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10 | AoU Journal #2

Bradford is a big small city located within a very distinctive

Yorkshire district. It is big in terms of its layers of history, and

is also expanding further with a fast growing population that

makes it the youngest major city in England, with the largest

proportion of people of Pakistani origin in England.

The city draws upon this scale, dynamism and diversity.

Our people are enterprising, with high levels of self-

employment, and the citys creativity was recognised with

the worlds rst UNESCO City of Film designation in 2009.

As a small city Bradford is accessible and personable in

scale, but always looking to improve the conditions for

successful new investment.

Bradford supports this with an approach to placemaking

that builds on its historic strengths as a producer city,

earning its living by making, creating and trading. J.B.

Priestley once wrote: Bradford has never dealt with this

place and that, but has dealt with the whole wide world,

putting a best coat and waistcoat on the planet itself.

Supporting our ongoing growth as an outward-looking

producer city is critical to our current and future success.

We all know that effective placemaking is not a quick x,

and the projects that Bradford Council supports are oftenthe more difcult ones, where the market has been unable

to provide an appropriate solution. We are also somewhat

obsessive about implementation. Our team of teams

approach, in which we focus on collaborative delivery with

different partners bringing complementary resources to

the table, was a contributing factor to Westeld announcing

they plan to start construction of the Broadway shopping

centre in 2013.

That Bradford Council and its partners are committing for

the longer-term is already apparent. When the national

economy slowed, we invested in our built environment atsuch a scale that investors are now responding. City Park,for instance, is now an iconic space synonymous with the

image of the city, but at its heart remains a social space

where people from all the districts communities come to

meet, interact, relax and have fun.

Matching our own resources with government investment

through the Regional Growth Fund, we have created a

growth zone in the city centre. The zone enables a

focusing of resources and incentives to encourage business

relocation or growth, by offering super-fast broadband and

city centre wi-, alongside a responsive planning system,

access to employment and skills support, and a

BradfordA pro-active producer city?

business growth scheme. The latter provides rate rebates

for businesses creating new jobs or bringing disused

commercial space back into use.

Weve also been at the forefront of new interventionsin placemaking. The Council stepped in to providea commercial loan to a developer when the banks

could not, allowing Provident Financial to open theirnew headquarters at the heart of the city. Leading on

the Leeds City Region revolving investment fund will

create up to 500m for investment in projects that are

commercially viable and support economic growth, but

are unable to secure sufcient nance due to conditionsin the nancial markets. Bradford has been adept at

making the most of the resources gained, such as

levering local jobs out of construction investment in CityPark, and creating meanwhile uses like Bradford Urban

Garden.

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AoU Journal #2 | 11

Congress VII

The Producer City: an urbanism for the 21st century?

Bradford

15-17 May 2013

Using the city of Bradford as our laboratory, this yearsCongress will explore the notion of how an established

post-industrial city rethinks its roles, economy, and also

recasts its physical place, to help it compete both locally

and in the global economy.

Participants and delegates from a wide range of

backgrounds will explore the topic and, through

workshops, help contribute to Bradfords continued

thinking about how it shapes up to address future

challenges in its City Plan. For more information

visit academyofurbanism.org.uk

Looking ahead, the development of a new City Plan willhelp dene and position Bradfords future direction and set

out a distinctively local approach to stimulating economic

development and regeneration in the city. So far, we have

needed insight and leadership, energy and persistence, androbust collaboration.

If you would like to explore the producer city idea further,

using Bradford as a model, or contribute some creative

thinking towards our City Plan themes, then please comealong to the Academys Congress in May.

You will be made most welcome in this dynamic big

small city.

Barra Mac Ruair AoU

Strategic Director,Bradford Metropolitan District Council

City Park, Bradford, winner ofThe Great Place Award 2013

Bradford Metropolitan District Council