Brits Say US Cities Should Look To UK's Successes

"The decline of British industry after World War II saw UK cities and towns riddled with social and economic deprivation, and largely neglected by central government.

In recent years - starting with Michael Heseltine's city development initiatives under the Conservative government of the 1980s, UK cities have basked in the attention of senior ministers. Tony Blair's Social Exclusion Unit, Gordon Brown's target to reduce child poverty and John Prescott's expert Urban Task Force attest to a concentrated effort to help cities improve after a lengthy period of economic and industrial decline.

Ex-industrial cities like Leeds and Sheffield have seen jobs growth of 15% and 25% respectively in a single decade. Who would have thought 10 years ago that Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture, would be welcoming its two millionth visitor so far this year? That Gateshead would be hosting the Conservative Party's 2008 spring conference?

There has been no equivalent high-profile championing of urban development and regeneration by the US government in recent years - American cities have been missing out."