Promoting the work of the City Region Economic and Development Institute (City REDI)
Welcome to part two in our new series “What is…?” where we explain the language, terms and ideas used in our day-to-day work. Other blogs from the series include: What is GVA? What is Transport Resilience? What are Industrial Clusters and Economies of Agglomeration? Definition and description Smart specialisation is a policy framework aimed at … Continue reading “What is Smart Specialisation?”
It is widely known that Africa during this century will experience significant demographic growth combined with enhanced urbanization. Managing urbanization and conducting urban reform in Sub-Sahara African cities is extremely challenging. There has been on-going international support to enhance city living including research and evidence on the strength of informal economies, informal settlements and informal … Continue reading “Strengthening the Weapons of the Weak: Informality, Urban Reforms and Sub-Sahara African Cities”
I still reflect on ideas that were introduced to me during my undergraduate degree. I have an unusual first degree. This was a four-year degree. In the first year, I had to take modules from three disciplines and until the end of the third year, my module selection had to include one from the natural … Continue reading “Precarious Lives or Resilient Living? Homelessness and the West Midlands Combined Authority Area”
Chloe Billing reflects on this year’s Regional Studies Association’s annual conference in Santiago de Compostela. On the 6th June, I had the opportunity to present the findings from the first phase of City REDI’s project on ‘Productivity and Prosperity’ at the RSA conference in Santiago. Details of the ESRC funded project and the wider team … Continue reading “Understanding Productivity and Prosperity: Regional Skills Mismatches and Inclusive Growth for the West Midlands”
Welcome to part one in our new series “What is…?” where we explain the language, terms and ideas used in our day-to-day work. Other blogs from the series include: What is Transport Resilience? What is Smart Specialisation? What are Industrial Clusters and Economies of Agglomeration? Definition and Description Gross value added (GVA) measures the contribution … Continue reading “What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?”
I am based in Singapore this week and this provides an opportunity to consider Singapore as an extraordinary place. There are many aspects to Singapore as an extraordinary place. It is possible to argue that all places are extraordinary or special in some way. Context matters or perhaps more correctly ‘geography matters’. It is important … Continue reading “Spacetime and Singapore: Towards a Four-Dimensional Understanding of City-Region Economies”
Global air pollution is a problem attributed to urbanisation and provides a good reference point for understanding and addressing the gap between scientific knowledge and policy practice in Africa. African development potentials and challenges have been identified and ways forward suggested in many publications and conferences. Yet, the reality of African development challenges is a … Continue reading “Knowledge Translation and People-led Approaches to Achieving Urban Sustainable Development Goals: Reflections from the African Perspective 12+ Conference, Delft”
It is that time of year when geographers from across the world descend on to some American city to discuss all things geographical. Last year, the annual conference of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) was in New Orleans. This year the conference is based in Washington DC. The conference location always tends to favour … Continue reading “From Washington DC: Geographies of Human Rights, Responsible Inclusive Prosperity and the Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers”
I enthusiastically accepted to join City REDI at the University of Birmingham because I believe it is a unique academic research centre in its scope and approach. Since starting at City-REDI have found a stimulating working environment, passionate people and very skilled colleagues. Although my background is in economics and business, my career has not … Continue reading “Meet Massimiliano Nuccio, Research Fellow at City-REDI”
City-REDI is delighted to invite you to our seminar series covering economics, economic geography, regional science, economic development, critical urbanism and urban policymaking. The seminars are open to all including PhDs, Masters students and non-academics. Do join us, and feel free to forward to others who might be interested. The seminar programme can be found below … Continue reading “City-REDI Spring Seminar Series”
