Paul Adrian Hildreth

1 Belmont Road

Reigate

Surrey, RH2 7ED

Tel: +44 (0) 1737 223252 and +44 (0)7990551789

E-mail: and

An independent advisor on cities, regional and local economies, with a record of achievement in national policy making and in local economic development and regeneration. Skilled leader of team, network and partnership development across the public and private sectors. Experienced presenter, facilitator and author on city, regional and local development issues in the UK and in Europe. Special expertise in ‘place-shaping’, urban regeneration, community leadership and governance, medium-sized cities and city-regions

Qualifications:BSc (Econ) Economics (upper second) and

MSc (Econ) by research: ‘The Measurement of British Unemployment’, at University of Aberystwyth

MSc in Public Service Management at BirminghamUniversity

Professional: Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Member of Institution of Economic Development

May 2005 onwards – Independent Advisor on Cities, Regional and Local Economies

Appointments

  • Centre for Sustainable Urban and Regional Futures (SURF) at Salford University – Visiting Policy Fellow (2005 to present) -

  • Demos – Associate (contributing to formation of new Centre for London (2011 to present) -

  • Research Excellent Framework (hefce) sub-panel member: architecture, built environment and planning (2011 to present)

  • Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) - Advisor cities and regional policy (2005-9)

  • AberystwythUniversity – Advisory Board Member, Centre for Local and Regional Enterprise (2010 to present)

  • Cambridge Econometrics - Non-executive director (2008 to present)

  • Council of Europe(CoE) –Expert(2006-present)design

  • Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE)/ Design Council-
    Enabler (2009-to present; Acting Head of Public Affairs (CABE) (2009-2010)

  • Work Foundation – Associate Advisor (2007-2009)

Research and policy projects include: (* see publications list)

  • Research into economic relationships between towns and cities in five Northern City Regions and leading the Liverpool City Region case study, for the Northern Way and CLG (with SURF, Centre for Cities and Work Foundation)*

  • Research into economic relationships between towns and cities in Hulland HumberPorts for the Northern Way (with SURF, Centre for Cities and Work Foundation)*

  • Research into the nature of city linkages between large and medium-sized cities, for the Northern Way and CLG (with SURF and Centre for Cities)*

  • Research report on the dynamics of place-shaping in regeneration policy (for CLG)*

  • Developing city definitions and diagrams for HM-Treasury devolved decision making 3: the role of cities publication (with CLG)*

  • Evaluation of proposals for city region governance for the English Core Citiesand potential and opportunities for English Science cities(with SURF)

  • Analysis and evaluation for Newcastle/Gateshead of their Masterplan and proposals to form a Economic Development Company (with SURF)

  • Advising Leeds City-Region on the development of their successful proposals to apply to become a city region pilot (with SURF)

  • Fieldwork for study into innovation policy in Manchester for NESTA (with SURF)*

  • Member of panel developing a framework for strategic urban design at the sub-regional level (for CABE)*

  • Policy advice, report and presentations on national draft laws on regional development for Georgia and Ukraine (with CoE)

  • Researched and wrote Council of Europe toolkit on Strategic Municipal Planning

  • International expert facilitating pilot Strategic Municipal Planning programmes in Albania, Georgia and Armenia, designing framework and developing local staff (with CoE)

  • Contributing policy advice and presentations on small cities policy in Ukraine (with CoE), regional policy in Moldova (with UNDP)

  • Member of international committee selecting final shortlist for the Dubai International Award 2008 (with UNHABITAT)

  • Developed typology for medium-sized cities (with OECD and Presidency of Galicia, Spain (with OECD)*

  • Other clients: House of Commons, UNDP, East Sussex Councils, Yorkshire RIBA, KeeleUniversity

May 2003 to May 2005 – Policy Advisor in: (a) Joint ODPM/HM-Treasury/Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Economic Performance PSA Team and (b) ODPM – Urban Policy Directorate

  • Led engagement of national, regional and city stakeholders in regional economic policy review: e.g. Government Departments; EnglishCoreCities; Government Regional Offices; Regional Development Agencies
  • Led policy work on the economic contribution of ‘Quality of Place’ to regional economies
  • Led ODPM working group (involving other departments) to form evidence and policy towards city regions, work which continues influential today
  • Coordinated the English Core Cities Working Group in making recommendations to Government on how cities contribute to regional economic performance
  • Contributed to researching and writing two ODPM policy publications on regional economic policy

1992 to May 2003 - Head of Economic and Strategic Development, Croydon Council

Strategic Partnership Development / Facilitated development of Croydon Strategic Partnership from start-up to a leading model Local Strategic Partnership. Led Regeneration and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies
Croydon Vision / Croydon the Future, a £½ million exhibition, with the Architecture Foundation, to provide a design led vision for Croydon’s town centre with 40,000 visitors and national media profile
City Marketing / Creation of Croydon Marketing & Development Ltd to improve Croydon’s external image and increase private investment
Town Centre Renaissance / Developed Croydon’s Town Centre Management scheme with the private sector, bringing considerable new business investment
Enterprise Development / New models of enterprise support to create businesses in deprived areas and new social enterprises
International Urban Policy / Founder of the Edge Cities Network (towns and cities on the edge of capital cities)
International experience in Nanjing, China and South Africa

Recent publications

Work Foundation, SURF and Centre for Cities (2010) Economic linkages in Northern city regions: Hull and HumberPorts, available at:

Work Foundation, SURF and Centre for Cities (2009) City Relationships: economic linkages in Northern city regions, available at:

Hildreth, P. A. (2009) Understanding ‘new regional policy’: what is behind the government’s sub-national economic and regeneration policy for England?, Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 318-336

Lucci, Paula and Hildreth, Paul (2008) City Links: integration and isolation,Centre for Cities. Available at

Hildreth, Paul (2007) The dynamics of ‘place-shaping’: the changing rationale for urban regeneration, Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal, vol. 1, no. 3, pp, 227-239

Hildreth, P. A. (2007), Understanding medium-sized cities, Town & Country Planning, vol. 76, no. 5, pp. 163–167

Recent Presentations

University

  • Government Local Growth policies, University College London (2011)

  • Transition economics, AberystwythUniversity, final year economics(2009, 2010)

  • Understanding medium-sized cities, ManchesterUniversity (2010)

  • New city-regionalism, Reading University (2010)

  • Role of medium-sized cities, Keele University ESRC series(2009)

Other public events

  • Economic linkages and outer London. Centre for London and LSE(2011)

  • Regional development in Georgia, International conference, Batumi (2010)

  • The dynamics of place, Space Syntax (2010)

  • Economic relationships between settlements, RTPI Wales (2010)

  • UK and European focus on sub-national policy, Cambridge Econometrics (2009)

  • What does city relationships mean for the city-region, Leeds City Region (2009)

  • The case for investment in place, Leeds City Centre Symposium (2009)

  • What is the case for investing in places, Homes and Community Agency (2009)

  • Linking places to improve opportunity, The Northern Way (2009)

  • Economic development and place, CABE and PUSH (2009)

  • Role of cities in delivering Lisbon agenda, PrestonEuropean conference (2009)

  • British system of local government, Centre National De La Fonction Publique Territorial (2008)

  • Quality of place and regional economic performance, CABE and One Northeast (2008)

  • Economic relationships between cities, The Northern Way (2008)

Other

Tutor for Research Councils of Great Britain Graduate Schools (for PhD students) for ten years.

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