LSE centre for economic performance: urban renewal and regional growth: muddled objectives and mixed progress

A new series of Election Analyses is now available from the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP). The series will discuss the research evidence on some of the key policy battlegrounds of the 2010 General Election, including macroeconomic policy, immigration, health, education, crime, poverty and inequality, labour market policy, regional policy, energy and the environment, financial regulation and bankers’ bonuses, and foreign aid. Since 1997, the Labour government has spent considerable sums trying to narrow the gap between poor areas – neighbourhoods, cities and regions – and the rest. The latest CEP Election Analysis from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) considers the evidence on the effects of some of these policy initiatives, with a focus on the role of ‘area-based initiatives’, which try to improve outcomes in particular areas. According to author Professor Henry Overman, the evidence suggests that progress against objectives has been mixed. This is unsurprising: the economic processes that drive differences across cities and regions of the UK are poorly understood and what evidence we do have has played little part in the formulation of policy. As a result, there is confusion about what urban and regional policy could and should try to achieve – and the parties’ positions tend to be based on belief rather than evidence.