Urban Hub 2009 brings together Centre for Cities, Core Cities Group, London Councils, RIBA and The Work Foundation for an integrated programme of events on the future for UK cities -
from recession to recovery    

Wednesday 7 October

On Wednesday lunchtime Core Cities convened a fringe on sustainable investment for UK cities. The Financial Times' Andy Bounds, Core Cities' Director Chris Murray, Shadow Communities Minister Bob Neill, Kurt Mueller from the BPF, Cllr Andrew Carter, Joint Leader of Leeds and Hugh Morgan-Williams met to discuss new financial tools for UK cities to unlock future regeneration.  Bob Neill outlined the Conservatives plans for local authorities to keep additional council tax revenue on additional housing built.  Chris Murray called for cross party support for Accelerated Development Zones.

The final Urban Hub fringe of the party conference season was Centre for Cities' Tomorrow's City Economies: where will the new jobs come from?  Felicity Goodey, Chair of Central Salford called for solid partnerships between the public and private sector and the need to create an urban environment which attracts in new talent.  Howard Bernstein stressed the importance of knowledge-intensive sectors to the future growth of Greater Manchester.  The event was supported by Openreach. 

Tuesday 6 October

On Tuesday morning, London Councils were joined by Justine Greening MP for a breakfast roundtable to discuss their Manifesto for Londoners. 

The Work Foundation hosted a lunchtime fringe asking how cities could tackle unemployment. Anthony Browne and Mike Emmerich contrasted the different levels of powers available to London and Manchester respectively and called for further autonomy for regional cities to set up, for example, employment and skills boards as London has done with the LSEB.  Andrew Selous MP said the simplification of DWP schemes announced by the Conservatives was the approach they would be taking in other departments and for economic regeneration schemes too.

Grant Shapps chose the RIBA's 'Rise of the Yimby' fringe to announce his plans for 'Open Source Planning', inspired by his Iphone, as a way to democratise the planning process. He highlighted the need for local authorities to have real powers, and real responsilibities for planning. When questioned on the capacity of local authorities to deliver this, he argued that the freed up brain power of the regional government structures would help.  

Monday 5 October

Urban Hub opened for its final stop in Manchester for the Conservative Party Conference with a City Transport Questions and Answers session with Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers, Steve Norris, Angie Robinson, Centre for Cities' Dermot Finch and Joerg Konrad of Kapsch TrafficCom. 

The evening fringe included a fast paced Cities Question Time session with Shadow Communities Secretary Justine Greening, Bolton West PPC Susan Williams, Birmingham Leader Mike Whitby and Steve Bundred from the Audit Commission.  Delegates asked about the future for the Working Neighbourhood Fund, whether carbon targets would be devolved to the local level, and the future for community empowerment under a Conservative Government.   

This was followed by the Urban Hub flagship reception in the stunning atrium of the Manchester Art Gallery.  Shadow Communities Secretary Caroline Spelman, Manchester Leader Sir Richard Leese, Birmingham Leader Mike Whitby and Asda's Guy Mason spoke at the event.

Tuesday 29 September

On Tuesday morning, London Councils were joined by Tessa Jowell for a breakfast roundtable to discuss their Manifesto for Londoners.

The Core Cities Group lunchtime fringe panel included Lord Davies, Sir Richard Leese, Kurt Mueller of the BPF and Chris Murray, with the FT's Andy Bounds as chair. Lord Davies stressed the'need for speed' on big infrastructure projects, and tried to reassure the audience that Infrastructure UK would be 'politically bulletproof'. The need for strong leadership in cities was highlighted - leaders who could articulate and execute a vision for their cities. There seemed to be consensus that ADZs could be an important tool for investment, but Richard Leese wasn't convinced that the scale of the TIF pilots would be large enough to learn lessons from.

On the Tuesday evening, the RIBA held its Rise of the YIMBY fringe, focusing on issues of nimbyism, the state of the planning system, the quality of new developments and how to garner greater public support for them. In a feisty debate, both Sir Jeremy Beecham (Leader, LGA Labour Group) and former Housing Minister Nick Raynsford MP criticised Conservative housing and planning proposals, making the case for the RDAs and the importance of regional spatial planning. Nick Raynsford also dismissed Tory proposals to incentivise development, arguing that their match-funded council tax rebate proposals would yield little revenue for local authorities and act as an insufficient incentive for the councils to build new homes. Ruth Reed (President, RIBA) focused primarily on the failures of the planning system, is inherent negativity, over-complexity, and its reactivity. She argued for a planning system that is more proactive, that is better equipped to play a role in place-making and of providing better quality developments.

Imtiaz Farookhi (Chief Executive of the NHBC) argued that there was no evidence to suggest that the involvement of architects in new housing developments improved the quality of the overall product, whilst Tristram Hunt gave scathing criticism of the Barrattification of Britain and pleaded for Britain's Green Belt to be protected in order to avoid the problems of urban sprawl that have developed in America. He also made the case for nimbyism, arguing that it can help bring communities together and that it can act as a vehicle for social inclusion. Questions from the floor were equally dynamic, with questioners taking issue with some of the panelists on issues around housing supply and master planning and the importance of Design Review Panels.

Monday 28 September

Monday morning kicked off with a business breakfast, co-hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Centre for Cities.  Regional governance and business support was on the agenda, with specific focus on the challenges and opportunities businesses in the South East are currently experiencing.  Jonathan Shaw MP, Minister for the South East provided the keynote, with contributions from SEEDA Chief Executive Pam Alexander, Brighton & Hove economic partnership chair, Simon Fanshawe, ICAEW President Martin Hagen and Dermot Finch from the Centre for Cities.  Meeting attendees agreed that ensuring the right skills are in place should be one of the key priorities for national, regional and local government.  

At lunchtime, the Work Foundation brought together Will Hutton and Alexandra Jones, with Rosie Winterton, Tesco's David North, Dave Simmonds and John Phillpott to discuss unemployment across UK cities, reflecting that worklessness is clustered in UK cities, but its in UK cities where the majority of jobs and wealth is created.  The panel stressed the importance of strong partnerships between employers, local authorities and government agencies to help link people to jobs.

Urban Hub ran two fringes on Monday evening - a City Transport Q and A with Transport Minister Sadiq Khan, Transport guru David Begg, Kapsch TrafficCom's Richard Lax and Manchester leader Sir Richard Leese.  The session was convened by Centre for Cities'.  The debate touched upon lessons learned from the Government's congestion charging push across UK cities, the benefits of large injections of capital investment vs smaller scale initiatives like smart ticketing and better integrated transport - and the pitfalls of devolved transport with differing levels of accessibility for passengers across the England, Wales and Scotland.

This was followed by Urban Hub's flagship fringe Cities Question Time with Ken Livingstone and a panel of rising star parliamentary candidates.  The audience set the questions which ranged from the need for more 'unpoliced' open space in cities to planning challenges.  The panel debated how can Labour win back the cities.

Sunday 27 September

Urban Hub at Labour Party Conference opened today with Centre for Cities' and Openreach fringe which asked where will the future jobs come from for UK cities?  The panel included CLG's newest minister, Barbara Follett, BT's Dorothy Smith, Online Dragon Julie Meyer, David Frost from BCC, Will Hutton, with Dermot Finch chairing.  The debate focused on potential future sources of growth for cities - from wind farms in East Anglia to online start ups and the skills and infrastructure needed to help them grow.  Will Hutton bet the panel that education and health sector would continue to grow over the next decade.  The future for regional development agencies was also debated.

Straight afterwards, the Urban Hub partners hosted a reception in Hotel du Vin's Dome with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne and Manchester City Leader Sir Richard Leese.  Bernard Hughes of ASDA, the reception sponsor welcomed guests to the event.  Liam reflected upon the reinvention of cities over the past decade and the challenges in the year ahead.  Sir Richard Leese reflected upon progress with the government's city region pilot, which Greater Manchester is involved in.      

Tuesday 22 September 

Tomorrow's City Economies: where will the new jobs come from? was the theme of the Centre for Cities' Tuesday lunchtime fringe, in collaboration with Openreach.  Centre for Cities' Dermot Finch chaired the debate and was joined by Phil Willis MP, Chair of the new Science and Technology Select Committee, Bob Challacombe, Regional Director Midlands, Wales and West Openreach and Liverpool leader Warren Bradley.  Debate centred on the importance of delivering future proof and flexible infrastructure to support future growth in city economies - in a tight fiscal climate.  Phil Willis made a spirited case for teaching entrepreneurship in schools and incentivising on the job training.

The final Urban Hub fringe at Lib Dem conference was The Rise of the YIMBY: can Government incentivise development?  RIBA President Ruth Reed was joined by Shadow Communities Minister Dan Rogerson, Dr Tim Leunig of LSE, Newcastle leader Cllr John Shipley and Centre for Cities' Dermot Finch.  The panel discussed the challenges of building on flood plains, the current difficulties in releasing government land for development and where strategic planning powers should best sit.   

Monday 21 September

London Councils launched their London Manifesto on Monday morning at a breakfast roundtable.  John Harris from the Guardian found his way into the event. Click here for more on their manifesto.

The Core Cities Group held a fringe at lunchtime on generating investment into city economies.  Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Lord Newby, Liverpool Leader Warren Bradley and Chris Murray, Director of the Core Cities Group led the debate.  The panel discussed the need to rationalise funding streams at city level, devolve powers over planning and introduce incentives to increase housing supply, rather than delivering top down targets.  Lord Newby also questioned whether public sector cuts might be better spearheaded and delivered at a local level.    

The Work Foundation convened a fringe on why cities hold the key to tackling unemployment, with support from Tesco.  The event was chaired by Stephen Overall, Associate Director, The Work Foundation.  Lord Oakeshott, Professor John Philpott, Chief Economist at the CIPD, David Simmonds, Chief Executive, CESI, Emma Reynolds, Government Affairs Manager at Tresco and Michelle Mahdon, Associate Director at the Work Foundation joined him on the panel.  The panel debated the benefits and pitfalls of devolving decision making on skills to a city-regional level.  Does greater responsiveness to local conditions and scope for innovation in skills delivery outweigh the dangers of postcode lotteries in skills delivery?  The panel also debated how employers can be better engaged and entrepreneurship and enterprise fostered and encouraged across UK cities.

Sunday 20 September

Urban Hub kicked off at Liberal Democrat conference last night with Cities Question Time with Party President Baroness Ros Scott chairing, Julia Goldsworthy MP, shadow CLG secretary, Cllr Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council and Cllr Carl Minns, Leader of Hull City Council. There are no keynote speeches at this event - the audience sets the agenda, asking the panel questions on the most pressing issues facing UK cities today.

Cllr Carl Minns spoke about the need to support small and local businesses by simplfying procurement procedures, highlighted that there is more to Hull than 'fish and Prescott' and discussed with the panel the benefits of sporting and cultural events in cities, including the upcoming World Cup bid. Cllr Paul Scriven was called upon in the audience to share the experience of Sheffield and the World Student Games.

On devolution, Julia Goldsworthy criticised the current government's use of 'bribery and bargaining chips' in return for devolved powers. Warren Bradley highlighted the renewed relationship between local authorities and the Scottish parliament as an example of developing deeper understanding between national, local and middle tiers of government, especially around public service delivery.

The fringe was followed by Urban Hub's City Leaders reception, where the leaders from Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Leeds, Bristol and Sutton came together on the platform to highlight the main ask for their cities. They were joined by Simon Hughes MP who commended their success and encouraged Lib Dem leaders to work more closely and build up the national profile of Lib Dem cities.