THE North-East’s cities are trapped by “lower knowledge” economies and lack jobs in the new digital industries, a gloomy study warns today (Wednesday, March 4).

But other Northern cities – Leeds and Manchester, in particular – have managed to “re-invent” themselves and have created posts in information technology and digital media.

The verdict comes from the Centre for Cities organisation, which has examined the “enormous changes that have transformed Britain’s cities over the past 100 years”.

It found that Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle have all “struggled to re-invent their economies” by attracting new industries.

In all three cities, under ten per cent of private-sector jobs are in “knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS)”, compared with above 20 per cent in some Southern cities.

And it suggests that failure is largely a consequence of “history” – with those cities with “low knowledge” economies in 1911 likely to still have that profile a century later.

The report concludes: “Some cities have adapted to these changes far better than others.

“Those cities that have adapted have reinvented their economies, creating jobs in activities such as IT and digital media.

“Those that have struggled to adapt have replicated their economies, swapping cotton mills for call centres and dock yards for distribution sheds.”

But Leeds, along with Manchester, are cities that have “moved from a low-knowledge pathway to a high-knowledge pathway”.

And that, said Centre for Cities, showed that “geography is not the cause”, adding: “Cities in the North have not contracted because they are located in the North.”

The report also warned: “The ever-widening relative performance of cities has implications on wage levels and standards of living.”

Centre for Cities said the relocation of “lower-skilled” department of work and pensions jobs to Newcastle was welcome, but was likely to have “reinforced” the problem.

And it said the same was true of Sunderland, despite the city’s extra 23,000 extra jobs since 1989, adding: “New jobs have tended to be in lower-skilled work on out of town sites.

“It’s for this reason that 57 per cent of jobs in the city are in lower-skilled jobs, the second highest of all UK cities.”

Controversially, it said even the new ‘International Advanced Manufacturing Park’ - next to the Nissan plant - “will also reinforce the past, rather than looking to the future”.

However, none of the North-East’s cities were among the 11 places with fewer jobs in 2013 than way back in 1911 – which are mainly former mill towns in Lancashire.

The Government is urged to help cities “re-invent” themselves by improving skills, better support of innovation and by “dealing with the scars of industrial legacy” – exploiting empty land and buildings.