Qualitative Interview Data From "Beyond 'Left Behind Places'" Project, 2021-2024

MacKinnon, Danny and Velthuis, Sanne and Pike, Andy and Tomaney, John (2024). Qualitative Interview Data From "Beyond 'Left Behind Places'" Project, 2021-2024. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857447

Social and spatial inequalities between and within core and peripheral regions have re-emerged as a major economic and political issue in developed economies. Such divisions have generated economic and social discontent and growing levels of political support for populist and nationalist parties in peripheral regions, particularly certain old industrial areas. This turmoil fuelled the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump in the US as well as support for the Rassemblement National (National Rally) and Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) in France and the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany. In response, researchers, commentators and politicians have voiced concerns about the places 'left behind' by globalisation, technological and economic change. While welcome in increasing the political visibility of social and spatial inequalities, the 'left behind' category risks hiding and over-simplifying the different experiences and development paths of people and places.

The aim of the project is to develop a new understanding of demographic and socio-economic change in peripheral regions, examining the circumstances and prospects of places and people currently categorised together as 'left behind'. It will advance understandings of peripheralisation as an on-going process driven by the geographical concentration of people and prosperity in large urban centres alongside the decline or stagnation of other regions. The research is concerned with inner peripheries defined by their disconnection from external territories and networks, particularly urban regions and intermediate areas close to cities experiencing demographic and socio-economic stagnation or decline.

Data description (abstract)

These are transcripts from qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted as part of the project "Beyond 'Left Behind Places': Understanding Demographic and Socio-economic Change in Peripheral Regions in France, Germany and the UK". The interviews were conducted in the two UK case study areas that were part of the project: Bishop Auckland and its surrounding villages in County Durham, and Walsall in the West Midlands. The aims of these interviews were: to understand the experiences and perceptions of local residents of these two areas, and to get a sense of the local policy and practice in the areas in terms of regeneration and service delivery (skills, housing, health, community services, etc.). Residents often reported a sense of place attachment and belonging, but many perceived that the two areas had both experienced a degree of decline over past decades, particularly in terms of a diminished retail and hospitality offer and the withdrawal of some services, particularly in more rural parts of the Bishop Auckland area. Trust in national politicians and policymakers was low, but views of local politicians were more mixed. In terms of policy responses, the two areas had differing strategies, with Bishop Auckland being more focused on a tourism- and heritage-led regeneration strategy (alongside retail developments and investment in infrastructure) whereas in Walsall there was an emphasis on brownfield redevelopment into both industrial/commercial property and housing, as well as investment in creative industries, (digital) skills, and community and voluntary sector organisations.

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