Austerity and the Green City Initiative in Oldham

February 2019: Initiatives such as the Green City Region Initiative in Greater Manchester are demonstrating that sustainable development plans can support the transformation of deprived regions. They aim to develop an integrated approach that simultaneously combats economic, social, and environmental challenges at the local level.

Information

UK regions are turning towards local plans to combat their environmental impact and create greener spaces. One example is Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham who launched a campaign to transform the region into a carbon neutral green area by 2038. Under the Green City Region Initiative, towns such as Oldham initiated concepts to transform their natural capital into eco-tourism centres for birdwatching, develop a borough-wide green brand as an exemplar Green City on energy, carbon, water, and green infrastructure that initiates a social movement. Their wide-ranging projects reflect elements of a ‘Green New Deal’ and demonstrate an integrated approach to environmental, health and social problems in deprived areas. Their objectives include the delivery of a sustainable economy with cutting-edge environmental technologies, tackling fuel poverty and generating training and employment opportunities for the local workforce.

Implications & Opportunities

Projects such as Oldham’s Northern Roots initiative serve as proof of concept that deprived areas can re-brand and transform themselves into sustainable green spaces that focus on the community’s assets and look for ways to protect, enhance, and leverage their value beyond short-term economic assessments. It exemplifies that sustainable development plans can be responses to the pressure of austerity on local authority budgets that will help to fill the gap left by the retreat of the state as well as addressing a plethora or environmental, economic, and social challenges. Further, such projects can be starting point to develop wider networks and initiate similar transformation in surrounding regions.

Limitations

Despite initiatives such as the Green City Region Initiative offering tremendous potential for local communities and economies, they require initial capital investments and depend on the collaboration of local governments, the acceptance within local communities, and the development of a public profile.

Sources

Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation. (2019). Greater Manchester Green Summit. Retrieved from https://www.gmcvo.org.uk/greater-manchester-green-summit

Northern Roots. (2019). What We Do. Retrieved from https://northern-roots.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/

Green Growth. (2018). Greater Manchester Unveils New Green City Vision. Retrieved from https://www.green-growth.org.uk/article/greater-manchester-unveils-new-green-city-vision

While, A., Jonas, A. E. G., & Gibbs, D. (2010). From sustainable development to carbon control: eco-state restructuring and the politics of urban and regional development. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35(1), 76–93.doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2009.00362.x