Aberdeen and Edinburgh both figure in the Centre for Cities’ “Five Cities to Watch”. The think tank says that many UK cities continue to feel the effects of the downturn and disparities between them are growing, according to Cities Outlook 2012.
However, despite the downbeat national forecast, Centre for Cities’ annual health check of UK cities suggests that there will be glimmers of growth from some cities this year.
With the national economy struggling to create the numbers of private sector jobs needed to drive growth, or to balance job losses in the public sector, the results are playing out very differently across UK cities.
Cities Outlook, published today (23 January) and supported by IBM and the LGA, shows that the gap between cities is widening. In February 2008, the gap in the claimant count rate between Hull and Cambridge was 3.2 percentage points. By November 2011 this gap had widened to 6.1 percentage points.
The report also highlights that there are six times more claimants in the most troubled neighbourhood in Rochdale than there are in the most troubled neighbourhood in Cambridge.
Aberdeen and Edinburgh emerge as two of the Centre for Cities’ ‘five to watch’. Aberdeen ranks 5th out of 64 UK cities in terms of business start-ups, patents and high quality qualifications. The city also has a very low claimant count (3rd lowest out of 64 cities). At an average of £524 per week, the city enjoys the 9th highest earnings in the UK.
Edinburgh was 9th out of 64 cities in terms of start-ups, 8th in terms of patents, 3rd in terms of high quality qualifications and 3rd when it came to knowledge-intensive jobs.
In sharp contrast, Glasgow was 27th among UK cities in terms of business start-ups, 36th in terms of patents, 11th in terms of high quality qualifications and 14th in terms of knowledge intensive service jobs. The city’s claimant count put it in a lowly 50th position.
The think tank says that as cities respond to the challenges of high unemployment, a declining public sector and a reduction in real wages, those that bucked the trend and performed well against the odds, such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Cambridge and London, have common traits.
They have strong private sectors, high numbers of skilled residents and large numbers of ‘knowledge workers’ – people who work in professions like accountancy, law and finance.
Centre for Cities is calling on the Government to invest in those cities that are ‘primed for growth’. As these cities grow and create jobs they will drive the national recovery. Cities that are facing more entrenched challenges will require different solutions and support from Government to give residents the skills needed to find jobs and start businesses.
Cities such as Aberdeen and Milton Keynes are well placed to drive the national economic recovery in this difficult economic climate. They have seen high number of business start ups, they have larger pools of highly skilled residents and they are highly innovative with significant numbers of patents registered.
