A report published yesterday [10 September] by think tank Centre for Cities calls for greater devolution for the UK’s cities so that their decarbonisation can be accelerated through a more joined up approach to spatial planning, transport planning and local energy sources.
“Metro mayors in England are already taking advantage of powers at their disposal to help the UK make the transition to net zero,” said Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, citing Greater Manchester’s Bee Network for public transport and Liverpool City Region’s upcoming spatial plan, designed to link new homes to public transport routes. “But mayors’ powers are still pretty limited. The more power cities have, the more they will be able to achieve.”
Accelerating net zero delivery: What can UK cities learn from around the world?’, features 13 case studies from cities including Stockholm, Tokyo and Montreal. There are some examples closer to home too, from London and Greater Manchester.
The report argues that although the UK’s urban areas have decarbonised at a faster rate than non-urban ones, cities need to move faster towards net zero, since there is more opportunity to do so in more densely populated areas. To do this, cities should create more homes near to transport links, improve interchanges between different modes of transport and move people away from cars to public transport and active travel. The report also looks at constructing more energy efficient new buildings, retrofitting existing ones and deploying heat networks.
Greater Manchester is showcased because in 2022 it became the UK’s first combined authority to produce a local area energy plan (LEAP). The plan covers retrofit of building fabric, decarbonisation of heat, local energy generation and storage and is part of the authority’s goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2038.
Meanwhile, a case study involving the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington features the UK’s first on-street, on-demand cargo bike-sharing scheme. The idea is that small businesses, who may be looking at switching to more sustainable transport modes, can trial the cargo bikes for a small charge. The report points out that this a small-scale venture, with just eight bikes in the scheme, but says that the idea is scalable and notes that Manchester is piloting a similar scheme.
Higher density housing
The report suggests that the UK’s cities should be more densely populated if they are to decarbonise faster, pointing out that London is less densely populated than cities including Geneva, Bilbao, and Naples. And the UK’s largest secondary cities such as Manchester and Glasgow, are less dense than European cities of comparable size.
Rather than sprawling forever into the greenbelt with estates of semi-detached homes, city authorities should be stacking them high on brownfield land and building homes, offices and services close to transport hubs, a planning process known as transport-oriented development (TOD). This means that more people will use public transport and active travel, says the report.
Increasing devolution for UK cities in recent years is a step in the right direction, according to the Centre for Cities. Combined authorities, such as London and Manchester, are coordinating their spatial and transport planning to promote TOD. And the five-year City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements will help the eight English city regions involved to develop long-term transport strategies.
But large cities need greater fiscal authority, argues the report. Without that, the UK will find it harder to meet its carbon reduction commitments.
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