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Paul Swinney on the North-South Divide and Urban Productivity

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Manage episode 472334333 series 2989844
Content provided by Thomas Ableman. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Thomas Ableman or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Why is Britain’s economy so lopsided? In most developed countries, you don’t have to move to the capital to find the best jobs, yet in the UK, that’s still the reality for many. London dominates, while our second-tier cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, etc) underperform compared to their European counterparts.

Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research at the Centre for Cities, has spent his career unpicking this puzzle. In this episode, we explore why Britain’s economic geography looks the way it does, what’s holding back regional growth, and what role transport plays in fixing it. Paul explains what agglomeration means and why it matters, why productivity isn’t just about skills and why intra-city transport is more important than rail links between cities.

We also dive into how post-pandemic work trends are reshaping transport economics, why the UK systematically underinvests in urban connectivity and why solving the North-South divide isn’t just about fairness—it’s about unlocking national economic potential.

Given we have a Government obsessed with growth, I really hope Rachel Reeves hears this one…

  continue reading

70 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 472334333 series 2989844
Content provided by Thomas Ableman. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Thomas Ableman or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Why is Britain’s economy so lopsided? In most developed countries, you don’t have to move to the capital to find the best jobs, yet in the UK, that’s still the reality for many. London dominates, while our second-tier cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, etc) underperform compared to their European counterparts.

Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research at the Centre for Cities, has spent his career unpicking this puzzle. In this episode, we explore why Britain’s economic geography looks the way it does, what’s holding back regional growth, and what role transport plays in fixing it. Paul explains what agglomeration means and why it matters, why productivity isn’t just about skills and why intra-city transport is more important than rail links between cities.

We also dive into how post-pandemic work trends are reshaping transport economics, why the UK systematically underinvests in urban connectivity and why solving the North-South divide isn’t just about fairness—it’s about unlocking national economic potential.

Given we have a Government obsessed with growth, I really hope Rachel Reeves hears this one…

  continue reading

70 episodes

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