Debunking London vs. England

The Centre for Cities has released a report called the Cities Outlook 2014, which examines the question of whether London’s success might come at the expense of the rest of the U.K.’s cities.

1 minute read

January 28, 2014, 11:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable raised eyebrows recently when he claimed that London dominates the country’s economic landscape to the detriment of other cities. Two recent articles discuss the findings of a new report exploring that very question from the Centre for Cities.

“The conclusion that the report came to is that London's success generates a lot of economic opportunity, especially internationally. Also, in reality the UK's ‘next largest cities punch below their weight’, with only Bristol performing better than the national average…” writes Sarah March and George Arnett.

Rich Heap provides another take on the findings of the study: “The lesson here is that even a large city like London cannot succeed alone; and if a country is going to be successful then it needs cities to both compete and cooperate.”

Monday, January 27, 2014 in The Guardian

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