Universities must do their bit to keep smaller cities working

The government has tasked Lancaster University with administering its policy to boost 20 regional cities. Ellie Hamilton, the project’s director, looks at what universities can do to stop the country’s talent heading to London.

Having one dominant player in a market isn’t always a good thing. As the (London-based) think tank Centre for Cities pointed out in January, in its annual health check of UK city economies, the capital is moving out of sight of its competition. Of about 250,000 private-sector jobs created between 2010 and 2012, four-fifths were in London. When graduates move on to the next stage, one in three go to the capital.

An economist might argue that it is efficient to have a small number of giant and concentrated zones of economic activity. But such imbalances are disastrous as the basis of a diverse and cohesive society that wants to give people the best chance of leading rewarding lives.