Does the Scottish Green Freeport model hit an economic development and placemaking ‘sweet spot’ for area-based initiatives and zone-based policies?

David Marlow
1 day ago
5 min read

Many LEDC episodes have explored place-based designations whose rationales and primary purposes too often fail to deliver both stronger economic performance and dynamic places with vibrant engaged local communities. In recent years we’ve explored Area-Based Initiatives (ABIs) with Professor Pete Tyler, Innovation Districts with both Emma Frost and Dr Michael Glass, hyper-localism with Kersten England, and produced Espresso Shot episodes on New Towns, AI Growth Zones, and the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor among others.

We were both, though, enthusiastic to look at Scotland’s Green Freeport model. This is explicitly purposed to deliver place-based inclusive and sustainable economic growth in a far more ambitious way than orthodox freeports based on attracting global investment for international trade-oriented operations. To this end we were delighted to welcome Sarah Murray, CEO of Forth Green Freeport (FGF) for our first guest episode of 2026. Sarah is a leader with a deep background in complex sub-regional partnerships across the UK and Europe. Sarah describes her role as a "translator" between the speed of the private sector and the accountability requirements of multiple layers of governments.

Illustration of Scottish industrial waterfront with offshore wind turbines in distance, Firth of Forth setting, modern green energy infrastructure, dramatic sky conveying transformation and renewal

The Forth Green Freeport (FGF) is one of Scotland’s most ambitious economic and environmental initiatives, spanning nearly 50 kilometres of the Firth of Forth. It comprises three distinct port tax sites—Grangemouth, Leith, and Rosyth—designed to leverage over £7.9 billion in investment and create more than 34,000 high-quality jobs over the next decade. Having recently secured full business case approval in the 2025 Autumn Budget, the project has officially moved from preparation into "delivery mode".

This blog discusses five big ticket issues surfaced in conversation with Sarah that merit further thinking and development. Whilst focused on ABI/special economic zones (SEZ), we consider these are of relevance to LED and placemaking more generally.

Embedding "Social Value" into the Freeport business case

Inclusive growth in the "Scotland model" is not a secondary thought; it is a prerequisite for entry into the zone. As Sarah comments: "We have a zet zero charter. We have a fair work charter. We have a Skills Fund." And one of the key roles of FGF is to collect granular data about performance against inclusive growth priorities, not just simple international trade metrics or even numbers of jobs or GVA generated.

Sarah argues that social value is hardwired into governance from day one. By embedding "fair work" principles and local supply chain requirements into FGF’s core, occupants can move beyond "trickle-down" rhetoric toward measurable regional outcomes.

Managing the complexity of multi-agency governance

Forth Green Freeport has direct UK and Scotland government involvement, together with multiple local authorities and public-private partnerships. Effective placemaking now requires sophisticated levels of partnership management — balancing sometimes competing interests of local councils, national governments (Holyrood and Westminster), and private investors. Sarah explains “My role is often about being a 'translator' between these worlds—ensuring that the drivers of the private sector meet the accountability, policies and place-based needs of the public sector." FGF itself is a SME private sector delivery vehicle, giving her team first hand knowledge of private sector requirements in terms of running a business in the Freeport.

Not letting administrative boundaries constrain the socio-economic progress of real places and communities

"We've got 533 hectares of designated tax sites. But this sits within a 45 kilometre wide out of boundary area. Those [Freeport-]retained business rates can be reinvested back into that local area to support the wider objectives of the partnership." Far from being an enclave, one of the key values of the FGF is to seek to act as a "strategic glue" that transcends separate administrative boundaries. The Freeport sits across two different growth deal areas (Edinburgh and South East Scotland, Falkirk and Grangemouth), four different ports, touching multiple towns and communities. It seeks to ensure that the 34,000 projected jobs aren't just high-skill imports but are accessible to the existing communities surrounding the 50km stretch of the Firth. The focus on industrial scale development needs to contribute to more vibrant towns in places like Falkirk, Grangemouth, Leith and Rosyth whilst recognising that they are actually accessible to around 70% of Scotland’s businesses within an hour’s drive time.

Curation and ecosystem management is critical

Crude models of "attract any investment and hope for the best" is dead. Similar to our discussions on inclusion-rich Innovation Districts, success now requires active curation. FGF must ensure that global capital—like the £8 billion targeted for the Firth of Forth— matches with what each specific site offers in terms of its utilities, its power connectivity, its waste management, its transport challenges and constraints, its innovation partners, and indeed its industrial neighbours. And the whole FGF mix must align with specific local strategic goals, particularly in the transitions to ‘good’ jobs and net zero.

Local resilience in an age of permacrisis can be about agility and predictability

In the face of shifting global policies and "Trump intervention" effects, the episode highlights that building local resilience means being tactically dexterous. Places can use high profile designations like Freeports as "anchor" initiatives to attract investment and attention. They then can try to be predictable in how projects are delivered. “It's not a shortcutting of planning rules, but it's making them predictable. What we hear from businesses, is we just need to know what the rules are and how it's going to work.”

Concluding remarks

The conversation with Sarah is full of insights, some of which are as relevant in places regardless of whether they are designated investment zones or not.

The Scottish Government was bold in adapting the UK Freeport model to meet its own socio-economic and environmental priorities. This translation function is critical in LED and placemaking more widely – especially if enhanced devolution is to be meaningful.

Success in inclusive growth should, and FGF suggests can, be embedded upfront even in programmes whose primary purposes may be more narrowly drawn. And ABIs/SEZs cannot be enclaves and islands of success – they must be part of their wider urban eco-systems and the places and communities which anchor them.

Put together with our recent episode with Alex Plant of Scottish Water, the case for greater exchange of experience and learning – in both directions – across England and the devolved nations is compelling. How can LEDC explore this further in future episodes?