Cities Programme
A programme of work with a range of cities to share knowledge and expertise, and to help local leaders develop long term strategies.
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The Commission's Cities Programme concluded with a final report published in October 2020 which shares lessons on principles for shaping local infrastructure strategies, drawing on the experiences of five case study cities and beyond.
In its National Infrastructure Assessment, the Commission recommended that Ministers provide new powers and £43 billion funding on top of current spending levels between now and 2040 to city leaders, including Metro Mayors, to develop long-term strategies for improving transport links.
The Assessment also highlighted the need for these strategies to help unlock job opportunities and deliver much-needed new homes.
Following the National Infrastructure Assessment, the Commission launched a partnership programme for cities and city regions cross the country, to share knowledge and expertise and to help local leaders develop long-term strategies that link transport, housing and job opportunities. You can find more detail about the programme in the tabs on the left hand side of this page.
Next Section: Principles
8 principles for effective and ambitious strategies for urban infrastructure, explored in more detail in the Commission's final report on the Cities Programme.
Principles
8 principles for effective and ambitious strategies for urban infrastructure, explored in more detail in the Commission's final report on the Cities Programme.
Vision
An infrastructure strategy should demonstrate an ambitious, yet realistic long-term vision that sets the trajectory for future change. Cities should develop an infrastructure strategy based around achieving their vision, rather than the other way around.
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Scope
Scoping sets clear boundaries within which the strategy will be developed. An infrastructure strategy might involve neighbouring authorities and is likely to consider issues beyond infrastructure, such as health and wellbeing, inclusion, environment and the economy.
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Engage and consult
Some of the most successful infrastructure plans and strategies have emerged from processes that have sought to engage and build consensus, including with internal colleagues, external stakeholders and across political parties. Insufficient engagement is the biggest risk to the plan not getting traction.
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Evidence
Cities will need a range of evidence sources about their existing assets, future needs and the benefits of intervention to inform their strategies. Collecting evidence might be as much about analysing and modelling existing data as it is about commissioning wholly new datasets.
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Options
Cities should consider a wide range of options for meeting their objectives. Not considering options risks missing solutions that might offer better social value. Options such as maintenance, regulation and pricing are often more cost-effective and efficient than building new infrastructure.
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Test
The strategy should be adaptable to uncertainties and risk. Potential interventions need to be stress tested to understand whether they are likely to cope with a range of future outcomes and sifted to consider their acceptability, effectiveness, feasibility, deliverability and affordability.
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Prioritise
An infrastructure strategy should not be an unachievable wish list. The priorities for action should be clearly identified and linked to the objectives. The best schemes may be those that are part of a longer term direction of travel, even if they do not have the best return when viewed individually.
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Evaluate
Proper evaluation of interventions is crucial to creating a robust evidence base which can be used to justify further investment. Cities should build in evaluation from the early stages to ensure that budget and resource is approved alongside the main schemes or interventions.
Read moreNext Section: Case study cities
Five cities and city regions were selected to work with the Commission to benefit from expert advice as they developed strategies to improve local transport connections, unlock job opportunities and deliver much-needed new homes.
Case study cities
Five cities and city regions were selected to work with the Commission to benefit from expert advice as they developed strategies to improve local transport connections, unlock job opportunities and deliver much-needed new homes.
Next Section: Knowledge sharing programme
The Commission held a series of knowledge sharing events during 2018 and 2019 to bring together colleagues from a wide selection of cities, providing access to leading experts and a chance to discuss common challenges.
Knowledge sharing programme
The Commission held a series of knowledge sharing events during 2018 and 2019 to bring together colleagues from a wide selection of cities, providing access to leading experts and a chance to discuss common challenges.
These events helped inform the programme’s final report. Each event focused on a specific topic, providing an opportunity for cities that have already achieved success in that area to share their experience of how they tackled the problem and why it worked.
The events took place across England, from the North East down to the South West, and started by looking at the fundamentals of designing an effective infrastructure plan, covering some of the key strategic and economic considerations needed to underpin any successful integrated planning work.
Below are links to summaries of some of the events:
- Fundamentals of designing an effective infrastructure strategy – summary / presentations
- Mass transit and the efficient use of road space – summary / presentations
- Funding, financing and governance for effective infrastructure delivery – summary
- Clean air and technology to enhance our cities as great places to live – summary
- Placemaking for quality of life and housing – summary
- Urban freight – summary / presentations
Principles for effective urban infrastructure: Lessons learned from the Next Steps for Cities programme
The Commission’s research identifies eight principles which cities can follow to ensure effective and ambitious urban infrastructure strategies.
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Armitt speech on principles for urban infrastructure
Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, delivered a speech today (7 October 2020) at the launch of the Commission’s report, Principles for effective urban infrastructure. The launch event was co-hosted with Centre for Cities. The text of Sir John’s speech can be found below. Before I begin let me thank our...
Principles for effective urban infrastructure
Next steps for cities