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Nicola Sturgeon's resignation as First Minister and leader of the SNP has thrown Scottish politics into flux. But beneath the superficial media coverage and frenetic party politics that followed her resignation, the fundamentals of the constitutional debate remain unaltered. One of these fundamentals, the extent to which Scotland is better or worse off being part of the UK political economy, is rarely debated in the depth it deserves. The parlous state of the UK economy and, in particular, the deeply entrenched territorial inequality that results from its extreme core‐periphery structure that safeguards the economic dominance of London and South East England, holds the potential for a surprise shift in the debate over independence to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of 'inclusive growth' (IG) is discussed in a political economy framework. The article reports comparative analysis of economic and planning policy documents from Scotland, England and the UK and findings from expert workshops held in Scotland, which identify four key policy areas for 'inclusive growth': skills, transport and housing for young people; city-regional governance; childcare; and place-making. These policies share with the 'Foundational Economy' an emphasis on everyday infrastructure and services, but add an emphasis on inter-generational justice and stress the importance of community empowerment as much as re-municipalisation. Factors enabling IG policy development include: the necessary political powers; a unifying political discourse and civic institutions; and inclusive governance and participatory democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

. Devolution has been described as a key 'global trend' over recent decades as governments have decentralised power and responsibilities to subordinate regional institutions. UK devolution is characterised by its asymmetrical nature with different territories granted different institutional arrangements and powers. This paper seeks to examine the role of state personnel in mobilising the new institutional machinery and managing the process of devolution, focusing on transport policy. The research presented shows a clear contrast between London and Northern Ireland, on the one hand, and Scotland and Wales, on the other, in terms of the effectiveness of political leaders in creating clear policy priorities and momentum in transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Docherty I. and Mackie P. Planning for transport in the wake of Stern and Eddington, Regional Studies. The recent Stern and Eddington Reports for the UK Treasury emphasize the significance of the linkages between transport, land use, the environment, and the economy. Against that background, the purpose of this paper is to consider the future of transport planning in England given the liberalizing thrust of the Barker Review on land-use planning and the subsequent White Paper Planning for a Sustainable Future (2007). In reviewing the demographic and economic assumptions of the White Paper, it is concluded that in certain respects there are important mismatches between the emerging government policy on strategic planning and the Stern and Eddington Reports. [image omitted] Docherty I. et Mackie P. Planifier le transport a la suite des rapports de Stern et d'Eddington, Regional Studies. Les recents rapports Stern et Eddington, rediges au nom du ministere des Finances au Royaume-Uni, soulignent l'importance des liens qui existent entre le transport, l'occupation du sol, l'environnement et l'economie. Sur un tel fond, cet article cherche a considerer le futur de la planification du transport en Angleterre etant donne l'impulsion liberalisee donnee par la Barker Review sur l'occupation du sol et vu le projet de loi ulterieur Planifier un avenir durable (2007). En faisant la critique des suppositions demographiques et economiques du projet de loi, on conclut qu'il y a a certains egards d'importantes disparites entre la politique gouvernementale sur la planification strategique et les rapports Stern et Eddington. Transport Planification Avenir durable Occupation du sol Docherty I. und Mackie P. Verkehrsplanung im Anschluss an Stern und Eddington, Regional Studies. In den jungsten Berichten von Stern und Eddington fur das britische Finanzministerium wird die Bedeutung der Verknupfungen zwischen Verkehr, Landnutzung, Umwelt und Wirtschaft betont. Vor diesem Hintergrund soll mit diesem Beitrag die Zukunft der Verkehrsplanung in England untersucht werden, insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Liberalisierungsbemuhungen im Barker-Gutachten zur Planung der Landnutzung sowie in der anschliessendem Weissbuchplanung fur nachhaltige Zukunft (2007). Nach einer Uberprufung der demografischen und wirtschaftlichen Annahmen des Weissbuchs ziehen wir den Schluss, dass die entstehende Regierungspolitik zur strategischen Planung hinsichtlich bestimmter Aspekte erheblich von Sterns und Eddingtons Berichten abweicht. Verkehr Planung Nachhaltigkeit Landnutzung Docherty I. y Mackie P. Planificacion para el transporte tras Stern y Eddington, Regional Studies. En los recientes informes de Stern y Eddington para el Ministerio de Hacienda del Reino Unido se pone de relieve la importancia de los vinculos entre transporte, uso del suelo, medio ambiente y economia. Con estos datos, en este articulo analizamos el futuro de la planificacion del transporte en Inglaterra, teniendo en cuenta el empuje liberal del Informe Barker sobre la planificacion del uso del suelo y la posterior Planificacion del Libro Blanco para un Futuro Sostenible (2007). Al revisar las hipotesis demograficas y economicas del Libro Blanco, concluimos que en ciertos aspectos existen importantes incompatibilidades entre la nueva politica gubernamental sobre la planificacion estrategica y los Informes de Stern y Eddington. Transporte Planificacion Sostenibilidad Uso del suelo [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Britain's major cities have fallen behind the best practice in transport of European and north American cities, and need to address this to compete in global markets. A number of potential mechanisms are available to UK cities, but only if central government is willing to transfer (limited) financial powers to the city regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of Transport 2010, the government’s ten-year plan for transport. It develops discussions held by members of the RGS-IBG’s Transport Geography Research Group (TGRG) in September 2000. It is argued that the plan marks something of a return to previous policies designed to accommodate increasing mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban regime theory has become a favoured tool of analysis for students of city politics. It provides a consistent evaluative framework with which to analyse the operation of local politics in contrasting cities. Recent applications have sought to extend the reach of regime analysis beyond the US, and to integrate the theory with other urban political and geographical analyses. This paper reflects both of these concerns by applying the insights into power structures and coalition formation in city politics provided by regime theory, and particularly Stoker and Mossberger's (1994) typology of regime characteristics. This is valuable in informing the (re)emerging debates over the preferred spatial and functional structure of urban local governance in the UK. By comparing the development of policy in a particular field, urban rail transportation, the characteristics of two different local institutional mixes, the 'city-regional' and the 'public choice', are demonstrated to exert profound influences on the composition, operation and aspirations of local regimes. The differences in decision-making strategies and policy outcomes that arise are suggested to have significant implications for the preferred spatial structure of local authorities, and the level of public accountability they achieve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss the paper of Arthur Midwinter regarding fiscal autonomy of Scotland which appeared in the January 2012 issue of the periodical "Public Money & Management." They consider the argument of Midwinter to be informative which reflects on the financial position of Great Britain. They state that the view of Midwinter is just an introduction of a federal system of a government which contradicts to the core assumptions of British constitutional practice.

We examine the impact of devolution in the United Kingdom on transport policies in the first two terms of devolved government, from 1999/2000 to 2007/08. In particular, we discuss the nature and extent of policy convergence and divergence between the devolved territories (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and London) and England (wherein responsibility for policy formulation remains with the UK government at Westminster), and between the devolved territories themselves. Our analysis builds on existing work on devolution and public policy not only through its focus on transport policy, but also by distinguishing between `horizontal' and `vertical' dimensions of policy divergence and convergence, referring to relations between territories and to links to previous~policies adopted within the same territory, respectively. Findings point to a convergence of overarching transport strategies and a complex picture of both convergence and divergence in terms of specific policy measures. The latter provides evidence of a devolution effect on transport policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]