We began researching construction activity in the North West in general, but the turnaround in Liverpool’s fortunes has been so profound that it felt necessary to just tell that story.

Why? Because Liverpool shows so clearly how people can turn things around. At a time when impersonal forces like interest rates, oil prices and inflation seem to control our destinies, it’s great to see ordinary people making big changes.

In 1914 Liverpool was the second city of the British Empire, vaulted into global prominence by its docks. By 1990 it had become a city of jokers and was, itself, a joke.

Then the people fired councillors who believed the country owed Liverpudlians a living. Developers started investing instead of following the previous scorched-earth policy. Civic leaders came up with a plan (focus on tourism) that played to Liverpool’s strengths – its global brand, its pop credentials and its impressive architecture.

Now look. City of Culture. World Heritage Site. Massive urban development. Success is breeding success. Jobs are being created faster there than anywhere else. The population haemorrhage is even slowing down.

We should make it our business to understand why sick cities get well again because that’s where the construction work comes from. It’s like Inuit figuring out what makes the caribou herd thrive.

Even more important, we should get involved in the process, because as Liverpool shows, whether you work in the private sector or for a local authority, your input is necessary.

Move to the back

Check out the back page for two new regular features. “On the job” charts a day in the life of the people who make the industry tick. And Fran Orford’s new cartoon SNAFU (short for Situation Normal, All Fouled Up), takes a wry look at the realities of the working world. We hope you enjoy them.

Source

Construction Manager