Good Local Economics

Deficit reduction depended upon increased income from expected growth. However, instead of 2.6% growth we now have a double-dip recession with growth below 0%. The pressure to develop an adequate economic growth strategy has resulted in a number of piecemeal measures that have not been meaningfully backed up, so far, by the legislative programme outlined for the next session of parliament.

Crowd-based tools have the power to put citizens at the heart of urban renewal. In the second instalment based on his new book, Recivilising: The Rise of the Renewal Renegades, Storm Cunningham looks at the impact

In the first article in this series I talked about the growth in crowdfunding tools and how they were helping citizen-led projects to get off the ground. However, it’s not just a lack of tools that’s been holding back effective public engagement in renewal projects. Low standards and expectations play a major role. The level of citizen involvement in the future of their communities and regions has traditionally been so low (almost non-existent) that institutions quickly reach a level of pride and satisfaction when even the smallest amount of progress is made in citizen engagement.