Enabling Regional Growth: Lessons from England and Japan
City-REDI worked with CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) and the Otemon Gakuin University in Osaka, Japan, to produce a report examining how regional growth can be enabled outside of national capitals.
We interviewed nearly 40 interviews with representatives of central/regional/local government, business, academics and politicians in the West Midlands and Osaka. We also held knowledge exchange events in Osaka and Birmingham to test our emerging findings and ascertain points of particular interest for policy and practice.
The research draws on lessons from two second cities: Birmingham in England and Osaka in Japan, and focuses on four critical issues:
- institutional conditions for growth
- regional group formation
- funding mechanisms
- monitoring and evaluation.
By comparing the experiences of the West Midlands metropolitan region and Osaka region (Osaka Prefecture), the report provides fresh insights into how local and regional actors can build stronger, more responsive governance frameworks – and how national governments can better support them.
For UK practitioners and policymakers, the findings offer practical guidance for implementing the government’s evolving devolution agenda and regional growth strategies. For Japanese counterparts, the report highlights transferable models of regional finance and governance innovation. For both countries, it opens the door to deeper bilateral policy learning and knowledge exchange.
Impact
The project report was launched with videos and reports in Japanese and English, followed by a roundtable with senior representatives from Japan and the UK hosted by the Japanese Local Government Centre in Whitehall.
This has stimulated learning about regional groupings, partnership working and good practice in monitoring and evaluation and the design of funding to enhance prospects for regional growth in second cities.
Links
Enabling Regional Growth: Institutional and Fiscal Lessons from England and Japan