The international comparators project was a major study of 8 cities around the world that have turned themselves around from decline to success story. Each has been resilient in the face of waning industry, utilising policy instruments and collaborative initiative to bounce back. Researchers Suzanne Frick Ian Taylor and Paula Prenzel worked under Professors Paul Collier, Philip McCann, Colin Mayer and Vincent Goodstadt to produce three case study reports covering eight cities in six countries these case studies offer examples of policy innovation for regional development that are instructive to the UK in its efforts to correct spatial inequality and other countries looking to weather post-industrial decline.

In this case study, the Anglo-Saxon case studies of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Windsor, Ontario, and Newcastle, New South Wales show how cities can use innovative instruments, such as tax increment financing, asset recycling and municipal bonusing, to galvanise collaboration across society for a productive vision of a city’s future.