Community economic development: Localisation,the key to a resilient and inclusive local economy?

Abstract

Localise West Midlands has conducted research examining the assumption that a more localised economy, in which more people have a stake, redistributes economic power and resilience, thereby reducing disconnection and inequality. It argues that such economies, characterised as having higher levels of small businesses and local ownership, perform better across a range of economic and other domains (especially in disadvantaged and peripheral areas) than economies more dependent on centralised economic actors and in particular on what can be termed ‘absentee landlords’. Case studies of successful locally owned businesses, particularly in the food and building retrofit sectors, show the commitment of many bosses to supporting their workforce and their local communities and, either directly or as a by-product, tackling social exclusion. The case study of the proposed relocation of Birmingham wholesale market to a peripheral city area poses the question of whether, if the markets move, the central site – under the control of an absentee landlord seeking high returns – can provide similar local multiplier or socio-economic benefits. The work suggests that the notions of localism that underpin current government economic development policy can only succeed if they are closely connected with a decentralisation of capital and power held within the economy.