City Horizons: Professor Philip McCann

The UK's Regional Problem

In 2016 Prof McCann discussed the findings of his book on the regional economic problem in the UK

Event starts at 5.45pm on 17 October 2016 at The Shard, London

Professor Philip McCann is one of the world’s most highly cited and widely recognised economic geographers and spatial economists, holding the University of Groningen Endowed Chair of Economic Geography.

His latest book “The UK Regional-National Economic Problem: Geography, Globalisation and Governance” examines the performance and characteristics of the UK economy from the perspective of its regional, urban and interregional features and mechanisms, and it does so explicitly in the light of the experiences of all other European and OECD countries over the last two or three decades. His cross-country comparative approach is also complemented by a long-run historical analysis of the UK’s regional and urban economic system. Prof McCann analyses the impacts of both globalisation in general and the EU in particular, on the UK as a whole and also on its individual regional components, with a specific focus on the differences between London and the rest of the UK.

Prof McCann identifies which economic geography features are largely specific to the UK and which are more generally observable across countries, and also to distinguish which issues in the UK are long-run and fundamental from those which are more conditional and superficial. He addresses the complex governance, devolution and connectivity issues currently emerging in the UK at the level of nations, regions and city-regions, and examines the long-run implications, opportunities and constraints associated with these issues, again in the light of the experience of all OECD and European economies.

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