Greater global economic links are boosting some cities but hurting others. The government should target regeneration help on the hardest hit, says Dermot Finch
UK cities have been feeling the effects of globalisation for decades. We've seen a move away from a manufacturing to a service-based economy. Belfast lost 26% of its manufacturing jobs during the 1960s and employment at the city's iconic shipbuilding giant, Harland and Wolff, has dropped from 20,000 in the 1950s to just 120 today. While Liverpool's population has shrunk by 16% since the early 1980s, Milton Keynes has struck gold – its numbers have increased to 78% as the city's retail and logistics sectors boomed.
Some cities are just better placed than others to seize the opportunities of globalisation. With Reading's transport and trading links it's no surprise to hear that 40% of its workforce is employed in the top 20 exporting sectors, twice the proportion in Stoke and Doncaster. That's not to say that we're advocating a mass migration south (remember Policy Exchange's big splash last month with their Cities Unlimited report). Doncaster might not be growing at the same rate as Reading but that doesn't mean it can't flourish.
I'd like to see more realism from cities about their niche in the world economy. Not every city and town can be world class. In global terms UK cities are small, but their unique selling point is that they are located closely together. Sheffield, Liverpool, Bradford, Leeds and a host of other cities are all within a 40 mile radius around Manchester - the equivalent to London's travel to work area. To compete on a global stage, cities and towns need to collaborate with each other – working together to promote brands like "Greater Manchester" or "Greater Birmingham".
Politicians cannot and should not reverse the tide of global economic change but they can be more up front about it. Gordon Brown acknowledged in his foreword to autumn's Labour Party conference paper that economic restructuring, driven by globalisation has meant reduced security for lower skilled workers. The next step is to focus regeneration spending in cities on those hardest hit – by reskilling those whose jobs have disappeared as a result of offshoring or industrial decline. Let's look beyond fancy new city centre buildings and address some of the challenges globalisation presents for UK cities.
· Dermot Finch is the director of policy research unit Centre for Cities. Their report, UK Cities in the Global Economy, is available for download at centreforcities.org/globalisation
