SOUTHAMPTON has a unique chance to become a “thriving destination port city” thanks to a host of big developments, its City of Culture bid and the Solent Freeport project. That was the message from an online event which brought together some of the city’s top decision makers. Southampton Chamber of Commerce and professional services firm PwC hosted the meeting in the wake of the Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities report. The report ranked Southampton as the UK’s number three when wellbeing was taken into account alongside economic growth. However, it also found the city was likely to recover more slowly from the Covid crisis than other places.
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It was nice to see two separate reports this week, which showed Swindon as being in a strong position to bounce back from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic Normally when the Centre for Cities’ Outlook report is published at the start of each year, we are rubbing shoulders near the top of the leader board with some powerful cities and outperforming many others on a number of different economic indicators. This year, we hardly got a mention. But that is cause for encouragement because this year’s report focused on the impact of COVID-19 on urban life and the prospects for the future and, in particular, those that have been worst affected.