Tourist Guide 2
Lack
of innovation, inadequate transport links and a
poor quality of life are stifling British cities
and keeping them out of the premier league of
European centres, according to a report. In
almost every aspect of economic performance,
Manchester, Leeds or Nottingham lag behind
equivalent cities such as Frankfurt, Lyon and
Barcelona. According to the report, European
cities are more successful because they are given
more autonomy by central government, are better
connected both physically and electronically and
are more bound into the "European
project". The report for the Core Cities
Group of the eight big English provincial cities,
backed by the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister, will make sobering reading because of
its implicit criticisms of Government policy on
transport and the euro. Greater investment in the
regions is vital, it says, for the economic
performance of the country as a whole.
The study compared the eight cities - Birmingham,
Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool,
Nottingham, Leeds and Newcastle with leading
European ones. Although it acknowledges that some
cities, such as Birmingham and Leeds, have had an
economic renaissance, the report says the big
picture is clear: "Many lag behind their
competitors in terms of GDP, innovation,
education, connectivity, social cohesion, quality
of life, political capacity and connections with
their wider territories. Crucially, they lag in
the eyes of international investors". In a
table of 61 top cities in Europe rated in
accordance to the number of euros per head,
Bristol is the highest rated British provincial
city with 29,437, behind Hanover, Vienna, Antwerp
and Helsinki. Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle
and Liverpool are in the bottom six. Frankfurt is
top, with 74,465. The study also compared 50
cities and regions on innovation.
It shows that northern European cities -
particularly German ones - perform better than
southern European ones. Only London and the
South-east make the top 10 and all the core
cities except Bristol fall in the bottom 25. Many
of the European cities succeeded because they had
developed foreign policies and spent time and
effort on international networking to raise their
profiles. They had also improved cultural
facilities in order to improve their quality of
life. The report concludes: "English cities
do not punch their economic weight in a European
context. They lag significantly behind many of
their European counterparts.'' Professor Michael
Parkinson, the principal author of the report and
director of the European Institute for urban
affairs at Liverpool John Moores University said
that, of the factors influencing success,
transport and innovation were the most crucial.
"The two driving forces of the modern urban
economy are airports and universities,'' he said.
He added, " When you ask the private sector
in the north what is the single most important
thing to assist their growth it is better
transport, not skills shortages.'' Professor
Parkinson said he believed the Government had
taken the message on board. "Most of their
energy has been on managing growth in the
South-east and managing decline in the north.
They now realise it is about managing growth in
the north.'' The report will be welcomed by
regional local authorities anxious for more money
and devolved powers from the Government. Sir
Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council
said the research confirmed what many local
authority leaders had been saying for years.
"The core cities in the United Kingdom and
their regions could be a real driving force for
economy, but the relative competitiveness in
mainland Europe is evidently higher."
A TALE OF TWO VERY
DIFFERENT CITIES
MUNICH
Considered by many Britons as being the home of
beer and lederhosen, Munich is the most
prosperous city in Germany. Its economic
strengthstems from traditional industries such as
brewing, agriculture and car manufacture and
modern sectors such as biotechnology. Munich is
also the centre of German information technology
expertise, and home to electronics giant Siemens.
The city's 1.3 million population - including
270,000 non-Germans - enjoy arguably the best
public transport system in Europe. Bus, cycle and
tram routes complement a reliable underground
system built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Travel
times have been slashed since the introduction of
the high-speed ICE trains and the city boasts one
of the most sophisticated airports in Europe.
BIRMINGHAM
After suffering from the decline in car making
and manufacturing in the Seventies and Eighties,
Birmingham has been reinventing itself, led by a
city authority with a tradition of enterprise
dating back to the Victorian era. The centre has
been largely rebuilt and has attracted upmarket
stores such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. It
has promoted its exhibition and conference
facilities, hosting the G8 summit in 1998. It is
investing heavily in rail links and is expanding
the airport but suffers from congestion on nearby
motorways. The city of just under one million
suffers from a service-based economy, lack of
cultural sights and decent restaurants. It was
criticised for its over-ambitious attempts to
stage a Grand Prix and the Olympics.
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