Tuesday 17 June 2008

Introducing SERC: The Spatial Economics Research Centre

The Spatial Economics Research Centre is based at the LSE and brings together leading researchers in the field from across the country including those from the Universities of Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Strathclyde and Swansea.

The Centre is funded by a grant of £2.4 million over an initial three years, by the Economic and Social Research Council, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Centre aims to provide high quality independent research to further understanding as to why some regions, cities and communities prosper, whilst other don’t. Research will focus on why there are disparities in economic prosperity at all spatial levels including regional, city-region, local and neighbourhood.

Additionally, the Centre aims to influence and improve policy decision-making at the national and local levels, connecting UK policy makers with international expertise, research and good practice in diagnosing and tackling such differences.

The Centre is directed by Dr Henry Overman an expert in spatial economics and currently Reader in Economic Geography at the London School of Economics.

Launching the new SERC Website

The SERC website http://www.spatialeconomics.ac.uk/ will be launching on the 25th June 2008. The site will host SERC publications such as discussion papers and policy papers and will present a full description of all the research projects the centre is running.