Last week, figures from across the UK came together at
'Addressing City Flight,' a day-long event hosted by the region's
Urban Partnership Group (UPG) at Leicester's Highpoint Conference
Centre, which focused on the priorities for the region's urban
areas in attracting and retaining residents and businesses during
the recession and beyond.
Over 60 public and private sector representatives attended the
event and heard from a range of high-profile speakers about how to
achieve sustainable urban centres in the challenging economic
climate. There were also discussions about the role that
regeneration plays in acting as a positive stimulus for growth and
economic development.
During the afternoon, a range of workshops were held to capture
stakeholder views about regional policy and previous Urban Action
Plans. These will inform a new Urban East Midlands framework
document, which is being developed by the UPG in conjunction with
key partners such as East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and
the East Midlands Regional Assembly (EMRA), and builds on the
current regional Urban Evidence Base.
Speaking at the event, Steve Brown, Deputy Chairman of emda -
the UPG's main funding organisation, said: "The economic
downturn has drastically reduced the amount of private sector
investment in regeneration, forcing public agencies to dig deep to
ensure the key regeneration schemes don't falter.
"This is why it is more important than ever that we share the
same priorities and join up our investment to make sure that
regeneration activities aren't allowed to slow to a stop."
The Urban East Midlands aims to provide a 'snapshot' of the
region's urban areas, their strengths, assets and specialisms and
the key challenges that they face. It will focus on five
themes identified by the UPG as the priorities for achieving
sustainable urban centres:
- Place Shaping
- Positive Growth
- Delivering Sustainable Urban Infrastructure
- Positive Profile
- Healthy Economy
The document will be published in July and aims to provide
simple recommendations to enable towns and cities across the East
Midlands to work collaboratively to survive the recession and
achieve long term goals.