Oxford and Swindon have come out top in a ranking of cities according to their residents’ economic wellbeing, with Bristol and Exeter following closely behind.
The Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities report has ranked the UK’s cities by looking at measures of economic wellbeing, including jobs, income, health, skills, work-life balance, housing, transport and the environment.
The gap between the highest and lowest ranked UK cities is narrowing, according to the report. The 10 lowest ranked cities showed a larger average rate of improvement over the last year than the 10 highest ranked cities.
However, the report concluded that progress was too slow and there is little evidence of the regional disparity gap narrowing overall.
Carl Sizer, head of UK regions and platforms, PwC UK, called for a new type of devolution to tackle inequality between cities.
‘Without the redistribution of accountabilities and responsibilities from a central to a local level, places will not be able to respond to their own needs and opportunities. A new type of devolution is needed.’
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