Cities slated for reinforcing the North/South divide by a think tank have challenged its findings.
The study by the Centre for Cities at the think tank IPPR reveals a twin track of towns and cities – one on a growth trajectory and the other apparently unable to recover. Four of the top five were in the south while four of the lowest performing were in the north.
Liverpool was ranked bottom out of 56 in the study despite a massive regeneration programme. Liverpool Council's leader Cllr Warren Bradley said: ‘We recognise we still have a lot to do to catch up with more prosperous towns and cities. But, compare Liverpool today with where we were in the 1990s, in the relegation zone of Britain's economic league with devastating levels of unemployment, poverty and industrial dereliction.'
Top of the list for high performing towns and cities is Reading in Berkshire.
Reading Council leader Cllr David Sutton said: ‘Over the last 10 to 15 years we have worked consciously to change Reading from a backward county town to a vibrant, European city.'