Abstract
This chapter analyses the changes which occurred between 1961 and 1971 for manual and non-manual occupations, and for the individual social class groups, for Metropolitan Economic Labour Area aggregated to the level of regional economic planning regions. It examines the relationship between the two spatial redistributions. The chapter explains the intra-urban patterns of decentralization in the Million Cities. At the scale of the individual MELAs, the question of centralization versus decentralization assumes particular importance. The chapter shows that the extent of the aggregate national changes is manifest in the three main types of zone which form the constituent parts of the British urban system. It explores the considerable extent of the upward shift in the social class structure of Britain between 1961 and 1971. The largest absolute and percentage increases were in the high-status professional and managerial occupations, while the largest absolute and percentage decreases occurred in the low-status semi- and unskilled manual occupations.