England is still the most centralised G7 country and it's holding back regional growth. This is why the levy on overnight stays feels so pivotal, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram writes. www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/ec...

The Chancellor reiterated SR commitments to connecting cities and towns by investing in city-region transport. Here's why that matters 👇 A better commute means a stronger economy | LBC share.google/l5v6b2c6MYso...

Condé Nast Traveller has followed BBC News and LDRS reporting on the prospect of a tourist tax for London. www.cntraveller.com/article/lond...

As rumours swirl that a 'tourist tax' might be included in this budget it's worth revisiting this piece from @centreforcities.bsky.social Director Andrew Carter on how this could and should work. labourlist.org/2025/11/tour...

Britain is missing 2.3m urban homes. Our new report shows cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are far less dense than peers in France and Japan — holding back growth 👇 buff.ly/fkqDTjU

British cities are too flat — and it’s holding back housing supply. Our new blog shows a big density gap with France and Japan, driven by missing mid-rise homes. Read more 👉 buff.ly/mm3GBRX

Travelling in Central Europe and I've brought a few books to occupy the train journeys, including 'Against Post-Liberalism' by @pjthinker.bsky.social - decided it could not wait until I got back home.

Devolution is critical to improving UK cities. Now that we're on the way to European-style integrated transport in big cities, European-style fiscal devolution could help fund transport upgrades out of their local economies www.lbc.co.uk/article/metr...

Last-minute trick or treat costume idea for urban economists - go as a 2021 census data collecter www.centreforcities.org/blog/the-cas...

Labour and Tories both know the route to levelling up is through tackling big cities' underperformance. The Conservatives' Levelling Up White Paper and Labour's Industrial Strategy all rightly focus on the work to be done to fulfil our cities' potential. www.lbc.co.uk/article/labo...

The Government has set a clear mission – to get the UK growing again 🌱 To achieve this, they will need to increase residential density. Join us for the launch of a new report exploring where higher densities could be expected in UK cities👇 www.centreforcities.org/event/report...

London isn't building houses and now we've got some emergency measures to fix things? What to make of them? ...

Really humbled to share this profile The Independent has written of me

I did my undergrad at the dinivity faculty where James Orr holds a position. There are loads of thoughtful critics of righwing policy there, many in the public eye like Michael Banner (a regular contributor to Thought for the Day). You have to ask why noone is choosing to acknowledge them.

"I am telling you, if there is a God, when I get to heaven I'm not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It's not even close." - Michael Bloomberg, then one of the ten wealthiest Americans, in an NYT interview, 2014 www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/u...

Amazing 😂

📈 That light green line is wind energy ramping up overnight. At 09.35am, Storm Benjamin is generating 40.3 per cent of the National Grid's electric power transmission. Source: grid.iamkate.com

Entertaining review of the new Thatcher centenary document. Apparently, Rishi Sunak complains that the post-Brexit world is not as in favour of free trade as he expected. It's a huge day for irony. www.ft.com/content/7ad4...

In 2024 it was quicker to get to Central London from parts of Hertfordshire than it was to commute in from the end of Old Kent Road. Interested to know how the Bakerloop will have changed this. (Graphic: The Times with Centre for Cities data).

I don't understand what is going on with sub-national productivity data in the UK. @centreforcities.bsky.social doing their best here, but I'd be wary drawing any substantive conclusions: www.centreforcities.org/publication/...

Good piece but I disagree with it, specifically: - Sticking it to the deregulatory "technocrats". The UK is short of over four million homes. - YIMBYism as "place-less" - the places are big cities, where all people belong. - The suggestion that "ordinary hope" should temper actual change.

Loved writing this. The local productivity data has got a lot of attention lately, and here I try to unpack what goes into the data

You may know Thiel's preachings of apocalyptic Christian nationalist-tech bro gobbledygook distorted from Rene Girard's writings with extreme Silicon Valley prejudice. 'Silicon Valley titan desperately tries to detach self from power in amateurish talks attempting to ape his favorite philosopher'

🏘️Housebuilding is one of the key challenges cities face. Today Centre for Cities hosted officials from the UK and New Zealand, including Housing Minister Chris Bishop, to learn about the country's latest planning reform efforts that have helped NZ cities tackle housing shortages.

The map below shows how far behind France and Germany we are in mass transit. In France, every place with over 150,000 people has some form of tram or metro. But if mayoral areas can 'become builders' as @tracybrabinmayorwy.bsky.social puts it in the foreword, we can turn this around. 🧵 1/9

Based on population by 'primary urban area', Manchester misses out to Birmingham as Britain's second city. Centre for Cities is hosting an online event next week to show how places compare on productivity growth - that's the key race among big cities. www.centreforcities.org/event/briefi...

Work for a lifetime and you still won't be one of the wealthiest people in the country. It's not a lifetime of work but a fortunate start that makes you wealthy. People in the southeast are more likely to enjoy such a start in life than those in the northeast. www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

Somewhere free, quiet, and right next to Liverpool Street? 👀 Whether you’ve got a deadline looming, are polishing off a chapter on your lunch break, or hunting for a calm spot to do some work, our new Reading Room is open to you. 👋 https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/activity/reading-room/

Homes are unaffordable in big cities and across the South East because of housing shortages. Brits make big sacrifices to afford a home, the New Towns Taskforce says. So, what role will New Towns have in housebuilding? Centre for Cities' discusses next week: www.centreforcities.org/event/centre...

💍Anniversary! Ten years ago today, Chancellor George Osborne met local leaders to establish the Sheffield City Region, led by an elected mayor. Now the South Yorkshire Combined Authority. Back in 2015, it was just the 2nd big UK city to reach a devolution deal. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

📅 Join Centre for Cities at our annual reception to welcome the Conservative Party Conference to Manchester. Register your place 👇 buff.ly/bdKDdvy

There are enough wonks fascinated by Tempsford and the prospect of a new town. Will there be any musicians willing to step up and record a single about it (like Linda Jardim did for Northampton)? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023...

Leeds City Council welcomes Gov't plans for 'new town' urban regeneration at South Bank 👍 Like in most big cities in the UK, house prices in Leeds are nearly 8x local average salaries. And compared to similar-size European cities, relatively few people live centrally. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness will speak at a Centre for Cities fringe event where she will make Labour's support for jobs in green industry a key dividing line with Reform UK More here 👇 www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

Narrator: Was this considered a "legitimate concern" by the UK political/media class? Come back after the break (party conference) to find out!

In the last panel of the day, Pete Buttligieg, Biden's former transport secretary, is immediately the most eloquent speaker of the day. Asked how he would define progressive patriotism, he starts with this.

It's IMO striking that the actual case that the UK should join its European peers and have a proper, free and universal ID card all involves things that improve the lives of the people who actually voted Labour in 2024, who are of course inferior to people who voted Labour in 1979.

Coverage of declining pupil numbers at UK schools focused on the fact that nine of the top ten areas are in London. But London experienced a big boom in pupil numbers in the early 2000s. And many of the other big falls in pupil numbers are in rural areas too. www.centreforcities.org/blog/declini...

Anyone saying otherwise is wrong

I was walking down a street in New York and I thought how lovely it was, with the trees and the light. Tried to take a photo and this came out. It’s incredible how blind we become to the ugliness of cars. They really do mess things up. Yet somehow we manage to filter them out.

Non-religious people need to take an interest in matters of faith. Why? Because society needs to differentiate between reactionary Christian nationalism and trustworthy faith representatives who can heal society and help religious minorities to integrate. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🚌🚴‍♀️🚋 CAR FREE POST #WorldCarFreeDay Did you know large UK cities have lower shares of commuting by public transport than their international peers? TfL-style integrated transport, better planning and implementing road pricing could change that. Read more 👇 www.centreforcities.org/publication/...

It’s the role of pre-16 education to prepare kids to be capable members of society All education after that is about specialising into the part of society you’re targeting. Knowledge, research, specialising, is a skill, and an important one It’s highly irresponsible to devalue knowledge like this

All political tribes can be hypocritical but the right's current level of hypocrisy on free speech is deliberate. It's an assertion of power not a blindspot.

This is the ideal podcast diet: 10% BBC World Business Report 15% NPR Planet Money 20% If Books Could Kill 25% Three Bean Salad 30% Blindboy

Cllr Pete Marland, leader of Milton Keynes council, says that after years of churn of housing ministers, it's great to see Matthew Pennycook continue in his role. www.lgcplus.com/politics/wor...

Willing BTR developers have capital that comes with big strings - the asset manager has to get remunerated. There remain big questions over where BTR fits into the housing market and how it contributes (if at alll) to affordability challenges in big cities. www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

🚗 Residents across the Glasgow city-region rely on the Clyde Tunnel, but its future funding is in doubt. Today on the blog, Caitlin Rollison says a Glasgow City Region Combined Authority could unlock new funding options to help secure the tunnel's future ✍️ Read 👇 buff.ly/EUcx8oB

Can highly recommend listening to this. Top university sector voices like @viviennestern.bsky.social are very clear and articulate about the local economic role universities play.