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From Disconnection to Deliberate Reconfiguration Executive summary The West Midlands—centred on Birmingham—is often described as a textbook case of British deindustrialisation. Standard explanations emphasise globalisation, automation, and the shift towards a service-based economy. While these factors are significant, they do not fully explain the scale or spatial specificity of the region’s industrial decline. This article argues that deindustrialisation in the West Midlan

Towards a Rhine–Thames Metropolitan Rail Corridor For decades, discussions about high-speed rail have focused on speed, engineering and transport efficiency. How fast can trains run? How many passengers will travel? What infrastructure investments are required? These questions are important, but they miss a more fundamental point. The real value of high-speed rail does not lie in moving trains faster. It lies in connecting economies, labour markets, innovation ecosystems and

Over the past years, I have had the opportunity to contribute to the Horizon Europe project R-Map (Mapping, Understanding, Assessing and Predicting the Effects of Remote Working Arrangements in Urban and Rural Areas) through my involvement with METREX. Although the project is still ongoing, a number of valuable insights and tools have already emerged. The rapid growth of remote and hybrid working has become one of the most significant societal changes affecting European terri