TY - JOUR
T1 - Rebalancing England: sub-national development (once again) at the crossroads
AU - Pugalis, Lee
AU - Townsend, Alan
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Over the last two decades there has been continuous tinkering and wholesale review of the remit, governance and territorial focus of sub-national development in England. There has also been mounting agreement that subsidiarity will produce optimum material outcomes. It is against this background that we provide a critical reading of the UK Coalition government’s 2010 ‘White Paper’ on Local Growth. Revealing the peculiarities of an economic transition plan which dismantled a regional (strategic) framework, we explore the opportunities that cross-boundary Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) may provide. After abandoning regions, LEPs have been promoted as the only possible ‘replacements’ for Regional Development Agencies and, thus, a prime example of new ‘techniques of government’. We probe the potentials and pitfalls from the dash to establish new sub-national techniques of government, and crystallise some key implications that apply beyond the shores of England. Our key contention is that LEPs have designed-in just as many issues as they have designed-out.
AB - Over the last two decades there has been continuous tinkering and wholesale review of the remit, governance and territorial focus of sub-national development in England. There has also been mounting agreement that subsidiarity will produce optimum material outcomes. It is against this background that we provide a critical reading of the UK Coalition government’s 2010 ‘White Paper’ on Local Growth. Revealing the peculiarities of an economic transition plan which dismantled a regional (strategic) framework, we explore the opportunities that cross-boundary Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) may provide. After abandoning regions, LEPs have been promoted as the only possible ‘replacements’ for Regional Development Agencies and, thus, a prime example of new ‘techniques of government’. We probe the potentials and pitfalls from the dash to establish new sub-national techniques of government, and crystallise some key implications that apply beyond the shores of England. Our key contention is that LEPs have designed-in just as many issues as they have designed-out.
KW - sub-national development
KW - economic governance
KW - local enterprise partnerships
KW - regional development agencies
U2 - 10.1080/17535069.2012.656461
DO - 10.1080/17535069.2012.656461
M3 - Article
VL - 5
SP - 159
EP - 176
JO - Urban Research and Practice
JF - Urban Research and Practice
SN - 1753-5069
IS - 1
ER -