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In recent years, the ‘city region’ has seen a renaissance as the de facto spatial centre of governance for economic and social development.

Rich in case study insights, this book provides a critique of city-region building and considers how governance restructuring shapes the political, economic, social and cultural geographies of devolution. Reviewing the Greater Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea Bay City Regions, Cardiff Capital Region and the North Wales Growth Deal, the authors address the tensions and opportunities for local elites and civil society actors.

Based on original empirical material, situated within cutting edge academic and policy debates, this book is a timely and lively engagement with the shifting geographies of economic and social development in Britain.

David Beel is Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at Manchester Metropolitan University where he is part of the Future Economies Research Cluster.

Martin Jones is Professor of Human Geography and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Staffordshire University and a founding Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD).

Ian Rees Jones is Professor of Sociological Research at Cardiff University and Director of the WISERD ESRC Civil Society Research Centre.