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Emerging in the mid-2010s, the Foundational Economy has been heralded as 'a compelling counter-project against neoliberalism' and 'an alternative pathway ... [for] progressive political renewal'. Grounded in a review of cross-disciplinary debates, this paper introduces the concept of the Foundational Economy and places it in relation to heterodox geographic theories of socio-economic development such as the 'social economy' and 'diverse economies' literature. Whilst there are clear overlaps, the concept of the Foundational Economy can be distinguished through its commitment to (a) a zonal perspective; (b) a focus on maximalist social innovations; and (c) the reconstitution of citizenship. In radical combination, it is argued that the lens of the Foundational Economy facilitates 'a trenchant critique and denaturalization of current conditions, in tandem with creative explorations of the political economy of alternatives'. The paper concludes by reflecting on current oversights and future research trajectories for Foundational Economy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the implications of applying the city region concept to a medium-sized city and whether such an application of a spatial and governmental policy is appropriate when the central city in question is also not necessarily economically dominant or connected to its wider city-region. This gives a deeper understanding to the process of subnational restructuring of the UK state via the production of city regions which has now been in progress since the 2010 Coalition Government. The primary focus governmentally and in academic literature has been on larger (English) city regions, but here we highlight how this has been applied in distinctive ways in devolved nations of the UK. To this end, we focus upon the case of the Swansea Bay City Region, based in South West Wales, looking through the lens of Welsh devolution and through the concept of the city-region as a scalar narrative for the delivery of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 'in perspective' piece addresses the (re-)positioning of civil society within new structures of city-region governance within Greater Manchester. This follows on from the processes of devolution, which have given the Greater Manchester City-Region a number of new powers. UK devolution, to date, has been largely focused upon engendering agglomerated economic growth at the city-region scale. Within Greater Manchester City-Region, devolution for economic development has sat alongside the devolution of health and social care (unlike any other city-region in the UK) as well. Based on stakeholder mapping and semi-structured interviews with key actors operating across the Greater Manchester City-Region, the paper illustrates how this has created a number of significant tensions and opportunities for civil society actors, as they have sought to contest a shifting governance framework. The paper, therefore, calls for future research to carefully consider how civil society groups are grappling with devolution; both contesting and responding to devolution. This is timely given the shifting policy and political discourse towards the need to deliver more socially inclusive city-regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]