I must admit I still always feel a shiver down my spine, a lump in my throat, and a need to temper watery eyes, when my favourite Xmas Number One of all time – the original Band Aid version from 1984 – comes on. In a somewhat more prosaic context, I suspect many economic development professionals will have similar feelings about 2011 when they reflect back on government’s approach to the subject area we love and into which we put our professional energies.
In recent years the race to become Xmas Number One has pitted manufactured (un)reality-show pop-floss against edgy, darker musical and social statements. Similarly, in 2011, the Coalition’s superficial lip-service to local growth and development is countered by the much more problematic, perverse experience of practitioners in our cities and communities. Indeed, major features of 2011 bring to mind a number of Xmas Number Ones of both the superficial and the edgy variety.
