John Shaw (DfES), Vanessa Brand (DCMS), Sue Woddington (DfID), Barbara Noble (DfT), David Lunts (Greater London Authority), Robin Benn (Scottish Executive), Bob Kerslake (Sheffield City Council), Lin Homer (Birmingham City Council), Alan Clarke (One North East), Eamonn Boylan (Manchester City Council), Richard Williamson (GOSW), Manny Lewis (LDA), Graham Garbutt (GOWM), Hazel Baird (CRE), Chris Brown (AMEC/Igloo), Roger Madelin (Argent), Tony Hawkhead (Groundwork), Trevor Beattie (English Partnerships), Joanna Averley (CABE), Derek Long (Housing Corporation), Geoff Mulgan (Institute of Community Studies), Lesley Chalmers (English Cities Fund), Alistair Parker (Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker), Rosemary Feenan (Jones Lang LaSalle), Dermot Finch (IPPR). The very many colleagues across the country who gave us their time and views from a range of institutions, especially in the cities of: Birmingham, Bristol, Burnley, Cambridge, Derby, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Medway, Sheffield, Sunderland. We are immensely grateful to all of them. 4 Foreword This independent report to Government fulfils our commitment to publish a detailed update on the urban renaissance, 5 years after the Urban White Paper. Since then, there's been remarkable progress in creating sustainable communities in our major towns and cities. We do not underestimate the scale of the challenges which remain. But the clear message of this Report is that our cities are very much back in business as more successful places to live, work and enjoy. They are engines of growth once again. After years of industrial change, our cities are competing more effectively in a rapidly changing global economy in which capital, goods and knowledge travel faster than ever before. Old industrial assets like the canals and waterways have been transformed into attractive places to live and work. People and jobs are coming back into our city centres – in many ways thanks to our planning policies which require retailers and developers to use brownfield sites before green fields. Overall, a combination of sustained economic growth, increased investment through public private partnerships, and entrepreneurial local leadership means that our cities are better placed than at any time for a century or more. After 8 years of economic growth, sustained investment, and local leadership, our cities are more confident than they've been for decades. But we recognise the need to continue to develop and improve. The economic and social gains of urban renewal need to be shared and sustained. This Report provides an analysis – unprecedented in its scope and detail – of how our cities stand and they could improve. It offers detailed ideas for change to which the Government will respond. The Government is determined to work with local people, businesses, local government and other stakeholders to seize the best opportunities for cities they have enjoyed for 100 years. John Prescott Rt Hon David Miliband Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Communities and Local Government 5 State of the English Cities: A Research Study 6 Section 1 Places Matter Page no. Chapter 1 Towards a new urban agenda 9 Introduction 9 Cities matter globally 9 Some key messages from the report 11 Chapter 2 Evaluating policy for English cities 14 Introduction 14 The changing landscape of policy for English cities 14 The Methodology of the State of the English Cities Report 22 The structure of the report 27 Chapter 1: Towards a new urban agenda 1. Introduction 1.1.1 In its Urban White Paper of 2000, Towards an Urban Renaissance, the Government made a commitment to commission a report on the progress and performance of English cities in the last five years. This State of the Cities report to government by a consortium of research organisations fulfils that commitment. It provides a comprehensive assessment of urban conditions and drivers of urban change in England. It reviews the impact of government policies upon cities, explores how they contribute to local, regional and national success and identifies key policy messages. Its four main themes, which reflect current government policy ambitions as well as much academic analysis of urban performance are – social cohesion; economic competitiveness and performance; liveability and governance. 1.1.2 This report is based on a series of reports prepared by the team, which contain a much richer mix of evidence, opinions