Been v. busy so sorry about the lateness of my reply. On 17 Apr 2010, at 15:42, John Sechrest wrote:
> > > On Sat, Apr 17, 2010 at 5:37 AM, Paul Robinson <[email protected]> wrote: > On 14 Apr 2010, at 16:00, [email protected] wrote: > > > Old model: attract major employers to the area > > New model: make the area attractive to SMEs and freelancers > > I've yet to see a single city or region on the planet prepared to do > everything needed to do that, because it's hard to tick the boxes and show > the outputs. Good luck.\ > > Can you elaborate on the "do everything needed.." bit? > > There are several cities in regions addressing this question. What particular > things do you see different groups not doing? In the UK there is a *huge* pot of money that goes towards "economic/business/cultural development" in the regions that is handled by Regional Development Authorities (RDAs for short). I expect what they do is the same in most parts of the World: take some public money, spread it around, and hope Good Things happen. Problem is, their output model has things like "Jobs created" and "Turnover increased". They need to show that for every £1 million they spend, they create 'x' number of jobs or improve the economy by £y. Now consider you have two options: 1. Subsidise a major employer to move to the area who will build a facility housing 500 staff, and whose stated aim is to increase profits by 10% each year 2. Subsidise facilities for 500 individuals who don't want to grow and take on staff, and whose stated aim is to have a high quality of life Given your job is on the line, you're likely to opt for the first option. It's backward thinking but it has a major impact at regional, city and local levels. What is needed is a completely different model of thinking about how to fund economic and business development, and ideally one that is based on quality of life rather than indefinite, infinite, unsustainable "growth". Sorry if that sounds like a rant, but I've had enough of the public money problems in the UK to last me a lifetime. -- Paul Robinson http://vagueware.com :: [email protected] :: +44 (0) 7740 465746 Vagueware Limited is registered in England/Wales, number 05700421 Registered Office: 3 Tivoli Place, Ilkley, W. Yorkshire, LS29 8SU Correspondence: 13 Crossland Road, Manchester, M21 9DU -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
