<p>What does it really mean to grow a place? This episode unpacks the concept of <i>place-based productivity</i> and explores how it differs from traditional regional development. The discussion examines real-world examples and whether this approach works everywhere, from rural towns to major metropolitan areas.</p> <p>The episode also looks at how the world is changing around place-based strategies, diving into the big shifts shaping the landscape: deglobalisation, digitalisation, and political upheaval. Should policy stay technocratic, or embrace politics to make place-based growth stick?</p> <p>Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:</p> <p><br /></p> <ul><li><b>Jeff Anderson, </b>Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government at Georgetown University.</li><li><b>Andy Westwood, Professor of Public Policy, Government and Business at The University of Manchester and Policy Director at The Productivity Institute.</b></li></ul> <p><br /></p> <p><b>For more information on the topic:</b></p> <ul><li>Jeff Anderson and Andy Westwood (2026) <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/research/the-new-political-economy-of-place-based-policymaking/" target="_blank">The New Political Economy of Place-Based Policymaking</a>, The Productivity Institute.</li><li>Joe Peck, Huw Spencer, Samuel Thorpe and Andy Westwood (2025) <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/news/place-based-industrial-policy-six-lessons-for-the-uk/" target="_blank">Place-Based Industrial Policy: Six Lessons for the UK</a>, The Productivity Institute.</li><li>The Productivity Institute, <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/research/projects/investment-in-places/" target="_blank">Investment in Places campaign</a>.</li><li>Jack Shaw (2025) <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/news/the-role-of-place-and-the-zonification-of-growth/" target="_blank">The role of place and the ‘zonification’ of growth</a>, The Productivity Institute.</li><li>Andy Westwood (2025) <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/news/regional-growth-labour-and-the-biggest-decisions-still-to-come/" target="_blank">Regional growth, Labour and the biggest decisions still to come</a>, The Productivity Institute.</li><li>Tony Pipa and Natalie Geismar (2020) <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/collection/reimagining-rural-policy/" target="_blank">Reimagining rural policy</a>, Brookings.</li><li>The Guardian (2025) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/29/trump-coal-country" target="_blank">‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival</a>.</li><li>Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx024" target="_blank">The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it)</a>, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 11, Issue 1, March 2018, Pages 189–209.</li><li>Bennett School of Public Policy (2019) <a href="https://www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/publications/measuring-wealth-delivering-prosperity/" target="_blank">Measuring wealth, delivering prosperity</a>.</li><li>UK Government (2022) <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61fd3c71d3bf7f78df30b3c2/Levelling_Up_WP_HRES.pdf" target="_blank">Levelling Up the United Kingdom</a>.</li></ul> <p><br /></p> <p><b>About Productivity Puzzles:</b></p> <p>Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by <a href="https://www.productivity.ac.uk/" target="_blank">The Productivity Institute</a>, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the <a href="https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/strategy-and-priorities/productivity/" target="_blank">Economic and Social Research Council</a>.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p>