Date: Thu 1st October, 2009

Description: The following Summary and final report outline the findings of a study of secondary centres of economic activity in the East Midlands, carried out by the Enterprise Research and Development Unit on behalf of emda and Yorkshire Forward. This study focuses on ‘secondary centres’ and their contribution to the East Midlands economy.

Secondary centres are regarded as urban settlements that are smaller than a Principal Urban Area, but still significant as a centre of economic activity. In this study, secondary centres include a range of settlements, from large industrial towns to small market towns.

The aims of the project were to:
• To explore the roles in regional economic development terms of secondary centres, i.e. those towns
and villages which are less economically significant than the principal urban areas in the East Midlands, but which are still vital for the economic health of the region

• To develop a framework and typology which enables these centres to be classified, and their roles and contributions to be assessed

• To provide a guide to policy and decision making in relation to the economic, spatial and skills strategies, which will enable different types of centre to ontribute to regional economic development in the most effective way

Categories: Economic, Leicester, Leicestershire