Member Article

Newcastle City Futures 2065: New report details city’s economic vision

Newcastle’s future to 2065 could be a blueprint for cities around the work, according to a report published by Newcastle University in partnership with the Government’s Chief Scientist.

The report, entitled Newcastle City Futures 2065, published today (Friday 17 July) say local Government has to find new ways to engage with all sections of the electorate, and with others who have a stake in the future of the city.

The report also explore the way in which incremental project-by-project decision making is “no substitute for long term thinking that can help make a city’s vision of the future become real”.

In term of future developments for Newcastle, the report highlights new trade and transport routes to Scandinavian cities and ports. It also puts focus on new jobs in low carbon technology.

Expanding the Tyne and Wear metro and reopening disused rail lines, as part of a fully integrated public transport system with prominent role for cycling and walking is necessary in the near future, according to the report.

Many of these ideas fed into one of the scenarios for the future developed by the team – namely as a test bed for assessing the opportunities provided by new technologies and ways of working involving business, universities, public authorities and citizens that address the major future societal challenges.

Mark Tewdwr-Jones, Professor of Town Planning at Newcastle University and one of the report’s authors, explained: “The summer Budget made clear that devolution is a priority for the Government. Some cities will soon be getting new powers over transport, economic development and healthcare. To get the most from these powers, cities need proper, collaborative participation from the academic community, business, citizens and public authorities in an ongoing debate about the future of the city.

“Last summer’s City Futures exhibition, and the linked forums run in the Guildhall by the University, show exactly how this can be done.”

To inform the report Newcastle University led a comprehensive engagement programme that spanned interests across the North East and across a diverse range of organisations. It involved over 100 experts and stakeholders,100s of pieces of evidence from official reports and the opinions of approximately 2,500 members of the public.

Roy Sandbach, Chair of the North East LEP (NELEP) Innovation Board, was one of the participants in the engagement programme. He said: “To be competitive the North East needs to develop a fully people-centric vision.

“I love the innovative way that this work uses challenging long-term scenarios to create dialogue on our future. If we can all work together to illustrate a vibrant and exciting vision then maybe we can move beyond the limited perspectives of local debate and think big in our quest for regional power.

“This way we’ll attract innovative thinkers to bring their city-relevant projects to us first, create an example for the world and make people even prouder to live here.”

The City Futures report has also led to a new partnership: The City Futures Development Group is a collaborative arrangement between Newcastle and Northumbria universities and Newcastle City Council, the NELEP, and other policy organisations.

This partnership is a first for Newcastle and for northern core cities as a whole. Its purpose is to provide a one-stop shop for academia, local government and industry to discuss emerging and new areas of research that could be of benefit to the city.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .