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Powerhouse of cards? Understanding the ‘Northern Powerhouse’

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  • Neil Lee

Abstract

Powerhouse of cards? Understanding the ‘Northern Powerhouse’. Regional Studies. The Northern Powerhouse is the UK government’s latest attempt to reduce regional disparities. By bringing together the cities of the north into a functional economy, the aim is to create an agglomeration with the scale to counterbalance London. This paper summarizes and critically reviews this agenda. While sympathetic to the basic idea, it argues that the Northern Powerhouse is a vague and problematic concept. It can be understood both as an economic development strategy and as a political brand, giving focus to disparate and often pre-existing policies. It has meant new resources and institutional change, but is geographically fuzzy with insufficient funding to achieve its unclear aims.

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  • Neil Lee, 2017. "Powerhouse of cards? Understanding the ‘Northern Powerhouse’," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 478-489, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:51:y:2017:i:3:p:478-489
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2016.1196289
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    1. David Beel & Martin Jones & Ian Rees Jones & Warren Escadale, 2017. "Connected growth: Developing a framework to drive inclusive growth across a city-region," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 32(6), pages 565-575, September.
    2. Mark Sandford, 2019. "Money talks: The finances of English Combined Authorities," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(2), pages 106-122, March.
    3. Lee, Neil & Clarke, Stephen, 2019. "Do low-skilled workers gain from high-tech employment growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    4. John Harrison & Darren P. Smith & Chloe Kinton, 2017. "Relational regions ‘in the making’: institutionalizing new regional geographies of higher education," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 1020-1034, July.
    5. Keith Shaw & Fred Robinson, 2018. "Whatever happened to the North East? Reflections on the end of regionalism in England," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(8), pages 842-861, December.
    6. Stephen Hincks & Iain Deas & Graham Haughton, 2017. "Real Geographies, Real Economies and Soft Spatial Imaginaries: Creating a ‘More than Manchester’ Region," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 642-657, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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