The Economic Geography of the UK
- Neil Coe - University of Manchester, UK
- Andrew Jones - University of London, UK
With pedagogical features to facilitate learning, including further reading and chapter aims, the text explores the complex connections that constitute the UK economy including the city and finance, the uneven development of the UK, the UK economy's links to the European Union and its wider ties to the global economy.
Written for geography students studying modules on economic geography and the human geography of the UK, the text is a vibrantly written, easy-to-understand analysis of the current and future challenges that face the contemporary UK economy.
Includes a preface by Doreen Massey.
That geography forms, rather than merely reflects, economies is by now widely recognized. But fully to understand that there are no such things as economies, only economic geographies, requires careful and theoretically sophisticated accounts. The contributions in this book offer such an understanding of the economic geographies of the UK and are thereby sensitive to the complex geographies through which economies take place. It is essential reading within and, even more, beyond Geography. The current crisis of economy and Economics demands no less.
In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, The Economic Geography of the UK brings to the academy a highly-innovative, thought provoking and empirically-rich collection of essays that tracks the most significant socio-economic changes of the U.K.'s space economy over recent times. From re-visiting the geographical imaginations of the North-South divide to uncovering the City of London's financial economy within a UK and global context, to understanding new social landscapes of work, immigration and labour market change, both undergraduate and graduate students and researchers alike, from across the social sciences, will all be treated to one of the most authoritative and research-driven texts, which uncovers the geography of contemporary economic and social change in the UK. Neil Coe and Andrew Jones, and all contributing authors, must be commended on the highest quality of their incisive theoretical and empirical scholarship, which I would suggest must be an essential companion to anyone seeking knowledge and understanding of socio-economic change in the contemporary UK space economy.
The most outstanding feature of the text is the statistical data and figues utilised by the authors to complement the written word...the figures could be used in the teaching of the geogrpahical concept of special change over time... I would recommend the text for those who are interested in pursuing research in the area of socioeconomic change or have an interest in the demography of the UK.
The book is written in an accessible form both organizationally and stylistically. Individual chapters, while offering the intellectual depth of an academic journal article, are careful to explain terminology and benefit from bulleted aims at the start of each contribution allowing readers to gain a quick grasp of its focus. Such thoughtful presentation eases undergraduate students into serious academic engagement and potentially provides a springboard for further exploration into the recommended reading at the end of each chapter... This book will most obviously be compulsory reading on under and postgraduate economic geography modules where it will encourage critical engagement and thinking. However, I believe that it could (and should) gain traction beyond its core discipline. Given the wide ranging multi-disciplinary nature of the themes discussed, it should also provide interest across the social sciences, notably for sociologists and throughout business and management studies.
The quality and usefulness of this book [make it] a core text in an undergraduate or indeed postgraduate module, or as evidence for research into the UK’s changing economic geography.
I have been looking for a new and innovative undergraduate text book which focuses on uneven geographies of the UK. I have been recommending Dorling's 2005 book The Human Geography of the UK (fab for data and great ideas for students exercises!) and also Human Geography of the UK: an introduction by Hadrill et al. However, both these books were getting rather dated and i was looking for a more up to date text. In addition, I was looking for a text which was a little more theoretically infomed while still being accessible to the first/second year undergraduate who struggle with heavy theory. I have found it! Perhaps a little too 'economic' for my course at the expensive of the social/cultural - but not a criticism of the book per se but expains why I adopted it as recommended rather than essential reading.
This book gives a impressive and highly accessible insight into the (emerging) economic geography/ ies of the UK, and is highly appropriate for all levels of university teaching (undergraduate and postgraduate)
Super up to date text.
I am requiring my students to read Chapter 12 as it gives such a useful overview of recent agricultural restructuring and changes in the UK food network.
I have also shown the text to colleagues who are going to recommend the text on their final year module in Economic Policy & Rural Development.
This is a nice book that covers a wide range of issues relating to the UK economy. As such it will provide students on my course with details on the UK economy and how it has changed over the last few decades. It will provide a useful complementary text for courses with a 'global' focus; highly recommended as an introduction to British political economy.
A timely review and update of a number of important dimensions of the UK economy that will provide useful background reading for sudents taking clases in urban and economic geography
