The ‘Legoland discovery centre’ replica of Birmingham City Centre has had thousands of mini-figures removed to reflect the city’s empty streets, as the COVID-19 crisis means that millions are asked to stay at home. The abandoned City Centre scene reflects how 1 in 3 of all businesses have closed under the COVID-19 regulation (1 in … Continue reading “The Long-Term Impact of Homeworking Arising From the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis”
Category: Cities
City-REDI Book Club – The Wealth and Poverty of Cities: Why Nations Matter
As the COVID-19 pandemic forces people to stay at home, it is increasingly changing our ways of living and working. Major phone networks and internet providers in the UK have reported a surge in demand whilst the online streaming platform Netflix has reduced its streaming quality to respond to increased traffic. Remote working tools such … Continue reading “City-REDI Book Club – The Wealth and Poverty of Cities: Why Nations Matter”
Is Birmingham a Just City?
The story of Birmingham’s post-industrial decline in the twentieth century is well known. However, any visitor to the city centre today can’t help but notice its urban renaissance in the twenty-first. From the revitalised New Street station to the glass tower blocks at Snow Hill, major regeneration projects are visually transforming the city. Many of … Continue reading “Is Birmingham a Just City?”
Contagion: The Economic and Social Impacts of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on the West Midlands
In the case of almost all kinds of economic, social, political or health-related systemic shocks, the vulnerable are the most severely impacted. We know a great deal now about the susceptibility of particular groups in our population to the Covid-19 virus, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions relating to heart and lung functions. But … Continue reading “Contagion: The Economic and Social Impacts of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on the West Midlands”
Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part III): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – The Sectoral Effects of a Lockdown
Like any good Hollywood blockbuster you can think of, here we finish the trilogy of blogs related to the economic exposure to COVID-19 of the West Midlands’ sectors [1]. If you are still reading this series and you are not overwhelmed yet by the amount of information (and disinformation) related to the pandemic, I hope … Continue reading “Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part III): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – The Sectoral Effects of a Lockdown”
Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part II): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – Demand for Health Services: The Invisible Indirect Workers
This is the second blog in a series on the economic exposure of the West Midlands region [1] to COVID-19. The first article talked about the effect on the main sectors and the employment depending on foreign trade, in an eventual case of international borders closure. You can read the first blog here. The second … Continue reading “Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part II): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – Demand for Health Services: The Invisible Indirect Workers”
Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part I): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – Closing the Borders
How can I help? That is the question I’ve been asking myself ever since I knew COVID-19 was approaching the UK. And it finally arrived, as expected, but it caught us unprepared, even though we have been observing speechless what was happening in many other countries around the corner, like Italy (where I have many … Continue reading “Economic Exposure to COVID-19 (Part I): The Situation in the West Midlands Region – Closing the Borders”
UK Regional Productivity Variations and What Might be Driving These
Over the past decade, the gap between the UK’s productivity performance and other OECD countries has been widening. This is due to unusually slow growth rates in UK productivity since 2010 in spite of rising employment, leading to what has been termed the UK’s ‘productivity puzzle’. Within the UK, there are also vast variations in … Continue reading “UK Regional Productivity Variations and What Might be Driving These”
#Budget2020: Did the West Midlands Win Anything?
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has now delivered his much-anticipated budget. It is the first UK budget since 2018 and has been given ahead of a Bank of England Rate interest rate cut from 0.75% to 0.25%. But, what will it mean for the regions of the UK, and more importantly what will it mean for … Continue reading “#Budget2020: Did the West Midlands Win Anything?”
When Weak Ties are Strong – Neighbour Analysis of Ethnic Enclaves
Presenter: Ozge Oner, Lecturer in Spatial Economics and Real Estate, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge On the 4th March 2020, Ozge Oner presented her research work with fellow academics Professor Johan Klaesson, Research Institute of Industrial Economics and Dr Dieter Pennerstofer, Kepler University Linz. Below is an abstract and also a video recording … Continue reading “When Weak Ties are Strong – Neighbour Analysis of Ethnic Enclaves”