Building on the current debate about the definition of infrastructure (see recent report by the Distressed Town Centre Property Taskforce, follow this link to download report) Loyd Grossman, Chair of the Heritage Alliance has identified the need to view our heritage as infrastructure in a letter to the Times regarding the split of English Heritage. The letter can be viewed by following this link.
We support both perspectives which echo an opinion piece we wrote for Public Finance, please see the excerpt below or follow this link for the full article.
Town centres: the infrastructure alternative
Infrastructure investment should mean more than just new roads and railways. What if funding could also be channelled into town centre regeneration to help improve a place and stimulate demand?
The Government’s principal response to the recession from the perspective of local economic development seems to be stubbornly stuck on traditional infrastructure.
While undoubtedly there is a need to invest in the nation’s infrastructure, isn’t it a little one-dimensional to exclusively fund the development of new or improved roads or rail if there is no demand for development at the end of them? What if we expand our definitions and start thinking about town centres as the infrastructure of places as much as we do road and rail?
– See more at: http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2012/09/town-centres-the-infrastructure-alternative/#sthash.q4uf7haN.dpuf
