Introduction

Universities are increasingly seen as key actors in their local innovation systems and important catalysts of inclusive growth. This has accelerated since the financial crisis in 2008 and through the subsequent decade of austerity, with significant cuts to public sector budgets hollowing out much of the UK's regional level of institutional capacity and resources. At the same time, universities are seen to have gotten off lightly. Indeed, many have emerged in an even stronger position financially following the increase in the tuition fee cap to £9,000 in 2012. Meanwhile, the disparities in economic performance between London/the Greater South East and the rest of the country have continued to grow, and many analysts expect the effects of COVID-19 to impact more negatively on people and places that have historically been less resilient to economic shocks. The Brexit vote in 2016 has been cited as an illustration of the disconnect between many universities (which, as a sector, strongly argued for remain) and the leave-voting communities in which they are located or adjacent to. It is therefore unsurprising that the government has tried to pull a range of policy and funding levers in recent years in an attempt to encourage universities, not least those that are considered to be nationally and globally ‘excellent’, to play a more proactive role in contributing to the economic and social development of the places in which they are located.

One of these programme levers was the Urban Living Partnership pilot funded by UK Research and Innovation, which aimed to ‘harness UK research and innovation strength to help cities realise a vision of healthy, prosperous and sustainable living’ (Future Urban Living, 2021). The Urban Living Partnership pilot programmes provided a vehicle for preliminary investigation into how university-led consortia can promote innovation that progresses the challenges of delivering inclusive ‘future city’ growth. In 2016, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle-Gateshead and York were selected as the five pilots, led by these cities’ Russell Group universities.

The Newcastle-Gateshead pilot was Newcastle City Futures (NCF), originally initiated by Newcastle University in 2014 to create shared opportunities to shape the future of places through research, engagement and innovation. The NCF Urban Living Partnership pilot was initially funded for 18 months (from August 2016 to January 2018), with a further extension of six months to July 2018.