Leeds City

Leeds' position as a regional city of importance is mainly due to its economy. Where once the city was predominantly a manufacturing and textiles city, employing city-dwellers who arrived from both rural and international parts of the world, its economy now largely relies on the tertiary sector – financial and business services, retail, and the public sector. Significant economic and banking companies outside of London and home-grown companies have made their homes in the city. Like all cities, Leeds has had to continue innovating and investing to retain and, where necessary, establish a leading position in business. Previous changes, such as the advent of computer technology in the 1970s and 1980s and the networking and decentralised server storage revolutions at the turn of the century.

It is now expected that Leeds will capitalise on its expertise in technology and science to fuel future development. New creative campuses are hosted in the city, while major marketplaces and centres for developing technological skills are present. Although mainly service-oriented, large parts of the economy – such as small creative enterprises and emerging digital businesses – build on technological and manufacturing skills traditionally associated with the city. Hopefully, this will have a massive effect on the area and the local and city economies. To accommodate potential growth and enable more efficient business practices and leisure and retail options, vital infrastructure work is being carried out in and around Leeds. Transport improvements should also increase the city's links and understanding and allow businesses to improve their customer bases. The city could benefit by further increasing its role as a knowledge nexus if it also hosts a new innovation and knowledge hub. Mooted as a university development area, it is also claimed that this could help to retain talent leaving universities as it did in other cities.

Over the last few decades, Leeds has worked hard to market and change its image. Key to these changes has been the reintroduction of rail travel to the city, a pleasant arrival into the transformed city railway station, and state-of-the-art public space art leading to and in the heart of the new city shopping and recreation area. If and when the future becomes more concrete, the ambition is for Leeds to address chronic housing issues and to develop in an environmentally sustainable way; create decent, fair, and affordable-paying jobs; and for the city's inhabitants to be hard-working and to feel an equal part of an inclusive business environment. The city's so-called Local Enterprise Partnership also believes that the city should be brimming with green spaces and external cultural personality. Leeds continues to be optimistic, and the signs for the future are generally good. The prospects for economic change or the decline in multinational jobs and areas may change the hard work into reality. Predictions about Leeds have recently been primarily optimistic. These strengths and opportunities mean that Leeds – and the city region – can look ahead with a high degree of confidence.

The challenges of the future have to be met – challenges to create a relevant skills base required for businesses to be able to grow; to create an infrastructure that will not only support this business growth and increased pay employment but also tackle the internal and external urban connectivity issues that face the city; and to increase mobility issues – and also to enable businesses to decrease high car use. It is also essential that as ambitions are delivered on a city level, they do not leave people and companies behind at a local community level. Therefore, business and civic leaders must engage and work with local leaders to ensure that the collective ambition of the city can be met.