‘Beyond GDP’ in cities: assessing alternative approaches to urban economic development

Crisp, R., Waite, D. , Green, A., Hughes, C., Lupton, R., MacKinnon, D. and Pike, A. (2023) ‘Beyond GDP’ in cities: assessing alternative approaches to urban economic development. Urban Studies, (doi: 10.1177/00420980231187884) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Crises spur reflection and re-evaluation of what matters and what is valued. The impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis, COVID-19 pandemic and climate emergency are reigniting debates about the nature of economic development approaches and what they aim to achieve in urban settings. Addressing a substantive gap in contemporary debates by helping to navigate a burgeoning and diverse field, this paper provides a critical and comparative assessment of five leading agendas that have been positioned as alternative and progressive policy responses to urban economic change: inclusive growth; the wellbeing economy; community wealth building; doughnut economics; and the foundational economy. Taking an international perspective, the paper provides a comparative review of their stated visions, mechanisms for change, and the spatial scales through which they are led and implemented. Our argument is that these alternative approaches to urban economic development are shaping creative, innovative and progressive responses to longstanding urban problems within policy and practice communities but require on-going scrutiny and evaluation to realise their potential to meaningfully achieve transformative change.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Pike and Mackinnon acknowledge the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in conjunction with L’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [grant number ES/V013696/1] under the Open Research Area scheme; project website: https://research.ncl.ac.uk/beyondleftbehindplaces/. Green acknowledges support from Research England via the West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute (WMREDI). Hughes and Lupton acknowledge support from the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England) and the UK devolved administrations, and leading health research charities; weblink: https://ukprp.org/ and project website: https://sipher.ac.uk/.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Waite, David
• Authors: Crisp, R., Waite, D., Green, A., Hughes, C., Lupton, R., MacKinnon, D., and Pike, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Journal Name: Urban Studies
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0042-0980
• ISSN (Online): 1360-063X
• Published Online: 12 August 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © Urban Studies Journal Limited 2023
• First Published: First published in Urban Studies 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license