By Graeme Roy and David Waite

THIS month marks 10 years since the signing of the Glasgow City Region Deal. The Deal provides over £1 billion of funding to support the Glasgow economy, with claims that it would generate 29,000 jobs. Similar deals have spread throughout the UK.

Much has changed over the last decade. The Glasgow “deal” was signed just weeks out from the independence referendum. The years since have been dominated by Brexit, Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis. Hopes that these deals would be part of a renaissance of economic prosperity have been dashed.

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And much has changed in policymaking circles too. Deals were meant to mark a new wave of regional economic development policy, underpinned by partnerships between UK and local policymakers (and in Scotland, with the Scottish Government). In some regions, including in Glasgow, greater co-ordination and collaboration between local authorities has been a clear benefit.

But the dealmaking process, and crucially its interaction with the broader economic policy landscape, has not been without its critics.

In many cases, it is hard to see how aspects of investment programmes have gone beyond financing infrastructure projects that would – and should – have been delivered anyway if the required funds had simply been provided to local authorities in the first place.

Most significantly, deals have highlighted just how much core local authority economic development budgets have been squeezed in recent years.

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In contrast, we have seen a flurry of Westminster-led initiatives extending beyond City Deals to “innovation accelerators”, “freeports” and “investment zones”. All, of course, come with significant claims of transformation, whether that be ambitions to become the next Helsinki or Boston, to deliver “sustainable jobs”, “growth with a purpose” or “wellbeing”.

But no amount of propping up by a potpourri of increasingly complex initiatives can hide the piecemeal nature of investment in city economic development more broadly. Most importantly, missing in all this debate has been the lack of a coherent national policy framework for urban economic development.

The new UK Government promised a series of local growth plans in last month’s King’s Speech. As with any new administration, the next few months provide a renewed opportunity to set out a new policy agenda that, while building on the elements of City Deals that have worked, clarifies an increasingly complex landscape.

A first step would be to set out an ambition to properly fund city and regional economic development, to empower local authorities and partners to develop policy responses that best fit their needs, and to limit interference from national policymakers. If there is a national commitment to urban regeneration, then it needs core funding. Too often, in recent years, local policymakers have increasingly had to jump through hoops simply to ensure that their plans “fit” a shifting pattern of objectives.

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A second step would be to clarify where tools such as deals – and broader national policy frameworks – can still add value. These should be narrowly targeted at where national policies and funds, when combined with local alignment and comparative advantages, can leverage improved national outcomes.

These priorities could include the transition to net zero in Aberdeen or the growth of second-tier cities such as Birmingham and Glasgow. But, crucially, they shouldn’t seek to replace core funding in economic development.

A robust policy framework might not be as headline grabbing as the next funding round for a new investment zone, or the opening of a shiny new building, but it will have a far more lasting impact upon communities crying out for urban renewal.

There are many positives from the last 10 years of City Deals in the UK. And cities such as Glasgow are the better for the investment that has been secured. But there is significant room for improvement.

Interestingly, Australia followed the UK in rolling out City Deals. But the Canberra government has recently confirmed no new deals, with similar questions about national strategic purpose looming large.

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In the UK, there is the chance for policymakers once again to take the lead and to develop a sustainable approach to urban economic development that survives the latest policy fad or bright idea. A greater focus on the economy we actually have in the UK’s cities and regions, and less on the economy we fantasise about, would be a useful start.

Graeme Roy is professor of economics, deputy head of the College of Social Sciences and assistant vice-principal at the University of Glasgow

David Waite is a senior lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences and a Fellow of the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Glasgow