International Festival for Business Business Planning for City and Regional Innovation, 27 June 2014

摘要

Although the UK's wider economy is showing some signs of recovery, the outlook for local authorities and their planners, especially in northern England, remains very difficult, as the coalition government's austerity policies continue to bite. One consequence of the age of austerity has been a sharp cutback in, if not elimination of, public sector training budgets. The UK's annual Town and Country Planning Summer School has had to close its doors, and it is not unusual to attend a conference in London and find that there is no one attending from any of the big cities except London. To help overcome these problems, and the attendant breakdown in opportunities for learning and networking, Liverpool University's Department of Geography and Planning, with assistance from Peter Nears, Strategic Planning Director at Peel Holdings and Visiting Professor in the Department, decided to hold a free day event as part of Liverpool's 2014 International Festival of Business. This event focused on the opportunities for planners and the planning system to support business growth and revival, and sponsorship was secured from a variety of private sector organisations, especially consultancies. Richard Tracey of Liverpool Vision, the organisers of the International Festival for Business, welcomed the delegates.