Crisis and resilience in a finance-led city: Effects of the global financial crisis in Leeds

Abstract

This paper looks at the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on Leeds, a medium sized city in northern England, which in the last decades has specialised in finance-related economic activities. Our aim is to understand if the largely neoliberal pre-crisis urban growth model pursued in Leeds, based significantly on real estate speculation, retail and finance, was put at risk by the crisis and whether a collective reflection by local leaders took place about the need to change direction. To do that we have conducted interviews with experts in the city and analysed policy documents in detail. We focus, in particular, on how the crisis was constructed as affecting Leeds and more specifically if the socio-economic development trajectory and associated urban governance model have changed. We conclude that there has been little reflection and questioning of the underlying principles of the urban growth and governance model in Leeds.