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England’s ‘two track’ cities show different growth

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09 July 2007

England’s cities are growing but at two different rates, according to a new report published today (Monday) by the Centre for Cities at ippr. The report includes a new index of performance indicators which combine different measures of employment, population and skills.

The report shows that, based on their employment, population growth and skills, England’s top five performing cities are:

Reading
Bristol
Southampton
Cambridge
York

The report also shows that, based on their employment, population growth and skills, England’s bottom five performing cities are:

Newcastle
Sunderland
Birmingham
Middlesbrough
Liverpool

The report presents evidence that unemployment and disadvantage in England is primarily an urban phenomenon but shows that it is distributed unevenly.

The report shows that Milton Keynes has experienced the greatest growth in employment over the last decade with a 36 per cent increase in jobs. But it also shows that Burnley’s growth in employment has been just 0.9 per cent, while Leicester’s employment has actually declined.

Dermot Finch, Director of the Centre for Cities said:

“We have ‘two-track’ cities in England. Over the past decade, some have done a lot better than others. Cities like Cambridge and Reading have performed very well, but others like Newcastle and Middlesbrough are lagging behind.

"Over the next decade, successful cities like Bristol and York will need to maintain their competitive edge and deal with challenges such as congestion, house price inflation and skills shortages. Meanwhile, lagging cities like Sunderland and Liverpool are struggling to catch up and will need to focus on expanding their business and employment base.

"Cities matter. They are the national economy. But the urban renaissance is unfinished business. There's a lot more work to do over next decade, to ensure that all our cities succeed."

Notes to editors

Two-track cities: the challenge of sustaining growth and building opportunity, by Glenn Athey, Paula Lucci and Chris Webber is available to download. The data in the report is sourced from the State of the English Cities Database 2007.

Three of the bottom five cities are in the North East, which lags behind many other English regions. The Centre for Cities will be publishing research with ippr north later this month, on the economy of Newcastle and the North East. This ‘One Year On’ report will set out progress achieved since last year's OECD Review of Newcastle in the North East. It will be published by Newcastle City Council in late July.

The Centre for Cities is an independent urban research unit, currently based at ippr. It focuses on the economic drivers behind urban growth and change. Later this year, the Centre will spin out from ippr and set up on its own.

High performers and low performers amongst England’s largest 56 cities and towns across a range of indicators – values and ranking for performance

Employment growth in England’s cities and large towns 1995-2004

Contacts

Dermot Finch, Centre for Cities Director, 020 7470 6180 / 07816 932862, d.finch@ippr.org

Matt Jackson, ippr senior media officer, 020 7339 0007 / 07753 719 289 / m.jackson@ippr.org

Richard Darlington, ippr media manager, 020 7470 6177 / 07738 320 645 / r.darlington@ippr.org

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