Sickotra, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-9255 (2024) Levelling up in a ‘decentralised’ England: place-based or ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategies? Regional Studies, Regional Science, 11. pp. 724-737.
Abstract
English policymaking has traditionally been centralised, assuming homogenous needs across regions and contributing to economic inequalities. The Levelling Up Agenda aims to address these disparities through a place-based approach using devolved Combined Authority (CA) organisations. Despite being the first national strategy with an extensive place-based focus, it faces criticism as a potentially centralised political tool. Concerns also exist about whether Combined Authorities can deliver regional economic development as they have centrally controlled aspects. If regional planning approaches are identical, decentralisation through Combined Authorities would essentially be futile. This paper uses a novel quantitative method with Strategic Economic Plans to determine if regional planning inhibits a place-based or ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, contributing data-driven insights to the debate regarding the efficacy of Combined Authorities. Through exploratory text analysis, hierarchical and K-means clustering, findings indicate regions adopt place-sensitive planning with varying sector priorities. A northern-southern and an inland-coastal distinction emerge, with London as an outlier. This suggests Combined Authorities are fit for purpose at this quantitative clustering level and do consider their geographical context in planning despite a devolved yet centrally controlled oxymoronic landscape. Collaborations like an inland and a coastal CA network are recommended to potentially maximise place-based growth.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Text analysis; cluster analysis; regional planning; soft planning; combined authority; levelling up; place-based; metagovernance |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Sheffield Methods Institute |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2024 14:08 |
Last Modified: | 12 Feb 2025 09:24 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2024.2419135 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/21681376.2024.2419135 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:219426 |
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