Lecture, Barnard's Inn Hall, Tuesday, 1 Apr 2025 - 18:00

Why Are Cities Going Bankrupt?

a magnifying glass with the Rotunda in Birmingham, UK

In the late nineteenth century, Joseph Chamberlain transformed Birmingham with municipal enterprise and urban improvement. However, in the last few years, it has faced the equivalent of bankruptcy, alongside other large British cities.

This lecture asks, why have cities lost the confident civic pride of the Victorian era and now struggle to provide basic services from a limited financial base? Most importantly: what can be done to regenerate them?

Martin Daunton, Visiting Professor of Economic History

Professor Martin Daunton

Visiting Professor of Economic History

Professor Martin Daunton is a British academic and historian. He was Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, between 2004 and 2014. He is Emeritus Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge.

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