News & Views

It’s time to change the lens through which Scotland and its towns are viewed – and recognise the critical role towns can play in delivering a stronger local and national economy

All too often, ours is a nation which is viewed with its cities in sharp focus. Yet just over half (53%) of the population lives in one of the country’s 508 towns.

While taking nothing away from our cities, an element of refocussing could be transformational, creating a mindshift that simply looks at the challenges and opportunities which exist within our towns simply within the view of “regeneration”, but instead placing “economic development” more widely into sharp focus.

The embedding of Community Wealth Building into local and regional decision making provides the perfect opportunity to make that happen.

Towns are not simply places which need investment. They are places which can actively drive economic growth, strengthen local economies and help to deliver on national Community Wealth Building outcomes.

At its core, Community Wealth Building is about creating economies that work for people and places. It is a position which focuses on retaining wealth locally, supporting businesses, building resilient supply chains and crucially, ensuring that investment benefits communities.

So, what does Community Wealth Building look like for our towns and places?

For towns, the principles of CWB are not new, and across the country we see examples every day of communities working together to strengthen their local economy. Independent businesses, community groups and organisations, Business Improvement Districts and local authorities are already contributing to the circulation of wealth within their places.

When people choose to spend locally and invest locally, they create more resilient economies. The challenge is how we scale and support this activity.

For us at Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), we continue to champion initiatives such as our Scotland Loves Local campaign, which encourages people to recognise the impact their spending decisions can have on local jobs, businesses and communities.

But Community Wealth Building asks us to go further. It provides an opportunity to think about the collective economic power that exists within towns, and how local authorities, businesses, communities and other key organisations can work together to harness that power to benefit all.

We have also consistently called for a stronger national commitment to towns. Not because towns are being ignored, but because they are uniquely positioned to help deliver a wide range of national priorities – from economic development to housing, wellbeing and sustainability targets. As local authorities prepare their Community Wealth Building action plans, towns need to be seen as a key vehicle for delivery.

The Town Centre First principle remains relevant as ever – long-term investment, collaborative leadership and strong local partnerships will be essential if we are to unlock the full potential of our towns.

Importantly, we need to move beyond viewing towns as places of challenge requiring intervention and start recognising them as places that are capable of delivering solutions.

Community Wealth Building offers Scotland a new opportunity to rethink economic development, and it has the potential to be a powerful framework for creating more resilient local economies. Towns offer the places where that framework can come to life.

Kimberley Guthrie is Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership. You can hear more from her as she chatted with EDAS Chair Neil McInroy in the latest episode of our Talking EDAS podcast. Listen or download here.