Attracting Investment
Supported a Scottish presence at the inaugural UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF)
Scottish Cities Week
Delivered the inaugural Scottish Cities Week programme in London to an audience of over 130 investors, developers, agents and other built environment professionals.
Transition to Net Zero
Supported the development of the a Climate Delivery Framework and Scottish Climate Intelligence Service for local and Scottish Government. Worked with 3Ci to publish a pipeline of 117 net zero projects across the Scottish cities collectively valued at £8 billion.
City Centre Recovery
Launched the City Centre Recovery Taskforce chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs & Fair Work to develop a vision for the future of city centres backed by £6m from the Scottish Government.
Creativity & Innovation
Completed work on creative and cultural hubs in Inverness & Perth utilising buisness case support from the Alliance and leveraging in wider SG and EU funding. Opened over 180 new data sets across the cities, enabling innovation in service provision and economic and social value to be derived from data.
Influence
Participated in an Investor roundtable at Downing Street. Published the first Scottish Cities Outlook report with the Fraser of Allander Institute showcasing the contributions of the Scottish cities to the Scottish economy. Produced an analysis of how EU successor funding should be used to support city economies.
Smart Cities
Supported a Team Scotland pavilion at MIPIM. Secured a further £15m in European Funding to support a 2nd phase of the ERDF programme. Projects delivered include Open Data platforms for each of the cities, Intelligent Street Lighting, Smart Waste, Water and Mobility projects across the cities.
Reach and Scale
Attended Expo Real in Munich and EU World Cities in South Korea. Completed work to explore the potential to create a Scottish Cities Investment Fund to support and enhance the delivery of large scale infrastructure projects. Accessed £250k from Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme to pilot the methodology to produce city LHEES.
Crystalisation of Projects
Work on building the hydrogen economy leads to application to Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking for funding to deliver fuel cell bus demonstration projects in Scottish cities. Launch of the National Entitlement card as a smart travel ticket.
Europe
Secured funding for “Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City” ERDF Prpogramme supporting the cities to utilise data & digital technologies to drive their city economies. Built on learning from MIPIM to deliver a larger scale presence for Scotland at MIPIM 2015.
Scaling Ambition
Building on the approach taken to the Glasgow City Region Deal, commenced work on City Investment Plans with the other 6 cities. Delivered the Alliance’s first investment attraction programme at MIPIM 2014 & MIPIM UK supported by the launch of an investment prospectus.
Additional Projects Agreed
Commenced project activity to support building the hydrogen economy; building the business case for creative and cultural hubs across all 7 cities; and linking the work of the Alliance partners to research and best practice with the support of the Scottish Cities Knowledge Centre.
Strategic Projects Agreed
The Leadership Group agreed the initial programme of projects the partners would utilise the CIF to collaborate on including digital connectivity; a Green Deal retrofit programme; smart ticketing and a collaborative programme of investment promotion and attraction.
Agenda for Cities
The Leaders of 7 Scottish cities and the Deputy First Minister launch the “Agenda for Cities” together with a £7m Cities Investment Fund (CIF) setting out a vision where Scotland’s cities and their regions empower Scotland’s economy for the benefit of all.
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