Beyond ‘Left Behind’ Places: Understanding Demographic and Socio-economic Change in Peripheral Regions in France, Germany and the UK

• Applicant: Dr. Tim Leibert
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440773899

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The aim of the project was to develop a better understanding of economic, social and political change in economically lagging regions, examining the circumstances and prospects of places and people categorised together as ‘left behind’. The project had four objectives: to analyse the prosperity levels and development pathways of European regions; to assess the population dynamics of ‘left behind places’, covering both ‘stayers’ and ‘movers’; to examine the socioeconomic activities and views of local residents, including whether they feel ‘left behind’; and, to identify new spatial policies for these areas. These objectives were addressed through a crossnational research design that covered the experiences of France, Germany and the UK, involving a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The qualitative component focused on six case study regions with two in each country. The project has produced four main sets of findings. First, there are different types of ‘left behind places’ in Western Europe. Almost all are characterised by either economic decline or long-term under-development since 1991, but some have been able to adapt to deindustrialisation whereas others have fallen behind. Second, most economically lagging regions are not experiencing net population outflows through migration. ‘Left behind regions’ thus tend to be places where people ‘stay’. Third, the condition of ‘left behindness’ is evident across the six case study areas. Longterm economic decline, a lack of higher-value employment and the closure of local services and facilities are key drivers. This condition of left behindness is more acute in the UK and France than Germany. Yet not all residents feel ‘left behind’: some are relatively better-off and travel to access services over a wider geographical area. Fourth, a broader policy approach is required to widen the frame beyond only economic concerns and open-up definitions of ‘development’ towards more holistic, innovative, and integrated policies that better address local ambitions and need.

Publications

• Levelling up Left Behind Places.
  Martin, Ron; Gardiner, Ben; Pike, Andy; Sunley, Peter & Tyler, Peter
  
• Reframing urban and regional ‘development’ for ‘left behind’ places. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 15(1), 39-56.
  MacKinnon, Danny; Kempton, Louise; O’Brien, Peter; Ormerod, Emma; Pike, Andy & Tomaney, John
  
• Social infrastructure and left behind places. Routledge.
  Tomaney, John; Blackman, Maeve; Natarajan, Lucy; Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, Dimitrios; Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Florence & Taylor, Myfanwy
  
• Social infrastructure and ‘left-behind places’. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1237-1250.
  Tomaney, John; Blackman, Maeve; Natarajan, Lucy; Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, Dimitrios; Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Florence & Taylor, Myfanwy
  
• Types of ‘left behind places’ in the EU 15. Town & Country Planning. January–February 2023, 20-23
  Velthuis, S., MacKinnon, D., Pike, A. & Tomaney, J.
  
• When Bookchin faces Bourdieu. French ‘weak’ municipalism, legitimation crisis and zombie political parties. Urban Studies, 60(11), 2195-2213.
  Béal, Vincent; Maisetti, Nicolas; Pinson, Gilles & Rousseau, Max
  
• When urban shrinkage goes South. Morocco's extreme management of declining mining towns between paternalism, entrepreneurialism and abandonment. Political Geography, 106, 102954.
  Rousseau, Max & Harroud, Tarik
  
• ‘Left behind places’: a geographical etymology. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1167–1179.
  Pike, Andy; Béal, Vincent; Cauchi-Duval, Nicolas; Franklin, Rachel; Kinossian, Nadir; Lang, Thilo; Leibert, Tim; MacKinnon, Danny; Rousseau, Max; Royer, Jeroen; Servillo, Loris; Tomaney, John & Velthuis, Sanne
  
• Regional varieties of ‘left-behindness’ in the EU15. Regional Studies, 59(1).
  Velthuis, Sanne; Royer, Jeroen; Le Petit-Guerin, Mehdi; Cauchi-Duval, Nicolas; Franklin, Rachel; Leibert, Tim; MacKinnon, Danny & Pike, Andy
  
• Rethinking ‘left-behind’ places in a context of rising spatial inequalities and political discontent. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1161-1166.
  MacKinnon, Danny; Béal, Vincent & Leibert, Tim
  
• Spatial policy since the global financial crisis. European Urban and Regional Studies, 32(3), 243-260.
  MacKinnon, Danny; Kinossian, Nadir; Pike, Andy; Béal, Vincent; Lang, Thilo; Rousseau, Max & Tomaney, John
  
• Suspended in time? Peripheralised and “left behind” places in Germany. Geographica Helvetica, 79(3), 221-237.
  Royer, Jeroen & Leibert, Tim
  
• ‘Left Behind’ neighbourhoods in England: Where they are and why they matter. The Geographical Journal, 190(4).
  Houlden, Victoria; Robinson, Caitlin; Franklin, Rachel; Rowe, Francisco & Pike, Andy
  
• A requiem for ‘Levelling Up’?. Commons, Citizenship and Power, 182-201. Policy Press.
  Tomaney, John; Pike, Andy; MacKinnon, Danny & Velthuis, Sanne