Urbanism
Environment
Design

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Nicholas Falk of the URBED Trust argues for proper support for industry in a letter to the Observer published on the 6th November. 

"You are right to highlight the importance of Britain's motor industry to our economic future ("Nissan throws UK a Brexit lifeline", News, last week) but you miss the key point: what matters most is our capacity to design world beating products and dominate major markets. For example, 5,000 people still work at Ford of Europe's design centre at Dunton in Essex, but Ford gave up making commercial vehicles to Italy and Turkey and transferred Fiesta production to Spain. As part of a global company, it will be concerned with attracting and retaining first-class staff and Brexit sends all the wrong signals. 

When I researched the role of Germany's Fraunhofer research institutes for the book Good Cities, Better Lives, I discovered they are government-funded to support leading manufacturers, not to keep universities going. One of the main centres is in Stuttgart, the home of Mercedes. Similarly, the city of Leipzig told me they built a motorway south of the city to secure BMW's new plant. 

Until our cities are enabled to support companies that have the capacity to design and make high-value products with both research and good housing, we are in a race to the bottom."

Dr Nicholas Falk

Chair, URBED Trust, Manchester