Input-output analytics for urban systems: explorations in policy and planning

We develop an inter-region input-output economic model of future challenges and appropriate policies. We initially focus on the UK—developing an analytic tool for the ‘levelling up’ agenda: to examine the characteristics of economically ‘good’ versus ‘poor’ cities and to explore policies aimed to shift cities from poor to good. Our method has potential application to equivalent challenges at varying scales and in other countries. The analysis is distinctive: estimate 48 city input-output accounts and the trading relationships between them via a novel incorporation of travel costs. Temporal extensions facilitate a scalable method to model future scenarios of policy outcomes.