Dermot Finch, Director of ippr's Centre for Cities, said:

“This report shows that our cities have got better over the last two decades. But it also shows that growth has been uneven. Cities in the north and west of England still lag behind those in the south and east. And there are still big differences in performance within each of our cities. All our cities need to build on their own unique assets and focus on the key drivers of future growth - strong leadership and investment in transport and skills.

“Crucially, Government should give our cities more powers over economic development, starting with the city-regions of Manchester and Birmingham. This is the best way for them to increase jobs, improve transport and drive economic growth.

“The economy is still the big one. Cities are still riding the twin waves of national economic growth and high public spending. But as these both slow and global pressures increase, our cities will need to work harder to maintain their performance.”

Notes to Editors:

The State of the English Cities Report confirms that big cities are the nation's economic building blocks, with 58 per cent of the population and 63 per cent of jobs. Over half of all employment is in Liverpool, Manchester and London. But growth remains uneven. On output and jobs growth, most places in the south and east do 20-30 per cent better than cities in the north. Only Manchester and Leeds buck this trend. Deprivation is still concentrated in London and our big city-regions.

The Centre for Cities has published two recent reports, on city-centre living and city-regions:

• City People found that thousands of young people are coming back to city centres, but most don't stay long. The big housing challenges for cities are in the "doughnuts of deprivation" around city centres.
• City Leadership found that our cities need more financial powers and freedoms. Greater Manchester and Greater Birmingham should have tax and spend powers, plus directly-elected super Mayors.
• City Markets, to be published in June, will look at business location and growth in the deprived areas of smaller towns and cities.

The Centre for Cities is an independent urban research unit, based at the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). Launched in March 2005, it is taking a fresh look at how UK cities function. Tom Bloxham MBE is chair of the Centre's Steering Group.