Regional performance and inequality: linking economic and social development through a capabilities approach

Despite European Union objectives for economic and social cohesion, current measures of regional development are defined economically, reflecting the separation in policy and academia between economic issues, concerned with growth, and social issues, concerned with redistribution. Drawing on the capabilities perspective and a similar methodology to the UNDP’s Human Development Index, this paper calculates a measure of regional development for UK regions and contrasts the results with orthodox GDP measures. The key finding is that London appears less of a successful region and more of a region with intense contrasts, including high levels of poverty, perhaps better reflecting inhabitants’ sense of well-being.