Andy Pike analyses some of the themes in the 1983 report 'The Potential of Glasgow City Centre', an early example of city centrism with a policy repertoire that has since influenced urban and regional development thinking. He explains why, 35 years on, city centrism presents more of a mixed picture than a panacea for urban policy; in a separate post he offers thoughts on the way forward

Pike, Andy

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The	origins	of	city	centrism:	‘The	Potential	of	GlasgowCity	Centre’Andy	Pike	analyses	some	of	the	themes	in	the	1983	report	‘The	Potential	of	Glasgow	City	Centre’,	anearly	example	of	city	centrism	with	a	policy	repertoire	that	has	since	influenced	urban	and	regionaldevelopment	thinking.	He	explains	why,	35	years	on,	city	centrism	presents	more	of	a	mixed	picturethan	a	panacea	for	urban	policy;	in	a	separate	post	he	offers	thoughts	on	the	way	forward.Published	in	1983,	The	Potential	of	Glasgow	City	Centre	is	a	landmark	report.	Produced	by	McKinsey	&Co.,	the	US-based	consultancy,	and	Gordon	Cullen,	an	urban	design	consultant,	it	was	commissioned	by	theScottish	Development	Agency	and	informed	by	Glasgow	Action,	a	group	convened	by	city	business	leaders	to	workwith	the	then	District	Council	of	Glasgow,	Strathclyde	Regional	Council,	and	the	Scottish	Development	Agency.	Itaimed	to	formulate	a	strategy	and	mobilise	action	“to	realize	the	economic	and	physical	potential	of	Glasgow	citycentre”.	The	report	embodied	the	city’s	search	for	a	way	out	from	the	“severe	threat”	facing	Glasgow	of	a	“spiral	ofdecline”	caused	by	de-industrialisation	and	the	intensified	job	loss	in	manufacturing	in	the	early	1980s.The	anatomy	of	‘city	centrism’The	report	is	an	early	example	of	‘city	centrism’:	a	narrative	and	policy	repertoire	that	has	since	become	an	enduringinfluence	on	urban	and	regional	development	thinking	and	policy	in	Britain	and	beyond.	Several	constituent	andrelated	elements	are	articulated:Acceleration	of	the	transition	to	an	urban	service	economy	to	“revitalize	the	city	centre”,	“stimulate	theeconomic	regeneration	of	the	city	as	a	whole”,	and	“lay	the	foundations	of	its	economic	future”	because	serviceindustries	were	the	“only	realistic	opportunity	for	employment	growth”.	Central	to	this	theme	was	an	emphasisupon	upgrading	especially	in	terms	of	“attracting	HQs”	–	building	upon	newly	privatised	Britoil’s	move	toGlasgow	in	1982	–	alongside	stimulating	demand	for	and	growth	of	“business	services”,	expanding	the“software	industry”,	especially	applications	in	“office	automation”	and	“interactive	cable	services”	for	this“natural	software	capital	of	Silicon	Glen”,	and	constructing	a	venture	capital	network.	The	development	of“exportable”	services	was	important	too	including	merchant	banking,	advertising,	consultancy	in	constructionand	engineering,	and	computer	software.	Key	measures	were	focused	on	improving	the	attractiveness	of	thecity,	business	linkages	to	universities,	and	appropriate	education	and	training	provision.A	central	city	focus	upon	the	needs	and	dynamism	of	the	urban	core	as	the	“natural	location”	for	most	businessand	many	consumer	services.	Integral	was	the	creation	of	a	“compact”	and	“magnetic”	economic	centre	as	thecentripetal	“spark”	for	an	“implosion”	of	urban	economic	dynamism	rather	than	a	centrifugal	explosion	ofdecentralised	suburbanism	since	by	“avoiding	sprawl	and	concentrating	the	nerve	centres	of	the	city,	the	firemay	start	to	burn”.Identification	of	“commercial	opportunities”	for	“private	sector	investment”	assisted	by	the	relaxation	ofconservation	policies	and	provision	of	public	support	for	existing	building	refurbishment.Improvement	of	the	city’s	“environment”	and	“image”	to	enhance	the	city’s	“product”	and	make	it	more“attractive”	as	a	business	base.	The	aim	was	to	retain	especially	the	city’s	better	qualified	and	youngerpopulation	and	to	attract	people	from	outside	such	as	corporate	executive	decision-makers,	skilled,	motivatedand	talented	people	–	with	the	availability,	cost	and	quality	of	“executive	housing”	and	“high-quality	offices”	ofparticular	concern	–	and	other	business	(e.g.	for	specialised	short	courses)	and	tourism	visitors.Improvement	of	“international	airlinks”,	road	and	rail	travel	connections.Joint	or	‘partnership’	working	between	the	public	and	private	sectors	including	local	and	national	governmentand	specialised	agencies.A	turn	to	the	US	for	examples	and	inspiration	including	the	aquarium	in	Baltimore,	Boston’s	repeatedreinvention,	and	the	attractiveness	of	Atlanta,	Minneapolis,	and	Californian	cities	as	places	to	live	and	work.Indeed,	the	choice	of	McKinsey	&	Co.	to	produce	Glasgow’s	early	strategic	analysis	is	closely	related	to	whathas	become	an	engrained	enthusiasm	for	American	urbanism	in	British	urban	policy.Such	thinking	was	innovative	at	the	time	and	relatively	early	compared	to	other	British	cities,	and	it	was	six	yearslater	at	the	close	of	the	1980s	that	urban	scholar	David	Harvey	coined	the	idea	of	‘urban	entrepreneurialism’	tocapture	this	package	of	changes.British Politics and Policy at LSE: The origins of city centrism: ‘The Potential of Glasgow City Centre’ Page 1 of 2		Date originally posted: 2018-03-01Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-origins-of-city-centrism/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/City	centrism	and	the	Glasgow	experienceSome	three	decades	on,	these	ideas	have	cohered	into	an	enduring,	dominant	and	familiar	narrative	and	policy	mixof	city	centrism.	For	Glasgow	since	the	early	1980s,	large	scale	and	sustained	deindustrialisation	configured	theformulation	of	multi-faceted	development	strategies	with	particular	objectives	and	the	design	of	institutionalarrangements	with	specific	and	integrated	remits,	both	sectorally	and	geographically.	The	relatively	small	size	andweakness	of	the	private	sector	and	scale	of	economic	change	in	Glasgow	situated	the	public	sector	as	the	lead	actorworking	with	business	leaders	and	public	policies	as	the	key	interventions	in	trying	to	shape	economic	adaptation.As	The	Potential	of	Glasgow	City	Centre	demonstrates,	institutions	and	policies	prioritised	supporting	transition	to	aservice-led	and	city-centre	focus	to	attract	and	develop	growth	sectors	creating	a	particular	service	economy	that	hassince	shaped	the	further	evolution	of	the	city	economy.	Public	sector	institutions	were	hampered	in	their	roles	andresponses	to	economic	change	through	the	UK	and	Scotland’s	centralised	governance	system,	the	historical	andongoing	change,	churn	and	disruption	in	institutions	and	policies.	They	were	also	hampered	in	their	small-scale	inrelation	to	the	magnitude	of	change,	and	the	effects	of	mostly	spatially	blind	national	policies	such	as	macro-economic,	research	and	education,	and	transport.City	policies	–	such	as	spatial	planning,	city	centre	regeneration,	investment	attraction,	innovation,	and	skills	–	havesupported	structural	evolution	towards	services.	However,	they	have	struggled	to	influence	the	direction	of	thetransformation,	especially	its	drift	toward	lower	productivity	services	and	some	but	not	large	scale	growth	of	higher-end	services,	or	to	deliver	more	inclusive	forms	of	growth	by	better	spreading	the	benefits	of	growth	across	the	cityand	wider	city-region.	City	centrism,	then,	presents	more	of	a	mixed	picture	than	panacea	for	urban	development	andpolicy._______About	the	AuthorAndy	Pike	is	the	Henry	Daysh	Professor	of	Regional	Development	Studies	at	the	Centre	for	Urban	andRegional	Development	Studies	(CURDS),	Newcastle	University,	UK.	He	is	part	of	the	ESRC-fundedproject	on	City	Economic	Evolutions	led	by	Professor	Ron	Martin	at	the	University	of	Cambridge	andinvolving	other	colleagues	in	Cambridge	and	the	Universities	of	Aston	and	Southampton,	andCambridge	Econometrics.	All	articles	posted	on	this	blog	give	the	views	of	the	author(s),	and	not	the	position	of	LSE	British	Politics	and	Policy,nor	of	the	London	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.British Politics and Policy at LSE: The origins of city centrism: ‘The Potential of Glasgow City Centre’ Page 2 of 2		Date originally posted: 2018-03-01Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-origins-of-city-centrism/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

The origins of city centrism: 'the potential of Glasgow city centre'

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The origins of city centrism: 'the potential of Glasgow city centre'

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