29 September 2006
The city of Manchester has earned the right to take on greater self-government, economic researchers said this week in a report that gives a boost to the city-region agenda.
Launched at the Labour Party conference on September 27, the Work Foundation's Creating an ideopolis: case study of Manchester said the city's strong civic identity, coupled with its stable and confident leadership, meant it was ready for city-region status.
The authors noted that Manchester was on the way to becoming an 'ideopolis' – a city with a substantial core of knowledge-based industries, such as professional services and research and development, as well as a revitalised city centre and vibrant higher education sector.
Laura Williams, a co-author of the report and senior researcher at the Work Foundation, said Manchester had already achieved a great deal within the constraints of the present system but could do more.
'Having powers at a city-region level means that leaders can better co-ordinate public services and manage expansion in ways that help people live their lives,' she said.
'If lots of people are travelling into the city to work every day, for example, then it makes no sense to have lots of bureaucratic transport fiefdoms squabbling for priority rather than one regional strategic voice able to make things happen.'
Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, which commissioned the report, said: 'We would like much greater recognition of the fact that community leadership does not flourish by meeting mandatory national objectives. We know what will work in Manchester.'
The Department for Communities and Local Government has commissioned the Work Foundation to examine the viability of city-regions.
It is expected to publish its findings in mid-October, ahead of the local government white paper.
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