Levelling Up Left Behind Places. The Scale and Nature of the Economic and Policy Challenge. RonMartin, BenGardiner, AndyPike, PeterSunley, PeterTyler, Abingdon, 2021: Routledge, 140 pp., £34.99. ISBN 978‐1‐0322‐4430‐3 paperback, 978‐1‐0322‐4434‐1 ebook.

Abstract

Unequal territorial development is a fact present everywhere in the world, including in developed countries, and even within developed regions of developed countries. The terminology for such less developed places/regions is varied, one of the concepts used being ‘left behind’ places/regions, which is the subject of Levelling Up Left Behind Places; this book is part of the book series ‘Regional Studies Policy Impact Books’, published by the Regional Studies Association and Taylor & Francis. The scientific contribution of the book to the existing literature consists of the research on a relatively new concept, ‘left behind’, this is realized through the complete study of the unequal territorial development in a developed country, including the study of the causes, then of the actual situation (through very relevant comparisons between a global city like London and regions ‘left behind’ in the same country) and the proposal of solutions. This contribution is credible and welcome, given the fact that its authors are world-renowned specialists in the fields of economic geography, urban and regional economics, and regional development, with consistent scientific activity in academia, government and international organizations; as specified in the Acknowledgements section, some of the arguments and findings of the book also draw on the authors' related projects, which increase the scientific and practical value of the book, especially since research in this specific field of ‘left behind’ places/regions is not abundant. Researching these types of places is a never-ending task, and the scope of this book is to understand ‘the economic predicament of “left behind places” and how their weaknesses have been shaped by changes in the national and international economy, deindustrialization and the transition to service-dominated economies’ (p. 5). The research focuses on the economic experiences of different types of ‘left behind places’ in the United Kingdom (UK), but, as the authors specify, many of the findings and arguments are also relevant for other countries. Another particularity is that the key features of urban and regional institutions and policies are reviewed to understand more the persistent geographical economic inequalities in the UK. The audience of the book is not explicitly mentioned, but it can be deduced that it is the UK government (p. 9). Unlike many other books that are edited, this book is authored and this particularity contributes to the homogeneity of its content; this is demonstrated through the rigorous and interesting analysis made through the logical succession of its six chapters, which start with an overview of the field and basic definitions and go through the understanding of the context until the role of policies and the institutions. Given the fact that ‘there is no single, agreed-upon definition of the notion, nor of the criteria that should be used to identify “left behind places”’ (p. 18) and ‘the problem of spatial inequality is complex, compound and multi-scalar’ (p. 20), the authors favour quantitative analysis based on a combination of economic and social indicators, but they warn about it: ‘Combinations of several indicators, particularly at the scale of regions, cities and towns, should in fact be treated with much caution and careful examination’ (p. 19). References to the geographical marginality field (which includes a variety of forms of marginality), and to the subsequent literature on geographical marginality, including the book series ‘Perspectives on Geographical Marginality’, published by Springer starting in 2018, could also have been helpful. Levelling Up Left Behind Places begins with an overview of spatial inequalities in developed countries, especially in the UK, exposed and highlighted by two major shocks ‘that are only supposed to be “once-in-a-century” events’ (p. 12), but that occurred in the space of just over a decade: the global financial crisis of 2007–08 and its associate great recession, and the global COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019, and the great economic lockdown this engendered. The impossibility to have unanimous definitions and criteria to identify ‘left behind places’ or marginality in general is also discussed, given the fact that, as Leimbruger already highlighted in one of the first books on geographical marginality, reissued in 2018, ‘the subjective choice of variables influences the result […]. Marginality thus reveals itself as “a relative phenomenon”’ (Leimgruber 2018, p. 50). This statement is confirmed by the authors of this book: ‘Such places could be defined in economic, or social, or health or environmental terms. These different metrics may, or may not, result in the same areas being designated “left behind”’ (p. 18), which should conduct to adaptive and sensitive local policies (p. 7). The process of ‘becoming “left behind”’ is presented in the second chapter: this process appeared due to the rapid progress of technological change together with globalization and the growth of consumer and business services, marked by the 1980s ‘turning point between convergence and divergence’ (p. 31). Chapter 3 examines the change in the spatial distribution of employment growth in this period of transition, the findings suggesting that ‘the most severe cumulative employment failures are in Northern urban areas, and particularly in the large and core cities, as well as former industrial towns’ (p. 54). Chapter 4 addresses the resilience of places, which is ‘of considerable potential importance for understanding the economic growth paths of regions, cities and localities’ (p. 75). The fifth chapter asks uncomfortable questions about why past spatial economic policies have not produced the impacts hoped for, although the UK was ‘a pioneer and influential internationally in leading experiments in spatial policy’ (p. 92). The concluding chapter reveals that the problem of spatial economic inequality is not some recent feature or aberration, but it has antecedents going back much earlier, and one solution is a ‘substantial and meaningful decentralization of powers and resources’ (p. 118). After reading this book, a reasonable question would be if the UK, despite its long experience regarding spatial policy, still has these problems with uneven development, what chances would other countries with much less experience have to solve them? The content of the book is concentrated and is presented in a form that favours its understanding, with boxes to highlight the important findings and 34 relevant colour figures (graphics and maps of the UK with, for example, labour productivity, employment, the relationship between cumulative differential growth gaps for output and employment, and so on). Besides the British government as the main recipient of the work, the content of the book may be of interest to other audiences, including from other countries: policymakers in general and also academics, and even the general public.