This report from UK think tank the Centre for Cities looks at the geography of the Industrial Strategy. Analysis from Centre for Cities reveals that the eight high-potential sectors targeted by the Industrial Strategy have a strong bias towards the Greater South East. Urban areas are the preferred location for these sectors. But, as noted...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities examines the growing role of Build to Rent (BtR) in urban housing delivery. This briefing examines the growing role of Build to Rent (BtR) in urban housing delivery. It explores where BtR developments are concentrated, how the sector has evolved, and what policy changes could help...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at why a city-focused industrial strategy will not increase place-based discontent. A common argument in the aftermath of the Brexit vote was that people’s political discontent was the result of the widening divide between city and town. Yet, data shows that constituencies with stronger connections...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities looks at the impact of hybrid working on spending patterns in both city centres and their local neighbourhoods. Five years after the UK went into lockdown, this briefing looks at the impact of hybrid working on spending patterns by workers in both city centres and their...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...