Much has been made about the role of devolution in driving growth and rebalancing the economy. In an economic climate that remains uncertain, few would argue with this thinking.
But shouldn’t we be striving for more from the devolution revolution than just economic growth? Enriching people’s lives is not just about increasing their income and some societal issues cannot be solved by economic growth alone.
At the Institution of Civil Engineers, although we welcome the creation of combined authorities and the focus on infrastructure, we believe the end goal for devolution could be a bigger prize – real improvements in environmental sustainability and quality of life.
The opportunities for infrastructure to deliver on these goals are vast. Our cities face a number of pressing social and environmental challenges, including poor air quality, a growing and ageing population, isolated communities, cuts to public services and the effects of climate change.
Devolution – through the combining of authorities and the pooling of resources, expertise, data and funding – presents a real opportunity to better plan and manage infrastructure that is responsive to these challenges.
It can, for instance, help us build resilience to flooding more effectively, by giving local leaders the power and resources to develop solutions that work for local areas. Rotterdam’s approach to flood prevention is a great example. Rotterdam sits in one of the lowest points in the Netherlands – 80% of it is below sea level. A city-level approach to its problem resulted in solutions that work with the city’s geography – from multi-functional terraced dykes to dual-purpose water plazas that act as children’s playgrounds in dry weather and temporarily hold storm water during heavy rain.
Moreover, the collaboration brought about by devolving powers can encourage a systems approach – where local infrastructure is managed as one interconnected network. This would help to avoid the domino effect communities can experience during extreme weather – where the failure of one system, such as a flood defence, causes disruption across transport, energy and water networks.
Greater devolution comes at a time when innovation in technology is also helping authorities to engage citizens, and plan and operate our cities more sustainably.
The Glasgow Future City project shows how this can be done. The city has introduced intelligent street lights to encourage more active living and improve health. The lights create a safer environment by responding to activity from pedestrians and cyclists; they even record air pollution levels. The project also helps people to understand how energy can be better used, saved and generated. Local communities have been brought together and empowered to share ideas and visions for their city.
We encourage those preparing devolution proposals to learn from and promote initiatives like this. Greater focus on social and environmental improvements might just be the tool to garner more active engagement in devolution from the public. People should not see it as something that just happens to them – but an opportunity to create a better society and use infrastructure to create great places to live.
Devolution doesn’t happen overnight, which means we can and should continually make improvements to city deals and ensure we are all working towards the very best outcomes – thriving, sustainable and engaged local economies.
Judith Sykes is author of the Institution of Civil Engineers State of the Nation: Devolution report and director at Expedition Engineering.
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