With the right policies and sufficient investment in public transport, housing, skills and other key policy areas, Core Cities could become centres of economic activity that pull their regions and the entire UK to higher productivity levels. This report unpacks the productivity puzzle in the UK and offers policy recommendations for the local and national level to achieve higher productivity and more inclusive growth.

The Welsh Government has set an ambitious and innovative path for regional development and public investment – one focused on generating growth and increasing productivity, while also reducing territorial disparities and ensuring the well-being of citizens, now and in the future. Yet, it faces significant challenges, accentuated by limited fiscal decentralisation and changes to public investment financing post-Brexit.

Scotland (UK) is a strong innovator, ranking among the top 20% of economies among European regions, with strengths in university-firm collaborations and skills for innovation. With close to two-thirds of all growth in productivity from 2010 to 2018 coming from better use of resources in remote rural areas, rural areas are critical to economic prosperity.

In recent decades, federal and unitary countries have increasingly adopted or deepened regional governance reforms, especially in the OECD and Europe, but also in Asia, America and to a lesser extent Africa. Approximately two-thirds of countries around the world have increased the power of regions over the last 50 years.

The COVID-19 pandemic plunged the EU into its worst-ever recession and risks increasing inequalities, notably between regions. Thanks to a bold and innovative policy response, including a common instrument to finance national recovery plans (Next Generation EU), growth is rebounding, but ambitious reforms will be essential to heal the scars of the pandemic and succeed in the green and digital transitions.

Bulgaria has made solid progress in its territorial governance and socio-economic development. Yet, it has not been able to counteract large and increasing territorial disparities. Doing so will require addressing remaining structural challenges that may be limiting further transformation, government performance and regional resilience.

Glasgow City Region - composed of eight Local Authorities - is Scotland’s largest integrated economic area, accounting for a third of Scotland's jobs and economic output. Over the last two decades, the unemployment rate has decreased to a record low, and the share of degree holders has increased significantly. Despite its overall economic success and high growth potential, Glasgow City Region faces several challenges. The region’s productivity levels compare poorly with other UK cities and major OECD metropolitan regions, and income deprivation and economic inactivity are high. As the economy has recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressure on the labour market has increased, resulting in labour shortages. The challenges for Glasgow City Region’s labour market call for greater efforts to enhance and future-proof the skills and employability systems in the region. This OECD report reviews and offers recommendations on three of the most pressing challenges facing the Glasgow City Region: i) reinforcing re- and upskilling opportunities for individuals in work and aligning skills supply with demand, ii) enhancing labour market inclusion of the economically inactive, and iii) strengthening school-to-work transitions of young people.

The UK economy recovered from the COVID-19 shock thanks to emergency support measures protecting jobs and incomes and a rapid vaccine rollout, but is slowing amid persisting supply shortages and rising inflation. Fiscal policy has to balance gradual tightening with providing well-targeted temporary support to households who are vulnerable to rising costs of living, supporting growth and addressing significant investment needs.

The impact of COVID-19 on local jobs and workers dwarfs those of the 2008 global financial crisis. The 2020 edition of Job Creation and Local Economic Development considers the short-term impacts on local labour markets as well as the longer-term implications for local development.

Urban Diplomacy is a passionate defence of global cities, whose diplomatic innovation has been called upon to work toward improved global governance, or in other words, a universal urban order.