Place-based Business Case and Economic Appraisal: Capacity and Capability
This report, by Alice Pugh, City-REDI, University of Birmingham, examines the capacity and capability of officers working in strategic authorities to develop, commission, scrutinise and use business cases and economic appraisals, while also considering the implications of devolution for place-based investment and assurance. The report draws on a mixed-methods survey of 88 officers from 57 […]
Local Innovations, Shared Lessons: Unpacking HDRC Community Engagement and Partnership Working in London
This research report focuses specifically on public and partner engagement across London’s Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) and comparator boroughs, evaluating how local authorities are reshaping collaborative networks to address health inequalities. The study draws on 18 semi-structured interviews across six London local authorities: Islington, Tower Hamlets, Ealing, Lambeth, Southwark, and Havering, alongside key strategy […]
The Civic 6 Framework – The Evolution of University Institutes in Response to Place, Policy and Growth
This report introduces the Civic 6 Framework, a strategic typology designed to map and understand the diverse ways in which UK universities organise and deliver civic, place-based, and public policy engagement. Drawing on comparative case studies of selected major UK institutes, including City-REDI, the Heseltine Institute, Insights North East, Y-PERN, the Institute for Collective Place […]
Green and Pleasant Land? Rural Resilience in the Welsh Marches
Throughout 2026, the LPIP Hub at City-REDI, University of Birmingham is examining the resilience of the Welsh Marches, the historic and intensely rural places that have long formed the border between England and Wales. The project comprises this first report, examining what published data tell us about the readiness of the Marches – and by […]
Place Capacity and Institutional Thickness: Leadership, Agency and the Governance of English Devolution
England’s devolution settlement is entering its most active phase yet. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 has put strategic authorities on a permanent legal footing, and the incoming premiership of Andy Burnham — himself a former Metro Mayor — looks set to push power and funding out to city-regions further and faster still. […]
Development Corporations
This report provides a timely stocktake of how development corporations have been used across the UK, the emerging pipeline of new proposals, and the conditions likely to determine their future success. It reviews the experience of previous New Town Development Corporations, Urban Development Corporations and Mayoral Development Corporations, and considers recent and future expansion in […]
Building Civic Capability: A Life Course Framework for Place
Building Civic Capability: A Life Course Framework for Place argues that civic capability should be understood as strategic civic infrastructure rather than isolated participation initiatives. Drawing on theories of human development, democratic innovation, and public value, the paper introduces a practical life-course framework that helps places intentionally cultivate and accumulate civic capability over time. It […]
Fiscal Devolution and Place Investment: Will It Unlock Growth Everywhere and Redistribute Prosperity?
The Chancellor’s Growth Plan commits to “unlocking growth in every part of Britain”, and Andy Burnham has highlighted the same direction of travel in his speech on 29th June. The government has promised a Treasury roadmap for fiscal devolution, including, for the first time, looking at income tax alongside other taxes. But will these reforms […]
Addressing Local Economic Disparities: Learning From Policy Failure in the UK
This report examines why, after more than four decades of national policy, the UK remains one of the most interregionally unequal countries in the industrialised world. Drawing on the academic discipline of policy failure, it applies a common framework to eight major UK instruments – from the Regional Development Agencies to the Levelling Up Fund […]
Communities in Their Places Evidence Review
The LPIP Hub “Communities in their Places” evidence review shows that while communities are central to addressing local economic, social and environmental challenges, their ability to do so varies widely depending on policy frameworks, resources and local capacity. It highlights that “community” is a complex, overlapping concept, but strong social networks, infrastructure and trust are […]