WOULD YOU LIVE HERE? MAKING THE GROWTH AREAS COMMUNITIES OF CHOICE JIM BENNETT WITH DAVID HETHERINGTON, MAX NATHAN AND CHRIS URWIN i ippr The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) is the UK’s leading progressive think tank and was established in 1988. Its role is to bridge the political divide between the social democratic and liberal traditions, the intellectual divide between academia and the policy making establishment and the cultural divide between government and civil society. It is first and foremost a research institute, aiming to provide innovative and credible policy solutions. Its work, the questions its research poses and the methods it uses are driven by the belief that the journey to a good society is one that places social justice, democratic participation and economic and environmental sustainability at its core. For further information you can contact ippr’s external affairs department on
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[email protected]. Our trustees Chris Powell (Chairman) Chai Patel (Secretary) Jeremy Hardie (Treasurer) Professor Kumar Bhattacharyya Carey Oppenheim Lord Brooke Sir Michael Perry Lord Eatwell David Pitt-Watson Lord Gavron Dave Prentis Professor Anthony Giddens Lord Puttnam Lord Hollick Sir Martin Rees Jane Humphries Ed Sweeney Roger Jowell Baroness Williams Neil Kinnock Baroness Young of Old Scone Frances O’Grady © IPPR 2006 CONTENTS About the authors iv Acknowledgements iv List of abbreviations v Executive summary vi 1 Introduction 1 2 The policy context for housing growth 3 3 The Growth Areas and housing supply 6 4 The Growth Area communities 20 5 The Growth Area economies 29 6 Delivering growth: infrastructure and structures 45 7 Conclusions and recommendations 50 Appendix: Estimating the infrastructure costs of higher 56 housing growth targets References 59 About the authors Jim Bennett is a Senior Research Fellow at ippr.