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Milton keynes: A model for regenerating our cities?
Long Range Planning, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 67 to 77, 1987 Printed in Great Britain
67
0024-6301/87 $3.00 + .OO Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Milton Kevnes: A Model for Regenerating our Cities? Brian Burrows
Milton Keynes is one of the most successful of Britain’s new towns. With new towns such as Peterborough and Telford, this can be seen as the latest stage of the New Town Movement which started at the end of World War Il. Of these new towns, Milton Keynes is the largest and the most ambitious in its objectives. The problems facing the United Kingdom today are very much greater than when Milton Keynes was first started but, because of a flexible planning approach, the Development Corporation has responded to these changes and has established policies to assist in solving these problems. The key to this success is a more flexible and effective manufacturing base. Today we face unprecedented changes, unique in our history. Although manufacturing and services will provide the wealth to solve these problems, we will only succeed through co-operation between the private sector and local and national government. A study of Milton Keynes, its growth, objectives, successes and failures could provide a useful model for our future planning.
also have a direct impact on the quality of life in the new city. One of the more obvious examples of this is the rapid development of better means of communication. The video-phone is already in use experimentally in the United States of America and could well be in use in Milton Keynes in the 1980’s. This would radically affect patterns of life, business and recreation and could conceivably reduce physical movement in cities. Improvements in the technology of public transport, changes in office work as a result of the use of computers, and new discoveries in medicine are further examples of technological and scientific advances to which the new city must be prepared to respond.
The broad objectives were:
set out in the master plan
(1) Opportunity and freedom of choice (2) Easy movement and access, and good nications
Under the New Towns Act 1965 the Secretary of State for the Environment has the power to designate an area for development and to set up a development corporation. The first act of a development corporation is to prepare and publish a master plan of the area. This was done by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation and the plan was published in 1970.’ The philosophy behind the plan was to establish an overall strategy and to set objectives. Areas were allocated for employment, housing and open space. Specific detail was avoided in order to accommodate change. In view of the changes which have taken place since and are still taking place this was a key decision which has resulted in one of the reasons for the success of Milton Keynes. The plan also demonstrates an awareness of the importance of new development and technology. As the preamble states: This increase in national wealth results mainly from changes in science and technology. But science and technology will
The author is a management consultant who lives and works in Milton Keynes at Futures Information Associates, 40 Stone Hill, Two Mile Ash, Milton Keynes MK8 BLR, U.K.
commu-
(3) Balance and variety (4) An attractive city (5) Public awareness and participation (6) Efficient and imaginative
use of resources.
These objectives served the development of Milton Keynes well until the recession. The master plan assumed that the economy could continue to grow but so did the Treasury. In fact in the early days of Milton Keynes the Development Corporation was criticized for not building enough houses fast enough to accommodate new workers. Another criticism was that many of the roads were built long before they were needed. There was a general belief that funds from both the private and public sector would be readily available. However, the General Manager realized that private funding would never be available for infrastructure. Therefore, he spent as much public money on this as possible. Once roads, drainage and sewerage is in place it is possible to attract private investment for factories, offices and houses. This, in fact, is what has happened in Milton Keynes. The overall plan for Milton Keynes has a city centre
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Long Range
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1987
and a grid road system with industry and housing in close proximity. Many people object to this in theory but in practice it works very well in Milton Keynes. Most of industry is light engineering and is Also the factory units arc well non-pollutant. designed and well spaced out with good landscaping. There is ample car parking space. Most residents find the arrangement an advantage as it reduces travclling time.
here. In any negotiations for major problem funding, investment and business location strict security is essential. At the same time it is highly desirable to explain future plans to people, get their response and, if possible, modify these if there is a strong reaction against the plans. One of the objectives set in the master plan was to explain this process to the residents. This is illustrated from the following item from the master plan:
The transport system for Milton Keynes is given in Figure 1. This shows the boundary of the designated area and the grid road system.
A city planned to accommodate change must encourage the citizen to understand the processes of change so that he is able, if he wishes, to contribute his opinion to help direct change. Demands for public participation in planning are -will becoming more articulate and the Corporation encourage this increased public interest as it believes it to be to the benefit and satisfaction of the community as a whole.
Milton Keynes is well placed for easy communication both by road and rail, being on the Euston line from London for rail and close to Junction 14 on the Ml Motorway (see Figure 2). Figure 2 also shows the employment areas, 198441989. The link road to Junction 13 of the Ml Motorway was opened on time in 1984. The chief reason for building this road was that much heavy traffic from London left the motorway at Junction 13 for south Milton Keynes. The result was that much traffic went through several villages such as Asplcy Guise and Woburn Sands, which all agreed should be preserved as they are. Also this heavy traffic caused a great deal of stress to the people living in these villages. One of the major problems facing the United Kingdom today is the planning and acceptance of change. The Development Corporation faced a
Figure
1. Milton
Keynes
dcsignatcd
area and transport
Housing The industrial and commercial developments and the housing programme have to be in balance. This is not easy to accomplish. If the programmes get badly out of phase the result is either empty houses or empty factories and offices. The first phase of housing development was in many cases poor, both in design and quality. There was a brick shortage and unconventional materials had to be used. This resulted in mistakes in design and building due to lack of knowledge. Also the Development Corporation was tied to public sector wage rates which were much lower than in the
system
Milton
Keynes:
A Model
for Regenerating
.
OLNEY l RAYENSTONE
NEWTON
our Cities?
69
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Figure
2. Milton
Keynes
and the surrounding
area showing
private sector. Another problem was the commitment to flat roofs which only have a life of 10 years. Today most estates are built of traditional materials and in traditional styles. However, the Corporation has been able to influence the private builders so that most of their designs arc varied and attractive. The start of Milton Keynes coincided with the end of systems building. This fashion had its roots in the prcfabricatcd building programme after World War II. It is a great pity that this was done so badly with no attempt to learn from the mistakes made. If this had been done we would now have low cost factory-built houses. It is very difficult for large organizations to learn from their mistakes. This the Dcvclopment Corporation has done and the ‘ego trip’ architect has been put in his place. There is now a wide range of housing for a wide range of purchasers from first time buyers to executives. The target for home ownership in the master plan was 50 per cent for each area. This was difficult to achieve owing to the recession. By the sale of public housing to sitting tenants this has now been achieved. Also there is an active shared ownership housing programme. Without good housing, busi-
planning
areas
nesses will not locate in Milton Keynes. good housing is now available.
Fortunately,
Transport Milton Keynes was designed for the motor car when fuel was cheap, however, there is much in the master plan on the provision of public transport. This is a national problem; nobody has yet succeeded in running an effective and financially viable public transport system. One of the advantages of living in Milton Keynes is its spaciousness. It covers an area of 34 square miles with much well-landscaped open space. This makes it more difficult to organize public transport in Milton Keynes than elsewhere. All planning is a trade off between conflicting objectives. In order to fill a gap when the population was lower a dial-a-bus system was used. New plans are in hand now to run mini buses through the estates at frequent intervals.
Schools and Education Many
new schools
have been built.
In the case of
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Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
Stantonbury and Woughton Campus these are also centres which can be used for leisure activities by the public when the school is closed. As they are run by the local authority they often close on holidays, and there is no marketing expertise in local authorities to make the facilities successful and financially sound. The authorities will either have to learn how to promote the leisure centres or to contract them out to the private sector.
networking, parallel processing, software engineering, artificial intelligence, and microelectronics. This is an exciting development and it could provide a pattern for IT training in the United Kingdom.
Health Care
There are a number of further education colleges. These have now been incorporated into a Milton Keynes College and new technical subjects are being taught. Cranfield Institute of Technology is nearby and the Open University is located in Milton Keynes; co-operation is growing between these two establishments and the Development Corporation. What is needed is a higher educational establishment in Milton Keynes. This is not the responsibility of the Development Corporation but is being actively encouraged.
One of the problems of a new town is that the Development Corporation does not have full planning powers. For example, the decision to build a hospital rested with the Oxford Regional Health Authority. It was only after considerable pressure that this decision was made. The first phase is now completed and there are also regional health centres throughout the area. The difficulty in providing health care to meet the needs of a growing population arises partly because there are overlapping planning authorities with differing aims. One solution would be to have regional centres with an overall responsibility.
The Information Institute
Attracting
Technology
There has been a failure to plan for the growth of training in information technology in the United Kingdom. The result is a shortage of skilled staff with over three million unemployed. Both the government and industry have been reluctant to make enough funds available to solve this problem. The failure of government has resulted in a lack of funds owing to the recession and short-term thinking. Because of the cost of training and the mobility of labour in this sector, industry has been reluctant to train people; instead they have, in many cases, poached from each other which does not help expansion. To try to remedy the problem, two new IT institutes have been set up-at Salford University and in Milton Keynes. Both are funded by industry. The IT Institute which is being set up in Milton Keynes will be a higher education establishment which could act as a blueprint for technological universities and technical colleges of the future. It will be run as a commercial business rather than on traditional academic lines and it will be managed by a chief executive responsible to a board of directors. There has been an initial investment of more than A3*5rn by over 25 companies in terms of both cash and equipment and it has been set up in collaboration with Cranfield Institute of Technology. This is important because it means that people will be trained on the most up-to-date equipment. Teaching activities are expected to grow to some 200 postgraduate programmes and 4000 IT update courses over the next 5 years. Research activities will focus on key IT applications. These include:
Business Investment
This review has covered the basic needs of people such as shelter, education and health care. But this means little unless new employment is created. Therefore, investment, growth and prosperity has to be planned. The first area studied by the Development Corporation was small businesses. Many would prosper and grow; they could surrender a lease and move to larger premises. They could also move to smaller premises if they ran into problems. Another approach was to study the financial press and write to firms with increased profits. This was not successful because no historical research was done. An increase of 50 per cent in a company with a capital of AlOOm and with profits of only Llrn meant very little. Today major companies are studied in depth and files are kept up to date. By 1975 there was much discussion on how these approaches could be improved in the light of the coming recession. The idea of target marketing was evolved and with the advice of consultants the following sectors were identified: electronic components, plastic packaging, pharmaceuticals and banking and insurance. Companies were identified in these sectors and researched in terms of past performance, future development and growth, and location potential. Also attempts were made to anticipate what type of property they required. Although there was some success in all of these sectors, the most profitable was electronic components. Therefore, it was decided to establish an information technology strategy. In depth research established that the next targets should be: computers and software, office automa-
Milton Keynes: A Model for Regenerating tion, computer-aided design robotics, and communications.
and
manufacture,
The growth of these sectors was estimated and the most important firms were researched. On-line data bases such as Predicasts were found to be most valuable and today the Development Corporation has signed up with most of the on-line vendors. New growth industries such as biotechnology and energy conservation are also monitored on a continuous basis.
Overseas Marketing It became clear from our studies of the U.K. economy that there would not be enough domestic growth to continue the development of Milton Keynes at the same rate. Therefore, a decision had to be made either to reduce the growth rate, or to encourage investment by businesses from overseas. This growth rate was considerable. Two factories were built and let each week. It was, and still is the fastest growing area in the United Kingdom. In order to sustain this growth, research was undertaken in overseas markets. National economies and industrial sectors were studied, and it emerged that the fastest growing areas were the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States and Japan. Individuals in the Commerce Directorate were required to approach firms in these countries and to visit them. In this programme, Milton Keynes has been successful in attracting 16 Japanese companies, 60 U.S. companies and 25 German companies. Scandinavia too was studied and it was found that many firms were keen to locate in the United Kingdom in order to establish a market position in the EEC. Japanese companies were also moving to Europe, because they were concerned with possible EEC import controls. Another reason for encouraging investment by overseas firms was that it would benefit the United Kingdom in the long run: it would reduce imports and create jobs; these firms would pay rates and taxes; also the new technology and management techniques would spread to British firms. In all there are now more than 160 overseas companies in Milton Keynes.
The Development Technology
of Information
Large organizations are often better at promoting ideas externally than adapting in them for internal use. This was realized by the Development Corporation and in discussion with the unions an internal IT strategy was established. Typewriters were replaced by word processors all of the same make. This was the responsibility of the Data Processing Manager who established a policy for the purchase of departmental microcomputers for specific needs.
our Cities?
71
The Planning Department set up its own computer centre for its own needs and for on-line searching for Planning and Commerce Departments. The indexes to company files in the Department of Commerce were also made available via terminals. This facility is most important for both target marketing and enquiries. In order to influence the development of information technology in Milton Keynes an Information Technology Exchange was set up in a separate office near to the Development Corporation Headquarters. At first this was run as a separate body funded by the Development Corporation with the objective of persuading small firms to use microcomputers. Later it was decided to widen the range of activities. At the same time the Information Technology Exchange took over responsibility for all data processing for the Development Corporation. Being separate from the Development Corporation they have been able to introduce new techniques within this body as they act as a neutral consultant. All the information on the grid squares is now being computerized. Also computer-aided design systems are widely used by the Building Directorate. The Information Technology Centre consists of a microsystems centre and a display area for firms. Regular courses are run in information technology and specialized courses are also available. A great deal of consultancy is undertaken. Conferences and exhibitions are also organized. So far these have included: office automation, CAD/CAM systems, telecommunications and value added networks.
The Information Strategy
Technology
The idea of promoting information technology grew out of the concept of target marketing. However, it was soon realized that IT is convergent technology and that a fragmented approach would not be effective. Therefore, an IT strategy was established. This was done in co-operation with a consultancy firm, Eosys, and an IT co-ordinator was employed as part of the Planning Department. The objectives of the strategy overall are: (1) to attract enterprise to locate in Milton Keynes (2) to provide an environment enterprises will prosper
in which existing
(3) to enable Milton Keynes to become a centre of excellence which will act as an objective to the whole country (4) to make the benefits of IT available to those living and working in Milton Keynes. The IT programme
has the following
elements:
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Long Range
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Vol. 20
February
in(1) Establishing a modern telecommunications frastructurc in Milton Keynes for local, national and international telecommunications. the use of the infrastructure to (2) Promoting deliver new services to businesses and residents. (3) Creating awareness and providing the benefits of new technology.
advice about
the provision of the education and (4) Promoting training to equip people with the skills necessary to use the new IT services and products. (5) Taking account ment of Milton
of IT in the physical Keynes.
develop-
This integrated approach has proved most valuable and it means that when new developments such as Value Added Networks occur, these can be seen in context and promoted more quickly. Also the social impact can be identified, people’s fears about new technology can be greatly reduced, and the opportunities explained.
High Technology
Firms
High technology firms like to locate in an attractive area, with good communications, near to other companies in the same sector. Therefore, a centre just north of the City Centre next to woodland was reserved for this type of development. The first problem encountered was that the standard factory unit was not suitable for this type of business.* The Advance Factory Unit (AFU) was a general purpose factory unit pioneered by the New Town Movement. These were built in advance of demand in order to accommodate speedy location. There were two aspects which WC found unsuitable in marketing them to firms manufacturing electronic components: there was no or little office space, and the high ceilings were not needed. Most hightech firms need 50 per cent office space. Therefore, we tried to obtain funding for a new design of factory units. The pension and insurance funds were reluctant to finance them as they were not yet convinced of the changed attitude in industry. Sun Life Insurance Company was the first organization to fund this type of factory and these were built within the Linford Wood area. Since then many hightech firms have moved into this area with units specially designed to their own requirements. Many of these are firms which have expanded and moved from Advance Factory Units in Milton Keynes.
Linford Wood Business Centre A business ccntre was designed and devclopcd by the Dcvclopmcnt Corporation at Linford Wood. It consists of six pavilion buildings surrounded by generous landscaping. These units are designed so they can be used for hightech production, research or office space. Behind this development is the
1987 concept that buildings which can be used for a wide range of activities are needed to attract the newer industries. The first phase of this is now complete and there are many small companies in Milton Keynes. Also there are about 100 hightech companies.
Retailing New technology firms will only locatc in pleasant areas with good amenities. At the time that electronic components were being targeted a large covered shopping complex was nearing completion in the centre of Milton Keynes. It was known that there were as yet not enough people within the area to make a shopping complex of this size successful. People would have to come on a regular basis from a radius of 50 miles. From the first few weeks of opening this in fact happened, to the great satisfaction of the team working on the promotion. One reason was that the centre was located in an attractive area, under cover with natural light. Provision was made for 2000 free car parking places within a 4-minute walk of the shopping centre. Also the shopping centre covers an area of one million square feet. Milton Keynes is now a major regional retailing centre and this is of great help in attracting new businesses to the town. A new development is a L20m food centrc near the shopping complex. This will have an area of 165,000 square feet and it will include major food retailers, as well as specialist shops. It will also provide a multi-storey car park for 600 cars.
Commerce The next objective was to establish central Milton Keynes as a major regional commercial ccntre between London and Birmingham. This is now about 30 per cent completed with much of the rest of the area under development or consideration. All this has to be privately funded. An office complex called the Central Business Exchange has been designed by the Development Corporation. It consists of a range of offices of all sizes, specialist shops and leisure facilities, including a Winter Garden. There is also a hotel which will include badly needed conference facilities. The plan for the City Centrc is shown in Figure 3. When completed this will be a major retailing, commercial and leisure centre with parking for 25,000 cars.
Leisure Facilities The provision of good leisure facilities has proved to be one of the most difficult areas to fund. Leisure ccntres are located at Bletchlcy, Woughton and
Milton
Keynes:
fi=Y
A Model
metre
Ii28
Off ices
Housing
Sites for Development
Shopping
Central Business Exchange Site
Entertainment
0 I
for Regenerating
100 I
200 I
300 I
our Cities?
73
400 I
Area and Retail Centre Site
Public Buildings
Figure 3. Central
Milton
Keynes
Stantonbury Campus. Also a new leisure and 10screen cinema complex called The Point has just opened and this is proving most successful. A multipurpose indoor arca is planned, near the railway station and this would bc used for sport and music. An auditorium is also planned. However, the future of these projects depends on obtaining funding. The town has also been cabled for television. Cable was used to avoid the use of aerials on roofs, and poor reception due to the proximity of the Urickhills. Marc than 25,000 houses arc conncctcd to the systctn which provides a choice of seven channels for a small annual fee, plus four additional channels on subscription. All new houses are cabled.
Thcrc were plans to build an airport near Milton Keynes in 1970 but this was opposed by all the residents in the area and the Devclopmcnt Corporation supported them. The building of an airport crcatcs employment but can destroy the environment for people living in the area.
As soon as the M25 was proposed it was realized that it would have a major impact both on property development and on the location of industry and commerce. Small firms were likely to move within 6 months. For larger firms it could take up to 5 years of detailed negotiations before a relocation could be arranged. Therefore, 3 years ago the Ml/M25 link from Heathrow was actively marketed. Industrial dcvclopmcnt along the Ml will follow a similar pattern to the M4 corridor.
Physical Communications Milton Keynes is well placed for road and rail communications with a good internal road system. Enough space has been left to convert roads into dual carriageways when necessary and this has been done and is continuing to be done. One of the important factors influencing the location of overseas companies is proximity to an airport. WC have the example of the M4 corridor near to Heathrow Airport.
One of the problems in the United Kingdom is that transport plans lag behind changing patterns of distribution. For cxamplc, most of our ovcrscas trade now travels via the modern East Anglia ports. The ports of London and Liverpool have declined. There is a good road link to London from East Anglia but none to Milton Keynes or the Midlands. These links have been approved but no date for development has been set. Also a link from Milton Keynes to the M40 is highly desirable.
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Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
Heliport Other methods were studied to see how communications could be improved. Luton Airport is nearby. Despite the fact that much of the use here is for charter flights, there are scheduled services available. The airfield at Cranfield can also be used. The problem here is that, although Cranfield Institute of Technology is near Milton Keynes, the road link is poor. A new improved road is proposed. Research was also undertaken on a heliport link ,with Heathrow. A site has been established near to Junction 14 on the Ml and planning permission has been obtained. This should control the use of helicopters in Milton Keynes and the flight path will follow the Ml/M25 to Heathrow, thus reducing flying over residential property. Plans are in hand to obtain funding and an organization to operate the project. As well as providing a speedy link to and from Heathrow it is also seen as an activity which could attract industry and commerce to the area.
Telecommunications The cable TV system has already been described. Both the cable and telephone lines have been put into ducting with numerous inspection points. This means that both the cable and telephone lines can be replaced with fibre optics without further digging. British Telecom should now wire up the central business district in Milton Keynes with fibre optics, thus setting up a metropolitan network. They have already carried out successful trials which suggests that this would be feasible. A satellite park is also proposed in order to improve international communications. Several suitable areas have been identified. This could be linked to a metropolitan network as well as extra TV channels. Milton Skreens, a local news service, was launched in 1984 with four public terminals. This consists of local information indexed on the same basis as viewdata systems. There is also a talkback section in which comment or information which the user can enter via the keyboard. Your Channel is a local TV channel run by British Telecom. It contains local news and local advertisements. This is now in text but photographs may be included in the future. An important recent development is the inclusion ofjob vacancies on Milton Skreens. There is also news of job vacancies on Your Channel and a network of jobseeker terminals in residential areas displaying Job Centre vacancies.
Energy Park When researching for target industries one of those studied was energy conservation. Unfortunately
this industry was so fragmented that it could not be targeted. Instead it was decided to set up an Energy Park. This is now being done and the first phase of Energy World opens in 1986. This is a housing area which will be open to the public for a while as an exhibition area and then sold. All the houses have been built to an energy index developed by Peter Chapman at the Open University. This will result in an energy saving of 25 per cent and will establish a yardstick for future building in Milton Keynes. It is hoped that the system will be marketed by the Open University.
Employment In order to find out the true unemployment levels in Milton Keynes the Development Corporation has set up its own monitoring system based on accurate figures for the rapid growth in population. The Department of Employment figures are much higher because they are based on out-of-date population statistics. The accurate figures are shown in Figure 4. The percentage of people out of work is lower than the national average but higher than the figure for the South-East. As about 3500 new jobs are created each year (Milton Keynes has an employment target of 3500 jobs per year, with an overall target of 115,000 jobs), the level of unemployment was puzzling until research identified the cause: Milton Keynes imports temporary unemployment. The following example will explain this. A married man moves to Milton Keynes with two other people working in the family. They leave their jobs and register as unemployed and, by the time they have obtained employment, another similar family has arrived. If the growth rate was slower there would be fewer jobs and less unemployment.
Reducing
Unemployment
It was found that many firms could not expand due to shortage of skilled labour so several bodies were set up to assist in this area. One was a Liaison Committee between industry and education. A Manpower Forum was also set up funded by local firms and the Development Corporation in order to identify the skills and training methods needed. There is also a Milton Keynes Business Venture scheme to help people to set up their own businesses.
Community
Projects
Research at the Development Corporation suggests that unemployment will remain at the present level or even increase unless new methods of work are created. The impact of full automation has not yet been felt in industry. Also the concept of the electronic office has not yet affected employment
Milton Keynes: A Model for Regenerating
% 14 -
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---Great
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75
Britian (13.6) Midlands
(12.9)
Keynes (11.7)
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Figure 4. The unemployment
rate in Milton
I
I
-
I
-South
East (10.1)
I F
JASONDJ 1985
FM
1986
Keynes compared with national and regional
levels. Most of the job losses in the United Kingdom are due to the recession and the decline of traditional industries. Europe is not increasing its share of the information technology market so further investment in this sector is vital. However, it will not create enough employment to solve the problem. It has been estimated that it costs about A7000 to keep a person unemployed in Britain. With lost tax revenue plus the rising cost of vandalism and the increased costs in the Health Service this figure could be higher. In view of this the Development Corporation has realized the importance of community projects. One person in the Planning ‘Department has responsibility to promote these schemes in liaison with the Manpower Services Commission and voluntary groups. These projects are in the area of health care, the environment and other desirable activities which are not economic in terms of an annual balance sheet.
Recycling
our Cities?
Materials
One example is CROP. This stands for Community Recycling Opportunities Project. It is clear from our research that recycling is a necessary industry which has failed to become viable. Recycled aluminium reduces energy costs by 90 per cent and for glass it is 70 per cent. Inflation and labour costs have stopped this industry from expanding. The project is backed by the Milton Keynes Christian Industrial Foundation and the Manpower Services Commission with assistance from the Borough of Milton Keynes, the Development Corporation and some local bodies. Voluntary groups and schools collect much of the material. A fuller description is included in a Planning Exchange publication.3 It is only highly desirable community projects such as this which will solve the unemployment problem.
averages
The Need for Planned Innovation I have described the development of Milton Keynes because I worked for the Development Corporation for 10 years in an information, marketing and planning research role. However, there are many other successful innovation zones in the United Kingdom. A recent study4 shows that Cambridge is more successful with about 50 home grown hightech companies. Other innovative areas such as Glenrothes import their new industries. As well as new towns there are expanded towns such as Swindon and Basingstoke which provide examples of entrepreneurship in local authorities.
What has been done in these areas can be done throughout the United Kingdom. It is happening in London with the Docklands Development and in Liverpool with the Merseyside Development Corporation. These need to be extended to other parts of London and to older cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. We have the choice of regenerating the inner cities or facing rising crime, riots and vandalism. The philosophy needed is a partnership between industry and government and long-term investment from the financial institutions. It has been argued that such co-operation is alien to the British culture. The fact that it has been done in Milton Keynes disproves this. The priorities for development are :
(1) Investment (2) New
in Milton Keynes
and employment
technology
(3) Small businesses (4) A large commercial
and service sector
(5) Leisure facilities (6) Well-designed premises
houses,
shops and industrial
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Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
(7) New methods of education and health care
References
(8) Community
(1)
projects
(9) A spacious, pleasant environment. Some of these objectives Milton Keynes Development Corporation can achieve by itself. Others can only be accomplished by influencing other bodies. There is no reason why these objectives cannot be pursued in other areas and in the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Plan for Milton Keynes, Volume 1: Plan presented to the Minister, Volume 2: Report of evidence presented by the consultants, Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1970). B. C. Burrows, Information technology: its impact on property development, Long Range Planning, 17, 60-73 (1984).
(3) LEDIS Summary Sheet, Planning Exchange, 186 Bath Street, Glasgow (summan/ by B. C. Burrows), CROP, June (1986). (4)
The Cembridge Phenomenon: The Growth of High Technology Industry in a University Town, Segal Quince and Partners, 42 Castle Street, Cambridge (1985).
Milton Appendix:
MKDC
Quarterly
Keynes:
A Model
for Regenerating
our Cities?
77
Facts Sheet
1 Designated At designation:
-1
area
MK borough
40,000
60,000
129,500
159,200
(est.)
At present:
Jobs at designation:
18,350
21,350
Jobs at present:
62,500
67,500
Excluding
Including
school leavers
school leavers
l
Unemployment
rates (%)-June
86
Great Britain MK travel to work
area
East Midlands South
East
Designated
area
(est.)
13.1
13.1
11.1
11.2
12.2
12.3
9.9
9.6
Completions
Existing
stock
for 1985/86
at March
1986
Completions
Commercial
Industry
65,985
1,397,698
floorspace
Offices
27,282
232,423
28,187
(so. m.)
Shopping
(local)
5050
(CMK)
4755 -
74,318
Shopping Floorspace
totals
97,922
Designated
area
Housing
Private
stock
Public
(incl. shared o’ship) (incl.
hsg assc’s)
Total dwellings Facilities
Schools
stock
Pupil places Health
1,799,811
Existing
stock
in 1985186
at March
1986
far in 1986187
27,852
(58%)
408
20,431
(42%)
120
1732
48,283
528
75 29,375
1
(km)
Completions
1572
centres
Redway
35,109
160
2
City roads (km)
1872
95,372
Completions
985
8
1.3
87.3
10.0
143.0
0.6
Cumulative Net capital
expenditure
throughout
the designated
Expenditure area (Em)
in 1985186
Private MKDC
22 186
under MKDC
control
Direct MKDC Financed
(fm)
by: capital Treasury
Other private Total
1692 1986/87 42
receipts
net contribution Lease/leaseback
529 316
During
expenditure
1986
a47
13
Total Expenditure
figures to March
151
Other public
to
(51) 9
Loans
developments
2 1 46
*Seasonally adjusted
Published
3rd quarter
1986.
so
far in 1986187
so
67
0024-6301/87 $3.00 + .OO Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Milton Kevnes: A Model for Regenerating our Cities? Brian Burrows
Milton Keynes is one of the most successful of Britain’s new towns. With new towns such as Peterborough and Telford, this can be seen as the latest stage of the New Town Movement which started at the end of World War Il. Of these new towns, Milton Keynes is the largest and the most ambitious in its objectives. The problems facing the United Kingdom today are very much greater than when Milton Keynes was first started but, because of a flexible planning approach, the Development Corporation has responded to these changes and has established policies to assist in solving these problems. The key to this success is a more flexible and effective manufacturing base. Today we face unprecedented changes, unique in our history. Although manufacturing and services will provide the wealth to solve these problems, we will only succeed through co-operation between the private sector and local and national government. A study of Milton Keynes, its growth, objectives, successes and failures could provide a useful model for our future planning.
also have a direct impact on the quality of life in the new city. One of the more obvious examples of this is the rapid development of better means of communication. The video-phone is already in use experimentally in the United States of America and could well be in use in Milton Keynes in the 1980’s. This would radically affect patterns of life, business and recreation and could conceivably reduce physical movement in cities. Improvements in the technology of public transport, changes in office work as a result of the use of computers, and new discoveries in medicine are further examples of technological and scientific advances to which the new city must be prepared to respond.
The broad objectives were:
set out in the master plan
(1) Opportunity and freedom of choice (2) Easy movement and access, and good nications
Under the New Towns Act 1965 the Secretary of State for the Environment has the power to designate an area for development and to set up a development corporation. The first act of a development corporation is to prepare and publish a master plan of the area. This was done by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation and the plan was published in 1970.’ The philosophy behind the plan was to establish an overall strategy and to set objectives. Areas were allocated for employment, housing and open space. Specific detail was avoided in order to accommodate change. In view of the changes which have taken place since and are still taking place this was a key decision which has resulted in one of the reasons for the success of Milton Keynes. The plan also demonstrates an awareness of the importance of new development and technology. As the preamble states: This increase in national wealth results mainly from changes in science and technology. But science and technology will
The author is a management consultant who lives and works in Milton Keynes at Futures Information Associates, 40 Stone Hill, Two Mile Ash, Milton Keynes MK8 BLR, U.K.
commu-
(3) Balance and variety (4) An attractive city (5) Public awareness and participation (6) Efficient and imaginative
use of resources.
These objectives served the development of Milton Keynes well until the recession. The master plan assumed that the economy could continue to grow but so did the Treasury. In fact in the early days of Milton Keynes the Development Corporation was criticized for not building enough houses fast enough to accommodate new workers. Another criticism was that many of the roads were built long before they were needed. There was a general belief that funds from both the private and public sector would be readily available. However, the General Manager realized that private funding would never be available for infrastructure. Therefore, he spent as much public money on this as possible. Once roads, drainage and sewerage is in place it is possible to attract private investment for factories, offices and houses. This, in fact, is what has happened in Milton Keynes. The overall plan for Milton Keynes has a city centre
68
Long Range
Planning
Vol. 20
February
1987
and a grid road system with industry and housing in close proximity. Many people object to this in theory but in practice it works very well in Milton Keynes. Most of industry is light engineering and is Also the factory units arc well non-pollutant. designed and well spaced out with good landscaping. There is ample car parking space. Most residents find the arrangement an advantage as it reduces travclling time.
here. In any negotiations for major problem funding, investment and business location strict security is essential. At the same time it is highly desirable to explain future plans to people, get their response and, if possible, modify these if there is a strong reaction against the plans. One of the objectives set in the master plan was to explain this process to the residents. This is illustrated from the following item from the master plan:
The transport system for Milton Keynes is given in Figure 1. This shows the boundary of the designated area and the grid road system.
A city planned to accommodate change must encourage the citizen to understand the processes of change so that he is able, if he wishes, to contribute his opinion to help direct change. Demands for public participation in planning are -will becoming more articulate and the Corporation encourage this increased public interest as it believes it to be to the benefit and satisfaction of the community as a whole.
Milton Keynes is well placed for easy communication both by road and rail, being on the Euston line from London for rail and close to Junction 14 on the Ml Motorway (see Figure 2). Figure 2 also shows the employment areas, 198441989. The link road to Junction 13 of the Ml Motorway was opened on time in 1984. The chief reason for building this road was that much heavy traffic from London left the motorway at Junction 13 for south Milton Keynes. The result was that much traffic went through several villages such as Asplcy Guise and Woburn Sands, which all agreed should be preserved as they are. Also this heavy traffic caused a great deal of stress to the people living in these villages. One of the major problems facing the United Kingdom today is the planning and acceptance of change. The Development Corporation faced a
Figure
1. Milton
Keynes
dcsignatcd
area and transport
Housing The industrial and commercial developments and the housing programme have to be in balance. This is not easy to accomplish. If the programmes get badly out of phase the result is either empty houses or empty factories and offices. The first phase of housing development was in many cases poor, both in design and quality. There was a brick shortage and unconventional materials had to be used. This resulted in mistakes in design and building due to lack of knowledge. Also the Development Corporation was tied to public sector wage rates which were much lower than in the
system
Milton
Keynes:
A Model
for Regenerating
.
OLNEY l RAYENSTONE
NEWTON
our Cities?
69
BEDFORD
BLOSSOMVlLLf
Kc%
. &ON UNDERWOOD
_. .__^ ___I
MARSTON MORETAINE
MOULSOE -
DEANSHANGER.
L*L”c”I”I.
,
LECIHAMPSTEAD
. watwnAbbe”
EVEASHOLT
-Other
n
roads Statelv
homes
Wood;d _.
GREAT HOW000 .
*DSTOCI
,_,
r ,,nc.,.m,
TOODlNGTON ADDINGTON .
MURSLEY
l
.
. SWANBO”RNE
t
DAAYTON PARSLOW
.
STEWILL”
STEEPLE CLAYDON
Figure
2. Milton
Keynes
and the surrounding
area showing
private sector. Another problem was the commitment to flat roofs which only have a life of 10 years. Today most estates are built of traditional materials and in traditional styles. However, the Corporation has been able to influence the private builders so that most of their designs arc varied and attractive. The start of Milton Keynes coincided with the end of systems building. This fashion had its roots in the prcfabricatcd building programme after World War II. It is a great pity that this was done so badly with no attempt to learn from the mistakes made. If this had been done we would now have low cost factory-built houses. It is very difficult for large organizations to learn from their mistakes. This the Dcvclopment Corporation has done and the ‘ego trip’ architect has been put in his place. There is now a wide range of housing for a wide range of purchasers from first time buyers to executives. The target for home ownership in the master plan was 50 per cent for each area. This was difficult to achieve owing to the recession. By the sale of public housing to sitting tenants this has now been achieved. Also there is an active shared ownership housing programme. Without good housing, busi-
planning
areas
nesses will not locate in Milton Keynes. good housing is now available.
Fortunately,
Transport Milton Keynes was designed for the motor car when fuel was cheap, however, there is much in the master plan on the provision of public transport. This is a national problem; nobody has yet succeeded in running an effective and financially viable public transport system. One of the advantages of living in Milton Keynes is its spaciousness. It covers an area of 34 square miles with much well-landscaped open space. This makes it more difficult to organize public transport in Milton Keynes than elsewhere. All planning is a trade off between conflicting objectives. In order to fill a gap when the population was lower a dial-a-bus system was used. New plans are in hand now to run mini buses through the estates at frequent intervals.
Schools and Education Many
new schools
have been built.
In the case of
70
Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
Stantonbury and Woughton Campus these are also centres which can be used for leisure activities by the public when the school is closed. As they are run by the local authority they often close on holidays, and there is no marketing expertise in local authorities to make the facilities successful and financially sound. The authorities will either have to learn how to promote the leisure centres or to contract them out to the private sector.
networking, parallel processing, software engineering, artificial intelligence, and microelectronics. This is an exciting development and it could provide a pattern for IT training in the United Kingdom.
Health Care
There are a number of further education colleges. These have now been incorporated into a Milton Keynes College and new technical subjects are being taught. Cranfield Institute of Technology is nearby and the Open University is located in Milton Keynes; co-operation is growing between these two establishments and the Development Corporation. What is needed is a higher educational establishment in Milton Keynes. This is not the responsibility of the Development Corporation but is being actively encouraged.
One of the problems of a new town is that the Development Corporation does not have full planning powers. For example, the decision to build a hospital rested with the Oxford Regional Health Authority. It was only after considerable pressure that this decision was made. The first phase is now completed and there are also regional health centres throughout the area. The difficulty in providing health care to meet the needs of a growing population arises partly because there are overlapping planning authorities with differing aims. One solution would be to have regional centres with an overall responsibility.
The Information Institute
Attracting
Technology
There has been a failure to plan for the growth of training in information technology in the United Kingdom. The result is a shortage of skilled staff with over three million unemployed. Both the government and industry have been reluctant to make enough funds available to solve this problem. The failure of government has resulted in a lack of funds owing to the recession and short-term thinking. Because of the cost of training and the mobility of labour in this sector, industry has been reluctant to train people; instead they have, in many cases, poached from each other which does not help expansion. To try to remedy the problem, two new IT institutes have been set up-at Salford University and in Milton Keynes. Both are funded by industry. The IT Institute which is being set up in Milton Keynes will be a higher education establishment which could act as a blueprint for technological universities and technical colleges of the future. It will be run as a commercial business rather than on traditional academic lines and it will be managed by a chief executive responsible to a board of directors. There has been an initial investment of more than A3*5rn by over 25 companies in terms of both cash and equipment and it has been set up in collaboration with Cranfield Institute of Technology. This is important because it means that people will be trained on the most up-to-date equipment. Teaching activities are expected to grow to some 200 postgraduate programmes and 4000 IT update courses over the next 5 years. Research activities will focus on key IT applications. These include:
Business Investment
This review has covered the basic needs of people such as shelter, education and health care. But this means little unless new employment is created. Therefore, investment, growth and prosperity has to be planned. The first area studied by the Development Corporation was small businesses. Many would prosper and grow; they could surrender a lease and move to larger premises. They could also move to smaller premises if they ran into problems. Another approach was to study the financial press and write to firms with increased profits. This was not successful because no historical research was done. An increase of 50 per cent in a company with a capital of AlOOm and with profits of only Llrn meant very little. Today major companies are studied in depth and files are kept up to date. By 1975 there was much discussion on how these approaches could be improved in the light of the coming recession. The idea of target marketing was evolved and with the advice of consultants the following sectors were identified: electronic components, plastic packaging, pharmaceuticals and banking and insurance. Companies were identified in these sectors and researched in terms of past performance, future development and growth, and location potential. Also attempts were made to anticipate what type of property they required. Although there was some success in all of these sectors, the most profitable was electronic components. Therefore, it was decided to establish an information technology strategy. In depth research established that the next targets should be: computers and software, office automa-
Milton Keynes: A Model for Regenerating tion, computer-aided design robotics, and communications.
and
manufacture,
The growth of these sectors was estimated and the most important firms were researched. On-line data bases such as Predicasts were found to be most valuable and today the Development Corporation has signed up with most of the on-line vendors. New growth industries such as biotechnology and energy conservation are also monitored on a continuous basis.
Overseas Marketing It became clear from our studies of the U.K. economy that there would not be enough domestic growth to continue the development of Milton Keynes at the same rate. Therefore, a decision had to be made either to reduce the growth rate, or to encourage investment by businesses from overseas. This growth rate was considerable. Two factories were built and let each week. It was, and still is the fastest growing area in the United Kingdom. In order to sustain this growth, research was undertaken in overseas markets. National economies and industrial sectors were studied, and it emerged that the fastest growing areas were the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States and Japan. Individuals in the Commerce Directorate were required to approach firms in these countries and to visit them. In this programme, Milton Keynes has been successful in attracting 16 Japanese companies, 60 U.S. companies and 25 German companies. Scandinavia too was studied and it was found that many firms were keen to locate in the United Kingdom in order to establish a market position in the EEC. Japanese companies were also moving to Europe, because they were concerned with possible EEC import controls. Another reason for encouraging investment by overseas firms was that it would benefit the United Kingdom in the long run: it would reduce imports and create jobs; these firms would pay rates and taxes; also the new technology and management techniques would spread to British firms. In all there are now more than 160 overseas companies in Milton Keynes.
The Development Technology
of Information
Large organizations are often better at promoting ideas externally than adapting in them for internal use. This was realized by the Development Corporation and in discussion with the unions an internal IT strategy was established. Typewriters were replaced by word processors all of the same make. This was the responsibility of the Data Processing Manager who established a policy for the purchase of departmental microcomputers for specific needs.
our Cities?
71
The Planning Department set up its own computer centre for its own needs and for on-line searching for Planning and Commerce Departments. The indexes to company files in the Department of Commerce were also made available via terminals. This facility is most important for both target marketing and enquiries. In order to influence the development of information technology in Milton Keynes an Information Technology Exchange was set up in a separate office near to the Development Corporation Headquarters. At first this was run as a separate body funded by the Development Corporation with the objective of persuading small firms to use microcomputers. Later it was decided to widen the range of activities. At the same time the Information Technology Exchange took over responsibility for all data processing for the Development Corporation. Being separate from the Development Corporation they have been able to introduce new techniques within this body as they act as a neutral consultant. All the information on the grid squares is now being computerized. Also computer-aided design systems are widely used by the Building Directorate. The Information Technology Centre consists of a microsystems centre and a display area for firms. Regular courses are run in information technology and specialized courses are also available. A great deal of consultancy is undertaken. Conferences and exhibitions are also organized. So far these have included: office automation, CAD/CAM systems, telecommunications and value added networks.
The Information Strategy
Technology
The idea of promoting information technology grew out of the concept of target marketing. However, it was soon realized that IT is convergent technology and that a fragmented approach would not be effective. Therefore, an IT strategy was established. This was done in co-operation with a consultancy firm, Eosys, and an IT co-ordinator was employed as part of the Planning Department. The objectives of the strategy overall are: (1) to attract enterprise to locate in Milton Keynes (2) to provide an environment enterprises will prosper
in which existing
(3) to enable Milton Keynes to become a centre of excellence which will act as an objective to the whole country (4) to make the benefits of IT available to those living and working in Milton Keynes. The IT programme
has the following
elements:
72
Long Range
Planning
Vol. 20
February
in(1) Establishing a modern telecommunications frastructurc in Milton Keynes for local, national and international telecommunications. the use of the infrastructure to (2) Promoting deliver new services to businesses and residents. (3) Creating awareness and providing the benefits of new technology.
advice about
the provision of the education and (4) Promoting training to equip people with the skills necessary to use the new IT services and products. (5) Taking account ment of Milton
of IT in the physical Keynes.
develop-
This integrated approach has proved most valuable and it means that when new developments such as Value Added Networks occur, these can be seen in context and promoted more quickly. Also the social impact can be identified, people’s fears about new technology can be greatly reduced, and the opportunities explained.
High Technology
Firms
High technology firms like to locate in an attractive area, with good communications, near to other companies in the same sector. Therefore, a centre just north of the City Centre next to woodland was reserved for this type of development. The first problem encountered was that the standard factory unit was not suitable for this type of business.* The Advance Factory Unit (AFU) was a general purpose factory unit pioneered by the New Town Movement. These were built in advance of demand in order to accommodate speedy location. There were two aspects which WC found unsuitable in marketing them to firms manufacturing electronic components: there was no or little office space, and the high ceilings were not needed. Most hightech firms need 50 per cent office space. Therefore, we tried to obtain funding for a new design of factory units. The pension and insurance funds were reluctant to finance them as they were not yet convinced of the changed attitude in industry. Sun Life Insurance Company was the first organization to fund this type of factory and these were built within the Linford Wood area. Since then many hightech firms have moved into this area with units specially designed to their own requirements. Many of these are firms which have expanded and moved from Advance Factory Units in Milton Keynes.
Linford Wood Business Centre A business ccntre was designed and devclopcd by the Dcvclopmcnt Corporation at Linford Wood. It consists of six pavilion buildings surrounded by generous landscaping. These units are designed so they can be used for hightech production, research or office space. Behind this development is the
1987 concept that buildings which can be used for a wide range of activities are needed to attract the newer industries. The first phase of this is now complete and there are many small companies in Milton Keynes. Also there are about 100 hightech companies.
Retailing New technology firms will only locatc in pleasant areas with good amenities. At the time that electronic components were being targeted a large covered shopping complex was nearing completion in the centre of Milton Keynes. It was known that there were as yet not enough people within the area to make a shopping complex of this size successful. People would have to come on a regular basis from a radius of 50 miles. From the first few weeks of opening this in fact happened, to the great satisfaction of the team working on the promotion. One reason was that the centre was located in an attractive area, under cover with natural light. Provision was made for 2000 free car parking places within a 4-minute walk of the shopping centre. Also the shopping centre covers an area of one million square feet. Milton Keynes is now a major regional retailing centre and this is of great help in attracting new businesses to the town. A new development is a L20m food centrc near the shopping complex. This will have an area of 165,000 square feet and it will include major food retailers, as well as specialist shops. It will also provide a multi-storey car park for 600 cars.
Commerce The next objective was to establish central Milton Keynes as a major regional commercial ccntre between London and Birmingham. This is now about 30 per cent completed with much of the rest of the area under development or consideration. All this has to be privately funded. An office complex called the Central Business Exchange has been designed by the Development Corporation. It consists of a range of offices of all sizes, specialist shops and leisure facilities, including a Winter Garden. There is also a hotel which will include badly needed conference facilities. The plan for the City Centrc is shown in Figure 3. When completed this will be a major retailing, commercial and leisure centre with parking for 25,000 cars.
Leisure Facilities The provision of good leisure facilities has proved to be one of the most difficult areas to fund. Leisure ccntres are located at Bletchlcy, Woughton and
Milton
Keynes:
fi=Y
A Model
metre
Ii28
Off ices
Housing
Sites for Development
Shopping
Central Business Exchange Site
Entertainment
0 I
for Regenerating
100 I
200 I
300 I
our Cities?
73
400 I
Area and Retail Centre Site
Public Buildings
Figure 3. Central
Milton
Keynes
Stantonbury Campus. Also a new leisure and 10screen cinema complex called The Point has just opened and this is proving most successful. A multipurpose indoor arca is planned, near the railway station and this would bc used for sport and music. An auditorium is also planned. However, the future of these projects depends on obtaining funding. The town has also been cabled for television. Cable was used to avoid the use of aerials on roofs, and poor reception due to the proximity of the Urickhills. Marc than 25,000 houses arc conncctcd to the systctn which provides a choice of seven channels for a small annual fee, plus four additional channels on subscription. All new houses are cabled.
Thcrc were plans to build an airport near Milton Keynes in 1970 but this was opposed by all the residents in the area and the Devclopmcnt Corporation supported them. The building of an airport crcatcs employment but can destroy the environment for people living in the area.
As soon as the M25 was proposed it was realized that it would have a major impact both on property development and on the location of industry and commerce. Small firms were likely to move within 6 months. For larger firms it could take up to 5 years of detailed negotiations before a relocation could be arranged. Therefore, 3 years ago the Ml/M25 link from Heathrow was actively marketed. Industrial dcvclopmcnt along the Ml will follow a similar pattern to the M4 corridor.
Physical Communications Milton Keynes is well placed for road and rail communications with a good internal road system. Enough space has been left to convert roads into dual carriageways when necessary and this has been done and is continuing to be done. One of the important factors influencing the location of overseas companies is proximity to an airport. WC have the example of the M4 corridor near to Heathrow Airport.
One of the problems in the United Kingdom is that transport plans lag behind changing patterns of distribution. For cxamplc, most of our ovcrscas trade now travels via the modern East Anglia ports. The ports of London and Liverpool have declined. There is a good road link to London from East Anglia but none to Milton Keynes or the Midlands. These links have been approved but no date for development has been set. Also a link from Milton Keynes to the M40 is highly desirable.
74
Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
Heliport Other methods were studied to see how communications could be improved. Luton Airport is nearby. Despite the fact that much of the use here is for charter flights, there are scheduled services available. The airfield at Cranfield can also be used. The problem here is that, although Cranfield Institute of Technology is near Milton Keynes, the road link is poor. A new improved road is proposed. Research was also undertaken on a heliport link ,with Heathrow. A site has been established near to Junction 14 on the Ml and planning permission has been obtained. This should control the use of helicopters in Milton Keynes and the flight path will follow the Ml/M25 to Heathrow, thus reducing flying over residential property. Plans are in hand to obtain funding and an organization to operate the project. As well as providing a speedy link to and from Heathrow it is also seen as an activity which could attract industry and commerce to the area.
Telecommunications The cable TV system has already been described. Both the cable and telephone lines have been put into ducting with numerous inspection points. This means that both the cable and telephone lines can be replaced with fibre optics without further digging. British Telecom should now wire up the central business district in Milton Keynes with fibre optics, thus setting up a metropolitan network. They have already carried out successful trials which suggests that this would be feasible. A satellite park is also proposed in order to improve international communications. Several suitable areas have been identified. This could be linked to a metropolitan network as well as extra TV channels. Milton Skreens, a local news service, was launched in 1984 with four public terminals. This consists of local information indexed on the same basis as viewdata systems. There is also a talkback section in which comment or information which the user can enter via the keyboard. Your Channel is a local TV channel run by British Telecom. It contains local news and local advertisements. This is now in text but photographs may be included in the future. An important recent development is the inclusion ofjob vacancies on Milton Skreens. There is also news of job vacancies on Your Channel and a network of jobseeker terminals in residential areas displaying Job Centre vacancies.
Energy Park When researching for target industries one of those studied was energy conservation. Unfortunately
this industry was so fragmented that it could not be targeted. Instead it was decided to set up an Energy Park. This is now being done and the first phase of Energy World opens in 1986. This is a housing area which will be open to the public for a while as an exhibition area and then sold. All the houses have been built to an energy index developed by Peter Chapman at the Open University. This will result in an energy saving of 25 per cent and will establish a yardstick for future building in Milton Keynes. It is hoped that the system will be marketed by the Open University.
Employment In order to find out the true unemployment levels in Milton Keynes the Development Corporation has set up its own monitoring system based on accurate figures for the rapid growth in population. The Department of Employment figures are much higher because they are based on out-of-date population statistics. The accurate figures are shown in Figure 4. The percentage of people out of work is lower than the national average but higher than the figure for the South-East. As about 3500 new jobs are created each year (Milton Keynes has an employment target of 3500 jobs per year, with an overall target of 115,000 jobs), the level of unemployment was puzzling until research identified the cause: Milton Keynes imports temporary unemployment. The following example will explain this. A married man moves to Milton Keynes with two other people working in the family. They leave their jobs and register as unemployed and, by the time they have obtained employment, another similar family has arrived. If the growth rate was slower there would be fewer jobs and less unemployment.
Reducing
Unemployment
It was found that many firms could not expand due to shortage of skilled labour so several bodies were set up to assist in this area. One was a Liaison Committee between industry and education. A Manpower Forum was also set up funded by local firms and the Development Corporation in order to identify the skills and training methods needed. There is also a Milton Keynes Business Venture scheme to help people to set up their own businesses.
Community
Projects
Research at the Development Corporation suggests that unemployment will remain at the present level or even increase unless new methods of work are created. The impact of full automation has not yet been felt in industry. Also the concept of the electronic office has not yet affected employment
Milton Keynes: A Model for Regenerating
% 14 -
,/--.
---Great
/0---W__--’
----____cc--_/*---. 13 L-_______ -. .______-----_.-- _--. -._______----12m
----East E -Milton
ll10 :
75
Britian (13.6) Midlands
(12.9)
Keynes (11.7)
2 0 ,---_I
-t---
/_.E
P) r” m &
98-rI MAMJ
1
I
1
I
1
1
Figure 4. The unemployment
rate in Milton
I
I
-
I
-South
East (10.1)
I F
JASONDJ 1985
FM
1986
Keynes compared with national and regional
levels. Most of the job losses in the United Kingdom are due to the recession and the decline of traditional industries. Europe is not increasing its share of the information technology market so further investment in this sector is vital. However, it will not create enough employment to solve the problem. It has been estimated that it costs about A7000 to keep a person unemployed in Britain. With lost tax revenue plus the rising cost of vandalism and the increased costs in the Health Service this figure could be higher. In view of this the Development Corporation has realized the importance of community projects. One person in the Planning ‘Department has responsibility to promote these schemes in liaison with the Manpower Services Commission and voluntary groups. These projects are in the area of health care, the environment and other desirable activities which are not economic in terms of an annual balance sheet.
Recycling
our Cities?
Materials
One example is CROP. This stands for Community Recycling Opportunities Project. It is clear from our research that recycling is a necessary industry which has failed to become viable. Recycled aluminium reduces energy costs by 90 per cent and for glass it is 70 per cent. Inflation and labour costs have stopped this industry from expanding. The project is backed by the Milton Keynes Christian Industrial Foundation and the Manpower Services Commission with assistance from the Borough of Milton Keynes, the Development Corporation and some local bodies. Voluntary groups and schools collect much of the material. A fuller description is included in a Planning Exchange publication.3 It is only highly desirable community projects such as this which will solve the unemployment problem.
averages
The Need for Planned Innovation I have described the development of Milton Keynes because I worked for the Development Corporation for 10 years in an information, marketing and planning research role. However, there are many other successful innovation zones in the United Kingdom. A recent study4 shows that Cambridge is more successful with about 50 home grown hightech companies. Other innovative areas such as Glenrothes import their new industries. As well as new towns there are expanded towns such as Swindon and Basingstoke which provide examples of entrepreneurship in local authorities.
What has been done in these areas can be done throughout the United Kingdom. It is happening in London with the Docklands Development and in Liverpool with the Merseyside Development Corporation. These need to be extended to other parts of London and to older cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. We have the choice of regenerating the inner cities or facing rising crime, riots and vandalism. The philosophy needed is a partnership between industry and government and long-term investment from the financial institutions. It has been argued that such co-operation is alien to the British culture. The fact that it has been done in Milton Keynes disproves this. The priorities for development are :
(1) Investment (2) New
in Milton Keynes
and employment
technology
(3) Small businesses (4) A large commercial
and service sector
(5) Leisure facilities (6) Well-designed premises
houses,
shops and industrial
76
Long Range Planning Vol. 20
February 1987
(7) New methods of education and health care
References
(8) Community
(1)
projects
(9) A spacious, pleasant environment. Some of these objectives Milton Keynes Development Corporation can achieve by itself. Others can only be accomplished by influencing other bodies. There is no reason why these objectives cannot be pursued in other areas and in the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Plan for Milton Keynes, Volume 1: Plan presented to the Minister, Volume 2: Report of evidence presented by the consultants, Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1970). B. C. Burrows, Information technology: its impact on property development, Long Range Planning, 17, 60-73 (1984).
(3) LEDIS Summary Sheet, Planning Exchange, 186 Bath Street, Glasgow (summan/ by B. C. Burrows), CROP, June (1986). (4)
The Cembridge Phenomenon: The Growth of High Technology Industry in a University Town, Segal Quince and Partners, 42 Castle Street, Cambridge (1985).
Milton Appendix:
MKDC
Quarterly
Keynes:
A Model
for Regenerating
our Cities?
77
Facts Sheet
1 Designated At designation:
-1
area
MK borough
40,000
60,000
129,500
159,200
(est.)
At present:
Jobs at designation:
18,350
21,350
Jobs at present:
62,500
67,500
Excluding
Including
school leavers
school leavers
l
Unemployment
rates (%)-June
86
Great Britain MK travel to work
area
East Midlands South
East
Designated
area
(est.)
13.1
13.1
11.1
11.2
12.2
12.3
9.9
9.6
Completions
Existing
stock
for 1985/86
at March
1986
Completions
Commercial
Industry
65,985
1,397,698
floorspace
Offices
27,282
232,423
28,187
(so. m.)
Shopping
(local)
5050
(CMK)
4755 -
74,318
Shopping Floorspace
totals
97,922
Designated
area
Housing
Private
stock
Public
(incl. shared o’ship) (incl.
hsg assc’s)
Total dwellings Facilities
Schools
stock
Pupil places Health
1,799,811
Existing
stock
in 1985186
at March
1986
far in 1986187
27,852
(58%)
408
20,431
(42%)
120
1732
48,283
528
75 29,375
1
(km)
Completions
1572
centres
Redway
35,109
160
2
City roads (km)
1872
95,372
Completions
985
8
1.3
87.3
10.0
143.0
0.6
Cumulative Net capital
expenditure
throughout
the designated
Expenditure area (Em)
in 1985186
Private MKDC
22 186
under MKDC
control
Direct MKDC Financed
(fm)
by: capital Treasury
Other private Total
1692 1986/87 42
receipts
net contribution Lease/leaseback
529 316
During
expenditure
1986
a47
13
Total Expenditure
figures to March
151
Other public
to
(51) 9
Loans
developments
2 1 46
*Seasonally adjusted
Published
3rd quarter
1986.
so
far in 1986187
so