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Cities 2020

Cities 2020 is our research programme dedicated to investigating the drivers of urban growth over the next decade.

The research is aiming to answer the following questions:

What will the geography of the recovery look like over the next decade?
What factors will enable cities to be socially and economically sustainable during the economic recovery and the period to 2020?
What must policy makers do now to ensure success in 2020?

Research areas include:

High-growth firms: How can cities best support the development of more high-growth firms?
Innovation: How can cities enhance their innovation capacity?
Low skills: What is the impact of a shift towards a more knowledge-intensive economy on those with low or no skills? What can be done?
Demand for graduates: How can employers be encouraged to make better use of graduate skills in cities?
City leadership: How can local areas build leadership capacity? How can cities use their business leaders to harness growth?

Dr Neil Lee, Dr Paul Sissons and Katy Jones
06 May 2013

The Business of Cities: The private sector, Local Enterprise Partnerships and growth
Shortly after the Coalition came to power, it established Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPS), private-sector led organisations designed to involve business in the leadership of cities. Drawing on anonymous interviews with business leaders involved in LEPs, and a review of the history of business involvement in similar initiatives, this paper considers a range of issues around business engagement in LEPs.

Nye Cominetti, Lizzie Crowley and Neil Lee
31 October 2012

Low Carbon Jobs for Cities
This report sets out what can be done at the city and local level to encourage jobs growth in the low carbon economy.

Nye Cominetti
19 July 2012

Related Events

No Entry - transport barriers to young people's access to opportunities
Join us for an afternoon of presentations and conversation on transport and youth employment. Campaign for Better Transport will launch its newest report, "No Entry - transport barriers to young people's access to opportunities," and the Work Foundation will present its work on "Transport barriers to youth employment."

Thu, 16 May 2013
14:30 - 16:00

People or Place? Urban policy in the age of austerity
The event will bring together high level representatives of business, the third sector and national and local government to consider the findings of the report: People or Place? Urban Policy in the Age of Austerity.

Tue, 18 September 2012
14:30 - 16:30

Low carbon jobs in cities: A roundtable discussion
This event seeks to discover which type of jobs might be created and where, and what cities and local authorities can do to spur low carbon job creation.

Thu, 19 July 2012
09:30 - 11:00

Related Blogs

Mapping inequality in the UK labour market
Dr Neil Lee presents a summary of the findings from the latest report into wage inequality and employment polarisation in British cities.

Dr Neil Lee
07 May 2013

Low carbon plans for UK cities: Where next?
The battle against climate change and resource depletion will be won or lost in the world’s cities. Cities present us with huge environmental challenges, but also offer big opportunities, because they create economies of scale in technology deployment, access to capital, and opportunities for green growth jobs.

Professor Tim Dixon, University of Reading
24 July 2012

Enterprise in deprived areas: Different problems or different firms?
Government policy often tries to target firms in deprived areas, and remove the barriers they face to success. The Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI), for example, tried to address barriers such as lack of skilled labour or access to finance in specific geographical area. Yet there has been little evidence to support this approach.

Dr Neil Lee
12 July 2012

Related News

No Entry - transport barriers to young people's access to opportunities
Katy Jones, researcher at The Work Foundation provides a review into the transport barriers to young people's access to opportunities.

Katy Jones
17 May 2013

Wage inequality and employment polarisation
A video of Dr Neil Lee explaining the findings from the latest report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Dr Neil Lee
03 May 2013

Survey shows business leaders ready to walk away from Local Enterprise Partnerships unless real progress made soon
With the publication today (31 Oct) of the Heseltine Review, a new report from The Work Foundation warns that time is running out on business involvement in Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the government’s flagship measure for rebalancing the economy. A series of interviews with business leaders conducted as part of the report indicates that many are ready to walk away unless the government gives LEPs real powers and finance. This underlines the importance of the Review’s expected recommendation to boost LEP powers.

Tom Phillips
31 October 2012