公共交通问题研究

Critically analyse the future of the public sector in developing and managing tourism destinations with focus on Public Transport in the UK (in particular Birmingham's public transport problems, buses, congestion charge, railway).
 

Part 1: Introduction to the problem

The United Kingdom in the past century had experienced change in various aspects including social, economic, political and cultural dimensions. What were interesting in these changes were the displacements of public policies with each changing government. The early 1970s - characterized by post-industrial social norms - witnessed the restructuring of the public sector. Public departments had individual roles to serve in the society such as the leisure department which acted as the client as well as the direct service providers for tourists and communities. The premise had been to improve the quality of life, provide recreational services and increase employment level in the leisure industry (Simmonds 1994). For this purpose the central and local governments had been entrusted with the task of funding leisure operations that provided recreational and tourism services. By becoming a public sector domain, the leisure department had been limited by the provision of resources allocated by the government. This differentiated by the needs and requirements of different regions of the country. Leisure services thus had been limited to development of parks, grounds for sports activities, libraries and museums, and leisure centres. These projects had been costly and required subsidies from the central government which also asserted power pressure onto the local government. Moreover, the government also relied on personal taxation for funding these projects. Since the government planned, strategise and implemented community leisure projects, the private sector had no cause to intervene. The uncompetitive nature of the industry thus discouraged private sector participation.

However, this trend had given way to deregulation when the UK experienced economic collapsed during the late 1970s (Simmonds 1994). The collapse proliferated urban problems during the 1980s which greatly impacted the cost-incurring leisure and recreation department. The consensus had been to reduce public expenditures and adopt the free market ideology.

The free market ideology has been based on the principles underlying the neo-liberal model. During the 1980s, both, the Thatcher government in the UK and the Reagan government in the US adopted this model (Loughlin 1998). The neo-liberal view - or Thatcherism as commonly known - has been based on the concept of individualism. Thatcherism regarded the consumer as supreme force who paid for the services and goods provided by the market. Inequality among individuals or territories had been a natural phenomenon because not everyone had the resources to enjoy the benefits they wanted to consume. The government did not intervene but rather let the “invisible hand” govern the flow of goods and services. This policy helped dispel inefficiency and wastefulness that characterized the welfare ideology of the previous decades. To encourage the private sector to enter the public sector, the government introduced CCT (Compulsory Competitive Tendering) in 1989 (Simmonds 1994). The CCT introduced the contract culture in the public administrative departments. The contract culture involved a partnership between the public and the private sector whereby the private sector provided the services while the public formulated policies for governing the market. The leisure sector which had been enduring loss, delivering inferior services due to deficit funding and incurring notional cost to the local government, too adopted the contract culture (Loughlin 1998).

The free market ideology proved to be successful for a decade or so. New departments of arts, education, environment, trade and employment emerged with goals to promote leisure and tourism in the country. These policies divested power from the central and local government. The private and voluntary sectors on the other hand had been responsible for delivering best value services to the consumers despite tough competition. During the 1990s the limitations of the CCT were recognized and eliminated. Through it, the private sector set new standards and targeted continuous improvement for efficient performance. It also generated capital funding through private financial institutions for running projects (Simmonds 1994). The success of this model promoted private wealth creation. Morality deteriorated as community based activities gave way to individualism and the primacy of the consumers. The traditional sense of society disintegrated with the establishment of the private leisure and tourism industry (Loughlin 1998).

Thus free market ideology redefined the concept of leisure and tourism. According to Hall and Page (1999) free market ideology had been characterized by non-government intervention, consumerism, private sector marketing and advertising, promotion of profitable regional cultures and opportunities, and isolated concentration of profitable economic development. All of these aspects had been pursued with the view that competition would be healthy for the economy which in turn would protect the welfare of the individuals (but not the society).

Part 2: Public Sector Participation Ideology

However, the neo-liberal model has also bred economic regionalism. Birmingham is a case at hand which has been the product of economic regionalism under neo-liberalism. The passive role of the public sector during the 1980s has given rise to leading educational, leisure, retail and culture centres in the West Midlands. The city has become one of the most accessible city centres outside London. The city also hosts 70.5 million tourists (UKTS Survey 2003) apart from visiting relatives, business travellers and other commuters. As the population increased, the number of commuters has also increased with 73% using cars, 12% use train followed by 5% plane and 4% train. Despite this fact, the infrastructure of the city cannot sustain the high traffic generated by commuters (UKTS Survey 2003). Experts at the Birmingham City Council predict that if this trend persists:

a. "the roads in Birmingham will become congested;

b. commuters will experience longer travel time; 

c. environmental conditions will deteriorate; and

d. residential areas will suffer" ("A Transport Strategy for Birmingham" 2000).

There is a great need for public sector intervention to eliminate these emerging issues in Birmingham and other urban centres in the UK. Birmingham however has been constrained by the previous neo-liberal governments.

Contrary to conventional perception capitalism in the guise of deregulation has inflicted injustices and inequalities in society. The neo-liberal ideology under the Thatcher government may have extricated the UK economy from the web of public red-tapism and bureaucracy. At the same time it has also entangled the society in conservative consumer based market without any consideration for social infrastructure and community well-being (Hutton 2002). There is a great need to change this deregulated ideology to one with new roles for the government and the public sector especially for infrastructure building. In this context, building a transport system is critical not only for communal use but also for facilitating economic progress and national communication. 

According to Page (2005) there is an intrinsic link between transport and tourism. Tourism does not necessarily mean leisure activities only. It also includes activities relating to business individuals and commuters from outside the city. In a city such as Birmingham, the presence of an efficient transport system would greatly facilitate tourists and put the city on the global map. It would help the community to progress and compete at the international level. In today's age of globalism it is imperative that community planning - such as planning of a transport system - takes into account of internalization as well as its economic value (Cooper and Wahab 2001).  Hall (2000; 1996) is of the view that there is a complex relationship between ideology and tourism. Tourism is not only inherent in political or policymaking. It is also embedded in the country's political, social and cultural reality (Hall 2000; Hall 1996).

During the late 1990s, the Blair government realizing this important aspect of reforming the public sector took measures for change. Blair took some aspects of Thatcherism and incorporated some features of the welfare state to facilitate community welfare and economic progress. Notable in Blair's ideology had been the new role of the public sector (Loughlin 1999).

Under the Blair government economic regionalism continued to be the key to national strategy but the government has started to take active part in public works by relying on personal taxation to pursue social justice and equality in realizing opportunities (Loughlin 1999). Competition, the Blair government realized should be encouraged but not made compulsory as under the CCT. A government policy model thus should be based on usefulness and participation rather than alienation of the government from the mainstream social, economic and political activities (Loughlin 1999). Private sector participation should continue to be the main ingredient for driving the market but it should also be regulated by the local government. The local government would have to take initiatives and responsibility of improving the quality of the environment, planning of communities and facilitating people living in blighted areas. For Birmingham this means devising a strategy that would combat pollution, traffic congestion, deteriorating living conditions and travel time. An efficient transport system to sustain tourism and the community would be an ideal solution. Public sector policies relating to promotion of arts, education, sports complex, heritage and libraries should focus on reversing the ideology of individualism towards community participation.#p#分页标题#e#

Community based policies as discussed earlier not only promotes culture and values but also acceptable norms and morality. The emphasis should be to preserve the essence of community living, social cohesion and national integration rather than disintegration which would eventually breed fragmentation in the country (Elliott 1997).

Given the above paradigms and ideologies, the author presumes that the future of the public sector lies in a traditional and community development approach to public policy. Policymakers must ensure that isolation of public sector from private sector partnership does not take place again. This would enable the country to implement social oriented policies and plans effectively and efficiently.
 

References

Author not available, (2000) "Visions: A Transport Strategy for Birmingham", Accessed on 4-1-2006 from: www.birmingham.gov.uk

Cooper, C. and Wahab, S. (2001) Tourism in the Age of Globalisation. Routledge: London.

Elliott, J. (1997) Tourism: Politics and Public Sector Management, Routledge: London.

Hall C.M. (1996) Tourism politics, policy, power and place. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. 

Hall, C. M. (2000) Tourism Planning, Policies, Processes and Relationships. Essex: Prentice Hall.

Hall, C.M. and Page, S. J. (1999) Geography of Tourism and Recreation, The - Environment, Place and Space. ISBN-203-19627-9

Hutton, W. (2002) The world we're in. Little, Brown.

Loughlin, J. (1999) "Autonomy is strength" from Hard Choices: Policy autonomy and priority-setting in public expenditure. CAIN Network, , Accessed on 4-1-2006 from: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report10/report10a.htm#loughlin

Page, S. J. (2005) Transport and tourism global perspectives. Pearson Higher Education. 

Simmonds, B. (1994)   Developing Partnerships in Sport and Leisure: a practical guide. Harlow: Longman.

United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS) from “UK Tourism Facts 2003” Accessed on 4-1-2006 from: http://www.staruk.org.uk//default.asp?ID=708&parentid=469