he Executive's plans for the future strategic role of
Scotland's six cities within their surrounding regions were
spelled out with the publication of the
Building Better Cities report on January 9.
It includes a £90 million City Growth Fund and the creation
of long-term City-Vision statements of how individual cities
can work in partnership with other stakeholders in their
geographical regions to achieve measurable improvements.
The Executive intends to examine the scope for the
introduction of Business Improvement Districts and Urban
Regeneration Companies as a means of stimulating growth and
renewal.
A special taskforce is also to be established to produce
initiatives on the handling of vacant and derelict land. An
additional £20 million is to be made available for land
reclamation in Glasgow, Dundee and North Lanarkshire.
Review of Scotland's Cities - The Analysis
From the
Building Better Cities report:
ABERDEEN
Union Street, AberdeenAberdeen has cemented its
presence as the oil capital of Europe. The recent history of
the city-region is one of success, with high employment, high
earnings and excellent "quality of life ".
Pockets of deprivation are isolated, but deep. Aberdeen 's
success has also been Scotland's gain through multiplier
effects for both incomes and employment, with GDP over 30%above
the Scottish average and above full employment. Meanwhile,
pressures on the fish-processing and food sectors will pose
significant challenges for the wider city-region.
Today's success may constrain success in the future. High
house prices and constraints on the availability of business
locations and land, traffic congestion, and skill shortages in
a near full employment economy each act as a disincentive to
locate and grow businesses in Aberdeen.
While Aberdeen starts from a high base, its growth in recent
years has lagged the rest of Scotland. Its success is narrowly
based on oil and gas, which in itself is a cyclical
industry.
Aberdeen has long recognised this and is well placed to
achieve the necessary diversification response - with a strong
research base, a strong service sector in terms of software and
business advice, and a higher business start-rate than the
average.
Short-term priorities
* Rectifying skill shortages.
* Building a sense of place (a City "buzz ") through
strategic cultural investment
* Improved transport infrastructure and availability of
high quality business locations
* Internationalisation of oil and gas companies and
diversification into new industries
Longer-term directions
In the longer term, Aberdeen will need to adapt to the
gradual maturing of the UK oil and gas sector through the
internationalisation of existing oil and gas firms, thereby
building on the knowledge and expertise gained and in
diversification into new industries.
DUNDEE
DundeeRecent
improvement in Dundee's economic performance and external
image have been based on revitalisation of the city
centre, on the back of long-term strategic investment in
the cultural, retail and public realms, and the growing
clusters of biotechnology, medical science and multimedia
software companies.
Dundee has a large student population, bringing a vibrancy
and diversity to the city. Nevertheless, a high proportion of
manufacturing industries have experienced difficult transitions
to new technologies and markets. This has left a legacy of high
unemployment and deep social deprivation, declining population
and vacant land.
The development of biotechnology and software clusters at
the high skill end and call centre developments are providing
new opportunities for the local economy. Business links with
further and higher education are strong. These are promising
developments on which to build. The city's business birth rate
is well below the average but has scope to improve within the
newly developing environment. Improvements to the city-centre
retail facilities and the excellent cultural and tourism
related initiatives are also redefining Dundee.
Social Justice Minister Margaret Curran:
"No single agency has the answer to the
challenges facing our cities, in particular how
we close the opportunity gap which still
stifles too many of our citizens, and also how
we secure safe, strong communities and
environmental justice for all."
Maintaining this momentum of growth to offset decline
elsewhere can be supported through effective public sector
support, which should focus on new industries and on the legacy
of economic change. Dundee's educational and health experience
is marked.
Dundee, uniquely among Scottish cities, loses a
disproportionate number of its young people in their 20s: they
take with them their skills, energy and spending power. Alone
amongst the cities, Dundee is projected to have both declining
population and household numbers.
Short-term priorities
* Championing the success in biotechnology and games
software, together with other new industries
* Building on improvements in the city centre and in city
"image" to make Dundee a place where people aim to live and
work
* Managing economic transition, and its effects on
population change and housing markets
* Enhancing the skills and capabilities in deprived
communities in Dundee represents both a challenge and an
economic opportunity
Longer-term directions
Dundee is, of course, midway between two major cities
experiencing problems of success - Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Both
might provide opportunities e.g. a competitive location in the
wider Central Belt economy.
EDINBURGH
EdinburghEdinburgh's major economic
success story is borne on the back of growth in financial,
business services, public administration and
cultural/entertainment sectors - the right economic mix at the
right time.
It now enjoys high incomes, high employment, limited
deprivation and exceptional "quality of life ". Of the four
larger cities it has the lowest crime and the highest
"neighbourhood satisfaction".
Residents of Edinburgh are twice as likely to have a degree,
and half as likely to have no qualifications, than the average
for Scotland. Its problems are primarily those of success.
Edinburgh is coming up against constraints to future growth:
tight labour market, significant house price inflation, high
commercial rentals, traffic congestion, pressures on the green
belt. Growth management is not a temporary challenge - both
population and the number of households are projected to
increase in the future.
Edinburgh will need to manage its transport system for
business, its use of land, ensuring new sites for both housing
and business, and managing the spread of business actively
outwards, with all that entails for transport, planning and
housing. The pressures for growth risk damage to quality of
life, one of the mainsprings of Edinburgh as a business and
residential location.
Such pressures might also make responding to new challenges
more difficult; high house prices stifle job mobility when it
is needed most. Any frustrated growth cannot automatically be
assumed to transfer to other Scottish city-regions - the
skilled/experienced labour market and supplier base that has
developed in Edinburgh over a period of years is in many areas
just not available elsewhere on a similar scale. Edinburgh's
success may bring opportunities for other areas, but this
process will require policy management.
Short-term priorities
* Improving transport infrastructure and traffic
management
* Rectifying skills shortages by widening travel to work
area
* Managing pressures on greenbelt land for housing and
business development
Longer-term directions
Hard choices for the city lie ahead. Strategic decisions are
required on how and where the current and forecast economic and
household growth in the city can be accommodated.
GLASGOW
Glasgow City ChambersEmployment
growth in Glasgow has out-performed all the cities over the
last five years. The significant service sector growth in the
dynamic city centre, driven by commercial and retail sectors,
and underpinned by extensive investment in the public realm, is
more than offsetting decline in manufacturing.
But the legacy of industrial change remains large. Glasgow
remains a dual city: simultaneously witnessing strong growth
and acting as the centre of gravity for the West of Scotland,
while dealing with the legacy of decline. Prosperity co-exists
with extensive and deeply rooted areas of social exclusion,
characterised by low skills and low aspirations, which are
largely disconnected from growth areas in the city.
Promoting further growth, while ensuring that prosperity is
widened and shared is a key challenge. Strong growth in the
knowledge economy and the service sector provide the engine of
growth. For this to be sustained, further improvements will be
required to the links with Glasgow 's excellent research and
learning institutions, its strong tourism presence and business
facilities.
Under utilised people/assets co-exist with tight labour
market/shortages of readily developable land. There is a large
backlog of physical dereliction - 9% of the land area is either
derelict or vacant.
Economic activity rates are amongst the lowest in the UK.
For Glasgow to have the same rate of employment as Scotland as
a whole would require over 50,000 new jobs. But over 40% of
those not in work have no qualifications.
Short-term priorities
* Widening economic successes to address deep social
deprivation. There are major opportunities for regeneration
and reconstruction with the M74 Extension, the Housing
Stock Transfer and the Schools PPP.
* Building capabilities and skills to respond to economic
opportunities.
* Improving governance and partnership working.
Longer-term directions
Glasgow has, since the early 1990s, reinvented itself on its
own terms, with growth in employment and investment. This will
need to continue - the deeply rooted social problems in Glasgow
represent both the biggest challenge in building a better
Scotland, and the biggest opportunity.
INVERNESS
Inverness CastleInverness has experienced
significant growth in recent years. Its population increased by
a third over the last 30 years. Strong growth has been
underpinned by its quality of life: excellent environment, good
school education, and low crime.
Its prospects are now better than they have ever been. It is
firmly established as the principal administrative, medical,
professional, leisure and retail centre for the Highlands and
wider afield - at the heart of the Highlands city-region.
Making the step from large town to the "capital " of a key
city region is a key challenge. Growth has been on a small
base, driven by retail, public administration and business
services.
Inverness is re-invigorating its city centre with enhanced
transport links within the city and beyond. It faces challenges
in raising its tourist offering, up-skilling the workforce and
attracting talent from elsewhere and raising its cultural
offerings.
Inverness has achieved growth on the back of changing
industrial structure - the boost of oil related growth has been
superseded by expanding ICT, medical services etc. This
reinvention of the economic base will need to continue,
requiring a highly skilled and flexible workforce. The
relatively shallow labour pool in the area underpins the
importance of the learning sector and the need to attract
talent into the Highlands as well as maintaining existing
population.
Short-term priorities
* Diversifying the economic base and fostering new and
growing industries, including by enhancing investment in
transport connections and the availability of sites for
business development
* Establishing and gaining full university status for the
UHI Millennium Institute
* Building and attracting a diverse labour pool, as well
as attracting visitors through the arts/cultural
offering
Longer-term directions
Inverness is a new city, undergoing change and development.
It is more than ever the "capital" of the Highlands
city-region. The focus on the fragile western and northern
fringe needs to be complemented with a focus on the success of
the city area.
Scotland's six cities within their surrounding regions were
spelled out with the publication of the
Building Better Cities report on January 9.
It includes a £90 million City Growth Fund and the creation
of long-term City-Vision statements of how individual cities
can work in partnership with other stakeholders in their
geographical regions to achieve measurable improvements.
The Executive intends to examine the scope for the
introduction of Business Improvement Districts and Urban
Regeneration Companies as a means of stimulating growth and
renewal.
A special taskforce is also to be established to produce
initiatives on the handling of vacant and derelict land. An
additional £20 million is to be made available for land
reclamation in Glasgow, Dundee and North Lanarkshire.
Review of Scotland's Cities - The Analysis
From the
Building Better Cities report:
ABERDEEN
Union Street, AberdeenAberdeen has cemented its
presence as the oil capital of Europe. The recent history of
the city-region is one of success, with high employment, high
earnings and excellent "quality of life ".
Pockets of deprivation are isolated, but deep. Aberdeen 's
success has also been Scotland's gain through multiplier
effects for both incomes and employment, with GDP over 30%above
the Scottish average and above full employment. Meanwhile,
pressures on the fish-processing and food sectors will pose
significant challenges for the wider city-region.
Today's success may constrain success in the future. High
house prices and constraints on the availability of business
locations and land, traffic congestion, and skill shortages in
a near full employment economy each act as a disincentive to
locate and grow businesses in Aberdeen.
While Aberdeen starts from a high base, its growth in recent
years has lagged the rest of Scotland. Its success is narrowly
based on oil and gas, which in itself is a cyclical
industry.
Aberdeen has long recognised this and is well placed to
achieve the necessary diversification response - with a strong
research base, a strong service sector in terms of software and
business advice, and a higher business start-rate than the
average.
Short-term priorities
* Rectifying skill shortages.
* Building a sense of place (a City "buzz ") through
strategic cultural investment
* Improved transport infrastructure and availability of
high quality business locations
* Internationalisation of oil and gas companies and
diversification into new industries
Longer-term directions
In the longer term, Aberdeen will need to adapt to the
gradual maturing of the UK oil and gas sector through the
internationalisation of existing oil and gas firms, thereby
building on the knowledge and expertise gained and in
diversification into new industries.
DUNDEE
DundeeRecent
improvement in Dundee's economic performance and external
image have been based on revitalisation of the city
centre, on the back of long-term strategic investment in
the cultural, retail and public realms, and the growing
clusters of biotechnology, medical science and multimedia
software companies.
Dundee has a large student population, bringing a vibrancy
and diversity to the city. Nevertheless, a high proportion of
manufacturing industries have experienced difficult transitions
to new technologies and markets. This has left a legacy of high
unemployment and deep social deprivation, declining population
and vacant land.
The development of biotechnology and software clusters at
the high skill end and call centre developments are providing
new opportunities for the local economy. Business links with
further and higher education are strong. These are promising
developments on which to build. The city's business birth rate
is well below the average but has scope to improve within the
newly developing environment. Improvements to the city-centre
retail facilities and the excellent cultural and tourism
related initiatives are also redefining Dundee.
Social Justice Minister Margaret Curran:
"No single agency has the answer to the
challenges facing our cities, in particular how
we close the opportunity gap which still
stifles too many of our citizens, and also how
we secure safe, strong communities and
environmental justice for all."
Maintaining this momentum of growth to offset decline
elsewhere can be supported through effective public sector
support, which should focus on new industries and on the legacy
of economic change. Dundee's educational and health experience
is marked.
Dundee, uniquely among Scottish cities, loses a
disproportionate number of its young people in their 20s: they
take with them their skills, energy and spending power. Alone
amongst the cities, Dundee is projected to have both declining
population and household numbers.
Short-term priorities
* Championing the success in biotechnology and games
software, together with other new industries
* Building on improvements in the city centre and in city
"image" to make Dundee a place where people aim to live and
work
* Managing economic transition, and its effects on
population change and housing markets
* Enhancing the skills and capabilities in deprived
communities in Dundee represents both a challenge and an
economic opportunity
Longer-term directions
Dundee is, of course, midway between two major cities
experiencing problems of success - Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Both
might provide opportunities e.g. a competitive location in the
wider Central Belt economy.
EDINBURGH
EdinburghEdinburgh's major economic
success story is borne on the back of growth in financial,
business services, public administration and
cultural/entertainment sectors - the right economic mix at the
right time.
It now enjoys high incomes, high employment, limited
deprivation and exceptional "quality of life ". Of the four
larger cities it has the lowest crime and the highest
"neighbourhood satisfaction".
Residents of Edinburgh are twice as likely to have a degree,
and half as likely to have no qualifications, than the average
for Scotland. Its problems are primarily those of success.
Edinburgh is coming up against constraints to future growth:
tight labour market, significant house price inflation, high
commercial rentals, traffic congestion, pressures on the green
belt. Growth management is not a temporary challenge - both
population and the number of households are projected to
increase in the future.
Edinburgh will need to manage its transport system for
business, its use of land, ensuring new sites for both housing
and business, and managing the spread of business actively
outwards, with all that entails for transport, planning and
housing. The pressures for growth risk damage to quality of
life, one of the mainsprings of Edinburgh as a business and
residential location.
Such pressures might also make responding to new challenges
more difficult; high house prices stifle job mobility when it
is needed most. Any frustrated growth cannot automatically be
assumed to transfer to other Scottish city-regions - the
skilled/experienced labour market and supplier base that has
developed in Edinburgh over a period of years is in many areas
just not available elsewhere on a similar scale. Edinburgh's
success may bring opportunities for other areas, but this
process will require policy management.
Short-term priorities
* Improving transport infrastructure and traffic
management
* Rectifying skills shortages by widening travel to work
area
* Managing pressures on greenbelt land for housing and
business development
Longer-term directions
Hard choices for the city lie ahead. Strategic decisions are
required on how and where the current and forecast economic and
household growth in the city can be accommodated.
GLASGOW
Glasgow City ChambersEmployment
growth in Glasgow has out-performed all the cities over the
last five years. The significant service sector growth in the
dynamic city centre, driven by commercial and retail sectors,
and underpinned by extensive investment in the public realm, is
more than offsetting decline in manufacturing.
But the legacy of industrial change remains large. Glasgow
remains a dual city: simultaneously witnessing strong growth
and acting as the centre of gravity for the West of Scotland,
while dealing with the legacy of decline. Prosperity co-exists
with extensive and deeply rooted areas of social exclusion,
characterised by low skills and low aspirations, which are
largely disconnected from growth areas in the city.
Promoting further growth, while ensuring that prosperity is
widened and shared is a key challenge. Strong growth in the
knowledge economy and the service sector provide the engine of
growth. For this to be sustained, further improvements will be
required to the links with Glasgow 's excellent research and
learning institutions, its strong tourism presence and business
facilities.
Under utilised people/assets co-exist with tight labour
market/shortages of readily developable land. There is a large
backlog of physical dereliction - 9% of the land area is either
derelict or vacant.
Economic activity rates are amongst the lowest in the UK.
For Glasgow to have the same rate of employment as Scotland as
a whole would require over 50,000 new jobs. But over 40% of
those not in work have no qualifications.
Short-term priorities
* Widening economic successes to address deep social
deprivation. There are major opportunities for regeneration
and reconstruction with the M74 Extension, the Housing
Stock Transfer and the Schools PPP.
* Building capabilities and skills to respond to economic
opportunities.
* Improving governance and partnership working.
Longer-term directions
Glasgow has, since the early 1990s, reinvented itself on its
own terms, with growth in employment and investment. This will
need to continue - the deeply rooted social problems in Glasgow
represent both the biggest challenge in building a better
Scotland, and the biggest opportunity.
INVERNESS
Inverness CastleInverness has experienced
significant growth in recent years. Its population increased by
a third over the last 30 years. Strong growth has been
underpinned by its quality of life: excellent environment, good
school education, and low crime.
Its prospects are now better than they have ever been. It is
firmly established as the principal administrative, medical,
professional, leisure and retail centre for the Highlands and
wider afield - at the heart of the Highlands city-region.
Making the step from large town to the "capital " of a key
city region is a key challenge. Growth has been on a small
base, driven by retail, public administration and business
services.
Inverness is re-invigorating its city centre with enhanced
transport links within the city and beyond. It faces challenges
in raising its tourist offering, up-skilling the workforce and
attracting talent from elsewhere and raising its cultural
offerings.
Inverness has achieved growth on the back of changing
industrial structure - the boost of oil related growth has been
superseded by expanding ICT, medical services etc. This
reinvention of the economic base will need to continue,
requiring a highly skilled and flexible workforce. The
relatively shallow labour pool in the area underpins the
importance of the learning sector and the need to attract
talent into the Highlands as well as maintaining existing
population.
Short-term priorities
* Diversifying the economic base and fostering new and
growing industries, including by enhancing investment in
transport connections and the availability of sites for
business development
* Establishing and gaining full university status for the
UHI Millennium Institute
* Building and attracting a diverse labour pool, as well
as attracting visitors through the arts/cultural
offering
Longer-term directions
Inverness is a new city, undergoing change and development.
It is more than ever the "capital" of the Highlands
city-region. The focus on the fragile western and northern
fringe needs to be complemented with a focus on the success of
the city area.
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