The Invisible Killer and Responsible Inclusive Prosperity: Tackling the Challenges of Urban Air Pollution – Delhi India, 6-7 March 2019

Air pollution is a major global challenge that is responsible for 1 in 10 deaths and has been estimated to cost US$5.1 trillion. Last week I was in New Delhi participating in a workshop to explore the challenges of urban air pollution co-organised by the University of Birmingham with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. … Continue reading “The Invisible Killer and Responsible Inclusive Prosperity: Tackling the Challenges of Urban Air Pollution – Delhi India, 6-7 March 2019”

The Economic Impacts of Brexit in Europe: Regional Participatory Workshop – European Committee of the Regions

As a part of our ESRC funded project “The Economic Impacts of Brexit on the UK, its Regions, its Cities and its Sectors”, we ran a series of regional participatory workshops in an attempt to disseminate the outputs of the project as well as to connect with broader public policy arenas at the national and … Continue reading “The Economic Impacts of Brexit in Europe: Regional Participatory Workshop – European Committee of the Regions”

Meet Dr Diana Gutiérrez Posada, Research Fellow at City-REDI

As a researcher, I’m interested in the differences between regions, trying to understand why some areas flourish while others struggle, and how this is related to a regions characteristics (framed in a certain spatial context), which is broadly what Economic Geography looks at. I am keenly interested in the interplay between structural and circumstantial features. … Continue reading “Meet Dr Diana Gutiérrez Posada, Research Fellow at City-REDI”

Serendipity: Is the Answer to the Productivity Problem Written in the Stars?

This blog was written by Carol Stanfield from Carol Stanfield Consulting who has co-authored a report for the Productivity Insights Network with Professor Anne Green and George Bramley at City-REDI.  The full report is entitled Evaluation of co-designed programmes for boosting productivity: a follow-up of selected UK Futures Programme projects. It’s not often you get to … Continue reading “Serendipity: Is the Answer to the Productivity Problem Written in the Stars?”

Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review – Call for Evidence

SQW and Cambridge Econometrics have been commissioned by the Midlands Engine to develop the first-ever Independent Economic Review (IER) for the Midlands region. This exercise forms part of the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory, led by City-REDI at the University of Birmingham, Nottingham Trent University and the Black Country Consortium. The first phase of work is … Continue reading “Midlands Engine Independent Economic Review – Call for Evidence”

Resilience and Wellbeing – Insights from New Zealand

Tasos Kitsos attended the Regional Studies Australasia Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand and reports on his work on economic resilience: Christchurch and New Zealand are very interesting places that can offer new perspectives on most things researched. It is not by chance the country was the first to grant women voting rights. Concerning my research … Continue reading “Resilience and Wellbeing – Insights from New Zealand”

City-REDI launches the West Midlands Economic Monitor

This month we are launching our new West Midlands Economic Monitor. It is full of information on upcoming developments in and around Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country, interesting data, and expert analysis from our team of researchers. We will present some of the trends drawn from national and local data on a whole range … Continue reading “City-REDI launches the West Midlands Economic Monitor”

Reading City-Regions as a Process of Urban Diagnostics: A Public Health England Masterclass, Leeds 29 January 2019

On 29 January 2019, a masterclass on urban diagnostics and reading city-regions was held in Leeds by Public Health England. Over 40 practitioners participated. This masterclass built upon the RC-UK funded Urban Living Birmingham project and was organised by Prof. John Bryson and Dr Suzanne Bartington (both University of Birmingham), Prof. Alister Scott (Northumbria University) … Continue reading “Reading City-Regions as a Process of Urban Diagnostics: A Public Health England Masterclass, Leeds 29 January 2019”

City-REDI at the Tallinn Workshop on “Social Trends, Policy Initiatives and Planning Measures in Large Housing Estates”

My colleague Dr Sara Hassan and I recently attended the Tallinn workshop on housing to present two of the projects City-REDI is currently working on and hear about other interesting research going on in the field of urban studies and planning policy. It was a great experience that gave us both the opportunity to think … Continue reading “City-REDI at the Tallinn Workshop on “Social Trends, Policy Initiatives and Planning Measures in Large Housing Estates””

Rethinking Modern High Streets: What Comes After Retail?

The high street is reaching crisis point. House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer have joined the list of high street giants expressing difficulties in today’s turbulent retail environment. This comes after a string of high profile closures, including HMV, BHS, Toys R Us, Mothercare and Carpet Right. Even service outlets are closing their doors, … Continue reading “Rethinking Modern High Streets: What Comes After Retail?”