Free standard shipping on all orders
  • Visa
  • Master Card
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • JCB

The Evolution of UK Regional Policy: Lessons from the Past for a Policy Fit for the Future book cover

1st Edition

The Evolution of UK Regional Policy Lessons from the Past for a Policy Fit for the Future

Edited By Ron Martin Copyright 2026
276 Pages 19 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Regional policies intended to reduce geographical inequalities in economic prosperity and performance across the UK date back to 1928. Yet, today, the UK has one of the highest levels of spatial economic inequality of any of the OECD nations. Many of today’s lagging regions and cities are the same as in the 1920s and 1930s, and these have been joined by other economically disadvantaged areas.... Read more

1. A Century of Regional Inequality and Regional Policy 2. The Governance of Regional Policy 3. Hard-Won Lessons from the Coalfields 4. Nations as Regions: The Scottish Case 5. Labour Market Policies and the Regions 6. Innovation and Regional Policy in the UK: The Failure to Build a Coherent Place-Based Innovation Strategy 7. A History of Cluster Policy in the UK: Tracking an Elusive Creature 8. A Missing Dimension: Regional Health Inequalities. 9. The Urban Dimension of Regional Policy 10. Fifty Years of EU Structural Funds in the UK: What Have We Learned? 11. Regional Policy and the Fostering of Local Enterprise 12. Privatisation as ‘Counter Regional Policy’ 13. Alternative Policy Models for Local Economic Regeneration 14. UK Regional Policy at a Cross-Roads. Appendix: Chronology: A Timeline of Regional and Urban Policy in the UK

Biography

Ron Martin is Emeritus Professor of Economic Geography at Cambridge University.

Add to Cart