Welsh Journals

MANUFACTURING IN WALES: A SPATIAL AND SECTORAL ANALYSIS OF RECENT CHANGES IN STRUCTURE, 1975 1985. J. ARWEL EDWARDS Edwards, J. Arwel 1985: Manufacturing in Wales: A Spatial and Sectoral Analysis of Recent Changes in Structure, 1975-85. Cambria, 12(2) pp. 89 to pp. 115. Part II of Davies, W.K.D. (ed) Human Geography from Wales: Proceedings of the E.G. Bowen Memorial Conference. ISSN 9697-0307. A brief discussion of the background to manufacturing in Wales sets the scene for a summary of the most recent changes among sectors of industry, sizes and regional profiles. It is shown that the decrease in employment in Wales is a product of continued declines in the traditional metal and coal industries as well as in the light manufacturing sector introduced since World War II. Mid Glamorgan and Industrial West South Wales have been particularly affected: the eastern regions have displayed either growth or less intense declines. J. Arwel Edwards, Department of Geography, University College of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. SA2 8PP. The world recession of the last decade dealt a devastating blow to the British economy and resulted in major changes in the pattern and structure of business. The precise spatial impacts of the recession in Britain have yet to be completely defined, despite the important starts on the problem made by researchers such as Fothergill and Gudgin (1982) and Massey and Meegan (1982), whilst even less attention has been paid to the spatial pattern of regeneration in the business sector. Part of the explanation for this situation lies in the recent emphasis upon the behavioural approach in manufacturing geography either with studies of particular industries or with the role of policy in stimulating employment, together with a revived interest in structuralist ideas, that is with what might be called political economy issues. Less attention has been paid, therefore, to the total geographical patterns of employment in areas. In part this limited attention paid to the geographical pattern of industry is also a consequence of the continuing inadequacy of official British statistics. Detailed information on the changes in industrial employment at an urban or sub-regional level is only available at the decennial census. The information published on an annual or triennial basis is rarely at less than a regional scale and even here there is a lack of consistency in coverage, making it difficult to show the real processes of geographical change and their effects on the structure of manufacturing employment. It is