Forging a new connection: Cardiff and the Valleys

These are turbulent economic times.The economy of south Wales has changed radically over the last two decades, and it is difficult to predict how the next 20 years will play out.However, one thing I can say with certainty is that south-east Wales needs to work as a cohesive, connected region to avoid being left behind.I believe we need, as a region, to define a shared approach which will help us compete for investment, jobs and talent, with the aim of creating a more prosperous south Wales.This region, or city region, already exists, and has done for years.I am referring to the real economic and social geography of the region -the geography of people's lives.Each day 80,000 people travel into Cardiff from across south Wales, for work, for shopping and for leisure.Yet we do not have an approach which reflects this city region reality.Some good collaborative work is taking place: in education; in traffic management; in waste, to name but a few examples.Local authorities are proving in areas of service delivery that regional collaboration works.But in the area of development -economic development, planning, housing and transport -we do not have an approach which sufficiently reflects the city region reality.Instead, as the recent report by Roger Tym and Partners on strategic planning in the Cardiff city region clearly demonstrated, local authorities in Wales are each producing their local development plans at different times, in isolation from each other, without an effective strategic planning framework sitting above.This is hampering the economic development of the region, and it needs to change.It cannot be denied that Cardiff will have a big role to play in a city region approach for south-east Wales.As one of the UK's most competitive cities we must all recognise the capital as an economic opportunity for the region and for Wales.However, a city region approach is not a 'city' approach by stealth.It is about recognising the mutually dependent relationship that we share and agreeing a functional economic plan that will take us all forward, together.It is about making mature decisions, as a region, about what should best go where.Fundamentally, it is about coming together to form a region which can compete in the global economy.Unless we do this, we will fall further behind.If we get it right, it will be to the benefit of all citizens of south-east Wales.Any new approach cannot be done in name only.Warm words alone will not be I am grateful to the Institute of Welsh Affairs for bringing together leading thinkers in this area, first in the 'Getting Ahead Together' conference in November last year, and now in this vital publication.We have now an opportunity to develop a new approach which can deliver for the whole region and for Wales.We must take it.Forging a new connection Cardiff and the Valleys | 07 from the third, Vancouver, were delivered to the conference by former Mayor Gordon Campbell, a true evangelist for the city region concept, and are quoted between the sections of this book.It is a striking feature of all three regions that they have achieved significant consensus in regions far larger than our own.The Stuttgart region, for instance, has created a 90 member Regional Assembly to represent over 2.6 million inhabitants in 179 municipalities.In the Vancouver city region, regional planning and service delivery is undertaken on behalf of the 2.1 million inhabitants by Metro Vancouver, whose 37 Board members are drawn from among the elected representatives of the region's 22 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation.Under Gordon Campbell's leadership, the region also instituted meetings of all elected representatives in a 'Council of Councils'.Lesson number one is that joint working can be done.Achieving consensus is possible, but it is by no means straightforward.When Gordon Campbell talked about the opportunity for collaboration between the local authorities of south-east Wales, the disbelief in the room was audible.It was a sign, perhaps, of past failures in that regard, but it must not be allowed to be a portent of future attitudes.What, then, can our region learn from others about the first steps towards creating a successful city region?First and foremost, we must not become immediately mired in trying to define notional boundaries for the city region, or in creating the institutions that might eventually govern many of its functions.Two main structuring elements of a functioning city regiondistribution of resources and location of decision-making powers -are likely flashpoints, particularly where resources are scarce and a zero sum mentality is in effect.From Manchester to Vancouver the message is clear: the majority will always favour the status quo, and upsetting this will tend to raise opposition and prevent progress.

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