Not necessarily. Several of the regions - "South East" is a classic - are purely arbitrary and incoherent.

A bit like Iraq, really.

On the other hand, one or two (like Cornwall) are reasonably good candidates for a coherent region carrying out virtually all functions, others most certainly are not, which is why functional partnerships have sprung up.

What works for transport, may well not work for health or education etc etc

And we haven't even discussed the question of "cultural" identity, where Cornwall scores high, and the South East low...who would go to the barriers for the South East?


"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson