Distance makes the heart grow fonder: Can identities within diaspora revitalise rural regions from afar?

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhilst the strong emotional attachment to one’s home can be leveraged to bring back migrants that tackle skills gaps, diaspora populations that remain abroad can bring other benefits back home too. Engaging the diaspora should be understood as more than an effort to entice people to return home. Strong local identities endure long after migration, and policymakers can harness this attachment to mobilise skills, knowledge and investment from afar.

From empty desks to full homes: Can office conversions solve the housing crisis?

Reading Time: 5 minutesIn the Paris region, over 5.6 million square meters of office space sit vacant. At the same time, demand for housing (especially social housing) has reached critical levels, with fourteen applications per allocation on average. This mismatch – between empty offices and overcrowded homes, raises important issues about how we can make better use of the built environment to meet urgent housing needs. 

Why cities must build, not buy, the infrastructure of intelligence

Reading Time: 4 minutesAcross the world, cities are quietly delegating the details of daily life to new artificial intelligence (AI) systems that make data driven recommendations about how resources and priorities are distributed. What begins as a promise of efficiency can also quietly define the invisible architecture of who controls public life. The work ahead calls for civic imagination and for ambitious leaders who can link algorithms to accountability.

COGITO Talks… La République des Hyper Voisins

Reading Time: 21 minutesThis conversation dives into how a small gathering in a local restaurant blossomed into a powerful neighbourhood network grounded in trust, conviviality, and mutual support. From organising a 1 500-person street banquet to creating WhatsApp groups that connect thousands of residents, Patrick and Marion share how intentional social ties can strengthen safety, wellbeing, and even help older neighbours remain in their homes. 

Is UK devolution delivering?

Reading Time: 3 minutesGreater Manchester has recently outpaced London in productivity growth – a surprising shift that’s prompting many to ask: Is this the long-awaited “devolution dividend”? And could it finally help close the UK’s deep economic divides? Our recent study for the Manchester-based Productivity Institute suggests that advances in data science make it possible to identify a “sweet spot” in subnational government design. We must find it.

第二の都市について互いに学びあう:イギリスと日本における地方分権からの知見 

Reading Time: < 1 minute先進国の多くでは、国内の地域格差が拡大している現実が、全国平均の統計値の裏に隠れてしまっている。大都市圏が急速に成長する一方で、多くの中小都市や地方部はその歩みに追いつけずにいる。わたしたちCIPFAとバーミンガム大学City-REDI (City-Region Economic Development Institute:都市地域経済開発研究所)による最新の英日共同研究(日本語版報告書)は、この課題に真正面から取り組み、イギリスの「第二の都市」バーミンガム(およびウェスト・

Concrétiser le droit de rester : leçons des villes qui ont inversé le déclin

Reading Time: 5 minutesAu cours des quinze dernières années, la population vivant dans les zones urbaines de l’Union européenne a augmenté de près de 12 millions de personnes. Dans un contexte d’urbanisation, une telle tendance n’a rien de surprenant. Mais sous la surface se cache une réalité plus complexe : toutes les villes ne profitent pas de cette croissance. Concrétiser le droit de rester suppose des politiques qui rééquilibrent la prospérité.

Unlocking the right to stay: Lessons from cities that reversed decline 

Reading Time: 4 minutesOver the past 15 years, Europe’s cities have grown by nearly 12 million people. Yet while Europe’s large cities have expanded by around 6.5%, smaller cities have shrunk by 1.7%. Western cities have been generally growing, while many in Eastern Europe are losing residents. This uneven growth raises an important question – what does it mean to have the Right to Stay in Europe’s shrinking cities? 

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