Agglomeration Economics

BBC - Evan Davis - Mind The Gap: London Vs The Rest 1 and 2

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

BBC - Evan Davis - Mind The Gap: London Vs The Rest 1

NEIHUFLYER NEIHUFLYER Subscribe15,240 Add to Share More 43,303 129 13 Published on Aug 17, 2014 BBC - Evan Davis - Mind The Gap: London Vs The Rest 1 While much of the UK still struggles after the financial crash, one city is thriving. Money, companies and people are pouring into London like never before. Why is the capital so dominant? Is its success good or bad for Britain? And what should the rest of the country do? Evan Davis explores the story of the economic forces polarising Britain in this new two-part series for BBC Two. London generates more than a fifth of Britain’s income and is pulling away from the rest of the country. While much of Britain struggles after the crash, Evan unwraps the economic formula propelling London from strength to strength. And he meets winners and losers in Britain’s changing economic geography – including a man who commutes from Stockport to London most weeks; London Mayor Boris Johnson, who likens the city to an anemone, a tadpole and a jar of jam; the chef behind the global Zuma restaurant empire; and the property developer selling a house in Mayfair for £40 million. The capital flourishes partly because it attracts more than its share of talented people. Graduates make up 58 per cent of the city’s work force, compared with 38 per cent in the working age population in the rest of the UK. In redeveloped Kings Cross, Evan shows how agglomeration economics fuels London’s success. At the new Francis Crick scientific research institute, he explores how working in proximity to others enables copying, collaborating and competing – which promote productivity. Nearby, Google is moving in because they like the neighbours – the Central St Martins art school. With foreign money flowing into London like never before, the city has become a global hub. Evan meets one of Malaysia’s most successful property developers, the largest investor in the transformation of Battersea Power Station into flats and shops. What if all this foreign investment turns out to be not just easy come, but easy go? There are challenges ahead. The city struggles to fit in all the people it attracts – seen in London’s rising property prices. In the Elephant and Castle, Evan explores how, as the rich come in, they potentially push out the less wealthy. In tunnels being built under London for Crossrail, the capital’s newest rail line, Evan explores the final dilemma the city’s success raises for Britain: should we continue to feed London’s growth with public spending on new infrastructure even if it means our economy continues moving south? Category Education License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 45

BBC - Evan Davis - Mind The Gap: London Vs The Rest 2 https://youtu.be/EpUNIKB-WaU

NEIHUFLYER NEIHUFLYER Subscribe15,240 Add to Share More 19,549 59 2 Published on Aug 19, 2014 BBC - Evan Davis - Mind The Gap: London Vs The Rest 2 Britain is becoming one country with two economies - London and the rest. In the second of two programmes, Evan Davis asks what the rest of Britain can learn from London's success and whether we can create a city with the pull of the capital, outside the capital - a megacity of the north Given London’s dominance, Evan Davis asks what can the rest of Britain learn from the capital’s success? And can we create a city with the pull of London, outside London - a megacity of the north? Evan takes a ride on the steep track at the National Cycling Centre, where Britain’s top track cyclists cluster, enabling them to become the world’s best. It becomes clear talented people do better working next to each other. This helps Evan explain the story behind one of the scariest business announcements since the crash – drug giant AstraZeneca’s decision to move its scientists from a rural research park in the North West to the buzzing biomedical hub of Cambridge. While this southern city bursts at the seams, Liverpool is suffering shrinking pains due to the loss of its historic role as a big global hub. In the boarded up streets Evan discovers the city has too many houses for its population. He meets some of the area’s last residents who want their own houses demolished and the now-empty childhood home of Ringo Starr, in the face of opposition. Evan tests his argument that some smaller cities will be spokes not hubs with the poet Ian McMillan who lives in Barnsley. He tells Evan it would “leave a lot of the country just sitting waiting for the telly to come on.” In Manchester Evan finds a city evolving in the right direction. He visits the Coronation Street set, which has relocated its cobblestones to the media cluster growing up around the BBC in Salford Quays. Searching for Britain’s second city Evan finds himself somewhere surprising. In Hebden Bridge, 30 miles from Manchester, he finds cafes that serve dogs and evidence a northern megacity stretching from Liverpool to Leeds is emerging, with people commuting across the region. That raises the ultimate conundrum for Britain. London’s demand for infrastructure is always pressing and gets more of the funding, but east to west transport is sorely needed in the north if there is to be a counterweight to London. Category Education License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 13