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Policy@Manchester Articles: Levelling up
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How to kickstart productivity growth in the UK’s towns and cities?

By , and Filed Under: Devo, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up, UK economy, Urban Posted:

The UK’s urban centres are key to driving up economic and productivity growth. However, many post-industrial towns and cities are underperforming. In this article, Dr Marianne Sensier, Dr Kate Penney and Michael Francis from The Productivity Institute, describe their findings from a place-based study of Rochdale and explain what the government and metro mayors can […]

The toll of ‘Deaths of Despair’ in England

By and Filed Under: British Politics, Cities and Environment, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Levelling up, Urban Posted:

In 2015, a phenomenon coined as ‘Deaths of Despair’ (DoD) emerged in the US, highlighting an alarming increase in mortality due to drugs, alcohol, and suicides, particularly among white men without a college education. Here, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford explore the spatial patterning of these deaths in England, where an estimated 46,200 lives […]

Article image - young people

Mapping pathways to learning

Claire Forbes author image By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Education, Levelling up Posted:

How to raise educational outcomes and solve the entrenched attainment gaps between more and less affluent young people has long been a policy concern of successive governments. As the current government moves away from place-based approaches and towards curricular reform to address these gaps, Dr Claire Forbes will suggest that more needs to be done […]

Older asian lady image for article on ethnic minority facing inequalities in cost of living crisis

The unequal impact of the cost-of-living crisis

Camilla Lewis By , and Filed Under: All posts, Ethnicity, Levelling up, Urban Posted:

More than two million pensioners in the UK live below the poverty line, with many more living just above it. Many groups within the older population are at a budgetary crisis point, reflecting a combination of the long-term impacts of COVID-19, cuts affecting health and social care, and the cost-of-living crisis. In this article, Camilla […]

Mapping the divide: Learning from the landscape of local economic performance

By and Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up Posted:

Inequality can be sliced many ways. A key aspect of the UK’s picture on inequality falls starkly along spatial lines of geography. So how can mapping spatial differences make policymaking more effective and targeted? In this article, from our Power in Place publication, Professor Cecilia Wong and Dr Wei Zheng discuss the importance of spatial […]

Re-skilling places: A new approach for reducing regional inequalities

Headshot of Eric Lybeck By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Devo, Education, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up Posted:

Current models of education and social mobility take an individualist approach that encourage young people from rural areas and small towns to move to city centres to obtain qualifications and skills. But this approach worsens regional inequalities, as places outside of urban centres are left behind. In this article, from our Power in Place publication, […]

Older people playing bingo

Inequalities, COVID-19 and the older population: developing a community-based response

Camilla Lewisluciana Lang By , , and Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Health and Care, Health and Social Care, Levelling up Posted:

Older people were disproportionately affected by the emergence and spread of COVID-19, whether in hospital, the community or in care homes. Just taking the period from January to December 2020, 72,178 people died 60 days after testing positive for COVID-19 or with it mentioned on their death certificate – 67, 451 of whom were 60 […]

Levelling up or widening the gap?

By and Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Levelling up, UK economy Posted:

There are deep-rooted regional inequalities in health and wealth across England. ‘Levelling Up’ is the UK Government’s flagship policy to redress these inequalities through additional investment, with the Community Renewal Fund (CRF) one strand of this funding. In this article, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford examine the allocation of the first round of the […]

Razing the neighbourhood: consequences and alternatives to council estate demolition

By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Levelling up Posted:

Post-war council estates suffer a barrage of stigmatising representations. Central and local governments, think tanks, and property companies call them ‘sink estates’ and ‘concrete monstrosities’. In television dramas and feature films, council estates are invariably grim and crime ridden. These representations have real-world effects. They establish social moods and opinions that encourage and justify the […]

Graphene institute building

Graphene as a regional-global innovation model

James Baker By Filed Under: British Politics, Budget, Growth and Inclusion, Levelling up, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted:

A new national policy report has identified the graphene innovation ecosystem at Manchester as a regional hub for international partnership and investment. In this article, James Baker explores how this success demonstrates that research and development (R&D) investment into specialist regional clusters like Graphene@Manchester provides national government with an excellent return on investment as they […]

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