This is about localising prosperity for everyone – by building upon an area’s existing strengths so that it can develop from within, maximising the local economic and social benefits for all. It is based on a virtuous circle of local empowerment, thriving local business and wellbeing:
Realising the potential of local economic power Ensuring that growth actually increases and shares local prosperity can be a challenge. Localising Prosperity is about making this easier. Research by Localise WM in 2013 demonstrated that higher levels of small business and local ownership have a proven link to better performance including higher levels of job creation, social inclusion, civic engagement, wellbeing and local distinctiveness: growth that works.
So we localise prosperity rather than handing it to ‘absentee landlords’: distant private and public sector decision-makers with little understanding of the local area. Their dominance was found to be a recipe for failure in the long term, creating a cycle of decline in the reverse to the one above.
