ABSTRACT
Today, only two cities remain economically vigorous and prosperous. One is
London. The second is Birmingham.’ So wrote Jane Jacobs in The Economy of Cities, in 1968.1 Her verdict on British cities betrayed her fascination with the entrepreneurial style that had been the hallmark of Birmingham. In the nineteenth century, the city had developed an economy which proved more resilient than that of Manchester, its great rival. Manchester was dominated by a
single industry, cotton textiles. The organization of the industry was an example of large-scale production and economies of scale.
