ABSTRACT

Any simple examination of performance indicators will suggest that North West England is a problem region. Population and employment are declining, unemployment is high, incomes are low and the region’s residents have poor health. Further, the image of the region, which is not completely out of line with reality, is one of a poor urban fabric and pollution. Of course, such indicators need to be treated with care. For a region which is the most densely settled in Britain, some ‘thinning out’ might be considered desirable. Then again, lower incomes may be acceptable given lower living costs and do not necessarily suggest lower living standards. Finally, we should be wary of dubbing the whole of the region as a problem. It consists of many parts from the highly urbanised Manchester and Merseyside conurbations, to the more rural north Lancashire and south Cheshire, and the coastal resorts of the Fylde and Morecambe. Problems and opportunities may vary considerably. However, we believe that the state of the economy and the high level of unemployment do give real cause for concern and is one that should be tackled in a national review of spatial policy such as the RSA is encouraging.