Professor Anne Green writes about how research centre City-REDI shows how universities can influence the evolving infrastructure for evidence-based policy
The UK’s research and innovation system is increasingly defined by the need for clearer regional intelligence, stronger civic engagement and more direct links between academic insight and policy action. One of the most developed examples of this agenda in practice is the University of Birmingham’s City‑Region Economic Development Institute (City‑REDI).
Over the past decade, City‑REDI has grown from a £4 million institutional investment into one of the UK’s most active centres for place‑based economic research, generating £18 million in external funding, producing more than 585 policy reports alongside academic journal articles, and informing regional and national decision‑making on issues ranging from industrial strategy to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost‑of‑living crisis. Its trajectory provides insight into how universities can influence the evolving infrastructure for evidence-based policy, and what the next decade of place‑focused research may require from policymakers and funders.
City‑REDI’s model has been to combine academic research staff with technical capacity traditionally found in economic consultancies or government analytical units. The Institute’s long-term partnerships with the West Midlands Combined Authority, local authorities, and business networks have allowed it to embed research activity directly into policymaking structures. Its ability to respond rapidly to shocks has become a signature feature: since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis City‑REDI produced 122 Regional Economic Monitors, delivering near real‑time labour market and business intelligence to regional leaders.
The Institute’s expansion in 2019, through the establishment of the West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute (WMREDI), strengthened this infrastructure further. WMREDI’s formation, documented in the “WMREDI Story” report, set out a deliberate vision to build regional analytical capacity, engage a broader range of academic specialisms, broaden talent pipelines, and create a more systematic approach to evidence use in local and regional government. This included secondments into WMCA, economic intelligence units, government departments, and other public bodies. This is a model increasingly recognised as valuable for building policy capability in under‑resourced regional institutions.
Beyond regional partnerships, City‑REDI has built a growing presence in national policy debates. Over the past decade, its researchers have contributed to Treasury Green Book reforms, informed All‑Party Parliamentary Group evidence sessions, and provided written and oral evidence to parliamentary inquiries, including those related to innovation, regional productivity, workforce issues and economic resilience. The Institute has also collaborated with HM Treasury, the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Ministry of Housing Local Government and Housing (MHCLG) on major policy frameworks. It has led national networks such as the Local Policy Innovation Partnerships (LPIPs) Strategic Co-ordination Hub.
City‑REDI functions as a hybrid: part academic research institute and part policy observatory. Its ability to link long‑term thematic research, on governance, innovation ecosystems, labour market change, and place‑based inequalities, with on‑demand analytical support reflects a wider shift in the UK research system, with increasing recognition that place‑sensitive evidence is not a “nice to have”, but a critical requirement for effective national policymaking.
City‑REDI’s new strategy, Shaping Regional Futures 2035, outlines five themes that will dominate the next decade of place‑based research, with a focus on Regional leadership and governance; Demography, future lives, work and skills; Innovation, technology and competitiveness; Place-based policies for inclusive economic development, wellbeing and resilience; and Infrastructure, connectivity, sustainability and net zero transitions.
These themes align closely with current national priorities, including the UKRI Place strategy, DSIT’s focus on clusters and innovation diffusion, and ongoing debates about devolution and sub‑national governance.
Three implications stand out for the wider research and policy ecosystem:
Devolution deals, combined authorities, and new funding models will require more sophisticated economic analysis and evaluation. Institutes like City‑REDI provide a template for how universities can fill this gap. They also expose a systemic challenge: the current evidence infrastructure is unevenly distributed, leaving many regions without comparable capabilities, and funding does not invest in long-term sustained partnership building with local partners.
City‑REDI’s multi‑method, interdisciplinary approach, combining economics, geography, public policy, data analytics, and qualitative research, reflects the complexity of real-world regional challenges. However, such work often falls between traditional research council funding streams. Long-term funding mechanisms in this infrastructure, including institutional support like that underpinning City-REDI, may be necessary if these models are to be sustainable.
City‑REDI’s convening role, bringing together local authorities, national departments, businesses, community groups, and international partners, illustrates an emerging function for universities within regional governance ecosystems. This role goes beyond traditional engagement: it requires dedicated professional capacity, long-term partnership building, and translational expertise.
City‑REDI’s approach to impact has been unusually expansive. Alongside policy briefings and technical reports, the institute has incorporated creative methods such as the theatre production All Our Money, which translated research on local government finance into an accessible public performance. Its longstanding partnership with the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce has produced the annual Birmingham Economic Review, which has become a key regional intelligence product.
Such innovations highlight a wider trend within the research system and the shift from linear impact pathways to more iterative models of knowledge mobilisation, co‑production, and public engagement.
The Institute’s roadmap to 2035 outlines ambitions to deepen international partnerships, enhance methodological innovation (especially in data science and AI‑driven modelling), and lead national debates on regional leadership, governance, and the role of universities in economic development. Plans to expand collaboration with organisations such as the OECD and United Nations reflect growing global interest in place‑based policy.
But the sustainability of this model will depend on the wider policy environment. With higher education finances under strain and public sector budgets constrained, the question is whether government will continue to support the development of regional evidence institutions or whether this type of work will remain reliant on entrepreneurial university leadership.
City‑REDI’s first decade shows what can be achieved when a university invests deeply in place, commits to long-term regional partnerships, and builds the internal capability to operate at the boundary between research and policy. As debates about addressing regional inequalities, devolution and regional productivity continue, the Institute offers both a model and a challenge to the UK research system: if evidence‑based regional policy is a national priority, then the infrastructure that supports it must be strengthened, scaled and sustained.
Professor of Regional Economic Development
Professor Green is an expert in employment, non-employment, skills, migration, commuting, and development policy.
