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How can we level up struggling towns?

As we near closer to the anticipated publication of the Government's Levelling Up White Paper, Chief Executive Andrew Carter summarises our most recent research on levelling up the UK's towns.

Blog post published on 17 September 2021 by Andrew Carter

In two weeks, when the Conservative Party meets for its first in-person conference since winning the 2019 election, there will be much talk of its flagship levelling up agenda.

The setting for these discussions, Manchester, is an appropriate one. In the last 20 years the city has undergone a Renaissance: as its economy has grown it has created jobs and opportunities for people living there. As a result, only last week Time Out named it the third best city in the entire world.

To many, Manchester is an example of levelling up done right. Yet others see its progress, and that of other big cities, as coming at the expense of elsewhere – particularly left behind towns in the North and Midlands that now form the bedrock of the Conservative Party’s parliamentary majority.

This latter group are sceptical of so-called ‘trickle out economics’ and argue that policy should pivot away from supporting our biggest cities – responsible for 60% our economic output and jobs – towards smaller left behind towns.

Such a shift might score political points, but it would misunderstand the links between our cities and towns and the economic interventions to ensure that everywhere – big or small – thrives.

As part of our levelling up work, Centre for Cities has published a series of research on this, you can read the full collection of analysis below, but here are some key points to take away:

Economically prosperous towns tend to be located close to successful cities. But unfortunately for in both, too many cities underperform their economic potential – resulting in a loss of £83bn for the whole UK economy.
People in many towns close to well performing cities – and even some close to poorly performing ones – enjoy higher wages, fewer high street vacancies and greater inward investment.
But in economically weak towns, too few people have the skills and qualification needed to take advantage of the job opportunities that cities offer. Because of this, to level up both towns and cities policy makers should focus on improving skills and education provision across the country – irrespective of whether people live in a town or a city.

You can read all of our work on levelling up the economies of the UK’s cities and towns here.

Levelling up

Explore all Centre for Cities' research on levelling up, including our flagship briefing.

Levelling up

So you want to level up?

Paul Swinney

In advance of the Government’s forthcoming Levelling Up White Paper, this briefing sets out what the levelling up agenda should aim to achieve and a strategy for achieving it.

Levelling up

Levelling up should improve standards of living across the country and help every place to reach its productivity potential, with a focus on improving the performance of the UK’s biggest cities as a means to address regional inequalities.