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North East cities 'lagging behind'

Cities in the North East are among the slowest growing in the country, according to figures released yesterday. Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough are in the bottom five performing cities in the Centre for Cities think tank’s latest report. The Centre for Cities is part of the Institute for Public Policy Research, and their latest report includes a new index of performance indicators which combine different measures of employment, population and skills. According to these indicators, England’s cities are growing but at two different rates, with three North East cities in the ‘second string’.

The report shows that, based on their employment, population growth and skills, England’s top five performing cities are Reading, Bristol, Southampton, Cambridge, and York. The bottom five performing are Newcastle, Sunderland, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, and Liverpool.

Dermot Finch, Director of the Centre for Cities said: “We have ‘two-track’ cities in England. Over the past decade, some have done a lot better than others. Cities like Cambridge and Reading have performed very well, but others like Newcastle and Middlesbrough are lagging behind.

“Over the next decade, successful cities like Bristol and York will need to maintain their competitive edge and deal with challenges such as congestion, house price inflation and skills shortages. Meanwhile, lagging cities like Sunderland and Liverpool are struggling to catch up and will need to focus on expanding their business and employment base. Cities matter. They are the national economy. But the urban renaissance is unfinished business. There’s a lot more work to do over next decade, to ensure that all our cities succeed.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .