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Centre For Cities have moved!

Visit their new web site at http://www.centreforcities.org/

About IPPR centre for cities

About centre for cities

The Centre for Cities is an independent urban policy research unit. It is a registered charity (No 1119841) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England (No 6215397). Our core funder is The Gatsby Foundation, one of the Sainsbury family charitable trusts; and our chair is Tom Bloxham MBE, chairman and founder of Urban Splash.

Set up in 2005, the Centre’s main goal is to understand how and why economic growth and change takes place in Britain’s cities, and to help cities improve their economic performance. Through our unique focus on the economic drivers of urban success, we are building up a strong track record of research on the economic performance of UK cities.

In our first phase, we looked at city-centre housing and business investment in deprived areas. We also focused a lot on city leadership, and helped to put city-regions on the map. More recently, we have begun to publish new research on city performance, urban transport, and the economic links between cities.

Cities don’t follow the national economy – they are the national economy. Cities are where most jobs are created, where most of our high-performing businesses are concentrated, and where most innovation occurs. But the performance of our cities is uneven, and the ability to share in opportunity is not equal.  We believe successful cities can and should deliver prosperity, innovation, jobs and opportunities – but to do this, they need greater financial autonomy and political devolution.  

our board

The Centre for Cities Board exists to:

  • review the Centre’s progress on delivery, profile and impact
  • steer the future direction of the Centre’s output and identify key issues for further research
  • build on the Centre’s high-level networks in government, business and specific cities.

The group is chaired by Tom Bloxham MBE, chairman, joint founder and the major shareholder of the Urban Splash Group Ltd.

Other members are Stephen Ashworth - Partner, Denton Wilde Sapte, Joanna Averley - Deputy Chief Executive, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), Professor Diana Green, Susan Hitch - adviser to Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Sir Richard Leese - Leader of Manchester City Council, and Tony Travers - Director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics.