A critical look at regional development and governance, examining the causes of the South-East domination and comparing each region in terms of its characteristics and its experience of devolution.

Part 1 1. The Rise of the English Regions: An Introduction 2. Regions and Regional Identity 3. The 'Rise' of the Region: The English Context to the 81 Raging Academic Debates 4. The Limits to Devolution5. Harnessing All a Region's Capacities: Inclusion IssuesPart 2 6. Introduction7. Where and What is the North East of England?8. The North West: Cultural Coherence and Institutional Fragmentation 9. Yorkshire and the Humber10. The West Midlands: The 'Hinge' in the Middle11. The East Midlands: The Missing Middle 12. TheEast of England: A Nebulous Region in Transition 13. The South West Economy: Potential for Faster Economic Development 14.Looking for the South East 15. London: From City-State to City-Region?16. Conclusions

Irene Hardill is Professor of Economic Geography at the Nottingham Trent University Graduate School, Business, Law and Social Sciences, and is currently Secretary and Vice Chair of the Regional Studies Association. She has a long standing research interest in the meaning of 'work' (paid and unpaid) in its broadest sense to individuals, households and communities.

Dr Paul Benneworth is a Research Councils UK Academic Fellow in Territorial Governance at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and a visiting fellow at the Institute for Governance Studies, University of Twente, the Netherlands.

Mark Baker is a Senior Lecturer in Planning Policy & Practice and the current Head of Planning and Landscape within the School of Environment and Development at Manchester University. He is a chartered town planner with previous professional planning experience in UK local and central government. His teaching and research interests focus on the operation of the UK planning system and, especially, regional and strategic planning.

Leslie Budd is Reader in Social Enterprise at the Open University Business School at the Open University. He is an economist who has written widely on the relationship between regional economic development and growth and international financial markets. He has worked at a number of universities and research centres in the UK, France and Germany. Leslie is currently Chair of the Regional Studies Association and was born in London where he still lives.