The real thing that I don't see anyone talking about is that not every place can become a tech hub or a tourism stop. It's quite difficult to envision any of these approaches realistically working out on a consistent basis without providing fundamental overhauls to systems on the national level. I also think this video makes a poor job of drawing the line between poor-rich divides that occur because of general shifts in society and technology like the American Rust Belt/England's Industrial Belt and areas that were just historically left behind and underinvested in (eg the American South, England's broader North). Though there is often overlap between these regions and problems, I think the lesson we should learn from mainland Europe (a la the example of Leipzig) isn't just that it's important to invest regionally, but what specifically to invest in (eg infrastructure, health, urban planning, education, sustainability) in cohesive, well-planned breaths that simultaneously address local issues. As others have stated, betting on tech and other boom-industries is just setup for another inevitable Rust Belt made of silicone.

Making every city into a tourist trap, shopping mall or the center of the next boom industry won't fix anything. What needs to happen is regional self a sustainability and breaking up the massive corporate monopolies that drain the blood out of local economies

I would also add that what is important to prioritize is - 1. a sustainable and multi-faceted regional transport network 2. The embracing of city-centres / downtowns 3. Regionalization of culture/architecture to make sure places stay unique 4. Emphasis on public places where people of all backgrounds can gather My parents moved to St. Catharines, Ontario and the Niagara Region is a place that needs more of these elements!

Having grown up in PA as all the factories shut down, I believe that 21st Century Pittsburgh is a perfect example of how a formerly Industrial Giant can transform itself into a Tech Hub. For anyone talented who lives in the region, it can offer them opportunities to build a great career and comfortable life.

It's the political system itself that causes this. First past the post voting (which the US and UK both have), leads to governments who don't truly represent the population, and therefore don't really care about all sections of the population.

0:02: 🌍 Regional inequality is a pressing issue in many rich countries, including Britain and America, with rising prices exacerbating the problem. 4:20: 🏛 Addressing regional divides in countries with unhealthy centralization by empowering local mayors and providing more resources. 9:20: 📈 Investment in infrastructure and education is revitalizing declining regions in Germany and Pittsburgh. 13:16: 🏢 Innovative companies and large tech firms can help struggling areas by creating jobs and training local people. 17:02: 💼 Offering cash incentives to attract new inhabitants to cities is a promising but not widely effective solution for revitalizing neglected regions. Recap by Tammy AI

Successful people don't become that way overnight. What most people see at a glance-wealth, a great career, purpose-is the result of hard work and hustle over time.

A lot of folks have been going on about a January rally and said stocks that would be experiencing significant growth these new year season, any idea which stocks this may be? I just sold my home in the Boca Grande area and I’m looking to remunerate a lump sum into the stock market before stocks rebound

"Gave up the bright lights of Houston" has to be the funniest sentence ever uttered. The entire city is a giant parking lot.

Great video - Thanks! As a german living in the old „coal and steel“ Ruhr area it is exciting to watch how cities like Middlesbrough or Pittsburgh face similar issues and how they deal with it. I did not expect a part of the video showing Leipzig and the history of the last 30 years here. Interesting quotations here: „not even Germany‘s economy could sustain the level of investment needed to revive every poor area of the country.“ … „Germany has decided that only large cities can be made economically dynamic.“ I absolutely agree with those views, only one thing to add: Germany has decided not only to focus on large cities , but also on the fact that those cities have to be in the east of Germany… which is a pure political decision to overcome the differences after reunification. So Leipzig is for sure a success story , but we also have our „Middlesbroughs“ and still not a plan or investment to overcome the problems here… just come to the Ruhr area in the west (Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund) where I am afraid of the future and hope that German politics will start to look at the whole country again without dividing between east and west …

Really great video and I like how it highlights regional cities in the US and UK and Germany.

Sadly, this seems like the worst period. Started investing recently when the market prices were a bit high, today I am more than 60% down! Hopefully, the markets will go back up.

I live in Sunderland, a city in Northern England very close to Middlesbrough. After decades of neglect some effort is now being made to rejuvenate the city. Lots of money is being put into modernised transport links, new sustainable housing and new offices in the city centre. It's very interesting comparing this to Tulsa and Pittsburgh, as it is apparent that we are adopting the same playbook. Hopefully it is successful!

I lived in South London for some time, an area that was devastated by poverty and crime. As the inevitable gentrification was underway it had attracted many young professional from other areas and wealthy investors to embrace the boom, many of the already despaired locals enjoyed little to no incentive from this area growth. Many were under-qualified for the decent new jobs on offer there, rent almost doubled and others had to vacate their property as their council estate was due for demolition to make space for new developments, so ironically this economic shift forced locals from their homes to go out and seek other poor, suffering but affordable areas, and the cycle continues. Considering that most social issues derive from economic downturn and deprivation and essentially these gentrification reforms are essential, however it also seems counterintuitive to attract the competent and privileged from outside the area and dismiss the inept citizens who are crippled by the same place they call home.

Thank you for this wonderful video! I have incurred so much losses trading on my own....I trade well on demo but I think the real market is manipulated.... Can anyone help me out or at least tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I grew up in rural Ohio, and I've lived in places that were more vibrant and wealthy. What's missing in a lot of the poor areas, are ways to engage people to work their way up. Education is a key, but that alone won't fix what's broken. Instead of expecting poor areas to become tech centers, they should look at becoming prosperous blue collar. Trade schools need to come alongside colleges, and offer programs for skills--like carpentry, plumbing, electrician, welding, mechanics, etc. Where infrastructure is failing, a fresh wave of tradesmen could save roads, bridges, and historic architecture. Our crumbling infrastructure has been allowed to fail for too long. Small towns and failing cities can't keep up with this, so it needs to be a priority of our federal government--and not just one bill every other decade. No one wants to live in a place with a bad water, or abandoned buildings, or struggling schools.

1. Work 2. Save 3. Pass your gains onto your kids 4. Kids work 5. Kids save 6. Kids pass on the combined gains to grandkids 7. Repeat Simple fact is wealth comes from time that most people don’t have. You work so your kids can have it better than you and they will work for the same reason. If you’re not producing anything and/or your kids aren’t inheriting it then they’re starting the loop over at zero each generation.

Really great reporting on this issue that we all see but nobody is reporting on.

Investing is considered a bedrock in making generational wealth. Most people don't know when, where or what to invest in. Fortunately, great investors of the past and present can provide us with guidance and ideas. Meaningful contributions are always welcomed.

Thank you The Economist for this top tier documentary. Speaking about fair payment and employment. We often forget these free videos nowadays this documentaries need human ressources and hard work. I hope they are paid fairely.

Awesome video, Pittsburgh is such an underrated city! One comment, at 13:00 the image shown is actually Philadelphia.

"We produce more students than we have jobs for" it's like he's talking about widgets not people.

"How to make poor areas unaffordable" - more accurate title.

Brilliant! I’m working on rejuvenating blighted regions in Southern Africa and income inequality is way worse here so I can relate to everything in this video. Will definitely be looking up the initiatives featured here.

I really enjoyed Tulsa when I visited. Always been in a city but I’d contemplate living there. Only thing is it doesn’t have a major airport which makes visiting/traveling a hassle

In other words, gentrification. Which causes local housing and cost of living to skyrocket, pushing local residents into even worse poverty, and forcing them into homelessness.

I come from a rural area and Rural Broadband initiatives are essential to reviving rural areas. I have friends who are a married couple. He is part owner of a specialized IT company who works remote 90% of the time and spends the other 10% of the time flying around the country to do on-site troubleshooting. Her parents owned a house in a region that does not have broadband, but in which broadband companies claim they don't have to install broadband as they are legally required to by their license to operate in the state, because you could get a mobile hotspot if you wanted to pay thousands of dollars a month. Her parents moved to take care of her grandparents and wanted to sign the mortgage over to their daughter, but my friends could not take the house because he wouldn't be able to work his remote job anymore.

great video! only problem is the a picture of Philadelphia was taken instead of pittsburgh

Too many career, politicians, not enough people in politics who have had proper jobs

What's crazy is that so many Western countries are all having a houses crisis at the same time

Problem is even if you open business in poorer areas, it is also difficult to find talented people . Because most talented people in these areas are just waiting to finish education and leave!!.

As there is a saying goes like this education is the bed rock of a nation. Investment is a key factor to eradicate poverty by doing so we need to engage the people from different backgrounds to give their intake, as a saying goes like this two head together make make something positive rather than one head. And unity in a country can develop the economy of the country.

As a former Pittsburgh resident now in DC I can say that whatever is coming to Pittsburgh is too little and too late. The big tech offices are very small and employ limited number of people compared to the big hubs. The Era of big steel was the golden Era of Pittsburgh.

Just because a neighborhood is poor, doesn't mean the people who live there can't keep it nice. It's a mindset, and garbage people tend to end up in areas that have cheap rent.

‘Leave’ it to the Economist to propose a small government solution to any and every problem. Government can never be too small if you ask them. Of course, it can be, and in certain aspects, already is. The real purpose of this dogmatic refrain is to enable big business to more easily shape the decisions of small government to suit their own aims.

The region economic discrepancy's mammoth in the undeveloped world. It's astonishing to see it also happening in developed countries

We could also, you know, tax the wealthiest in society, pay fairer wages, and invest that into social schemes that benefit the wider community so that even people on minimum wage can afford a comfortable life instead of expecting everyone to become a software developer.

I live in Pittsburgh. Robotics is not alleviating our homelessness problem. Things are deteriorating faster than they are improving

The North-East of the UK is sitting on a renewable energy gold mine, which only needs to be opened up. All this talk about the esoterica of "levelling up" is so much hot air. Develop wind farms, generate not only enough energy for the entire UK, but 2 or 3x that much, and export the excess to Germany. All it needs is leadership!

Through equipping the poverty victims with necessary skills and knowledge /education is the only way to permanently eradicate poverty

The underlying mistake in this video is the tendency to think that giving out money is the key to solving this issue. It isn't. The issue is that some people do more to help others than other people. In other words, some are more productive than others. The solution is, therefore, to find ways to help more people be more productive (i.e. help others more). If this is done then the initial results will probably be perplexing - little or no improvement in blighted areas. This will be because people who have become more productive will often have moved elsewhere. They may want a home in better condition, with more attractive retail, and less crime.

Thank you 🙏 it’s a great thought beginning with very simple yet important question. Agree with many comments. What I am not certain I understand from this video is discussion about making job market more diverse; we talk about tech, AI, robotics a lot and it seems to me we are just trying to replace one big thing “Steel” with another one big thing “tech” There are many areas that can not only help create more jobs but help with critical issues like climate change, healthcare, education etc

Education in virtues, values and morality along with education in the trades, crafts and economics can uplift any region or population. People must endeavour to produce services and things useful to their society.

The problem isn't poor people. The problem is rich people.

Seeing the wage disparity in the UK made me feel a little better. We are not completely alone in our self destruction.

The answer is NOT to bombard it with other people's money

So being homeless and hungry is just a 'pinch' according to this reporter.

The precision here is incredible! True craftsmanship.

It is amazing how this country always looks up to the US and Germany but never learned anything from neither.

Decentralization isn't great either, I mean look at the US, there are states which can't afford to do anything for it's people like Mississippi or they choose to discriminate against certain races, if all power is decentralized then nothing can be done to help these people.

PLEASE, don't see Pittsburgh as an example. Pittsburgh has inequality issues JUST like you were describing in Germany. The poor neighborhoods in Pittsburgh are not being healed. Pittsburgh is NOT prioritizing the issues with its public schools. It is NOT prioritizing housing equality. It's ignoring cleaning up its streets. Inequality is clear in the city. The working class are not seeing benefit in this current Burgh strategy.

This is a masterpiece @least it gave me inspirations, new questions and perspective Thank you

I grew up in Tulsa. Tulsa is a great city and it really always has been. It's even better now, however. It hasn't turned from a poor to a rich region. The oil money brought immense wealth to Tulsa 80 years ago. Lately, Tulsa has had to reinvent itself, but this remote work incentive is only a minor issue in the city. We have much more going on besides that. At the same time, the poor in Tulsa realistically aren't getting wealthier and neither are the poor parts of the city. All that's really happening is the rejuvenation of certain areas that were nice 50-80 years ago and have gone into some decline. The educated outsiders who come to the city to work are not truly changing the plight of the poor and uneducated in the city. I am grateful that I was fortunate to be educated at an excellent school and come from a successful and hard-working family. The reality is that there are many opportunities in Britain and Germany (both countries I've lived in), but that in England I noticed that many of the young people had a very pessimistic outlook on their chances of escaping poverty (in Crewe, where I lived, at least), whereas in Germany I didn't get that sense. People generally had a positive outlook and were exploring avenues to further educate themselves to be productive. There is a cultural issue in the US and especially Britain which keeps many down with generational poverty. I couldn't believe the difference between the wealthy and poor in Britain. It wasn't just their finances. It was the way they spoke, their outlook on life, and even their morals. It was truly shocking. You don't get that sense very much in Germany. The poor and uneducated in the US sometimes don't fall into this trap, but frequently they do, as well.

I knew at 14 the area I grew up in wasn’t going to be for me, heavily hospitality focused and expensive. The young people need to plan to leave get better opportunities elsewhere. If the industry that brought people a generation ago to a area then fails then people need to move for new work opportunities. Languishing in a area 50-60 years post it’s hay day asking the government to bring industry back takes way to long.

Perhaps taking a look at the price per M2 in England's hosing over the last 30 years will give you an idea of how the wealth is being spread from London and now covers the SE, SW, and is spreading as far as Norfolk. Look at the wealth per captia

Pittsburgh is such a green, beautiful city today

This is coincidental, I was just looking up on wealth inequality.

To much focus on unemployment rate. Focus on employed PAY! Millions of working poor is costing us too.

how do these cities balance growth from new residents vs. increases costs (**i.e. housing/rent) for lower-to-middle-income locals

Best part of the video is at 13:05 when a shot of Philadelphia's skyline is used when talking about Pittsburgh's unemployment rate

I liked that. Big money is the answer whether it comes from the public or private sector. It is hard to get big, sustained federal money, and for big businesses to go to undesirable places, they need to be given enormous incentivizes that blind us from and put at risk the long-term benefits.

While eds and meds is largely credited for Pittsburgh's resurgence; I would argue that civic pride and the political climate were larger contributors. I have traveled extensively and realized that my hometown has a civic pride that is largely unmatched. Additionally, the city itself is very very small and while it's extremely left leaning the suburbs that surround the city are largely more purple, and the exurbs are extremely red. This more balanced political environment creates a need to compromise that helps balance the needs of the haves and the have-nots.

Reviving of abandoned cities and buildings can solve the problems of homeless families and economic stagnation.

Gov should get big companies to open businesses in these poor areas. Jobs with living wages reduce poverty. Chip making company, car company,meat factory, plane making factory, big shopping mall with many different businesses selling cell phones,clothing,food etc.

4:00 Growing wealth gap 7:20 German reunification and wage gap 26% - large cities rejuvenated only

the more i watch this, the more i was reminded of MARIO PARTY where the last place gets an extra star/item in the middle of the game. This may give some hope if the gap is big. But when the gap is small, everyone tries to be last place near 10th round.

Regional inequality is normal. It is very efficient to have a central hub for finance and start ups. It doesn't split families and it's easier for companies to find talent.

In economies where global markets determine the prices of goods, small communities simply cannot become economically viable for anything except maybe agriculture. These small communities that do exist, there's not much that can realistically be done for them, it's just throwing money into a fire. We can offer them support to move to more prosperous areas, but beyond that, we should be lifting whatever restrictions have been placed on their land-use and transportation policies so that they can figure out what will actually work for them.

Surprise you did this piece. Do more like this.

This is why we need younger people in politics cause they know what industries are working and can use remote working and what areas need fixing. It also depends on what type of poor people are living in those areas either with drugs, spending problems, or not able to adjust to the new work environments. Another way is to find places that have a lot of junk lying around and try to get trash companies to recycle them such as old cars and trucks just left to rot we could refurbish them and with the new EV kits coming out soon make them drivable again, or let shop classes buy them cheap and when they are done make sure they can be recycled if clean up those parts of the city more new bussniess might come in and help the local economy.

What! That is mind blowing how it went from the biggest & richest empire in human history to this *"half the country today in the UK is poorer than the poorest U.S states"*

8:34 what's the music playing?

The issue is Capitalism and governance being mixed. Deal with the two separately.

A positive message in these trying times is very welcome. Thank you.

"In any system of energy, Control is what consumes energy the most. No energy store holds enough energy to extract an amount of energy equal to the total energy it stores. No system of energy can deliver sum useful energy in excess of the total energy put into constructing it. This universal truth applies to all systems. Energy, like time, flows from past to future".

13:06 this image shown is of Philadelphia while talking about Pittsburgh...

"Invest into things that bridge the gap between the rich and poor"... and what returns do you expect on your investment? If you want to bridge the gap between rich and poor, simply tax the rich till they are poor and redistribute wealth among the poor till they're a bit closer to middle class. I never said "everyone will be rich at the same time" ;)

Give Free Education so that people dont have to worry for their childern's future i.e. no incentive for corruption. An efficient 24/7 running public transport to cut car usage and you just saved big fuel consumption. Build more houses so that houses are not profit making machines but places to live. Get these things done and you have got a stable economy, corruption free nation, beautiful and noise free cities. Nation and community development. Free Health if the nation has enough to afford. Gdp, gdp capita economic indicators are just noise but ofcourse when everything is for profit then its not a Country its a Company.

The most practical solution is that people should be encouraged to MOVE to places with more opportunities.

First, start with safety. If a place is dangerous, property values fall. Because no ones wants to live in dangerous neighborhoods.

I love the graphic of Pittsburgh unemployment laid over an image of Philadelphia! Oops!

We could raise wages and eliminate tax havens...

You can't change a place without engaging the people personally

ayo anyone know the keyboard model in 12:05-12:06? i need to order one

Me a middle to low income west german guy with no house of my own wonder still why we have this special tax *Solidaritätszuschlag which goes directly to these east german cities while my rural town still has lacking infrastructure. Edit: Each monetary incentive has to be paid for. there is nothing for free from state or country. they will take this from others or from your children in the future.

The modern Economist never misses a chance to promote the answer to any problem, real or supposed, is government.

At 13:04 the picture was of Philadelphia, not Pittsburgh

This is wonderful video and I enjoyed every part of it.

I think there should be a shift not on investing on an area as in land but in people. In places they have gentrified, the area becomes richer and more expensive for poor people who must then move to a more affordable area.

That last sentence though. "If the gap between rich and poor gets worse, everybody pays" you say? Are you sure? I think it's much more likely that the poor will pay, while the rich somehow gets even more wealthy. That's what always happens, when things get worse.

It's maybe a bit of oversimplification but development always goes where the production is. Small towns exist largely to support whatever agriculture exists around them, and employ only enough non-agricultural workers to provide the services required by the production near them. If they develop non-agricultural industry, it is usually not very large because the labor supply isn't there, nor the infrastructure to support the import of a large labor force. Large cities usually exist where large manufacturing, commerce centers, government and distribution are handled, and they attract more labor and investment capital as it is needed. And while crowded living may be more stressful, it also uses resources more efficiently, so the cost savings add to the wealth of the citizens. The only way to sustainably increase wealth in small communities is to add long-term earnings opportunities, which requires long-term investment, which is unlikely to come from large investors. If it is made by the government, they will need to accept that it won't work if the program is cancelled too soon, and it may not work anyway. A lot depends on the willingness of the citizens to adapt. Overall I think it makes more sense to help young people in fading small towns which have lost their agricultural or industrial base to move to where employment already exists, and they can help support their families back home, help them move too, or perhaps even return with enough investment money and motivation to rebuild the economic bases of their towns. The direct government investment approach is just not efficient. Small towns are quaint and peaceful, but if their purpose has passed, in some cases they should be allowed to pass too.

London has become rich from exploiting the resources of oil in Scotland and coal in Wales (both nations still resource rich - now extended to renewables and water). The end result has been London being too expensive to live in - and people have nowhere else to go.

gentrification 101..

Personally, I've been interested in two grassroots groups called the Next System Project and the Democracy Collaborative. They have devised a way to keep production local for key anchor institutions and contract service to cooperatives. They have helped multiple cities struggling with job loss due to factory closures build back their communities, in the US and UK. In addition, trade unions, collectives, public banks, credit unions, community land trusts, CSA's, and many other democratically controlled institutions can work together to create democratic networks outside the market to create an economy that doesn't reduce people, their governments, and the environment to a monetary value. I think this can be a viable strategy to give people the autonomy over their work. I believe economic democracy is the only way people who work for the economy will have the economy work for them, their families, and the planet too. This way of revitalizing communities by building community wealth has helped many communities all over the globe, and it is utilized by the UK labor party and touted by Jeremy Corbyn. Preston, Lancashire became the most improved city in the UK because of community wealth building. Not to mention, much of the progress in labor rights has been due to union's collective power. The thing that draws my conviction to the movement is that I can see it now, helping empower people to live happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.

Kicking the can down the road. Escaping high taxes and crime, only to reinvent it in another city or state.

I live in a small market town in Norfolk, UK where the market and town (shops) have virtually disappeared. Our industry was based on agriculture and fishing. Campbell’s Soup, who chose the town to place their European base in have long gone. We had a large input of Eastern European workers who mostly returned home after one of the largest Brexit votes in the country and Covid . Now we are left as a carbuncle on the edge of a very affluent North Norfolk, made up of a London elite. I can’t see where a town like ours would get economic growth from. I suspect they think the wealth will seep west rather than trickle down. The future is bleak. Even our hospital is falling down around the patients and staff’s feet. … and yes, crime is rising!

Britain is turning into CATASTROPHE for its own citizens, Imigration is high , but it hides a RECORD emigration of NATIVES as far away from UK as they can get to Australia and Canada, people are tired of excuses why things are imploding. Britain is experiencing ECONOMIC MELTDOWN as we speak, by the end of decade it will leave place of 6th largest economy and end somewhere in 14th place. UK right now is making look Argentina like fantastic place to live and UK like best place TO LEAVE.

So are we making the people that already live in poor areas richer or are we making these places more amenable for the rich to come and steal the original inhabitants’ last potential opportunity for future prosperity?

2:55 What was that? Is this type of public transport?

Here's an idea, close tax loopholes to prevent the financial city hedge fund managers and massive corporations that avoid paying taxes. Generates billions for the treasury. This can be used for infrastructure, healthcare, education and the welfare state.