Locality Development

A third key dimension to build competitive local economies is to create increasingly attractive physical and natural environments in which businesses can grow and prosper and that are attractive to live and work. It is important that economic infrastructure, transportation, telecommunications, energy, water and sanitation and sites and premises for businesses are the best possible to meet the needs of workers as well as established and new businesses, formal and informal. Increasingly important is to create a good quality environment, "quality of place" that is attractive to mobile businesses and people.

Programmes to support locality development can broadly be categorised into 7 areas:

Transportation is a key issue when facilitating economic development, transport, whether roads, rail, ports or airports, rural or urban are all fundamental to the competitiveness of places. Businesses need to receive and deliver goods and people need to be able to get too and from work with as much ease as possible, projects are categorised into the following categories:

• Airports
• Ports
• Rail
• Roads
• Urban Transport

Telecommunications whether fixed land lines or mobile phones or access to Internet services are increasingly important in today's rapidly globalising world. Access to these technologies particularly mobile phones and the Internet are transforming the competitiveness of places and businesses in central as well as remote locations. Access to these facilities give major opportunities for both business growth as well as offering job seekers new ways to access work. Competitive communities aim to enable access to these services.

The supply of energy is not normally a key element of LED strategies but there are occasions when energy issues need to be addressed, even if it is to lobby the government or utilities for additional or better supplies.

• District Lighting
• Electricity
• Solar

Water and sanitation improvements not only make a change in quality of life but also generate high returns for the local economy. Communities offering reliable water and sanitation services will be able to attract and retain businesses, they will be more productive due to less sickness and they will be more attractive for business and job seekers alike.

• Sewerage

Having access to appropriate industrial or commercial sites and premises in which to make, store or sell goods and services gives individual businesses and communities significant competitive advantages. A key role of an economic developer is to ensure that the right type of sites and premises, are available to large and small investors, across all sectors that are relevant and appropriate for a community. Project examples include:

• Improvement Districts
• Incubators
• Managed Workspaces
• Market Upgrading

Competitive communities are those that can attract and retain businesses and people. Much now depends upon not just where a community is located but how nice it is to live there, compared with comparator locations. Equally many communities in transforming their economies have disused factories and buildings and open spaces that are underused assets and form negative images of their communities. These issues all impact on the quality of place and consequently life, and so should form a key part of community LED activities.

• Crime Reduction
• Regeneration
• Rural-Urban Links
• Tourism

Sacrificing natural resources for quick-fix development does not improve economic prospects in the long-run. Territories with the best environmental records also have a healthier economy in most of the cases. Biodiversity conservation, watershed management, natural resources inventories, eco-tourism are all examples of practices which are increasingly included in LED, as they provide concrete guidelines to take advantage of natural resources and address local economic concerns in a sustainable way.Project examples include:

• Forestry
• Land Tenure
• Sustainable Agriculture