A brief by Elise Baudelet, junior expert in territorial marketing at CAAC
Partnership among cities are built to face different issues: tourism, innovation, or developing business; as it is the case for Manchester and Liverpool when launching in August 2014 a new ‘Cities for Business’ partnership.
Joe Anderson, former Mayor of Liverpool, said: “More unites us than divides us and the International Festival for Business is an example of how Liverpool and Manchester can work together for the interests of the North West.” Already involved in transnational cooperation through the ATBrand project to improve its city branding strategy, Liverpool goes a step further in coopetition with this new collaboration.
Indeed, in a competitive market, city managers, businesses and universities need to collaborate in order to enhance their attractiveness. Joining their strength will help them to achieve a sustainable economic recovery in a fierce environment.
The headline of the partnership agreement is to work jointly on plans to boost employment and investment as well as to innovate for supporting local businesses. Therefore, ‘Cities For Business’ has issued a common statement, addressing business and civic leaders on three objectives:
• Advising government on policy to rebalance the economy
• Working jointly with stakeholders to create jobs, investment and growth
• Innovating to benefit business and economy of proximity
Aiming to focus on local economies to raise their national output and to face the international competition instead of having cities with the same challenges competing against each other, the alliance has highlighted five steps needed to achieve its aim:
• Innovation Growth Hubs in each Core City to support local business and strengthen high-growth high-productivity sectors.
• More local control over skills and employment services so they respond to the current and future needs of local labour markets, and people stand more chance of getting the jobs they train for.
• Freeing up how investment is used, to create better transport and broadband links, to connect our cities and deliver the infrastructure that is fundamental to business growth.
• Tailoring national housing policy to local needs, with more control over how existing investment is deployed.
• Access to cheaper, cleaner energy, supporting local businesses and ending fuel poverty, with cities once again creating the utilities of the future.
Should you find some great city partnership of your own, please let us know in the comments.