Landmark 100 year report shows biggest city winners and losers

Innovation and the proximity of knowledge-intensive jobs are more important than the decline of manufacturing in causing the divide between England and Wales' largest cities and towns, according to a Centre for Cities analysis

The decline of traditional industries - often cited as an explanation for Britain's north-south divide - does not alone determine a city's economic success in the 21st century, according to analysis by Centre for Cities thinktank.

In a study of 100 years of economic data from 57 of the largest cities and towns in England and Wales, researchers concluded that proximity to knowledge-intensive jobs and a city's capacity for innovation were more important.

The scale of the deindustrialisation challenge was such that the city still has some way to go; in 2013 Manchester still had 90,000 fewer jobs than it did in 1951. However, its recent successes suggest that it is on a new pathway of knowledge-based economic growth.