The digital transformation of UK manufacturing has emerged as a critical policy priority, yet Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) continue to struggle with adoption of Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs). This paper draws on a meta-review of 47 research projects from the 4.4 pound million InterAct Network to develop a theoretical framework for understanding these persistent implementation challenges. We identify a temporal and spatial mismatch: while policy operates through abstract future scenarios, SMEs require concrete, immediate pathways for change. Our 'stepping stones' framework reveals four critical mechanisms that enable successful digital adoption: collective skills development, co-opetitive business models, trusted local intermediaries, and peer-to-peer learning networks. These mechanisms function within place-based ecosystems that bridge the gap between national policy ambitions and firm-level realities. The framework challenges conventional assumptions about technology diffusion by demonstrating that digital transformation requires not just technical solutions but careful attention to the social infrastructure of change. Our reading of the UK's 2025 Industrial Strategy suggests growing policy recognition of these principles, though significant implementation challenges remain. The paper contributes to place-based development theory while offering practical insights for policymakers seeking to accelerate manufacturing innovation in local economies.

Background In the twentieth century, urban planning was primarily government-led with the goal of directly delivering public good outcomes such as social housing, parks space, and community amenities. Over the past decade, this model has shifted in both Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). Private developers, financial actors, consultants, and technology firms now play a central role in shaping cities, but the ways in which this influence unfolds is not always readily transparent or traceable. Governments increasingly act as partners and facilitators rather than sole decision-makers. At the same time, digital platforms and emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools are changing how planning decisions are made and how public input is collected and interpreted. These changes raise a central policy question: In the context of privately planned urban development in Canada and the UK, what urban planning and governance interventions have been implemented to promote the public good, and how effective are these interventions in delivering equitable and publicly beneficial outcomes? While planning systems maintain stated goals to deliver public benefits, it is not clear that current urban planning governance arrangements consistently achieve public good outcomes. When the planning process cannot deliver on its public good commitments, there are direct implications for how governments set priorities, allocate resources, and assess results. Objectives This research examined how urban planning systems in Canada and the UK have responded to privately planned urban development through a structured literature review of implemented and evaluated planning interventions, guided by the following three objectives: 1. Document changes to planning actors and drivers in Canada and the UK after the global financial crisis in 2007/2008. 2. Identify governance responses to changes in these actors and drivers. 3. Critically assess how the success of these governmental interventions is measured. Methods Drawing on modified scoping review methods, the research encompassed a review of peer-reviewed literature published between 2009 and 2024 with a focus on key terms related to planning, privatization, and the public interest. From over 2,600 articles, 29 were selected based on their focus on implemented and evaluated planning interventions involving private-sector actors. Each case was analyzed to identify actors, governance approaches, and outcomes, and findings were compared across Canada and the UK. Results The findings initially demonstrated three ways in which planning systems are being reshaped: * Seeing like a state demonstrates that governments are increasingly facilitating rather than leading development through partnerships that often rely on negotiated processes to secure public good outcomes. * Seeing like a business highlights how private actors increasingly shape decisions through financial feasibility frameworks, often constraining public benefits. * Seeing like a platform identifies new governance challenges with the rise of platform technologies, and identifies retroactive governance responses as a key challenge. The review of interventions in Canada and the UK highlighted two additional ways in which planning systems are being reshaped: * Seeing like a community acknowledges that community groups play an active role in planning systems but are often positioned as stakeholders rather than decision-makers. * Seeing like a machine exposes how artificial intelligence increasingly influences planning decision making, including how public input is interpreted, summarized, and, in some cases, generated. Across these dimensions, three consistent challenges emerge: * uneven capacity due to institutional and community constraints * time pressure to accelerate decision-making and delivery * partial outcomes, where some public benefits are achieved but broader objectives are not fully realized Our research found that there is a limited culture of evaluation among urban planning projects. We also acknowledge that Indigenous planning and governance systems are not captured within this framework, signalling gaps in how current settler-colonial planning systems understand and engage with different forms of governance. Key Messages * Planning is shaped by multiple actors, not governments alone. * Public good outcomes depend on planning goals but are not guaranteed as outcomes. * The use of viability/financial feasibility tools strongly influence planning decisions and are in competition with public good outcomes. * Technology, including AI, is reshaping planning processes and decision-making in ways that can be at odds with public good outcomes. * Community participation remains constrained within formal systems due to a lack of institutional capacity inside government. * Evaluation in current planning practice is limited, reducing accountability and institutional learning. * Indigenous planning requires distinct approaches beyond existing frameworks.

Co-production involves citizens and service providers collaborating in the design and delivery of services, but its application to disadvantaged individuals remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining the Y Heritage project in the Midlands, UK, which implemented co-production with disadvantaged young people as a means to develop local heritage services. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through interviews and observations with service users and providers over the project’s duration. Findings highlight the challenges and opportunities of engaging young people with multiple disadvantages in co-production, revealing that tailored, creative approaches can foster empowerment, resilience, and social inclusion. The study concludes that co-production in non-traditional service contexts, such as heritage, can address barriers to participation, generating meaningful outcomes for marginalized groups. These insights offer practical guidance for practitioners and expand theoretical understanding of co-production’s potential in addressing complex social challenges.

This paper analyses how local authorities address the challenges of prolonged austerity by making use of collaborative innovation, financed through bidding for instrumental technology-based projects. Based on two case study projects within a local authority in England, analysis shows how local authority managers change their role, from brokers before and during bidding, to institution-builders during implementation, and networkers when attempting to capture long-term value from the projects. The findings also highlight the limits of this approach, as the limited nature of the projects makes it difficult for local authorities to capture long-term value, especially if there is no follow-up funding.

Much has been written about co-production in mainstream services but less is known about its applicability to service users with severe and multiple disadvantages (SMD). Given the sometimes-precarious relationship between providers and users with SMD, the paper argues that co-production should not be approached in the same way as conventional user engagement because of the degree of marginalisation, stigma and exclusion users with SMD face. Through a thematic analysis of evidence systematically collated via a rapid evidence assessment, the author proposes a co-production framework comprising a series of organisational principles to create an enabling environment for co-production with vulnerable service users. The application of the model is encouraged across a range of sectors and settings so that all service users can become empowered participants in the design and delivery of services that affect their lives.

In the context of globalisation, the sustainability of traditional manufacturing sectors depends on the ability of firms to modernise and diversify. To remain competitive against emerging economies in high-volume and low-technology areas, firms must engage in high-value manufacturing. This paper uses theoretical underpinnings from strategic management and place-based approaches to provide a historical account of competitive strategies of traditional manufacturing firms in the West Midlands region of the UK between 2010 and 2012 where the automotive, ceramics, glass and clothing sectors are examined. The research methodology is based on critical realist philosophy, which emphasizes an in-depth understanding of firm behaviour and acknowledges sensitivity to differences in decision-making. The paper highlights the complexity of competitive behaviour, which is influenced by enabling and constraining factors. While the evidence presented in the paper is from 2010 to 2012, it emphasizes the need for a participatory, farsighted, and proactive policy approach to retain the historic industrial character of the region.

The coordination of inter-organisational networks is key to their success and yet partnership management in the context of regional economic development remains a complex and ambiguous process. To address this lack of understanding, this article reviews the extant literature on brokerage and network coordination and presents a theoretical framework comprising three propositions on the benefits of a private sector influence over the management and coordination of multi-organisational economic development partnerships. The propositions are then explored through a qualitative study of those tasked with the role of leading the management of Local Enterprise Partnerships in England. The findings conversely reveal a reliance on the public sector to lead the framing and mobilisation of these networks and questions whether the policy shift has resulted in truly collaborative governance.

This comparative study, conducted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, explores how the contrasting governance systems in Australia and England responded to complex and rapidly evolving problems presented by the crisis. Comparing how national and local governments worked together and alongside other forms of subnational governance, the findings highlight the efficacy of multi-scalar governance arrangement in Australia over the fragmented, overly-centralised and inconsistent arrangements in England. As nations plan their recovery paths from the economic and social challenges of the crisis, the findings encourage a reset of spatial policy towards one that values and resources greater decentralisation and place-based recovery.

'Levelling Up' has come to dominate debates around regional inequality in England, but has been criticized for lacking clarity and definition. This paper addresses this critique by providing an early assessment of the concept. It summarizes and critically reviews Levelling Up, arguing that the concept offers a mix of marginal and familiar policies, alongside aspirations for industrial policy and research and development. Furthermore, Levelling Up begins to diverge from recent policy in its spatial focus and approach to governance and devolution. As governments in Europe and the United States grapple with similar challenges, the paper has value beyond a UK audience.

When countries are impacted by a crisis, comparisons at the national level are often drawn. Whilst useful, this approach fails to explore how local measures are enacted alongside centralised responses. This paper addresses that gap by examining England's intergovernmental response to the Covid-19 pandemic. With a focus on multi-level governance (MLG) and resilience theories the paper explores how tiers of government respond to the demands of the crisis. The focus is primarily on the responses of those involved with responding to the economic crisis with a recognition of the interlinked health and environmental crises. Adopting a case study approach, which included some of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic, the paper asks whether the application of MLG provided a resilient system to the shock of the pandemic. The findings illustrate local government sought to respond quickly, but decision-making was too often centrally controlled rather than devolved to the most appropriate scale. The paper draws lessons for how England might think constructively about its post pandemic reorientation considering the adaptation of intergovernmental roles and sub-national governance that permits greater devolution to facilitate place-based recovery. Drawing on the knowledge gained throughout the pandemic, the paper argues that to Level Up in England and address the long-term economic and societal imbalances will demand a place-based recovery model.

Models of subnational governance have grown in popularity across Europe, but the notion of place-based leadership remains an ideological phenomenon. This paper explores the development of subnational partnerships in England and considers the lack of formal guidance available to local leaders that limits their ability to develop transformational strategies. Drawing on extensive qualitative analysis of England's local enterprise partnerships, the paper develops an original conceptual model of place-based partnerships. The model provides a tool for partnerships to assess themselves and consider tactics to develop a stronger set of shared local values, contributing to both academic and policy debates.

Place leadership is at a critical juncture. Since the 1990s, it has been taken for granted that for places to prosper, effective partnerships combining the interests of multiple stakeholders are essential. The leadership of place-based partnerships is crucial to their success and has accordingly received increased attention in academic and policy circles, but the notion of place leadership remains an ideological phenomenon founded on numerous case studies with few conclusions that can be generalised across wider spatial scales or beyond advanced economies. This article examines place leadership through examining England's local enterprise partnerships, in particular looking at the role of the private sector vis-a-vis the public sector. The complexity of these partnerships is explored, and the article argues for the role of collaborative leadership to address that complexity. It contributes a set of guiding principles to guide new ways for place-based working that can better embrace the private sector and engender a more collaborative leadership practice.

"Regional infrastructure systems: The political economy of regional infrastructure." Regional Studies, 54(1), p. 141

In the pursuit of economic growth, England has historically retained a level of centralized control despite policy attempts to decentralize. Consequently, attempts to create a subnational tier have struggled to establish a durable alternative. Reporting on the episode of localism, which began in 2010 and has involved the abolition of regional development agencies (RDAs) in favour of 38 voluntary local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) alongside the construction of a growing number of combined authorities, the research investigates a complex place-based economic landscape whereby the provision of guidance and sharing of practice in England remains limited. This paper draws on the existing literature to propose a conceptual model of place-based partnership that formed a scaffold for an empirical study involving 10 LEPs in the Midlands. A soft systems methodology was adopted to understand the factors that help and hinder these place-based partnerships. The paper advances the argument that the persistence of centralism limits the LEPs’ capacity to fill the missing space and observes a strong influence of central government and reliance on local government. Beyond the LEPs, given the global trend of decentralization, further research into the interplay between the factors in the conceptual model is encouraged to support the development of place-based partnerships as they work towards securing collaborative advantage.

Research into the impact of ‘broken windows’ on schools. ‘Broken windows’ is a theory of a spiral of decline. This piece of research used a case study design to explore the impact of the local physical environment on three schools across England. Teachers, parents, students and residents were consulted to discover the impact of physical attributes, such as a footpath, a closed down funfair and substandard housing.

This book presents the fi ndings of a research study undertaken by Wilkinson in the mid-1990s to gain a better understanding of the social worlds of violent adolescent males in two New York neighbourhoods.The study makes little use of available statistical data, but instead relies on some 125 interviews undertaken by peer interviewers with violent offenders covering over 300 violent or near-violent events.The book draws on the interviews and presents a detailed analysis of these accounts to provide an in-depth understanding of youth gun violence.By examining these events in the context of the two deprived urban neighbourhoods, the author explores processes of social control and behaviour and the role that guns play in shaping the behaviour and attitudes of these young men.Violent events are described in detail to explore the availability of guns, their frequency of use, and the thought processes that lie behind their use to better understand decision-making during violent events.Delving into the childhood experience of the sample, the author presents an account of a group of young males who have been failed on every level.Family environment for the majority failed to provide a nurturing experience through childhood, and instead introduced them to drug and alcohol addiction, poverty, and domestic abuse with an absence of positive male role models within the home.In a similar vein, few of the sample had a productive journey through the education system and as a result found themselves void of the skills to pursue the scarce employment opportunities that are available.For many, drug dealing and criminal activity are attractive and lucrative options and for some, seen as the only viable option.Worryingly, the cycle looks set to continue as for these young men, many of whom are already fathers, and gun violence and drug dealing have become normalized.With low horizons and few aspirations, these men look set to repeat the mistakes of their fathers and elders.Within neighbourhoods that are both void of resources and lacking community cohesion, behaviour is driven by fear.There is a sense that anything can happen at any time and the carrying of a gun is deemed necessary and indeed an attractive option.There is little discussion or comment on the benefi ts or otherwise of strategies deployed in the U.S. at the local or national level to address the multiple problems of these young men, and for me, and indeed for U.K. policy development, that would have been a useful exploration.What comment there is seems to imply that, for U.S. policy makers, it is easier to tackle youth-related violence by focussing on removing young people from the community with get-tough policies than to seek preventative routes.

Prior to the election of the Labour Government in May 1997, plans were underway to introduce a national identity card scheme in the UK. The then Home Secretary, Michael Howard and representatives from the police and other groups had argued that amongst a wide range of benefits such a scheme would bring included improving police efficiency and helping to tackle a number of social problems. Others, however, raised concerns about the impact such a scheme may have on civil liberties and the relationship between the police and ethnic minority groups. This paper explores the potential effect the introduction of a national identity card scheme in the UK may have on the relationship between the police and ethnic minority groups. It draws on the experiences of other EU countries in the use of various types of identity card and suggests that the use of identity checks by police officers and other official agencies impact disproportionately on ethnic minority groups. It provides evidence that identity cards can be used as a means to harass and inconvenience those who do not share the characteristics of the host nation.

Public AdministrationVolume 76, Issue 4 p. 779-792 Compulsion By Stealth: Lesson From The European Union On The Use Of National Identity Cards Adrian Beck, Adrian Beck Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order, University of LeicesterSearch for more papers by this authorKate Broadhurst, Kate Broadhurst Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order, University of LeicesterSearch for more papers by this author Adrian Beck, Adrian Beck Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order, University of LeicesterSearch for more papers by this authorKate Broadhurst, Kate Broadhurst Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order, University of LeicesterSearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 December 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00136Citations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume76, Issue4Winter 1998Pages 779-792 RelatedInformation