ABSTRACT
This is the first of two chapters on growth management issues in English regions, with this chapter focusing on Leeds in Yorkshire and Chapter 8 looking at London. Although both are covered by the same national planning framework for England, they represent very different regional contexts as London enjoys a form of regional democratic accountability for planning issues which does not yet extend to other parts of England. This chapter looks at Leeds because it provides a good illustration of some of the current pressures in the planning system to think about city region issues, including the key spatial planning challenges around infrastructure provision. Leeds is particularly interesting because it has emerged as one of the most remarkable urban success stories in England since the late 1980s. Part of the industrial heartland of West Yorkshire, noted historically for its wool and engineering industries, more recently it can reasonably claim to have established itself as a major financial services centre, second only to London in England. For neighbouring authorities, the growth of Leeds has been both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side the city has developed a large functional hinterland, with substantial growth of commuting to Leeds city centre in particular. While the new jobs are welcome for those within commuting distance, the growth of Leeds also brings problems for its neighbours, in terms of house price growth and affordability for local people, and loss of greenfield sites to new housing developments. A key issue for Leeds is that the government expects housing to be resolved at local authority level, while it is actively empowering regions and city regions as preferred scales of governance for economic development and, most tellingly, bids for government investment. This leaves local authorities with responsibility for dealing with difficult development decisions, without having much influence on the essential decisions around infrastructure investment needed to support successful development. It is in this broad context that this chapter examines the pressures for a rescaling of the politics of development in favour of a Greater Leeds area, known as the Leeds City Region.
