The changing urban and regional system in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Cooke P. (1986) The changing urban and regional system in the United Kingdom, Reg. Studies 30, 243–251. The UK space economy has been subject to important structural shifts of late. The North has a disproportionately large amount of old capital stock and associated industry, and labour-shedding in response to international competition has been massive. The South is increasingly the location for newer, more buoyant economic activity. But there are localities within each area which do not conform to the stereotype. Research on localities enables the finer-grained impact of economic restructuring to be more clearly understood. Preliminary findings from a representative set of seven UK localities suggest that significant change is taking place in the structure of local labour markets, the organization of work, local social structure, politics and policies being pursued locally. Many of the processes characterizing spatial development in the 1960s and 1970s, such as decentralization in manufacturing, services and political control have gone into reverse as companies and governments re-trench. In response to the new competitive ethic there is some evidence of an increase in ‘localism’ as localities fall back on their own resources in response to economic crisis.