Progress in Regional Science: A European Perspective

Abstract

This article is a reflection on the development and orientation of regional science in Europe in the past decade. It pruticularly views progress in regional science as a result of new combinations that follow from the pace of advance in theory, research tools and techniques, changes in the map of the European economy, and the rise of new spatial policy questions. Of particular importance are two megatrends h a t have influenced the orientation of regional science in Europe, namely the unification of Europe and the shift to a network economy.

The Theoretical and Methodological Toolbox of Urban Economics: From and Towards Where?

“…An important property of these models is that they allow oscillating and chaotic behaviour, like the previous non-linear models, with which they are strongly connected (Van Geenhuizen and Nijkamp, 1996). More recently, the Lotka-Volterra (or prey-predator) model has been reformulated in order to explain urban dynamics through the relative dynamics of land rents (Camagni 1992).…”

Critical success factors in planning and management of urban green spaces in Europe

“…Furthermore, it ought to be recognized that the sphere of influence of cities -in terms of spatial interaction of persons, goods, environmental impacts and resource use -extends far beyond their own territory; the potential of cities to shape attractive quality of life conditions in areas under stress means that cities are sometimes regarded as islands of opportunities in seas of decay (cf. van Geenhuizen and Nijkamp 1997). A currently popular concept in this context is that of an ecological footprint, which refers to the fact that the environmental burden of a city -through use of scarce inputs and through pollution emission -may have a formidable geographical coverage.…”

Regional economics in its 1950s: recent theoretical directions and future challenges

“…During the 1990s a wide debate was launched around the idea of a possible "mid-life crisis", reached after 40 years since the establishment of regional science as a discipline; the assessment of the path that led from there to here, a comparison of the aims achieved with those expected, and the exploration of new possibilities for the future were the main aims of the various reflections and evaluations that from different perspectives were addressed to regional science (Bailly 1992;Bailly and Coffey 1994;Funck 1991;Isserman 1993Isserman , 1995van Geenhuizen and Nijkamp 1996).…”