Policymakers rarely give questions of pride and identity the attention they deserve. When the levelling up white paper was published in February 2022, it claimed that the attachment individuals have to their communities can carry important implications for the social fabric and economic prosperity. A report I co-authored with colleagues at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy came to the same conclusion, though there is often confusion about the ingredients needed to boost pride of place.
Any government that is serious about addressing spatial inequality, therefore, needs to take matters of pride and identity seriously. The state of physical infrastructure can facilitate pride – or hurt it. This has been brought into sharp relief by the prospect that municipal assets are at risk, either through disrepair, closure or disposal. That predates the government’s recent consultation to make it easier for authorities to sell off assets to fill budget shortfalls.
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