inclusive growth

How to kickstart productivity growth in the UK’s towns and cities?

By Marianne Sensier, Kate Penney and Michael Francis Filed Under: Devo, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up, UK economy, Urban Posted: May 9, 2025

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 […]

Can hydrogen help decarbonise small industrial emitters?

By Maria Sharmina and Vincenzo Spallina Filed Under: All posts, Energy and Environment, Environment, Inclusive Growth, Renewables, Research and development, Science and Technology, UK economy Posted: April 7, 2025

Decarbonising industry, among other hard-to-abate sectors, is a high priority in the UK as the country embarks on a pathway to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The government’s focus to date has been on the decarbonisation of large-scale energy-intensive industries. However, more than a fifth of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions come from […]

Driving improvement – socially just green transport solutions

By Karen Lucas Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Environment, Inclusive Growth, Urban Posted: March 24, 2025

As the UK transitions to net zero and shifts to low carbon transport, policymakers are faced with the challenge of ensuring that a push for greener transport makes travel fairer and more accessible for those on low incomes. In this article, Professor Karen Lucas explores the detrimental impact of poor public transport connectivity and makes […]

Plastics policies are changing the game—but are SMEs being left behind?

By Adeyemi Adelekan and Maria Sharmina Filed Under: Energy and Environment, Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Renewables Posted: February 6, 2025

The UK plastics policy landscape is undergoing major changes. While consultations stress the importance of avoiding harm to SMEs, policies often lack concrete measures against such harm. Research by the University of Manchester indicates that current and forthcoming plastics policies, shaped by these consultations, would affect stakeholders across the plastic supply chain differently, with SMEs […]

Harnessing Digital Solutions for Sustainable Housing Expansion: A GIS-Powered Approach

By Richard Kingston Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, Environment Posted: October 17, 2024

The UK government has committed to an ambitious housing strategy of building 1.5 million homes over the next five years to address the chronic housing shortage exacerbated by rising demand, affordability and population growth. This plan must also rectify long-term structural challenges in the housing market whilst ensuring homes are built sustainably. Here, Professor Richard Kingston […]

A landscape of need: mapping community resilience in England

By Christine Camacho and Luke Munford Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth Posted: October 11, 2024

Community resilience is a marker of how well communities can handle and recover from difficult events. It is referred to in various resilience framework policies; but how is it measured, and how can it be used to target support? Here, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford outline their work in developing a new measure – […]

Planning ahead: A multi-sector approach to net zero

By Mathaios Panteli, Eduardo Alejandro Martínez Ceseña and Julien Harou Filed Under: All posts, Digital Futures, Energy and Environment, Environment, Inclusive Growth, Renewables, Research and development, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: December 13, 2023

With climate change increasing some resources’ uncertainty – and global development making others scarcer and more interdependent – society requires improved planning and policy frameworks to deliver a secure, equitable and resilient transformation to net zero. In this article from our publication On Resilience, Professor Julien Harou, Dr Eduardo A. Martínez Ceseña and Professor Mathaios Panteli explore how […]

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

By Cecilia Wong and Helen Zheng Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up Posted: October 12, 2023

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

By Eric Lybeck Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Devo, Education, Growth and Inclusion, Inclusive Growth, Levelling up Posted: October 5, 2023

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, […]

Levelling up or widening the gap?

By Christine Camacho and Luke Munford Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Cities and Environment, Levelling up, UK economy Posted: May 3, 2023

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 […]