Downtown Liverpool: Northern Megalopolis

Postional Paper: February 2004

But where would downtown be?

Plans to explore the development of a 'megalopolis', stretching from Liverpool to Hull and from Sheffield to Newcastle have been announced.

Provisionally titled 'The Northern Way', it is being headed up by Newcastle University's Prof John Goddard. The stimulus comes from the same Government department that has been encouraging urban density and inner city investment as the solution to problems as well as the proposals for small (NW, NE, Yorkshire, etc) regional assemblies, it is quite a surprise.

Does this indicate they have no real idea as to what is best and are blindly scrabbling round for something...ANYTHING?

Is this the silliest idea ever or is there something in it? DL has previously highlighted its concerns over current regional proposals, but have suggested that strong city-region bases within a broader 'Whole Northern Assembly' for the few big strategic needs might offer an effective counter to London bias.

Our initial response is that if the focus is strategic and political, then Megalopolis may be good and we would in principle welcome the initiative. If, however, this is about spatial issues like land development it would be appalling, would probably suck our cities dry of investment and have a profoundly detrimental impact on downtown Liverpool!

We must bear in mind the major problems previous 'regional spatial strategies' had on the cities, most notably the New Towns policy which was a significant factor in Liverpool's devastating population fall.

'The Northern way' is being compared to the East Coast Megalopolis, running from NYC through Boston, but it must be remembered that such melding was incredibly damaging and disruptive to those cities for forty years and it has only been the 'counter-spread' pro-urban initiatives of the last decade or so in the U.S that has led to the urban revivals we report so often on these pages.

Also, unlike attitudes in the States, there is always the inclination to centralise power in 'capitals' in the UK...hence the London problem...where would be the 'Administrative (and therefore the commercial and cultural)Centre' of our megalopolis - Liverpool? Do you think so? ..about as likely as we are to gain anything from the current 'regional construct'

see related article from Liverpool Echo [go]

You can be very sure that DL will be keeping a very close eye on things - and keeping you informed!

Other current issues include:

Most business friendly city?
New Manhattan on the Mersey
Street trading - taking the positive approach
Traffic management Downtown, exclusion, parking and delivery management
Removing barriers to redeveloping the upper storeys in Church St
Cheap premises – the vital need for good urban grain
Onward and upward - intensifying development really works to build the downtown dynamic
Contemporary architecture and appropriate development scales
'But where do you think the corporates come from?' What help for new and micro business?
Focusing on delivering greater Downtown diversity
Downtown or Edge-city? Inward investments downtown mean jobs plus!
The next generation in the Downtown living movement
Downtown services, schools, leisure facilities, clinics and family support
The enormous potential for environmental business development Downtown
The down-shifters guide to the Downtown approach
How communities can tap the Downtown dynamic
Cross-town traffic! Public transport and re-stitching Downtown districts back together
International link building
Increasing Downtown's catchment area, increasing visitors from North Wales, the Isle of Man and Ireland
Business leadership and engagement in the regeneration process
Networks and association - by neighbourhood, by sector, by need - building an elaborate network of support
Development control or barriers to regeneration?
Taming Quangopolis!
Downtown at the heart of a metropolitan model of governance
On yer way - fighting the 'regional drift' away from Liverpool by binning englandsnorthwest
Re-enforcing the 'Downtown Approach'

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