Global networks, cities and economic performance: Observations from an analysis of cities in Europe and the USA

The network paradigm has been highly influential in spatial analysis in the globalisation era. As economies across the world have become increasingly integrated, so-called global cities have come to play a growing role as central nodes in the networked global economy. The idea that a city’s position in global networks benefits its economic performance has resulted in a competitive policy focus on promoting the economic growth of cities by improving their network connectivity. However, in spite of the attention being given to boosting city connectivity little is known about whether this directly translates to improved city economic performance and, if so, how well connected a city needs to be in order to benefit from this. In this paper we test the relationship between network connectivity and economic performance between 2000 and 2008 for cities with over 500,000 inhabitants in Europe and the USA to inform European policy

Resource bricolage and growth of product and market scope in social enterprises

This research aims to understand how resource bricolage strategy plays a role in the growth of social enterprises in terms of their product and market. Based on interviews with nine social enterprises, our exploratory finding suggests that social enterprises often employ both internal and network resources in the process of making do. We further explore the relationship between the form of resource utilisation and the nature and scope of activities that the social enterprises embark upon, and find that only those relying on both internal and network bricolage are able to expand into new markets utilising newly developed products. We also find that social enterprises relying on only internal resources can reach the same point through incremental improvisation, by first moving towards either product extension or market expansion, before then embarking on the other. This research contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature by enhancing our understanding of the relationship between resource bricolage strategy and growth of social enterprises through product/ market scope in a penurious environment. The findings of this research also have implications for social enterprise managers and policy makers in utilising their resources and responding to environmental opportunities and challenges

Creative cities: The cultural industries and the creative class

The aim of this article is to critically examine the notion that the creative class may or may not play as a causal mechanism of urban regeneration. I begin with a review of Florida's argument focusing on the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings. The second section develops a critique of the relationship between the creative class and growth. This is followed by an attempt to clarify the relationship between the concepts of creativity, culture and the creative industries. Finally, I suggest that policy-makers may achieve more successful regeneration outcomes if they attend to the cultural industries as an object that links production and consumption, manufacturing and service. Such a notion is more useful in interpreting and understanding the significant role of cultural production in contemporary cities, and what relation it has to growth

Valuing greenness Green spaces, house prices and Londoners' priorities

Includes bibliographical references. Title from coverAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/28312 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Medium-term economic planning projections

Includes bibliographical references. Title from coverSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/32681 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Contemporary UK wage floors and the calculation of a living wage

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Emerald under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Purpose – This article describes how the voluntary Living Wage in the UK is set. It examines how this calculation relates to contemporary approaches to setting wage floors, both in relation to their goal of supporting adequate living standards and in relation to the place of wage floors in the labour market. Approach – The article examines how compulsory and voluntary wage floors are being determined, in the UK and in particular the role of public consensus in contributing to the calculation and adoption of a living wage. It then reflects on the future sustainability of a system of wage floors in which the concept of the living wage plays a significant role. Findings – The central finding is that widespread support for wages delivering socially acceptable minimum living standards has transformed the context in which low pay is being addressed in the United Kingdom. The living wage idea has stimulated more decisive efforts to do so; however, if a compulsory version of a living wage were to reach a level shown to be harming jobs, this could seriously undermine such efforts. Moreover, the extent to which adequate wages are compatible with high employment levels can also be influenced by state support for households, especially tax credits and Universal Credit. Originality/value – The article clarifies how the setting of the UK Living Wage contributes to objectives related both to living standards and to labour markets, and critically addresses some key issues raised

Planning guidance and large-store development in the United Kingdom: the search for ‘flexibility’

An important feature of town-planning practice in Western Europe has been the attempt to control commercial-property development in order to conform with planning principles. The growth history of large stores such as hypermarkets, superstores, and retail warehouses has thus been characterised by disputes between developers and planners. In this paper we examine the responses of large-store developers to UK government planning guidance that retail developments should be of a nature and scale suited to the physical environment of town centres. This goes against some retailers’ preferences for large formats which are generally unsuited to town centres. We explain these two opposed views, devoting particular attention to the retail developers’ case. We then use findings from two interview surveys with selected retailers to explore how far retail developers are prepared to go in compromising their preferred models of store development in line with government policy. Finally we discuss potential effects of recent changes in government policy

Critical success factors in urban brownfield regeneration : an analysis of 'hardcore' sites in Manchester and Osaka during the economic recession (2009-10)

Hardcore, or long-term derelict and vacant brownfield sites which are often contaminated, form a significant proportion of brownfield land in many cities, not only in the UK but also in other countries. The recent economic recession has placed the economic viability of such sites in jeopardy. This paper compares the approaches for bringing back hardcore brownfield sites into use in England and Japan by focusing on ten case studies in Manchester and Osaka, using an `agency'-based frame- work. The findings are set in the context of (i) national brownfield and related policy agendas; (ii) recent trends in land and property markets in both England and Japan; and (iii) city-level comparisons of brownfields in Manchester and Osaka. The research, which was conducted during 2009 ^ 10, suggests that hardcore brownfield sites have been badly affected by the recent recession in both Manchester and Osaka. Despite this, not only is there evidence that hardcore sites have been successfully regenerated in both cities, but also that the critical success factors (CSFs) operating in bringing sites back into use share a large degree of commonality. These CSFs include the presence of strong potential markets, seeing the recession as an opportunity, long-term vision, strong branding, strong partnerships, integrated development, and getting infrastructure into place. Finally, the paper outlines the policy implications of the research