The economic performance of cities should not just be measured in GDP figures as the public has different opinions on what makes a city successful, according to a new report.
Good Growth for Cities by PwC and Demos measured the performance of 36 UK cities against categories defined by the public as key to economic success and wellbeing. The highest-ranking cities tended to do well on jobs, income and health.
Paul Cleal, partner at PwC said: ‘The results show the government’s decision to track national well being is well placed. The public considers traditional measures of economic success – jobs and income as critical to growth but health, work-life balance, transport infrastructure and affordable housing also feature as important.
’Our findings suggest a good growth measurement approach could, particularly in austerity, help government and local authorities focus their investment and resource allocation on the things that matter most to the public.’
Above average cities for ‘good growth’ in the report included Aberdeen, Bristol, Oxford, Preston, Portsmouth, Southampton and Stoke on Trent. However, the UK’s biggest cities including Birmingham London, and Manchester, performed below the UK average for good growth measures.
