The Problems of Success Reconciling economic growth and quality of life in the South East

Article

This second working paper for the Commission on Sustainable Development in the South East focuses on the natural resource use and environmental problems that tend to emerge from the pursuit of 'unsustainable' economic growth.

This paper focuses on the environmental problems that tend to emerge from the pursuit of 'unsustainable' economic growth. Using the term 'sustainable' in its environmental rather than macroeconomic sense, the paper focuses on some of the issues that are perceived as representing the 'problems of success' - housing, transport, water and flood management and the environment (including pollution and access to green spaces and the countryside).

Julie Foley uses original research to show that if the South East continues its current rate of economic growth, quality of life will become increasingly difficult to maintain, and she recommends practical policies to overcome this problem.

Related items

  1. View of Bank of England, Royal Exchange, and Duke of Wellington equestrian statue (1844) with skyscrapers and construction in background.

    Navigating in the fog: Why the OBR should hold its nerve on the productivity forecast

    The fiscal watchdog is under pressure to downgrade its forecast, costing the chancellor billions – but this would be premature.
  2. A busy bus full of people of all ages. An older couple smile at a younger woman with a baby in a pushchair

    Everyday concerns: What people want from transport

    Transport has a key role to play in achieving the UK government's missions and improving lives. 
  3. An unrecognisable woman playing a slot machine in a social club

    Reforming gambling taxation: How to lift half a million children out of poverty

    A key priority for the government’s upcoming child poverty strategy should be to remove the two-child limit and scrap the household benefit cap.