Building a World Class Region: Regional Strategy in the South East of England

Abstract

The South East of England sits uncomfortably within the English regional project. Public support for regional government is relatively low and political appetite for a debate on its future is limited. We argue that the South East poses a problem for English regionalism. The incorporation of this economic heartland is imperative if the project it is not only to be associated with economic development and regeneration in more deprived areas. However, the South East is fragmented and fraught with tensions that institutions of regional governance cannot easily overcome. In particular this relates to the highly differential economic trajectories of different economic sub-regions and to the institutional separation of the South East from London. The future of regional government in the South East of England and the role that the region plays in the wider English regional project remain highly uncertain.