Cambridge discovers the economic benefit of clustering | Richard Partington

Victorian concept of the 'industrial district' could protect the UK from the worst of Brexit

There are tourists punting on the river and cyclists thronging the street. On this summer day, many of the trains have been cancelled or face severe delays. It's more than a century since the Victorian economist Alfred Marshall taught at Cambridge University - where the economics library still bears his name - yet he would still recognise plenty of things about the city today.

More than a century ago, the mentor to John Maynard Keynes developed the idea of the "industrial district" to explain how bringing jobs and businesses together in specific locations can help improve the productivity of work. There are advantages in huddling together; of encouraging technical dynamism in particular places. Knowledge can spread more quickly, often by accident. People with similar skills are drawn together to pursue careers in the same field.

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