GCSE Geography | UK North-South Divide (UK Economic Futures 7)

The UK's north-south divide refers to the real or imagined differences that occur as you move up the country - these differences are both economic and cultural, for example, Londoners tend to earn a lot more money that workers in northern areas of the country, but northerners are often viewed as more friendly.

When we talk about the north-south divide 'the north' refers to the north of England (Yorkshire, the Humber, the North East and North West) and the rest of the UK, and 'the south' refers to the South East, Greater London, the South West and parts of eastern England. The Midlands is a bit of a 'grey area' - those in the south refer to it as part of the north, and those in the north regard it as part of the south.

The south tends to have a higher standard of living – higher wages, higher house prices, higher life expectancy, less poverty and more government spending, although this is a generalisation as some of the highest levels of poverty are actually found in London, and some parts of the north have high house prices, for example, there has been a boom in house prices in many parts of Manchester in recent years.

One reason the divide exists is because the north was heavily affected by de-industrialisation, whereas the south has a fast-growing service sector. The Industrial Revolution led to huge growth in Wales and northern England due to the coalfields, in Scotland and the north-east of England due to shipbuilding, and in the north-west of England due to cotton mills. Cities such as Manchester, Sheffield and Glasgow saw huge wealth and prosperity, but then saw huge economic decline and mass unemployment when deindustrialisation took hold - which you can see with the image of a derelict mill in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire below.

As a country we are no longer dependent on coal as an energy source - the last coal mine closed down in 2015 and coal-fired energy production is due to stop in autumn 2024. So these coal-rich areas are no longer seen as central to the UK economy. Instead London and the south-east are dominant because of the huge growth in services - particularly as London is seen as the joint most important global financial centre (a title that it shares with New York). As a result house prices in London and the south-east have risen more quickly than anywhere else in the country.

Physical geography also plays a part. The northern part of the UK is covered in hills and mountains (like the Lake District, pictured below) which makes it hard to build towns and cities, makes farming limited to grazing animals, and makes it difficult to develop land for industry due to accessibility issues. Whereas the south is dominated by flat fertile land, which is much better for building and is perfect for all types of farming.

Tackling regional inequality

In the last couple of decades the government have introduced a number of strategies to try to address the legacy of deindustrialisation in northern England, including financial investment to fund new businesses and improve infrastructure. This has been referred to as 'levelling up' with the aim of reducing economic disparities between regions within the country. It often involves investing in infrastructure and other initiatives in areas that have historically lagged behind in terms of economic development, in order to bring them up to the same level as more prosperous regions. This can include building new roads, schools, and hospitals, as well as providing training and other resources to help people in these areas improve their skills and find good jobs. The goal is to create a more balanced and prosperous economy for all parts of the UK.

Some of this has been funded directly by the government, but much of the projects to tackle economic decline in former industrial areas was funded by the EU - despite this, these areas voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum. Some of this investment has come from overseas, for example, Nissan opened a car assembly plant in Sunderland in 1984. This led to the creation of thousands of jobs, and a subsequent multiplier effect of increased business for local supporting industries, resulting in further investment from other companies who wanted to experience the success that Nissan had seen.

Northern Powerhouse

In 2014 the government launched a new strategy for a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ with the goal of boosting economic growth in the region by investing in infrastructure, skills, and innovation. The idea behind the Northern Powerhouse was to create a more balanced and prosperous economy by building on the strengths of northern cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds, and encourage more businesses and investment to the region. The initiative aimed to create a single, interconnected economy in the North, rather than a collection of individual cities competing with each other. The Northern Powerhouse included a range of measures such as improving transport links between northern cities, investing in science and technology, and providing support to businesses to help them grow and create jobs.

One part of this was HS2 - a high-speed rail line linking London to Birmingham, then onto Manchester and Leeds to reduce travel time and encourage economic growth by making the region more attract to invest in. However in October 2021 the government announced that they were scrapped the link line from the Midlands to Leeds, and in October 2023 they announced that the leg between Birmingham and Manchester would no longer go ahead, and HS2 would just run between London and Birmingham instead. The government claimed that the £4.7bn that has been freed up from cancelling the high-speed routes will now be given to councils outside big cities in the Midlands and northern England, who will be responsible for allocating funds specific projects in their areas. They also announced that £36bn will be spent on further transport funding in northern areas of England, specifically for new bus and train stations, refurbishing old facilities, roads and mass-transit systems, and building more charging points for electric cars.

Despite lots of talk of a Northern Powerhouse, not much has changed in the decade since it was launched. The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham (pictured below), said "Manchester is not doing well as a whole. You can’t have booming businesses downtown and people in the northern boroughs left high and dry. Greater Manchester should be driving the economy of the whole north-west.” This has led Mr Burnham to take matters into his own hands, launching a project to create a hi-tech hub called Atom Valley from Wigan in the West, to Rochdale in the North and Oldham in the East. Atom Valley is a public-private partnership with plans to build an advanced manufacturing hub and create 20,000 jobs across three separate sites in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham.

LPs and EZs

One final attempt to level up' has seen local enterprise partnerships and enterprise being set up....

Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) - these have been set up between local councils and businesses to identify the economic needs of the area, and to try to encourage investment, which will lead to creation of jobs. England has 39 LEPs.

Enterprise zones (EZs) - these have been created to encourage new businesses to set up in areas that previously lacked businesses, in order to create jobs in the places that they are most needed. New companies are given discounted business rates, access to superfast broadband, allowances to help with set-up costs, e.g. buying machinery, and relaxed planning regulations to ensure that new businesses can get up and running as quickly as possible. There are 24 EZs in England.