spatial inequality 3 - policy responses

Question 1

what has traditionally been the two approaches to solving for spatial policy?

Answer 1

efficiency and equity grounds

Question 2

what are the equity grounds for spatial policy?

Answer 2

substantial disparities in living standards lead to dissatisfaction and resentment (popualrism)
much of the post WW2 period equity has not been the primary grounds upon which to operate policy although there was a period in the late 1980s when government aimed at pursuing national growth which would benefit all regions through a trickle down effect. thus regional policy was seen as to some extent a counter balance to mitigate existing inequities

Question 3

what are the efficiency (competitiveness) grounds for spatial policy?

Answer 3

spatial inequality the result of underperformance ie inefficiencies
also to alleviate congestion, use of policies to reduce excess supply in some regions through reducing excess demand in others through reallocation leads to higher overall economic efficiency

Question 4

what are the trade offs for spatial policy?

Answer 4

if try to increase efficiency in all regions, does this spread resources too thinly and/or lower investment in the strongest parts of the national economy

Question 5

what dose spatially targetted mean?

Answer 5

top down designed by central government and spatially blind in areas adminsterated

Question 6

what does place sensitive mean?

Answer 6

top down but some differentiation by type of spatial area (severity or a mix of problems)

Question 7

what is place based mean?

Answer 7

policy designed by local actors to respond to local conditions and accountable to local voters

Question 8

in 2019 how are the policies organised?

Answer 8

since 2019, in england there has been a shift back to more centralised top down, competitive bid based and small scale, specially targetted approach

Question 9

what were the 5 shortcomings that the white paper identified of past spatial policy?

Answer 9

• longevity and policy suffiiciency
• lack of policy and delivery coordination
• lack of local empowerment - actions are best taken and coordinated locally where decision makers have a finely grained understanding of local economies and their challenges, local government lacks powers, capacity and capability
• lack of evidence, monitoring and evaluation - this required a clear and common understanding of local policy options requiring good data, monitoring and evaluation capability
• lack of transparency and accountability (both locally and nationally)

Question 10

what was the estimate given by martin et al (2021) for the total spend on spatial policy for 1960-2020 per annum?

Answer 10

Martin et al (2021) have estimated total spend on spatial policy for 1960-2020 at equivalent to an average 0.15% of GNI per annum

Question 11

what were the principles for a sucessful policy regime laid out by the levelling up white paper?

Answer 11

longevity and sufficiency (anchored in missions)
coordination (between and within all levels of government)
local empowerment
data monitoring and evaluation
transparency and accountability

Question 12

what were the key determinents of sucess in place based policy according to martin et al 2021?

Answer 12

develop a focus on place and make use of full set of resources in that locality
foster an engagement with local institutions
focus on governance, accepting the need to create robust sustainable and transparent processes, and acknowledge role of local leaders
emphasise value creation and local capture of value to generate opportunities
consider the performance of places over a long time frame
prioritise the assistance to those whom adjustment processes are most challenging
accept there is an emotional dimension to the questions of place and future of places which may be evident in periods of rapid change
incorporate outcome and outcome measures early in the implementation of place based initiatives in order to drive achievement
establish demonstaratable significant achievements which can be communicated to all stakeholders

Question 13

what is most of white paper and recommendations of martin et al 2021 concentrate on?

Answer 13

they concentrate on a type of system needed for conducting effective policy, based on a place based approach

Question 14

what is a flaw with the white paper and recommendations of martin et al 2021?

Answer 14

they are light on the actual policies needed to increase efficiency at the spatial level linked to the underlying causes of inequalities

Question 15

what are the other issues that are needed to be confronted for spatial equality?

Answer 15

there is a tendency post 1980s for concentration of infrastructure as major source of agglomeration spillovers. but in microterms, the ultimate economic agents are not regions but households, establishments and firms and how these invest

Question 16

what are the useful advice that camangi and capello 2014 provided for policy intervations which follow place based philosophy?

Answer 16

• Understand what are the causes of spatial growth* Recognise the necessity of an integrated and intersectoral approach to policy delivery
• Tailor each policy tool to the structural, institutional and territorial specifics of each place
• Concentrate on actions that achieve specific goals while allowing these to synergistically interact with other policy goals
• Address the conservation, completion, improvement and best use of the various types of territorial capital

Question 17

is there an efficiency equity trade off for policy?

Answer 17

place based approaches to policy adhering to divergent growth approach imply that national economy can achieve higher growth by developing places of different sizes because it is the performance of the urban and regional systems as a whole which is critical not just cities at the top of the urban hierachy

Question 18

why has spatially targetted past policy been deficient?

Answer 18

it is overall top down, under resourced to meet scale of the problem
failure to intergrate/coordinate regional with mainstream policy
proliferation and churn of short term under resourced interventions
lack of local empowerment, evidence base, transparency and accountability