Centre for Cities

City Talks: Are we seeing the arrival of the post-retail High Street?

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Dr Lucy Montague, Senior Lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture and co-author (with David Rudlin and Vicky Payne) of High Street: How Our Town Centres Can Bounce Back from the Retail Crisis (RIBA Publishing, 2023), which surveys the current state of the UK’s bricks-and-mortar retail sector in a hundred case studies – from traditional high streets to out-of-town retail developments, in places both big and small.

They discuss what happened in the sector during the 00s and 10s, the origins of the current crisis, and the impact of Covid. Despite its many challenges, Lucy finds reasons for optimism on the high street, as long as the UK is open to change – whether it’s stronger planning policy to encourage a greater mix of uses or action on business rates reform.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Talks series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Leaders: Cllr Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff City Council

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Cllr Huw Thomas, Labour Leader of Cardiff City Council since 2017. Cllr Thomas talks about Cardiff’s economic role in the city-region, describes the balance between competition and collaboration that it takes to make city-region devolution succeed, and explains why leading a city council is “a job like no other”.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Leaders: Cllr Mike Ross, Leader of Hull City Council

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Cllr Mike Ross, Liberal Democrat Leader of Hull City Council since May 2022. They discuss Cllr Ross’ lessons from over twenty years of public life, how the city used the experience of being City of Culture to change perceptions and put Hull on the map, and the question of devolution in East Yorkshire and the Humber.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Talks: Will the North rise again?

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Alex Niven, Lecturer in English Literature at Newcastle University and author of several books including The North will Rise Again: In Search of the Future in Northern Heartlands (Bloomsbury, 2023). They discuss attempts to revive the economic fortunes and empower the people of the North of England after deindustrialisation, questions of Northern identity and Alex’s immersion in the poetry and culture of the Northeast.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Talks series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Leaders: Cllr Jane Mudd, leader of Newport City Council

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Cllr Jane Mudd, Labour Leader of Newport City Council since 2019. They discuss her stance on working with business to improve the city-region, the changes the city is making to improve transport sustainability, and what Newport’s status as the ‘Gateway to Wales’ means for her as leader.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Leaders: John Stevenson MP, Chair of the Northern Research Group

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, is joined by John Stevenson, who is the MP for Carlisle, Chair of the Northern Research Group of MPs and Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Key Cities. The two discuss the role Carlisle plays in its regional economy, why the Northern Research Group of MPs is pressing for more devolution of powers from Westminster to the North of England, and what John has learned about leadership during his time in the House of Commons.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Minutes: Should more people use public transport to get to work in UK cities?

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Caitlin Rollison, External Affairs Manager at Centre for Cities, to discuss the new report Gear shift: International lessons for increasing public transport ridership in UK cities. They discuss whether Covid really was a meaningful turning point in how we travel around UK cities, how public transport usage in UK cities compares with European counterparts, and the policy initiatives around the world that have made a big difference to public transport ridership.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Minutes series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

City Leaders: Mayor Marvin Rees

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Mayor Marvin Rees, who has been Mayor of Bristol since 2016 and has given city leaders and city networks a voice on a national and international level as Chair of Core Cities UK and Co-Chair of the UK Future Cities Commission. They discuss Mayors’ political roles in UK cities, the need for more housing, and the role of cities to tackle the climate crisis, which Marvin made the subject of his TED talk a year ago.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

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City Leaders: Mayor Steve Rotheram

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, for a discussion about what the role of a Metro Mayor means for people in the North of England, how local government is funded, and plans to bring transport in Liverpool back into public control.

This episode is the first episode of Centre for Cities’ City Leaders series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.

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City Minutes: What should the next phase of devolution look like?

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Ant Breach, Senior Analyst, to discuss which powers should be devolved to UK cities. Their discussion focuses on the proposals put forward in a new report, In place of centralisation: Devolution for London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, commissioned for The Economy 2030 Enquiry funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

This episode is part of Centre for Cities’ City Minutes series. Please rate, review and share the episode if you enjoyed it.