This review was produced by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director. It is part of the Programme of Work of the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee.
The report and the underlying policy dialogue between the 11 Core Cities (Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield) and the UK Government were managed by Abel Schumann, Economist, and Soo-Jin Kim, Head of the Urban Policies and Reviews Unit, under the supervision of Rudiger Ahrend, Head of the Economic Analysis, Statistics and Multi-Level Governance Section, and Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division in CFE. Chapters 1 and 2 were drafted by Cem Özgüzel and Abel Schumann. Chapter 3 was drafted by Soo-Jin Kim with contributions from Debra Mountford and Isabelle Chatry. Cem Özgüzel provided the econometric analysis for the review. Jonathan Barr provided comments on the draft.
The OECD would like to thank Core Cities UK for its co-operation in the review process. Special thanks go to Chris Murray, Director of Core Cities UK, and Pat Ritchie, Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council. Thanks are also due to all the stakeholders from Core Cities who provided important information and feedback during the review process.
The OECD is grateful to the UK Government, particularly to Keith Thorpe, Principal Policy Adviser, Cities Growth Unit, Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Delegate of the UK to the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee and the OECD Working Party on Urban Policy, and to Daniel Hewitt, Social Affairs Policy Advisor, Permanent Delegation of the UK to the OECD, for their co‑ordination role throughout the project. The OECD would also like to thank all other members of the UK Civil Service, who provided valuable comments on the draft.
Thanks are due to Eleonore Morena for editing and formatting the manuscript and to Pilar Philip who prepared the final publication.