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How can the Government best support economic growth across the country during a shaky recovery? Alex Jones is chief executive of the Centre for Cities As the 24 March Budget rapidly approaches, the Government needs to set out the clear strategy for which business has been clamouring. And cities, with their potential to drive private sector growth, need to be at the heart of their response. Recent speeches by the PM, David Cameron, and the chancellor, George Osborne, are starting to flesh out their answer. With Mr Cameron promising ‘the most pro-growth Budget this country has seen for a generation', the focus has been on busting bureaucracy and reducing the costs of doing business to free up entrepreneurs. ‘Place' has also featured, with Mr Osborne's announcement that 10 new enterprise zones will be created in the Budget. And it's good news that these look set to learn from the mistakes of the past. Centre for Cities research has shown that the 1980s' enterprise zones were expensive, focused mainly on physical regeneration – which is less urgent now than it was then – and had disappointing job creation numbers. This time round, Mr Osborne has committed to establishing zones in areas of growth, not just decline. Firms starting up in the zones will benefit from simpler planning rules and reduced business rates, with incentives tailored to the needs of each local community. But the emphasis is still firmly on capital-based incentives, when we know that one of the major barriers to growth in places is skills and low levels of enterprise. For the UK to grow, places need more tools to stimulate employment and help firms expand, rewarding companies when they create additional jobs and improve skills. But, even if the final version of enterprise zones includes additional incentives, it's unlikely that they will be able to do enough on their own to make the most of the potential cities have for driving private sector growth. Cities account for 56% of the population but 61% of the UK's Gross Value Added. Containing more than 70% of private sector jobs, cities and their hinterlands will be critical for driving private sector jobs growth in the future. They're the places where businesses are investing because of access to customers, workers and ideas. And, if the Government is to make the most of cities' potential, then a core element of the growth strategy needs to be about empowering cities. That's why we're looking to the March Budget, and the soon-to-be-formally-announced Local Government Resource Review beyond that, to set out some clear steps to giving cities greater freedoms to invest and raise money locally. Putting cities at the heart of the growth strategy and increasing cities' financial freedoms could be the most powerful steps towards economic growth the Government could take.

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