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Former justice minister to be
Copenhagen’s new lord mayor
Copenhagen, 19 November 2009: Copenhagen will continue to be ruled by a Social Democrat mayor. Frank Jensen has secured his position as Copenhagen’s newest mayor - continuing an unbroken line of Social Democrat lord mayors since 1938 - despite his party losing four council seats. In August, the Social Democrat campaign received a major boost when the only major opponent for the mayoral position, Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard from the Socialist People’s Party, announced his support for Jensen.

Across Denmark, left-of-centre opposition parties won more than 51 per cent of the vote, with the centre-right government bloc on 44 per cent. The biggest winner in this week’s local elections was the Socialist People's Party, which nearly doubled its popularity to 14.5 per cent of the vote. The party is a close ally of the Social Democrats who control Denmark's three largest cities, Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.

During the campaign, Jensen, who will replace current mayor Ritt Bjerregaard at the end of the year, promised to rid the city of gang violence. “We’ll find out which preventative measures are most effective and then strengthen them, and at the same time we’ll drop those not having the desired effect,” he said.

Mayor-elect Jensen served as a Member of Parliament from 1986 to 2006, during which time he was Justice Minister for five years. His time in office coincided with the so-called biker was in the mid 1990s.


Former headmistress
elected Mayor of Sofia
Sofia, 16 November 2009: Yordanka Fandukova, from Bulgaria’s ruling Citizens for the European Development party, (GERB) won a clear victory in the battle to become Sofia's mayor, winning 66.1 per cent of the vote, with her Socialist Party opponent Georgi Kadiev on 26.5 per cent. Turnout was extremely low, registering 25.7 per cent.

Fandukova, a former school headmistress, won the election in the first round outright, precluding the need for a second round runoff. With her victory, she becomes the first woman mayor in Sofia's history. Speaking after her victory, Fandukova said that her victory underlined support for the previous mayor and now prime minister Boiko Borissov. She also thanked other right-wing parties for not standing against her in the contest.

The campaign, which was widely perceived to be a foregone conclusion, was an extremely low-key and subdued affair. Boiko Borissov, speaking alongside Fadukova at a post-election news conference, said that the former education minister would carry on her predecessors' good work at the Sofia mayor's office. (Report by Sofia Echo)

English cities may set up
urban economic regions
London, 15 November 2009: Britain’s parliament has voted to allow English cities to establish city regional authorities. Known as Economic Prosperity Boards, the new bodies will, subject to ministerial approval of their creation, be able to exercise powers over economic development, regeneration and transport across urban areas consisting of several local authorities. Supporters of the plan argue that they will bring much need coordination to English cities and be able to lobby for further powers over planning, skills and housing, while critics argue they are another needless tier in England’s complex and muddled system.

The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act allows for the creation of Economic Prosperity Boards in large city regions where two or more councils request their creation. Subject to ministerial approval, the new boards would be led by an executive drawn from the member local councils and given powers over economic development, regeneration and transport. The new boards were a key proposal in the Treasury’s 2007 'Sub-national review of economic development and regeneration', which has guided Labour’s thinking on reform of local and regional government in the post-Blair era. In the 2009 Budget the cities of Manchester and Leeds were chosen as the first two pilot city regions.

Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton said: "The global downturn has affected different areas of the country in different ways, creating challenges that require local solutions. The Act strengthens the democratic role of councils as local leaders in every region, giving them the power to work with local people and their regional partners to increase prosperity and tackle social deprivation and inequality."

The measure is the last that the Labour Government can take in the city region debate, which has been on-going since the 2004 rejection by referendum of its regional government plans for England. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction law was passed on the final day of this year’s parliamentary session, which is the last full session before the country’s 2010 general election. The opposition Conservative Party voted against the measure, with its policy being to hold referendums on introducing elected mayors in England’s 12 largest cities.

Viable public transport
remains a pipe dream
London, 6 November 2009: A cross-government report on the state of transport in England’s cities has found that public policy has not kept up with the growth of urban areas and the unchecked car economy has been to their detriment. Furthermore recent efforts to encourage cycling and walking in England’s cities has failed to discourage the use of cars, even on short journeys.

The November 2009 report suggests that while over-reliance on cars has been to damaging to health for those living in English cities, viable public transport remains a pipe dream. It argues that increased obesity and reduced air quality are most likely to be the long-term effects of such deficits in public transport provision, rather than congestion.

The Department for Transport report, The Future of Urban Transport, argues that 80 per cent of the English population live in cities and towns and that cities are the driver of the national economy. Therefore travel within cities is of primary importance to national economic success: “This report shows that transport is vital to the success of urban areas, but that currently it causes considerable harm. New policy will need to consider the broad finding that congestion is not the only, or most important transport cost in urban areas. Evidence suggests many of the harms from urban transport will continue to grow unless action is taken. Consequently a choice will have to be faced between continuing to allow car growth to continue increasing congestion and further reducing the attractiveness of alternatives; or making public transport, cycling and walking more accessible so they are more frequently chosen.”

The report, while not binding on government, suggests that Labour ministers have belatedly accepted the need for investment in England’s city transport systems, after a decade of under-investment and cancelled improvements. The Conservatives, who look poised to take power following the election next year, have in recent years flirted with the idea of allowing more English cities to introduce light rail schemes into their congested city centres. However, most of these commitments were made during times of more buoyant public finances and the party’s spokesmen are now signalling the high likelihood of centrally-imposed spending restrictions on local government and no further funds for any new projects.
 
Separately, the UK government's transport secretary Andrew Adonis has become the latest Labour figure to back the introduction of more elected mayors to English cities and towns: "I think we should be looking seriously at introducing elected mayors across Britain... Ken Livingstone did as much as any other figure in the last 10 years to bring about public service reform... We created the mayoralty, gave him the opportunity to mobilise Londoners and the democratic legitimacy necessary to introduce big reforms like the congestion charge. I believe that if we had elected mayors in other major cities of Britain, they could bring about similar change."

Trolley buses may
run again in Leeds
Leeds, 29 October 2009: Leeds hopes to be the first English city for 40 years to operate a trolleybus system following a £275m package submitted to ministers this week.  Under the New Generation Transport scheme, a 14 mile (22.5km) electric bus network connecting the city centre with the city’s hospitals and universities would be created by the city’s integrated transport authority. The last trolleybus network in England was in neighbouring Bradford, which made its final run in 1972.  A government decision is expected by the end of the year.

The system, similar to that operated in Lyon, France, is aimed at reducing congestion and pollution in the city centre.  Overall, the number of UK cities operating subway and light rail systems is relatively low compared to other European cities on account of the lack of financial support available and Britain’s centralised policymaking on transportation issues.  The trolleybus scheme follows the city’s failed bid to create a light rail network, which was rejected by ministers in 2005 as too costly.  If approved the new network could be constructed and operational by 2015, pending parliamentary and local approval.

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit, unlike a tram or streetcar, which normally uses the track as part of the electrical path and thus needs only one wire and pole.

Kosovo accuses Serbia of
meddling in local elections
Pristina, 18 October 2009: The foreign minister of Kosovo has accused Serbia of interfering in next month's municipal elections by urging Kosovo-Serbs to boycott the vote. The election is the first local election since Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Belgrade last year.

Kosovo's Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni told the UN Security Council that campaigning for municipal elections began Thursday and that the Kosovo Central Election Commission is fully responsible for organizing and conducting the vote on 15 November.

"Comprehensive preparations have taken place to make sure this coming municipal election is successful and in full compliance with the set standards. With over 70 political entities that have been duly certified to participate at the election, we are confident that this will be another democratic, free, fair election in the Republic of Kosovo," he said.

He added that he hopes there will be "sizable and substantial participation" from the Kosovo-Serb community, but he noted that the government is concerned Serbia is trying to influence them not to take part. "Regrettably, as we could hear today, there are clear indications that the government of the Republic of Serbia has been doing quite the opposite, calling on Kosovo-Serbs to boycott the elections," he said.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said the situation is "deeply regrettable" but that under the current circumstances the vote is illegitimate. Serbia rejected Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence on 17 February last year and has asked the International Court of Justice to rule on its legality. (Report by Margaret Besheer, VoA News)

Mayor warns of threat to
London’s predominance
London, 18 October 2009: London’s mayor has warned the city risks losing its leading status as a financial centre if a number of threats are not headed off.  Speaking to business leaders, Boris Johnson outlined how London could lose its favoured status among global businesses if government policies on tax and immigration are not rebalanced in favour of retaining competitiveness.  Uncertainty over future levels of funding for vital infrastructure improvements and the higher education sector could also have long term consequences, said a report commissioned by the mayor.
 
The mayor’s International Business Advisory Council heard how the new 50% income tax rate and proposal to introduce a £30,000 levy for non-domiciles could lead to an exodus of wealth creators from the British capital.  The City Hall summit also heard that rival financial centres in both Asia and non-EU states such as Switzerland are aggressively courting London’s hedge fund financiers to relocate.
 
The mayor said: “Recent international and European surveys have consistently put London as the number one place to do business and invest in, but this is not the time to rest on our laurels. This comprehensive report has recommended areas for action – many of which we’re already acting upon, such as boosting lobbying on London's competitiveness, pushing ahead with major infrastructure improvements, like Crossrail and the Olympics, and lobbying government and the EU on a range of issues that matter to Londoners.”
 
The report, London: World Capital of Business, argued that the mayor should establish a small London Competitiveness Unit at City Hall, tasked with lobbying on behalf of the capital’s finance industry rather than producing more reports and analysis. Immediate campaigns demanded in the report include calling on the British government to reconsider its immigration reforms which hinder foreign talent from working in the capital and to ditch the new tax hikes, both of which were the subject of widespread concern by business leaders interviewed.  It also argued that London’s overseas promotion campaigns should be refocused towards attracting companies from the rising Asian markets, with a more coordinated reputation management strategy. Investment in infrastructure and higher education should be maintained also, it said.
 
The review was undertaken by BT CEO Ian Livingston and Royal Academy chair Richard Sharp, while the research was carried out pro bono by a team of consultants from Booz and Co. The report follows an earlier review of London’s competitiveness as a global financial services centre carried out by Bob Wigley of Merryl Lynch.

Israeli mayor denies
twinning with Dachau
Tel Aviv, 14 October 2009: The mayor of Rosh Ha'ayin, an Israeli city of some 40,000 people, said he had no plans to establish a sister-city relationship with Dachau, despite recent press reports. Mayor Moshe Sinai told the Ha'aretz daily that the two cities had discussed holding joint educational tours of Israeli and German students at the site of the Dachau concentration camp.

"It's completely absurd," Sinai told the newspaper. "They took a nice educational initiative and portrayed me as an enemy of the state. I find it hard to understand what is so bad about a group of Israeli teens visiting Dachau?" Following worldwide news reports, Sinai has been subject to harsh criticism from Holocaust survivors and Internet talkback posters over the reported agreement. Sinai visited the German city last summer, where the initiative was discussed.

"As Jews, we can't turn our backs on the German nation that speaks from a place of deep regret when it asks us to build a bridge through the kids in order to learn the lessons of the Holocaust," he told Ha'aretz.

Rosh Ha'ayin, in central Israel, already has sister-city relationships in China, France and the United States. KZ Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp opened within Germany. Dachau, a medieval town, is located some 15 kilometres northwest of Munich.

London Mayor accused of
lacking transport strategy
London, 1 October 2009: The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is in danger of becoming pre-occupied with minority-focused transport schemes, and high-cost initiatives rather than concentrating on the fundamental travel problems faced by millions of people every day, says a report published today. “His emphasis on cycle ‘super-highways’, bikes for hire and a new bus for London has blinkered him to the wider strategic issues.”

Peter Brown, the author of the report ‘A Roads Policy for London’, also says that the concentration on the 2012 Olympics is threatening to divert engineers away from the day-to-day management and development of the road network. “With increasing demand for road space, many areas of central London could become no-go areas for cars because of the proliferation of road works, bus lanes and cycle-ways. In outer London population and traffic growth is set to bring increasing misery for motorists.”

The report, which was commissioned by the RAC Foundation, also casts doubt on the Mayor’s commitment to remove and replace articulated buses (bendy-buses) with new double-decker buses, saying this is misdirected and prohibitively expensive. “The Mayor also needs to rethink plans to re-introduce a new type of double-decker. Whilst there are routes where bendy-buses are inappropriate, when it comes to mass transport, they carry more people, more quickly than double-deckers ever will. And with TfL facing a reported £2 billion budget shortfall there is also the small matter of where the cash is going to come from to pay for these new vehicles.”

Commenting on the findings, Professor Stephen Glaister, Director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The report’s conclusion is clear. There is no overall strategy for transport in London. Undoubtedly this is not helped by having 36 competing highways authorities in the capital: the boroughs, TFL and others – including the Royal Parks.”

“The Mayor must show leadership. He needs to think less about attention-grabbing policies linked to niche modes of travel like cycling and grasp the bigger problems of transport in the capital, not least congestion in outer London. With the best will in the world, encouraging a few more people onto their bikes is not going to solve the relentless jams in the suburbs. What might solve it is a London-wide road charging scheme. Not one just focused on the centre.”