Centre for Cities

The state of our smart cities

Elli Thomas talks to Enrico Motta from MK:Smart and Ben Unsworth from Socrata about how UK cities are using technology to deliver more efficient public services. As well as highlighting examples of successful projects around the country, the conversation touches on some of the challenges in implementing 'smart solutions', such as the need for more investment in infrastructure and concerns over privacy.

City Talks: can cities help balance the nation's books?

In this month's episode, Andrew explores how cities have coped with austerity, the prospects for reducing the deficit in the next Parliament, and the dilemmas that emerge from giving greater fiscal freedoms to local areas. Joining him are Simon Parker from the New Local Government Network and Tony Travers from the London School of Economics.

What do the General Election manifestos hold in store for cities?

Andrew, Ben, Louise and Simon from the team sit down to discuss the main party manifestos and what they may mean for the Election and after. They discuss the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat proposals on jobs, housing, transport and immigration, and how the different parties will approach cities policy if they are in Government after May 7th.

City Talks: Mayors – for and against

In this month's episode, Andrew explores why directly elected mayors are such a rare occurrence in the political landscape of the UK, and whether they are a good idea. Joining him to debate the question are Gisela Stuart MP, a leading proponent of a Birmingham Mayor; the Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales; and Cllr Peter Box, Leader of Wakefield and Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Professor Nicholas Crafts on 'A Century of Cities'

Centre for Cities was delighted to host the first in a major event series, City Horizons, at London's iconic Shard, exploring the rise and fall of urban Britain over a century.

In this lecture by University of Warwick Professor of Economics and Economic History, Nick Crafts, the audience heard the economic history of modern Britain through its cities, from the end of the 19th century to the start of the 21st. It explored how and why cities, particularly in the North West thrived during the industrial era, and asked why some places have maintained that momentum, while others across the UK have not.

You can read the Centre for Cities associated report here. You can also view Professor Crafts' slides on slideshare.

City Talks: The Politics of Cities

This month's episode is an election "special". Ben Harrison hosts a discussion on where the different parties stand on cities policy and how they can strengthen their appeal across urban Britain. Joining him are Mark Ferguson, editor of LabourList, David Kirkby, researcher at Bright Blue, and Jonn Elledge, editor of CityMetric.

The Metropolitan Century with the OECD

Centre for Cities was delighted to host a roundtable as part of the international launch of two new OECD reports Governing the City, which explores how city governance has had an effect on a cities' productivity and growth and The Metropolitan Century which explores what effects the rapid rate of urbanisation could have on the globe, and what the challenges and opportunities are for growing, global cities.

Listen to the presentation from Luiz de Mello, Deputy Director of the Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the OECD. You can follow along to the slides on prezi, here.

For more on Centre for Cities programme of events, click here.

City Talks: 10 Years Forward, 10 Years Back

Welcome to City Talks – a new monthly podcast series from Centre for Cities hosted by Andrew Carter. In the first episode, Andrew surveys the last 10 years of cities policy and what we are likely to see in the next 10 years. Discussing the big developments for UK cities are Prof Tony Travers from the LSE, Prof Michael Parkinson from the University of Liverpool and Brian Groom, until recently UK Business and Employment Editor at the Financial Times...

Cities Outlook 2015

The Centre for Cities team sit down to discuss the findings from Cities Outlook 2015, which focused on the impact of policy on UK city performance over the last 10 years. Issues discussed include why 2014 saw such interest in cities, the precedent set by the Greater Manchester devolution deal, and what cities can expect in the run-up to and aftermath of the General Election in May.

How to encourage innovation in city economies?

Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, talks to Bruce Katz, author of The Metropolitan Revolution, and Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive of Nesta, about innovation in the economy. Both the UK and the United States are seen to be less innovative than emerging economies in the East, but they have many valuable assets in their universities and cities which need to be unlocked, and local leadership is crucial to doing so.