Regeneration Game
What does it really mean, when the old jobs can't come back
At the end of July, I will be driving to Ukraine. I’ll be part of a convoy delivering vehicles for medical evacuations at the front line. I’ll be driving across Europe, from the UK to Lviv.
I’m currently fundraising for the trip - aiming to raise £7,000. This money will purchase the vehicle, fund modifications, and the costs of getting it there. Any surplus will fund other equipment, like drone detectors and medical equipment.
Any support is hugely appreciated and will make a difference. You can donate here.
Thank you!
The fall of Starmer and the emergence of Andy Burnham have renewed focus on the idea of regeneration in our politics. A Northern Prime Minister, representing a former industrial seat, is expected to be the flag-bearer for the restoration of left-behind areas. This is seen as an economic necessity, raising the productivity and wealth of neglected parts of the UK, and a political one, key to resisting the rise of Reform in these post-industrial towns. None of this is wrong, but it fails to ask bigger questions about how regeneration is achieved, and, indeed, what it means.
As the FT reported this week, regeneration is not a new phenomenon. Various governments have employed some form of it over the past few decades. Schemes such as Shared Prosperity and Levelling Up have been rolled out. Money has been spent, and improvements have been made, but it has largely failed to solve the fundamental problems. These places remain poorer than other parts of the country and are falling away from mainstream politics. Indeed, people have been writing about the failure of British regeneration for more than a decade.
Our country is not alone in this. The Germans have spent more than €2 trillion on East Germany since reunification. The money has funded infrastructure projects and public services, but it has still not achieved its goals. Incomes in the East remain around 20% lower than those in the West, and the area has become the bastion of Alternative für Deutschland’s strongest support. France’s “politique de la ville” has similarly struggled. Across countries, you see the same failure to buck economic and political trends.
