Is the UK too London centric?

Unlike other countries in Western Europe – France, Germany, the Netherlands or the Scandinavian nations – the UK is unusual in being so monocentric. As a rule, most developed countries have networks of cities with economic specialties. But successive UK governments have promoted policies aimed at channeling wealth into its capital at the expense of its other cities.

As a result of London-centric policies, that city has developed a monopoly on the financial industries, as well as legal services, culture, media and technology, not to mention government. The housing market here has spiraled out of control, pricing ordinary Londoners out of the city that has been home for generations in favour of rich overseas developers. Blocks of the most exclusive properties are purchased by oligarchs from Russia or the Middle East only to sit empty for most of the time. The city’s streets have become so suggested that public services struggle to cope with the demand for commuter transport.

London's magnetic draw inevitably leads to the UK’s equally vibrant but less-populated centres receiving less investment. One reason cited for the country's vote in favour of ‘Brexit’ was the sense of disconnection felt by provincial Britons.

There are moves afoot to distribute business opportunities more evenly, through greater autonomy for English cities, and a high-speed rail link between northern centres of population. The UK parliament at Westminster represents a massive drain on resources, with calls for regional assemblies to rival the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of course, the fact that Scotland’s EU vote was the emphatic opposite of England's means the London-centric UK may well be facing even more upheaval in the near future.