The UK2070 Commission is pleased to feature the article Unravelling the spatial puzzle of labour productivity in England: the application of GeoAI approaches, by Professor Cecilia Wong and Dr Helen Zheng from the University of Manchester. Using GIS and machine learning techniques, the article analyses labour productivity across England’s local authorities and shows that productivity divide is far more complex than a simple North–South divide. Instead, it reveals a much more uneven and varied spatial pattern, strongly linked to local industrial structure, wages, labour market features and proximity to other high-productivity areas known as “spillover effects.” The article argues that improving productivity and reducing regional inequality requires more spatially nuanced and locally tailored policy responses.
