Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport
Britain and France are quite unique in the sense of the gap between the primary city and the others. I can't think of any other countries so dominated by their primary city.
There is a huge drop off between London and the secondary cities (is Manchester or Birmingham next on the list? Glasgow? In Canada, you never hear about secondary British cities unless for soccer or the Beatles [Liverpool]).
Ditto for Paris and the secondaries (Lyon, Marseille, etc.)
Whereas Italy (Milan, Rome, etc.), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, etc.), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona), etc. (not to mention, USA, Canada, Australia, Russia, etc.) are much less concentrated.
|
I think a primary reason for what you have mentioned comes down to the lack of image projection which itself is the result of having poorly concentrated and identifiable localised leadership.
If a city is unable to project its image, it is going to struggle in getting attention from central government, whether that be for more funding, greater control over city-wide expenditure or management of services. Let alone gain international recognition.
Network West Midlands as an example of this situation, is an exceptionally poor relative of Transport for London. Take the respective bus networks; Birmingham (and the surrounding area) has 46 operators carrying 300mn passengers per annum, London in contrast has 14 operators carrying 2,289mn per annum. Bus services across London are pretty much indistinguishable operating on the same Oyster fares. Birmingham in contrast requires a special multi-operator pass, and there is no established uniform livery scheme.
Granted, these are little issues taken on an individual basis, but together mount up to gross inefficiencies and wastage, are characteristics of a lack of joined-up thinking towards UK cities.
Ultimately there needs to be a complete redrawing of the political maps for UK cities. The OT article which refers to a Greater Manchester is a step in the right direction, but this is still rather piecemeal and again lacks the framework to ensure that it doesn’t fall apart. Only with clearly defined areas can mayoral positions and 'city' assemblies (as is the case in London) be created.