The AstraZeneca Discovery Centre in the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK, on Oct. 18.
Photographer: Vivian Wan/BloombergBooming Cambridge Exposes England’s Widening Wealth Gap
The famed university town is seen across the political spectrum as a model for how to revive the moribund UK economy. But not everyone is sharing in its success.
With its towering spires, pristine courtyards and cobblestone streets, the university city of Cambridge, England, rarely evokes thoughts of a tech hub, or anything even remotely modern.
But that’s what it has become. The city is the fastest-growing in Britain and home to the “Cambridge Cluster,” a group of knowledge-intensive businesses that has generated a double-digit number of startup unicorns, including $160 billion chip designer Arm Holdings Plc. And, as elected leaders across the political spectrum seek to revive the UK’s moribund economic growth, they look to the city as a blueprint for the future.