Beyond ‘Left Behind’ Places
Understanding Demographic and Socio-economic Change in Peripheral Regions in France, Germany and the UK
Professors Danny MacKinnon, Rachel Franklin and Andy Pike are undertaking this project which began in 2021 and is due for completion in 2024. Funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), in conjunction with L'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the project also includes research from the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL (Prof John Tomaney), Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography (IfL), Leipzig and The Centre for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development (CIRAD) and University of Strasbourg, Laboratory Societies, Actors and Government in Europe (SAGE) along with support from non-academic partners, the Centre for Towns and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Synopsis
The overall aim of the project is to develop a new understanding of demographic and socio-economic change in peripheral regions, going beyond the problematic label of ‘left behind’ places through in-depth investigation of their predicaments and prospects. Taking a cross-national comparative approach, this aim translates into four objectives:
- To understand the distinctive circumstances and development pathways of peripheral regions, overcoming the tendency to characterise different kinds of places as ‘left behind’.
- To assess the relationships between the demographic dynamics of peripheral regions and people’s socio-economic, health and political outcomes, covering both population mobility and immobility.
- To examine the livelihood activities and practices of residents in peripheral regions, remedying the neglect of how ‘ordinary’ people deal with peripherality.
- To identify new policy responses that combine conventional and alternative perspectives, addressing the limitations of prevailing city centric approaches to regional inequality.
Outputs
MacKinnon, D. Kempton, L. O’Brien, P., Ormerod, E. Pike, A. and Tomaney, J. (in press) ‘Reframing Urban and Regional ‘Development’ for ‘Left Behind’ Places’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy & Society.
Website