In this City Horizons lecture, Professor Ron Martin, Professor of Economic Geography at Cambridge University and principal investigator in major ESRC funded project, City Evolutions, explored the resilience of British cities to major economic shocks.

With Brexit looming, and the prospect of future disruptive technological change, the economic future of British cities is unpredictable at best. Using half a century of detailed economic data for 85 cities across the country, Professor Martin discussed the relevance of the notion of ‘resilience’ both in understanding how cities react to and recover from economic shocks. Looking at evidence from the three most recent recessions of the 80s, 90s and the crash of 2008, he will explore potential policy options that might help improve the robustness of cities to future turbulence.

This lecture drew on a brand new dataset developed as part of the City Evolutions project, bringing unique and rigorous insight into the resilience of UK cities over the past several decades. You can find ongoing analysis of the dataset in the project’s series of working papers and briefings, before fuller analysis is published.