The Scottish Cities Alliance (SCA), a £7 million plan to leverage the strengths of Scotland's seven cities, will achieve a long-anticipated landmark next month when it makes its debut at an investment event in London.

The Scottish Government-funded programme, administered by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), was launched in December 2011. It was charged by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with creating the "forward momentum" that would "stimulate economic activity and job creation" in Scotland, by pooling the resources of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Perth and Stirling to achieve critical mass attractive to UK and international investors.

However, after 18 months into the roughly three-year programme, with only 20% of funding allocated, the collaboration has raised eyebrows among some regeneration experts as it appears to have made little practical progress.

One participating council leader admitted to the Sunday Herald that the SCA had so far been a "talking shop", blaming the apparent lack of progress on the disruption of the May 2012 council elections.

Next month, the SCA – which is headed by Geoff Duke and chaired by outgoing SCDI chief executive Lesley Sawers – will present Scotland's "best development opportunities" to London-based developers at Sitematch Scotland, an event organised by London regeneration specialists, 3Fox International. Developers and property professionals will be given presentations by senior council officers from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Stirling, followed by one-to-one meetings. Sturgeon is not scheduled to be at the event.

Companies attending include Carter Jonas, GVA, Muse Developments, Balfour Beatty, the Goodman Group, Legal & General, Addington Capital, BNP Paribas, and Asda.

Greg Ward, head of economic development at Edinburgh City Council, which leads the infrastructure side of the SCA, said: "As the London market continues to accelerate, developers are looking to the regions to offer a competitive alternative and Scottish cities can add significant value to those wishing to expand their portfolio."

SCDI gave the Sunday Herald a detailed breakdown of the allocation of funds by the cities collaboration to date, revealing that only £497,000 or 7% of the total £7m has so far been drawn down from the Cities Investment Fund (which backs the SCA), and only £1.46m allocated to future projects.

The bulk of the cash allocations to date are for consultancy work, including £53,000 to Grant Thornton for a sustainability case options study known as "the Green Deal" and £56,000 to Edinburgh City Council for managing consultancy support for the digital connectivity programme. Other contracts include £200,000 to Edinburgh transport consultants MMM Group to develop a "smart ticketing" programme, and £50,000 to Cambridge consultants Element Energy for a strategy for hydrogen use in Scottish cities.

Projects still to be awarded include a dedicated investment tracking service (£50,000), an internal programme of investment exhibitions (£100,000) and the development of an "oven-ready" investment portfolio (£350,000).

James Alexander, SCDI's senior policy and communications manager, defended the SCA's progress so far. He said: "In its first year of operation, the Scottish Cities Alliance has established strong collaborative partnerships. These have paved the way for significant progress in a range of digital, sustainability and investment workstreams."

SCDI has also revealed details of what were claimed at the December 2011 launch as "new ways of accessing finance to deliver large-scale investment programmes across our cities that will create jobs and contribute to Scotland's sustainable economic growth".

Although "still under development" they include the creation and promotion of strong investment propositions aligned to city strategies, clear packaging and marketing methods, and providing potential investors with clarity on returns as well as highlighting the "enabling role" of the public sector.