Economic Development

Everywhere wants to grow their economy. We’ve got growth plans, growth strategies, planning for growth and even growth vouchers. But while the language of growth and competitiveness fills the pages of our local plans, enterprise partnerships and corporate strategies, there is much less clarity about what we actually mean by growth and how we hope to use it to improve our localities.

Poverty has long been seen as the blight of our inner cities. In fact, for years anti-poverty policies have been concentrated on urban areas. But, while the attention has been on revitalising our city centres, something else has been occurring.  Alongside the urban renaissance there has also been growing poverty in many of our suburbs. As our new report, Poverty in Suburbia, demonstrates, most of those in poverty now live in suburbs.