The Democratic Foundations of the Just City: Urban Planning Politics in Three European Cities

In this blog, Dr Charlotte Hoole provides a summary of the paper she presented at the RSA annual conference in Lugano, Switzerland. Her co-authors include Dr Peter Lee (University of Birmingham), Dr Eric Chu (University of Birmingham), Dr Oliver Dlabac (University of Zurich), Roman Zwicky (University of Zurich). The democratic foundations of the Just City: … Continue reading “The Democratic Foundations of the Just City: Urban Planning Politics in Three European Cities”

What Is Channel 4? Making the Case for Relocation and Knowing What You Are Getting…

The question of the Channel 4 move is an interesting one for me, as in my previous life as Head of Research for the North West Regional Development Agency I did some of the Salford Media City bid work, reviewing the economic case for investment and the bid for the BBC relocation, and now I … Continue reading “What Is Channel 4? Making the Case for Relocation and Knowing What You Are Getting…”

A Voice for UK Regions Now

In this blog, Frank van Oort, Erasmus University Rotterdam, summarises the outcomes from the four workshops City-REDI recently ran across the UK. Running among hundreds of people for the Virgin train from London’s Kings Cross to Leeds on a Sunday morning with exactly 5 minutes boarding time provided, makes you realise how uncomfortably tight the UK can plan … Continue reading “A Voice for UK Regions Now”

City-REDI mentioned in the House of Commons

Research led by Professor Raquel Ortega-Argiles, City-REDI, University of Birmingham, was referenced in a House of Commons debate on the 26th April 2018. The research suggests that the UK’s cities and regions which voted for Brexit are also the most economically dependent on EU markets for their prosperity and viability.  These cities and regions are … Continue reading “City-REDI mentioned in the House of Commons”

Raising productivity in low-wage sectors and reducing poverty

On 2nd May the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is holding a conference on Using the Industrial Strategy to support higher performance and wages in the retail and hospitality sectors. City-REDI’s Professor Anne Green and Dr Amir Qamar, along with Dr Paul Sissons and Dr Kevin Broughton at Coventry University, were commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation … Continue reading “Raising productivity in low-wage sectors and reducing poverty”

The issues facing workers today: ‘Good Work’, ‘Fulfilling Work’ and the ‘Fair Employment’ Agendas

Headline indicators of the state of the labour market in the UK today highlight employment at record levels. Data from the Labour Force Survey for the three months ending in February 2018 show that were 32.26 million people in work. This is 427,000 more than in the previous year. The employment rate (which measures the … Continue reading “The issues facing workers today: ‘Good Work’, ‘Fulfilling Work’ and the ‘Fair Employment’ Agendas”

Metro-Mayors: Can they address UK Regional Inequality?

Professor Simon Collinson discusses the need to devolve power in the UK to address the economic imbalance between London and the South East and the rest of the UK. Metro Mayors can potentially be a powerful instrument to promote regional growth which is critical to the long-term social and political stability of the country.   In … Continue reading “Metro-Mayors: Can they address UK Regional Inequality?”

West Midlands socio-economic health check: Labour market

The middle of April has brought us the latest release of the Annual Population Survey. The survey is the most comprehensive socio-economic picture we have for a range of geographies from the national to the local level. In this blog, we will examine the information on labour markets for January to December 2017 and compare … Continue reading “West Midlands socio-economic health check: Labour market”

The Economic Impacts of Brexit on the UK, its Regions, its Cities and its Sectors: Participatory Workshops

Our ESRC funded Brexit project, as part of the UK in a Changing Europe Initiative, aims to examine in detail the likely impacts of Brexit on the UK’s sectors, regions, and cities. Our analysis draws upon the most detailed regional-national-international trade and competition datasets currently available anywhere in the world, allowing us to examine the impacts of … Continue reading “The Economic Impacts of Brexit on the UK, its Regions, its Cities and its Sectors: Participatory Workshops”

Working together to improve Services for the General Public: How can Small to Medium Sized Businesses and Local Government improve their interactions?

In this blog, Hilary Simpson, the Founder of Sleuth Cooperative, a not for profit organisation that aims to deliver simple solutions to complex social problems – using technology and information, talks about some of the issues that small and medium sized businesses come up against when trying to work with Local Government, as well as the … Continue reading “Working together to improve Services for the General Public: How can Small to Medium Sized Businesses and Local Government improve their interactions?”