SHEFFIELD and Rotherham have been hailed as one of Britain's "resurgent cities" after productivity in the area covered by the two locations increased by almost 72 per cent during the ten years to 2005.
Doncaster isn't far behind, increasing Gross Value Added (GVA) per head of the population – a key measure of productivity and economic success – by almost 69 per cent.
Both the Sheffield-Rotherham conurbation and Doncaster were ahead of the nation
al average increase of 66.4 per cent, but Barnsley has been dubbed one of the UK towns and cities that are "stuck" and in need of a package of policies to gain economic momentum after it slipped to the bottom of the rankings.
The town came last of the 56 locations surveyed with an increase in GVA of just over 54 per cent
The study - How Can Cities Thrive in the Changing Economy: Ideopolis II - was carried out by The Work Foundation, the research, consultancy and campaigning organisation that aims to make workplaces more effective.
It uses figures based on Government-designated Primary Urban Areas which lump Sheffield and Rotherham together as a single 'city.'
What do you think? Post your comment below.The study shows Sheffield-Rotherham in 16th place overall, when it comes to GVA growth per head of the population and 36th overall – compared with 48th in 1995.
Doncaster comes 19th in terms of GVA growth and 50th overall – up from 53rd, meanwhile, Barnsley comes 40th in terms of GVA growth and 56th overall – down from 55th.
The Work Foundation says "Cities such as Reading, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle have made substantial gains in their economic growth over the last 10 years by attracting higher value businesses and highly skilled people, but others such as Hastings, Stoke, Barnsley and Wigan are falling behind.
Alexandra Jones, associate director at The Work Foundation, said: "Some big cities of the UK have clearly bounced back from the decline of manufacturing, and have galvanised themselves to be productive, thriving, 21st century places, but look at the next tier and political alarm ought to set in.
"The 'stuck cities' of Britain have rising proportions of people in low socio-economic groups and very low rates of employment in better paying professional jobs.
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