High Technology Location and the Urban Areas of Great Britain: Developments in the 1980s

Abstract

Employment in the high technology sectors is unevenly distributed across Great Britain, with the south of the country having a higher share of such activity than the north. New Towns appear to have been more successful than other urban areas in attracting high technology, and this continued to be the case during the 1980s. There is evidence of a relative increase of high technology activity in smaller urban areas since 1981, whereas the conurbations have been losing ground. The article presents new data on trends in employment in the high technology sectors and considers what they imply for policy towards economic development.