Topic 4 - EQ3 - Regeneration Flashcards
Why is national government important in balancing regional growth?
The national gov’t considers levels of inequality across country and takes into account regional inequalities (e.g. North-South divide with £2,500 spent per person per year in London and was £5 in NE (on transport) + deindustrialisation hit North harder with unemployment still an issue)
What is the National Government infrastructure project that we study?
HS2
What are the two types of infrastructure?
Economic infrastructure - railways (greatest proportion of public sector economic infrastructure spending), highways, energy distribution, water and sewage management…
Social infrastructure - public housing, schooling, healthcare/hospitals…
Why is infrastructure important for regional growth? What two things must infrastructure take into account?
Economic infrastructure, especially in regards to transport development, is important in addressing issues of accessibility key to economic growth.
Social infrastructure is key to developing human capital, reducing regional inequalities and generally just providing for the people.
Cost>benefit and longevity.
What is HS2
Proposed new high speed rail connecting the major UK cities in much shorter times
What are the benefits of the Nat Gov’ts HS2 project?
- Reduce domestic air and car travel reducing emissions
- Help bridge the north south divide by making the north more attractive to investment due to connectivity to the world city of London
- Approx. 60,000 construction jobs
- Cut travel times enormously (gov’t report in 2008 said that by 2025 the UK would lose £22bn per year)
Why are some people opposed to the Nat Gov’ts HS2 project?
- Not the right investment of money (NHS instead)
- Not beneficial for the ordinary commuter
- Invades countryside and specifically the Chiltern Hills AONB
- No intermediate stations so rural communities (most affected) do not get benefit
- 40+ MPs voted against the HS2 line from London to Birmingham (many of these MPs represented constituencies that would be affected)
What is infrastructure?
Basic physical systems of a place
Why is there a need for more housing?
- Rapidly rising population (increasing birth rate and net migration)
- Increase in households (people married later and more divorces)
- Foreign property investors buying up real estate
- Right to buy scheme got rid of a lot of social housing = need for more affordable housing
-National interest trump local interests in planning laws much of the time and the nat gov’t has focused on stimulating economic growth (not housing)
More affordable housing needed as house prices rising greatly in relation to salary/earnings - e.g. Cornwall is a low wage rural county yet houses are extremely expensive and demands for low cost social housing rose 40% in the early 2010s.
How has fracking become a source of conflict between national and local government?
From 2015 a new fast track system helped solve the issue of how slow it was for companies to get fracking licenses permitting them to frack in the UK (there are fracking sites in practically every corner of the UK). Cuadrilla resources got this license through the fast track to frack in Lancashire, but when it came to beginning fracking the local Lancashire Gov’t with support of residents blocked Cuadrilla from drilling.
‘Frack off’ is a famous anti-fracking pressure group in the UK. People are so opposed to fracking because it has been linked with damaging landscapes (shale gas appears correlate with areas of AONB and National Parks in the UK - e.g. near Yorkshire Dales and South Downs), water contamination, soil contamination… BUT national government have turned to fracking due to their desperation to improve UK energy security and match rising demands = conflict between locals and the nat gov’t.
How may national and local planning policy differ, especially post 2010 national policy shift?
In the 2010s the national gov’t focused planning policy on stimulating economic growth post-2008 crisis. Local planning laws are less likely to grant permission just because the project may have an economic benefit, will take into account local feeling.
What are the UK government’s two major open door policies?
- 1986 deregulation of UK’s financial centre (allowed foreign trading within City of London and allowed EU and US banks to establish themselves in the City)
- EU free movement of labour 1992 Treaty of Maastricht
What were the pros and cons of the 1986 financial deregulation policy?
Pros
-Encouraged more investment in London (as London was becoming less competitive)
-Led to the banking finance and business services sector doubling in proportion of UK GDP from 1986 to now
-Wealth led to Docklands regeneration and the development of carry wharf
Cons
-Deregulation of banks partly blamed for 2008 financial crisis and its serious effects
What were the pros and cons of the EU free labour movement?
Pros:
-Increased available labour market in the UK to solve skill shortages, e.g. summer fruit picking
-Balanced UK’s ageing population with younger migrants helping to stimulate economic growth
-Tax revenue from new migrants
-Increased cultural diversity = culture enrichment
Cons:
-Resentment from British people who felt they were losing jobs to EU migrants
-Some culture clashes between migrants and British working class
What are 4 effective strategies that local authorities can use to attract businesses to their area?
- Tax breaks
- Build buildings companies can use
- High speed broadband
- Build good infrastructure (transport links)
