This week’s podcast is a bit of a sandwich. In the middle, you’ll find an informative and nutritious conversation with Paul Swinney of the Centre for Cities, in which we try to answer a big question about cites. Generally speaking, in a phenomenon known as “agglomeration theory”, bigger cities are richer and more productive than smaller ones. That, though, doesn't seem to hold true in the UK, where - London excepted - the most productive settlements tend to be smaller.

So, does size matter? And if so, why doesn't the rule hold in the UK?

On either side of that though you'll find a rambling discussion about food in cities with Sarah Manavis and Nicky Woolf. What's with the midwest and fast food? Which cities are the best places to eat? And most importantly of all, will Sarah ever stop torturing our producer Nick by swearing?

Skylines is the podcast from the New Statesman’s cities site, CityMetric. It’s hosted by Jonn Elledge and produced by Nick Hilton.

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