The Booming Towns of Britain: The Geography of Economic Performance in the 1980s

Regional and local differences in recent economic performance in Great Britain are explored by reference to 280 Local Labour Market Areas, using an index calculated from data on unemployment, employment change, population change and car ownership . The extent of a ‘Two Nations’ divide is examined in both statistical and geographical terms and the chances of success for individual places are assessed on the basis of their regional location, population size and employment structure. Finally the paper describes the characteristics of the ten best performing places — all in the “South” — and the ten most successful places elsewhere in Britain.