Transcript Fixing Failing Cities - transforming Glasgow and other cities

Presentation based upon my experience as
• CEO of Glasgow Development Agency for over
10 years and playing key leadership role in
transformation of Glasgow
• ‘Strategic Economic Adviser’ to most major
cities in Britain
Presentation will cover:
• 10 Key Propositions of City Transformation
• Illustrations from Glasgow’s turnaround
The 10 Key Propositions of City
Transformation
At the ‘core’ of city transformation is economic
performance – economic performance has PRIMACY
• It’s not about ‘urban jewellery’
• It’s not about shiny new buildings (the ‘Edifice
Complex’)
• You can’t build yourself out of decline
– Not about a catchy piece of city branding
– Not about hosting major events
What Drives City Competitiveness?
City Competitiveness
Business
Assets
‘Hard’
Assets
(Hardware)
‘Soft’
Assets
(Software)
Organisational
Assets
(Orgware)
 Strategic
Decision Making
Capacity
 Sectoral Diversity
and Specialisation
 Connectivity /
Infrastructure
 Talented and
Skilled People
 Levels of Innovation
 Urban Amenity /
Cityscape
 External Image
and Perception
 Corporate HQ
Presence
 Entrepreneurial
Culture
 Leadership
 Vision / Ambition
At the ‘core’ of city transformation is economic
performance – economic performance has PRIMACY
i.
Remember, approx 80% of the performance of the city
economy will be determined by factors outside its control
and influence – we pull relatively small levers at the city
economy level
• ‘Macro’ Factors:
– Monetary & Fiscal Policy
– Exchange rates
– Recession
• Learn to be humble!
At the ‘core’ of city transformation is economic
performance – economic performance has PRIMACY
ii.
City Economic ‘Resilience’ & City ‘Competitiveness’ – are
pretty much the same thing
•
Resilience – the speed at which a city economy recovers
from external economic shock
A city’s ability to bounce back.
Leading Indicators of City Resilience
•
•
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–
–
–
•
City Size
Diversification
Quality of Human Capital
Proportion of Knowledge Intensive Businesses (KIB)
Same as City Competitiveness
It takes a generation to turn a city around –
there are no quick fixes
• Because turnaround takes so long it has
crucially important implications for the
‘management’ of the transformation process.
I’ll mention 3.
It takes a generation to turn a city around –
there are no quick fixes
i. The Need for ‘Pacing Devices’
–
–
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•
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- deliberately created periodic and regular markers
- ‘Head-Turning’ Events
1983 The Burrell Gallery – A World Class Cultural Project
1988 Glasgow Garden Festival (4.6mn paying visitors in 6 months)
1990 Glasgow as ‘European City of Culture’ (A ‘Watershed’ Event)
1996 Festival of the Visual Arts (celebrating Charles Rennie
Mackintosh)
• 1999 Glasgow as ‘UK City of Architecture and Design’
• 2014 Glasgow will host Commonwealth Games (International
sporting event)
It takes a generation to turn a city around –
there are no quick fixes
ii. Need for Early Wins; even modest ones – An
‘Early Successes Task Force’ is the first thing to
set up
– “Never underestimate the number of people who
want you to fail” Chairman
iii. Need to keep ‘banging-on’ about the vision
and direction for the city – for at least a
decade
You can’t do Everything! It’s about PRIORITIES
and a FOCUSSED and DISCIPLINED Approach
•
•
•
•
Don’t try to boil the ocean
Prioritise – What’s IN & What’s OUT
In effect my organisation was;
“A Rowing, Steering and Cheering”
organisation
Beware of ‘Fadism’ – too many cities and
governments are seduced by the tyranny of the new
• In my career - FDI (import the solution), Technology
Sectors, ‘Picking Winners’, Small Business,
Commercialisation and Technology Transfer, Clusters
• In my view - It’s about the ‘Fundamentals / the PreConditions;
• creating an outstanding economic and business ecosystem – one that has the right soil, the right climate,
where everything has the potential to grow
There is no ‘Silver Bullet’
• A search for “the missing ingredient”. What
single thing will propel this city into prosperity?
And tell me now!
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Iconic Buildings & Infrastructure
Iconic Events
Iconic Sectors & Places
The Actual Transformation Process: a whole set of
things needs to happen → a ‘critical mass’ of
economic activity → reaches a ‘tipping point’
City Competitiveness and Economic Inclusion are not
linked – however much we would like them to be
• We need to face up to the fact that economic
exclusion, poverty and worklessness require
more profound strategies than ‘regeneration’
and ‘economic renewal’ can provide”
• Need to tackle exclusion directly not indirectly
The Image-Changing, Marketing and Branding Routes
to Improved Competitiveness is over rated
• Campaigns: 1983 ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’’
– 1990 ‘Glasgow – A Great European City’
– 2000+ ‘Glasgow – Scotland With Style’
• But
– Must be backed by real performance
– Expensive route
– Takes a long time – not just a single campaign
– Need for local consumption – not just an
external focus
The Need for a High Calibre Team
• Probably the single most important factor
affecting the future economic performance of
the city, that is within our control, is the
Quality of the Development Team
• Economists and governments massively
underestimate or ignore the Team as a success
factor
The Need to be Obsessive about Delivery – to
put in place a ‘Delivery Culture’
• This is more than target-setting & monitoring
performance – it’s a whole ‘philosophy’ of
delivery
• ‘Making Things Happen’ is probably not
regarded as highly as ‘strategy development’
and ‘policy formulation’ in Britain
• Glasgow “the most successful turnaround city
in the UK”
Financial Times 2000
• 1980 – 2000 from ‘basketcase’ to the 4th
highest income levels in the UK