Transforming old industrial regions: Constructing collaboration within the Black Country, England

•Collaborative approaches within old industrial regions require deliberate construction.•Local institutional constraints remain important and are likely to shape outcomes.•The capacity of regions to influence must be examined within different spatial structures.•The appropriate characteristics of local autonomy must be unravelled.

During recent decades capitalist forces have altered the geography of economic production and intensified the de-industrialisation of old industrial regions (OIRs). Various regional development prescriptions have followed including place-based concepts centred upon the stronger involvement of local and regional actors. Yet in promoting a shift beyond overly centralist responses, important questions remain about local institutional capacity, especially within OIRs given frequent attention to institutional paralysis and fragmentation. Although more fruitful evolutionary perspectives can be identified, ground level outcomes remain uncertain. This paper focuses on the Black Country OIRs within the English West Midlands where a transformational vision resulted from sub-regional joint working during the 2000s. Whilst acknowledging important external drivers, not least state support for new spaces of governance, a constructivist perspective is presented to more fully understand why a transformative collaborative approach emerged. Particular attention is given to the role of Black Country advocates in creating dilemmas, questioning traditions and challenging existing beliefs. Place-based development approaches therefore do emerge in a latent sense but must be actively constructed. Even then, substantial limitations exist stemming from continuing institutional influences.