"Bulldozing the North and concreting over the South"? The United Kingdom government’s sustainable communities plan

Hall, Stephen; Hickman, Paul

Abstract

This paper provides a critical commentary on the United Kingdom government’s Sustainable Communities Plan, published in February 2003, which addresses two contrasting housing market problems in England: excess demand in the South and low demand in areas of the North and Midlands. It is argued that the government interprets these as separate and unrelated problems rather than the consequence of a single process - uneven regional economic development - and, as a result, risks exacerbating existing inter-regional inequalities. The government’s response to the housing crisis in the South is to expand housing supply there rather than to redistribute economic growth to the North and Midlands. As a consequence, it may be criticised for permitting further environmental erosion in the South while, simultaneously, failing to provide the North and Midlands with the appropriate means to deal with their own economic and housing problems.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2004
• Journal: Géocarrefour
• Print ISSN: 1627-4873
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 79
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 143-152
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/geocarrefour.659
• Keywords: Great Britain, housing markets, regional policy, sustainable development, uneven development
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1064882
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/geocarrefour.659