This analysis aims to fill a gap in studies of economic geography. It provides a survey of British regional and urban policy within the broader historical framework of the nation's economic development. The investigation covers the period from the early twentieth century to the 1980s. Particular emphasis is on the move from intense government intervention in the 1960s and 1970s towards a less interventionist and lower-key approach to regional policy in the 1980s. Attention is also paid to changing locations of work, home and leisure in the UK, and the impact of new technoogy.