Every Place Matters

Towards Effective Place-Based Policy

Andrew Beer, Fiona McKenzie, Markku Sotarauta, Sarah Ayres, Jiří Blažek

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000342376
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

Across the globe policy makers implement, and academics teach and undertake research upon, place-based policy. But what is place-based policy, what does it aspire to achieve, what are the benefits of place-based approaches relative to other forms of policy, and what are the key determinants of success for this type of government intervention? This Policy Expo examines these questions, reviewing the literature and the experience of places and their governments around the world. We find place-based policies are essential in contemporary economies, providing solutions to otherwise intractable challenges such as the long-term decline of cities and regions. For those working in public sector agencies the success or failure of place-based policies is largely attributable to governance arrangements, but for researchers the community that is the subject of this policy effort, and its leadership, determines outcomes. This Policy Expo explores the differing perspectives on place-based policy and maps out the essential components of effective and impactful actions by government at the scale of individual places.

1.
WHAT IS PLACE-BASED POLICY?

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Technological change, an aging work force and a global economic downturn are posing enormous challenges to OECD regions. While some regions are equipped to confront and handle these changes, others are struggling to remain competitive.¹

As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) observed a decade ago, many regions in developed economies have struggled to reshape themselves in the face of rapid national and global economic change. The Barca Report, An Agenda for a Reformed Cohesion Policy (2009), firmly put place-based policy at the heart of the European agenda and elevated place-based policy on the global stage.² Many cities and regions have been called on to adjust their industry mix or the practices of their major industries as a consequence of environmental change, the rise of new technologies or the loss of a longstanding competitive advantage. Some cities and regions have been able to reshape themselves as local, national and global markets have changed, but others have found it a near impossible challenge as they have been ‘locked’ into particular development pathways. Place-based policies are one way that governments and institutions look to respond to economic and social challenges, bringing together a package of measures that seek to meet regional needs in their totality.

As the term implies, place-based policies have a focus on specific cities, localities or regions, but they represent far more than just a label for already established programmes of government activity, or the concentration of public sector resources in specific locations. Place-based policies embody an ethos about, and an approach to, the development of economies and society that acknowledges that the context of each and every city, region and rural district offers opportunities for advancing well-being. It advocates for a development approach tailored to the needs of each. Importantly, place-based policy explicitly seeks the development of all parts of the landscape, with no settlement too small or too remote to plan for progress (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Place-based policy: core elements

Over the past decade increased attention has been paid to place-based policy-making. This focus has been evident in the European Union (EU) and several other nations and has been applied to a wide-range of policy domains, including the emergence of place-based leadership, industry policy, innovation, and in managing the impacts of economic shocks and economic transition. There are strong intersections with other areas of academic work, such as the literature on city and regional leadership.³ There is also a growing movement towards place-focused industry policies.⁴ Other areas of convergence include the development of industry clusters, the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems, the implementation of Smart Specialisation and the development of spatially bound infrastructure programmes. Many or all of these initiatives can be identified as examples of place-based policy (Box 1.1).

Box 1.1 What is place-based policy?

WHAT IS PLACE-BASED POLICY?

The project team was able to seek views of colleagues at the 2019 Regional Studies Association Annual Conference workshop in Santiago de Compostela. An opening question to the focus group discussion was “What do you think of when we say ‘place-based policy’?” The responses to this question gives a sense of the broad and varied elements which may be included in the concept:

• Coordination of challenges
• Multiple levels of governance
• Collective public good
• Complex policy
• Smart specialisation
• Place leadership
• Shared leadership
• Consensus
• Cross-boundary
• Shared goal
• Community aims
• Co-design
• Social networks
• Social capital
• Links between actors
• Individual agency
• Local institutions

The origins of place-based policy may be traced to the 1990s.⁵ That decade saw governments influenced by several influential thinkers, for example:

• Alan Scott showed how individual cities and regions can shape national economic growth through their influence on individual technologies.⁶
• Paul Krugman established ‘the new economic geography’ and showed the ways in which cities and regions linked trade to economic growth.⁷
• Michael Porter demonstrated how clusters of locally based industries were a driving force in national economies.⁸
• Ed Glaeser and colleagues set out how the characteristics of individual cities shape growth.⁹
• Adam Jaffe and colleagues articulated the important role of knowledge spillovers and exchange as a determinant of growth.¹⁰

While each of these authors made a distinctive contribution, their combined work provided the intellectual foundation and policy rationale for place-based policy.¹¹ The use of place-based policies by government was influenced by the impacts of globalisation which affected not only individuals but also places:

modern globalisation has increased the differences between places which are ‘winners’ and places which are ‘losers’ from globalization … regions and cities which are dominated by multinational firms, internationally renowned universities, high quality and large scale research centres, high quality transportation and communications infrastructures, and highly qualified workforces, tend to be places which are prospering in the modern economy. … In contrast, places with few of these assets or characteristics tend to be struggling and left behind in the modern economy in many ways.¹²

Overall, this body of work on ‘place’ and ‘places’ as a key determinant of economic success set the ground for new policy formulations. Alongside this was debate about the rising disenfranchisement of those living in the ‘places that don’t matter’.¹³ The most notable initiative was the Barca Report mentioned above. It took the modernisation of the EU budget as its starting point, but concluded that place-based policy was the best possible solution to achieving the EU’s economic and social goals. In the words of McCann, the Barca Report argued that:

tackling institutionally-generated policy traps was a critical priority and role for nationally-led regional policy. In particular, well designed and locally tailored regional policies which fostered the local engagement of many different types of (private, public and civil society) stakeholders could help to unlock development traps.¹⁴

In addition, Barca argued that place-based policies need to be a form of public intervention that relies on local knowledge, and that such interventions are ‘superior to alternative strategies’, especially in their capacity to address inefficiencies in the economy as well as persistent social exclusion.¹⁵

Despite the emergence of place-based policy, several authors have argued such initiatives lack conceptual clarity and operational precision.¹⁶ Ironically, the Barca Report had called for ‘greater coherence with the place-based or territorial policy concept’.¹⁷ The subsequent lack of a shared understanding and agenda for action may partly be due to the ways in which the stakeholders within institutions have fundamentally reshaped their understanding of this concept, and their engagement with public debate on this issue, to best suit their own priorities. This brings with it two risks: first, the concept of place-based policy has run the risk of being diluted as it has been attached to a very broad range of very different policies and actions; and second, it has led to less effective strategies being adopted, in turn resulting in a sense of disillusionment and the abandonment of such interventions. Moreover, there is not a literature on ‘best practice case studies’ for place-based policies and associated transitions. There are several published case studies, but these do not represent a formal catalogue of successful policy implementation and are more likely to highlight the limitations and deficiencies evident in particular instances.

There are a number of complex issues relating to place-based policy, and there is a notable absence of clarity for public sector authorities charged with mapping out new place-based frameworks. There are questions around how to identify success factors and risks for the effective implementation of place-based policy, and there are also uncertainties around the ex-ante conditions that need to be in place for the successful implementation of place-based policy, that is, the circumstances and structures that provide fruitful ground for place-based policy. Importantly, researchers and policy-makers alike need to know more about the role of governance, and innovation in governance, as a pathway to the successful implementation of place-based policy. They also need to know how to both understand, and bring into positive effect, the capacities of communities and community leaders.

In short, there is a disconnect between academic writing in this field and the policy advice and prescriptions readily available to those charged with implementing development. There is an unquestioned need within policy networks and the community at large for stronger insights into ‘what works’ and what does not, with respect to place-based policy. Therefore, this Policy Expo addresses these gaps by drawing together insights from academics, policy-makers and the lessons learned from case studies of several place-based interventions.

1.2 DEFINING PLACE

Regions have formed a core concept in geographical thinking since the late 19th century, whereas place is a more recent addition to the geographical vocabulary.¹⁸ Concepts of place and region overlap semantically in many ways, but each has its own history and meaning.¹⁹ The term ‘region’ is a scalable concept that usually refers to a subnational scale, but may also be applied to a supranational scale such as the Baltic Sea Region or the Middle East Region...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preamble
• Authors
• Executive Summary
• Key Recommendations
• 1. What is Place-Based Policy?
• 2. What are the Benefits of Place-Based Policy?
• 3. Requirements and Challenges of Place-Based Policy
• 4. Outcomes of Place-Based Policy: What Works and What Does Not?
• 5. Conclusions: Questions Answered, Issues Remaining
• Glossary