Talking Investment: ‘Successful cities don’t just happen by magic’

At the Derby Property Summit earlier this month, keynote speaker Andrew Carter, chief executive of urban policy research unit Centre for Cities, gave a presentation on what makes a successful city.

The theme of this year’s summit was ‘The Alchemy of Cities’. Below is an abridged version of Andrew’s presentation.

I looked up the definition of ‘alchemy’ in the dictionary. It defined it as a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination.

There is nothing magical when it comes to making our cities successful. We know, not fully, but we know what makes cities successful.

The challenge for us is whether we are prepared to do what is necessary in order to deliver that success.

The cities that are successful – don’t just magically do so. They make decisions, they make choices – and they do so time and again. They don’t rely on magic.

In our work at Centre for Cities, we use a lot of the analysis and the insights from my two favourite city economists – Jane Jacobs and Ed Glaeser.

Both of them give us insights into what drives success over the longer term when we think about our cities. What do they say?

The first thing that we know is that form matters. How our city looks and how they function are related.

Population density and diversity – it really matters how many people and how many different backgrounds you have in your city.

You have to have density in your city in order to create dynamism and success.

You need them is close proximity – and you need to create opportunities for them to frequently interact.

The second point is mixed uses, which are much more accepted now.

When we think about what drives success, it’s about being able to combine the residential, commercial and cultural in the same area, widening the appeal.

The third thing is that as well as creating new buildings, we need to reuse our old buildings. As Jane Jacobs wrote, new ideas need old buildings. They can not only be great spaces, but they are also useful from a local identity point of view.

Finally, we need ‘short blocks’ and walkable streets. Enable people to get around the city and interact and connect with people.

This also helps create a sense of safety – having people on the streets matters.

Form matters, but so does function. What is it that we actually need or want from our cities?

In order to be successful, our cities need to be hubs of innovation and entrepreneurialism.

In terms of the impact on the everyday economy, we know from our evidence that it does far better in places that have strong innovation and entrepreneurialism. We also know that it has a positive impact on high streets.

The challenge now is to encourage more of our places to be part of this future-based economy

Successful cities ensure people have access to the opportunities on offer.

Growth is necessary – but not enough. People need to access the opportunities that come from that growth.

Education and skills are fundamental – in this respect institutions like Derby College Group are probably the most important in the city for addressing these issues.

There are also downsides to success. Urban areas need to react to factors such as housing affordability, congestion, inequality, pollution and displacement.

Success drives up demand. If supply doesn’t respond prices go up, and access and opportunity go down. You have to manage those pressures, otherwise people will leave.

Successful cities require forward-looking leadership.

Urban success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s actively shaped, day by day, week by week, year by year and decade by decade.

It’s strategic, it’s adaptive, it forward-looking and it’s grounded in long-term planning.

But for leadership to be impactful then it also needs to have the powers and resources and the capabilities to turn that vision into action.

This is why ongoing devolution is incredibly important. The powers and resources need to be placed into the hands of places like Derby so they can make the decisions to push forward their economies.