A study looking at the heritage and cultural value of the UK’s towns and cities has said that Dudley, Bury and Newport are among those with the greatest potential economic benefit to their heritage assets.

Bringing together 100 different indicators, including number of listed buildings, land designated for wildlife protection, parks, national parks, local produce, heritage open days and young people active in heritage, the Heritage Index was designed to stimulate debate about what is valued from the past and how that influences the identity of current residents.

Compiled by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in collaboration with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the study suggests that many of the UK’s heritage assets remain untapped by local authorities, with said assets potentially able to play a much larger role in helping an area thrive.

Dudley was highlighted for its historical industrial assets such as canals, railways and the Black Country Living Museum, which despite the potential, is not capitalised on as the area sits in the bottom half of local authorities compared with the rest of the UK for heritage.

Bury was noted to be an “opportune area”, citing its historical inner-city districts while Newport in Wales, along with Cardiff and Flintshire, have the largest gap when comparing heritage activity to assets.

Cornwall, Lincolnshire, Stirling and Ayrshire come out as shining stars at the other end of the spectrum, with the Index revealing these areas are doing particularly well in making the most of the heritage assets available to them. Things aren’t looking so bright for Luton, which has been deemed to be the 'worst' of any town or city in the UK for heritage assets and use made of heritage assets.

Not surprisingly, the City of London was highest ranked overall in England, with the district of Kensington & Chelsea in second, Scarborough in third, and Cambridge and Hastings in fourth and fifth respectively. In Scotland, Dundee, the Orkney Islands, Edinburgh, Eiliean Siar and Glasgow comprised the top five, while in Wales, Gwynedd finished top, followed by the Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Torfaen.

“We hope this new index will help communities to better understand their heritage; identify its potential; and capitalise on what makes their area distinctive,” said HLF chief executive, Carole Souter. “We hope it will encourage debate about what heritage is and how it is best recognised and properly exploited in local plans.”