Archives: Reports

Restarting housebuilding I: Planning reform and the private sector

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities investigates whether the current planning system has seen private housebuilding reach rates high enough to meet the new national target. Using newly available data on English housebuilding by local authority since 1946, digitised by Centre for Cities, this report investigates whether the current planning system has...

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Spending time: The role of the visitor economy in UK cities

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities provides a comprehensive picture of domestic visitor spending across the UK. This report provides a comprehensive picture of domestic visitor spending across the UK’s 63 largest cities for the first time, and sets out the ‘visitor offer’ in each place and how that compares nationally.

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Economy first: A pragmatic English Devolution White Paper

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities states that an economic geography approach to English devolution would be the most pragmatic. The forthcoming English Devolution White Paper will be an important milestone for economic growth and public service reform. The Government is correct to see devolution within England as a priority, and the...

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Accelerating net zero delivery: What can UK cities learn from around the world?

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at what UK cities can learn from around the world. In this report, evidence from international case studies shows cities across the world with powers over key areas of transport policy – such as public transport network integration – and planning use these powers to...

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Innovation hotspots: Clustering the New Economy

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at the UK’s 344 innovation hotspots and their potential to address the UK’s sluggish productivity growth. The UK is home to 344 innovative hotspots, with clustered New Economy firms accounting for approximately £18.5 billion and 200,000 jobs to the national economy. Although the clustered...

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Does ‘trickle out’ work? How cities help their surrounding towns

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks challenges the misleading political narrative that pits towns against cities. A big problem for the UK economy is the underperformance of its largest cities outside London, which in 2018 alone meant that the UK economy was £48 billion (2.3%) smaller than it would have...

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Pot luck: What government needs to do to streamline local government funding

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at persistent issues with the current grant system for local government. Local government relies heavily on central grants to deliver economic policies, and the current system hinders its ability to respond effectively to economic change. The Levelling Up White Paper committed to streamlining the...

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Office politics

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at whether a London running on 59% pre-covid office attendance levels be able to avoid a slump. Centre for Cities has worked with Professor Dan Graham and his team at Imperial College London to produce Office politics: London and the rise of home working,...

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All cylinders

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at why the urban economies essential for driving growth are underperforming. This report shows that the Midlands Engine plays a large role in the UK economy, however its economy is £18 billion per year smaller than it should be. Accounting for 89 per cent...

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Capital losses

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at the role of London in the UK’s productivity puzzle. This report published in partnership with EC BID, shows that over the last 15 years London’s productivity growth has both trailed its international competitors and has been the main cause of the UK’s productivity...

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