Professor Kevin Morgan from the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University presented research on the Foundational Economy at the UK2070 Commission: Wales Stakeholder Event, which took place at the Cardiff Business School this week.
The UK2070 Commission is an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities in the UK. Chaired by Lord Kerslake, it has been set up to conduct a review of the policy and spatial issues related to the UK’s long-term city and regional development.
The Commission aims to identify a transformative agenda for action to tackle these inequalities based on a number of key policy developments. These include: effective devolution; stronger and more connected local and regional economies; alignment of national and sub-national spatial planning and policy frameworks; and the establishment of a UK renewal fund.
On 30th May, the Commission published The First Report of the UK2070 Commission: Fairer and Stronger – Rebalancing the UK Economy, and the series of stakeholder events taking place across the UK aim to explore its emerging findings and shape its developing agenda for change. The Wales stakeholder event intended to explore pertinent issues for the Commission from a Welsh perspective.
Professor Kevin Morgan said: “We need a cognitive shift in our thinking about what constitutes place-based development and this involves freeing ourselves from what William Blake called our ‘mind forg’d manacles’. A key part of this cognitive shift is to view and value the Foundational Economy anew by appreciating the role that FE sectors – like care, health, education, food, energy, water and affordable housing, etc – play in meeting human needs and underwriting collective wellbeing”.