City leaders need power to adapt

摘要

My dream job would be mayor of London - but in my dream, I have fully devolved powers like the mayors of New York or Hamburg. I recently spoke at a virtual event by international affairs organisation Chatham House on cities' resilience to pandemics and other crises. It got me thinking: who is accountable for what happens in urban areas? Fellow panellist Shirley Rodrigues, London deputy mayor for environment and energy, laid out the realities of a Covid-19 world. A drastic fall in income from public transport fares, business rates and council tax payments coupled with a sharp rise in spending to tackle the crisis leaves London with a near-£500m budget black hole.