This is the final report of a major programme of work undertaken by ippr north, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and The Northern Way. The programme set out to understand why some deprived areas within city regions in the North of England have prospered whilst others have remained deprived even when the surrounding economy was performing strongly; to explore how deprived areas can be better linked to areas of economic opportunity; to consider the roles of local, sub-national and national bodies; and to inform a new generation of policies targeted at deprived neighbourhoods.