English Cities on the Rebound

After the preceeding decade, in which all but one of England's eight core cities shed residents, new census data indicates that all eight grew between 2001-2011. "For years, as manufacturing jobs ebbed from the Midlands and the north and city centres decayed, big conurbations like Liverpool and Manchester tended to pull down their region's performance, points out John Salt of University College London. No longer," notes The Economist.

In the article, three key factors are credited with contributing to England's urban comeback: investment ("inspired partly by Lord [Richard] Rogers, an architect and urban booster"), jobs (and the attraction of improving cities to skilled labor forces and their employers), and immigration.