London: Never had it so good?

It is only a couple of weeks left until the London Olympics kicks off and city is putting finishing touches on what should be a great sporting event. Usually such events attract a great deal of attention to host cities and countries, as well as create opportunities to develop city's infrastructure and to improve its image in the eyes of global public. Not that London needs much publicity about what it has to offer to the world though. On the other hand its deprived East End and infrastructure definitely will benefit from Olympic preparations (though I suspect London tube will remain a weak link throughout the games).


It is also a good opportunity for expert community to look at the city's assets, its position in the global economy and its prospects for the future. In one of the latest Economists (30 June 2012) such analysis if presented in the special report on London "On a high" (you can download it for free). Concentrating on the key elements of city life - human capital, economy, housing and transport - the report looks on the factors that have led to tremendous success of London as a global financial centre and world city over the last three decades. It also analyses the challenges London faces due to recent public policy measures designed in response to the global economic crisis.


Authors underline that London's amazing growth and attraction for world's richest and poorest is due to its diversity and openness to the world on the one hand and solid yet liberal legal and financial regulations, that nurture London's status as the world financial centre on the other. Yet since 2008, when trust in financial institutions and its CEOs has tumbled and public attitudes towards immigrants have worsened considerably London is at risk of losing its edge. The UK Government is in the process of introducing significant reforms in regulatory, taxation and immigration spheres, which will make city less attractive for international capital and foreigners. Higher taxes on rich, stricter financial regulations and draconian immigration rules, including for students and highly qualified professionals, might tip the balance for the benefit of new financial centres in Asia.


Also despite having vocal mayor with authorities in the spheres of transport and housing London exists in a highly centralised political system, where all major decisions are taken by the central government without much regard to the local authorities.


At the same time London's global magnetism often causes domestic grudge when other parts of the country are displeased with too much wealth and power being concentrated in the capital. Growing regional disparities are indeed a reason for concern, however forced decentralisation has not brought any good in the past and unlikely to do it in the future.


There is an irony in the dynamics of London development. Global economic crisis, which emerged in London in 2007 (with the demise of Northern Rock bank) did not have as negative effect on London economy as it did on other parts of the UK and European countries. Despite its significant dependence on financial sector London is thriving. However policy measures which are aimed at addressing some of the worst imbalances caused by the recession (state debt, budget deficit, high levels of unemployment, overstretched public sector and cash-hungry private sector) might undermine competitiveness on the city and cause outflow of capital and talented individuals.


So all in all it is a very good read for those who are interested in capital cities development. Also while we are talking about London last week The Centre for London published interesting report on the development of emerging cluster of technological companies in the city - 'A Tale of Tech City'. If you are interested you can download it for free here.

Seminar 'Four Years On: How Have Capital Cities Dealt with the Crisis'

We are happy to announce the date for the second seminar of RSA Research Network 'The Impact of Global Economic Crisis on Capital Cities'. It will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 26 October 2012, Friday.

One day seminar “Four years on: how have capital cities dealt with the crisis” is supported by RSA and will be hosted by Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University (KNEU). 

You will find information about the key research questions, venue, registration process, bursaries and other practical information about the forthcoming seminar in the Call for Papers. Please, follow this link (PDF file will open).

With questions regarding registration and participation please contact local organiser Olga Mrinska.

Dual world of capital cities - results of Warsaw seminar

After more than half a year of virtual existence RSA Research Network ‘Impact of global economic crisis on capital cities’ has had its first seminar in Warsaw on 23^rd September. The title of our first gathering was ‘Crisis and cities: a dual world of capital cities’ and its core value was that it brought together experts who are dealing with very diverse aspects of capital cities development – from land management and planning to financial sector industry, from retail to community integration. The geography of cases presented at the seminar was also quite impressive, spanning from Warsaw to Tel Aviv and from Vilnus to London. We are also very pleased that seminar attracted a considerable number of young researchers who were taking active part in the seminar both as speakers and discussants.

It is of cause a challenging time for all of us in Europe and worldwide, whether we live in capital cities or small towns. As Professor Gorzelak pointed out while opening the seminar, the global economic crisis is far from being over and most importantly we can’t predict what path it will take in the next couple of months. That is why the task of our research network – to collect the experiences and examples of impact of crisis on the economy, social sphere and communities of capital cities as well as to exchange knowledge about the government actions aimed at its mitigation – seems very ambitious. 

However this fluidity of situation and inability to predict what will happen in the next quarter or year should be considered not as a handicap but rather as an opportunity. It is clear from our research that different countries have experienced different degrees of crisis and some of them have arrived to lower point sooner than others. It also means that while some cities might be only starting to experience negative trends, others might be well through them and already have managed to design effective (or not so effective) responses. These responses are useful not only for their citizens and businesses, but also for experts and decision-makers from other cities who are keen to look at similar cases internationally and thus formulate better informed position as for their own rescue plans.

It would be fair to say that only few presenters concentrated on ‘dual world’ of capital cities – key topic of the seminar. It is indeed a challenge to disentangle ‘the capital’ function from the sophisticated and often global nature of capital city life. That is why most of the research and analysis presented in Warsaw was dedicated to one specific aspect of city development which has experienced significant changes over the last 3 years. However we believe that this is a very good start and that we will have more opportunities for complex analysis in the forthcoming stages of our work – we still have 15 months to go, thanks to RSA grant supporting our activities.  

We are happy to invite you all to browse through the presentations which were delivered during Warsaw seminar. Please follow this link to the dedicated page of our blog. All authors are happy to share their presentation with wider audience. Some of them provided their contact details at the end of their presentations so you can ask them questions and engage into further discussions directly if the topic is relevant to your own interests. You are also welcome to use network e-mail bulletin as a source of contacts and instrument to disseminate your knowledge and news that are relevant to the group. If you are not yet subscribed write to Olga Mrinska to be included in the mailing list.

So next time we are going to get together in Kyiv, Ukraine, in October 2012 (the date still to be confirmed) after the buzz of Euro-2012 gets quieter and hotel/flight tickets prices return to their normal levels. We might only hope that by then the predictability of global economic situation will improve and we will stand on more solid ground. However even (most probably) if it does not happen our research platform will be an excellent place to share the ideas and experiences across capital cities of the world which otherwise might not be known to us. And who knows, maybe then there will be more answers than questions.

Meanwhile we are reverting to our virtual life and hoping RN will bring more exciting news and information to you – just watch this space.

Capital challenges: London riots

Last week riots in London have revealed the sheer scale of degradation and violence in the capital of modern global capitalism. The events that left streets of London (and other major British cities) looted and burnt and minds of people struggling to comprehend the scale of divergence in the British society have brought to surface the social dimension of economic decline that lies much deeper than indicators of unemployment, property value and average income.

It would be simplistic to attribute the violence and anti-social behavior among the groups of (mostly) young people who were crashing properties and livelihoods of people to post-2008 troubles of British economy. The causes of these phenomena are much deeper and have decades of history in the city with the most striking socio-economic contrasts. However it would be wrong to completely ignore the link between the global economic crisis and crisis in moral and aspirations among young Britons.

It was not that long ago when we've learned from Ian Gordon how London 'get away with it', how it performed much better than was anticipated in the wake of the global financial crisis. However today we are witnessing how the crisis is 'catching up' with relaxed City residents, prudent Government and disenchanted society. We can see a much deeper disillusionment and despair among people who have no jobs, no skills, no aspirations combined with quite costly demands fueled by modern consumerism culture. There is also visible anger of young people over the disappearing chances of "climbing the ladder" comparing to those of their parents and grandparents.

It is yet another aspect of the capital cities development in the aftermath of global economic crisis which is relevant to the interests of our network. If you are keen to read more in-depth analysis of London/British cities riots it's worth looking at interesting piece by Henry Overman from SERC, or Simon Jenkins from Guardian who is putting riots in the context of over-centralised British governance system.

London calamities are only one episode in the chain of global protests against the bitter consequences of the global crisis; lost jobs, cut spending, diminishing social standards, rising taxes and fees. Athens, Madrid, Reykjavik, Dublin and many other cities have seen the crowds of unhappy citizens marching central streets (though admittedly none of those were as chaotic and senseless as British riots).

Forthcoming seminar of our research network in Warsaw "Crisis and cities: a dual world of capital cities" will have some interesting insights into recent difficulties of Tel Aviv, Paris, Budapest, Kyiv and other capitals. If you have cases to share or analysis to offer on the causes of public disillusionment in capital cities and how it can be tackled, do write to us and we'll be happy to publish them on this blog.

You can still register for the forthcoming seminar in Warsaw on 23 September (read call for papers here) - just write to Maciej Smetkowski at EUROREG.

Hope to see you soon!

National default and US cities

Here is very interesting article on possible impact of US national default on American cities. Thought the remit is wider than the core interests of our research network however it provides good insight into the impact of macroeconomic policies, especially so extreme, on the cities' economy and welfare.

Let's hope this depressing scenario will not come true...

Do you have examples how austerity packages and national crisis-management measures impact your capitals? Then share with us.

Warsaw seminar - call for papers

Please, follow this link to read/upload Call for Papers for Research network seminar in Warsaw on 23 September 2011 (Friday). There you will find all necessary information: topics, schedule, practicalities, bursary application process etc.

Deadline for submitting abstracts - 31 August 2011. Bursaries are provided on first come first served basis. With any questions and queries please write to local organizer Maciej Smetkowski at msmetkowski@uw.edu.pl.

Publications

We've just published links to several relevant publications which might be of interest for network members and wider circle of readers. This is a combination of recently published reports on various aspects of global cities development (by Economist Intelligence Unit and by PWC), books and a range of publications by RN (research network) members about particular capital cities.

Feel free to write to us and suggest other sources/publications.