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Regional science is a field of the
social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
s concerned with analytical approaches to problems that are specifically urban,
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...
, or
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
al. Topics in regional science include, but are not limited to
location theory Location theory has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses questions of what economic activities are located where and why. Location theory or microeconomic theory generally ...
or spatial economics, location modeling, transportation, migration analysis,
land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
and
urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...
, interindustry analysis, environmental and
ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
analysis,
resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...
, urban and regional
policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
analysis, geographical information systems, and
spatial data analysis Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which studies entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques, many still in their early dev ...
. In the broadest sense, any social science analysis that has a spatial dimension is embraced by regional scientists.


Origins

Regional science was founded in the late 1940s when some
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
s began to become dissatisfied with the low level of regional
economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
analysis and felt an urge to upgrade it. But even in this early era, the founders of regional science expected to catch the interest of people from a wide variety of disciplines. Regional science's formal roots date to the aggressive campaigns by
Walter Isard Walter Isard (April 19, 1919 – November 6, 2010) was a prominent American economist, the principal founder of the discipline of regional science, as well as one of the main founders of the discipline of peace studies and Peace economics. Life an ...
and his supporters to promote the "objective" and "scientific" analysis of settlement, industrial location, and urban development. Isard targeted key universities and campaigned tirelessly. Accordingly, the
Regional Science Association The Regional Science Association International (RSAI) is a cluster of scholarly societies whose members engage in regional science. Origins In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the economist Walter Isard Walter Isard (April 19, 1919 – Nov ...
was founded in 1954, when the core group of scholars and practitioners held its first meetings independent from those initially held as sessions of the annual meetings of the American Economics Association. A reason for meeting independently undoubtedly was the group's desire to extend the new science beyond the rather restrictive world of economists and have natural scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, lawyers, sociologists, political scientists, planners, and geographers join the club. Now called the
Regional Science Association International The Regional Science Association International (RSAI) is a cluster of scholarly societies whose members engage in regional science. Origins In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the economist Walter Isard Walter Isard (April 19, 1919 – No ...
(RSAI), it maintains subnational and international associations, journals, and a conference circuit (notably in North America, continental Europe,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
). Membership in the RSAI continues to grow.


Seminal publications

Topically speaking, regional science took off in the wake of
Walter Christaller Walter Christaller (April 21, 1893 – March 9, 1969), was a German geographer whose principal contribution to the discipline is central place theory, first published in 1933. This groundbreaking theory was the foundation of the study of citie ...
's book ''Die Zentralen Orte in Sűddeutschland'' (Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1933; transl. ''Central Places in Southern Germany'', 1966), soon followed by
Tord Palander Tord Folkeson Palander (6 October 1902 – 1972) was a Swedish economist. His Ph.D. thesis, ''Beiträge zur Standortstheorie'' (Contributions to Location Theory), completed in 1935 at the Stockholm University College, laid foundations to regiona ...
's (1935) ''Beiträge zur Standortstheorie'';
August Lösch August Lösch (15 October 1906 – 30 May 1945) was a German economist, known for his seminal contributions to regional science and urban economics. Born in Öhringen, Württemberg, Lösch obtained his doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1 ...
's ''Die räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft'' (Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1940; 2nd rev. edit., 1944; transl. ''The Economics of Location'', 1954) ; and Edgar M. Hoover's two books--''Location Theory and the Shoe and Leather Industry'' (1938) and ''The Location of Economic Activity'' (1948). Other important early publications include: Edward H. Chamberlin's (1950) ''The Theory of Monopolistic Competition'' ;
François Perroux François Perroux (December 19, 1903 in Saint-Romain-en-Gal – June 2, 1987 in Stains) was a French economist. He was named Professor at the Collège de France, after having taught at the University of Lyon (1928 – 1937) and the University o ...
's (1950) ''Economic Spaces: Theory and Application'';
Torsten Hägerstrand Torsten Hägerstrand (October 11, 1916, in Moheda – May 3, 2004, in Lund) was a Swedish geographer. He is known for his work on migration, cultural diffusion and time geography. A native and resident of Sweden, Hägerstrand was a professor (l ...
's (1953) ''Innovationsförloppet ur Korologisk Synpunkt''; Edgar S. Dunn's (1954)''The Location of Agricultural Production'' ;
Martin J. Beckmann Martin Joseph Beckmann (5 July 1924, Ratingen, Germany – 11 April 2017) was a professor for Economics and Applied Mathematics. He was professor at the University of Chicago, Yale University and Brown University, as well as the University of ...
, C.B McGuire, and Clifford B. Winston's (1956) ''Studies in the Economics of Transportation''; Melvin L. Greenhut's (1956) ''Plant Location in Theory and Practice'';
Gunnar Myrdal Karl Gunnar Myrdal ( ; ; 6 December 1898 – 17 May 1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money a ...
's (1957) ''Economic Theory and Underdeveloped Regions'';
Albert O. Hirschman Albert Otto Hirschman (born ''Otto-Albert Hirschmann''; April 7, 1915 – December 10, 2012) was a German economist and the author of several books on political economy and political ideology. His first major contribution was in the area of de ...
's (1958) ''The Strategy of Economic Development''; and Claude Ponsard's (1958) ''Histoire des Théories Économiques Spatiales''. Nonetheless, Walter Isard's first book in 1956, ''Location and Space Economy'', apparently captured the imagination of many, and his third, ''Methods of Regional Analysis'', published in 1960, only sealed his position as the father of the field. As is typically the case, the above works were built on the shoulders of giants. Much of this predecessor work is documented well in Walter Isard's ''Location and Space Economy'' as well as Claude Ponsard's ''Histoire des Théorie Économique Spatiales''. Particularly important was the contribution by 19th century German economists to
location theory Location theory has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses questions of what economic activities are located where and why. Location theory or microeconomic theory generally ...
. The early German hegemony more or less starts with
Johann Heinrich von Thünen Johann Heinrich von Thünen (24 June 1783 – 22 September 1850), sometimes spelled Thuenen, was a prominent nineteenth century economist and a native of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in northern Germany.He "ranks alongside Marx as the greatest Ge ...
and runs through both
Wilhelm Launhardt Carl Wilhelm Friedrich Launhardt (7 April 1832 – 14 May 1918) was a German mathematician and economist. Launhardt was born in Hannover, the capital of the Kingdom of Hannover. He studied and taught at Hannover's technical school. Following H ...
and
Alfred Weber Alfred Weber (; 30 July 1868 – 2 May 1958) was a German economist, geographer, sociologist and theoretician of culture whose work was influential in the development of modern economic geography. Life Alfred Weber, younger brother of the ...
to
Walter Christaller Walter Christaller (April 21, 1893 – March 9, 1969), was a German geographer whose principal contribution to the discipline is central place theory, first published in 1933. This groundbreaking theory was the foundation of the study of citie ...
and
August Lösch August Lösch (15 October 1906 – 30 May 1945) was a German economist, known for his seminal contributions to regional science and urban economics. Born in Öhringen, Württemberg, Lösch obtained his doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1 ...
.


Core journals

If an academic discipline is identified by its journals, then technically regional science began in 1955 with the publication of the first volume of the ''Papers and Proceedings, Regional Science Association'' (now '' Papers in Regional Science'' published by
Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...
). In 1958, the ''
Journal of Regional Science The Journal of Regional Science is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. Proceeded in the field of Regional Science only by ''Papers and Proceedings of the Regional Science Association'' (now ''Papers in Regional Science ...
'' followed. Since the 1970s, the number of journals serving the field has exploded. Th
RSAI website
displays most of them. Most recently the journal ''
Spatial Economic Analysis ''Spatial Economic Analysis'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals ...
'' has been published by the RSAI British and Irish Section with the ''
Regional Studies Association The Regional Studies Association is a learned society with an international network of academics, policy makers and practitioner members. It was founded in 1965, following the foundation of the Regional Science Association in the USA and Internatio ...
''. The latter is a separate and growing organisation involving economists, planners, geographers, political scientists, management academics, policymakers, and practitioners.


Academic programs

Walter Isard Walter Isard (April 19, 1919 – November 6, 2010) was a prominent American economist, the principal founder of the discipline of regional science, as well as one of the main founders of the discipline of peace studies and Peace economics. Life an ...
's efforts culminated in the creation of a few academic departments and several university-wide programs in regional science. At Walter Isard's suggestion, the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
started the Regional Science Department in 1956. It featured as its first graduate
William Alonso William Alonso (January 29, 1933 – February 11, 1999) was an Argentinian-born American planner and economist. He was born in Buenos Aires but moved to the United States in 1946 during the Perón regime with his father Amado Alonso, a leading ...
and was looked upon by many to be the international academic leader for the field. Another important graduate and faculty member of the department is
Masahisa Fujita is a Japanese economist who has studied regional science and Urban economics and International Trade, Spatial Economy ( New Economic Geography). He is a professor at Konan University and an adjunct professor at Institute of Economic Research ...
. The core curriculum of this department was
microeconomics Microeconomics is a branch of mainstream economics that studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. Microeconomics fo ...
, input-output analysis,
location theory Location theory has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses questions of what economic activities are located where and why. Location theory or microeconomic theory generally ...
, and
statistics Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...
. Faculty also taught courses in
mathematical programming Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
, transportation economics, labor economics, energy and ecological policy modeling,
spatial statistics Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which studies entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques, many still in their early devel ...
, spatial interaction theory and models, benefit/cost analysis, urban and regional analysis, and economic development theory, among others. But the department's unusual multidisciplinary orientation undoubtedly encouraged its demise, and it lost its department status in 1993. With a few exceptions, such as
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, which awards graduate degrees in Regional Science, most practitioners hold positions in departments such as economics, geography,
civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
,
agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and Natural fiber, fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of econom ...
,
rural sociology Rural sociology is a field of sociology traditionally associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural areas. It is an active academic field in much of the world, originating in the United States in the 1910s with close ti ...
, urban planning, public policy, or
demography Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...
. The diversity of disciplines participating in regional science have helped make it one of the most interesting and fruitful fields of academic specialization, but it has also made it difficult to fit the many perspectives into a curriculum for an academic major. It is even difficult for authors to write regional science textbooks, since what is elementary knowledge for one discipline might be entirely novel for another.


Public policy impact

Part of the movement was, and continues to be, associated with the political and economic realities of the role of the local community. On any occasion where public policy is directed at the sub-national level, such as a city or group of counties, the methods of regional science can prove useful. Traditionally, regional science has provided policymakers with guidance on the following issues: :*Determinants of industrial location (both within the nation and region) :*Regional economic impact of the arrival or departure of a firm :*Determinants of internal migration patterns and land-use change :*Regional specialization and exchange :*Environmental impacts of social and economic change :*Geographic association of economic and social conditions By targeting federal resources to specific geographic areas the Kennedy administration realized that political favors could be bought. This is also evident in Europe and other places where local economic areas do not coincide with political boundaries. In the more current era of devolution knowledge about "local solutions to local problems" has driven much of the interest in regional science. Thus, there has been much political impetus to the growth of the discipline.


Developments after 1980

Regional science has enjoyed mixed fortunes since the 1980s. While it has gained a larger following among economists and public policy practitioners, the discipline has fallen out of favor among more radical and
post-modernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
geographers. In an apparent effort to secure a larger share of research funds, geographers had the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
's Geography and Regional Science Program renamed "Geography and Spatial Sciences".


New economic geography

In 1991,
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was t ...
, as a highly regarded international trade theorist, put out a call for economists to pay more attention to economic geography in a book entitled ''Geography and Trade'', focusing largely on the core regional science concept of agglomeration economies. Krugman's call renewed interest by economists in regional science and, perhaps more importantly, founded what some term the "new economic geography", which enjoys much common ground with regional science. Broadly trained "new economic geographers" combine quantitative work with other research techniques, for example at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
. The unification of Europe and the increased internationalization of the world's economic, social, and political realms has further induced interest in the study of regional, as opposed to national, phenomena. The new economic geography appears to have garnered more interest in Europe than in America where amenities, notably climate, have been found to better predict human location and re-location patterns, as emphasized in recent work by Mark Partridge. In 2008 Krugman won the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...
and his Prize Lecture has references both to work in regional science's location theory as well as economic's trade theory.


Criticisms

Today there are dwindling numbers of regional scientists from academic
planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is c ...
programs and mainstream
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
departments. Attacks on regional science's practitioners by radical critics began as early as the 1970s, notably
David Harvey David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He received his P ...
who believed it lacked social and political commitment. Regional science's founder, Walter Isard, never envisioned regional scientists would be political or planning activists. In fact, he suggested that they will seek to be sitting in front of a computer and surrounded by research assistants. Trevor J. Barnes suggests the decline of regional science practice among planners and geographers in North America could have been avoided. He says "It is unreflective, and consequently inured to change, because of a commitment to a God’s eye view. It is so convinced of its own rightness, of its Archimedean position, that it remained aloof and invariant, rather than being sensitive to its changing local context."Barnes in ''Canadian J of Reg. Sci''
1


See also

*
Regional scientists In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
(category) *
Economic geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. There are four branches of economic geography. There is, primary sect ...
* Regional economics *
List of planning journals This is a list of notable peer-reviewed academic journals related to urban, regional, land-use, transportation and environmental planning and to urban studies, regional science. See also * List of environmental social science journals * List o ...
*
Regional development Regional development is a broad term but can be seen as a general effort to reduce regional disparities by supporting (employ) economin regions. In the past, regional development policy tended to try to achieve these objectives by means developmen ...
*
Regional planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land ...
*
Rural economics Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural development ...
*
Spatial planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...
* Unified settlement planning *
Urban economics Urban economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas; as such, it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government finance. More specifically, it is a bra ...
*
Urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
*
Walter Isard Walter Isard (April 19, 1919 – November 6, 2010) was a prominent American economist, the principal founder of the discipline of regional science, as well as one of the main founders of the discipline of peace studies and Peace economics. Life an ...
- founder of regional science *
Regional Studies Association The Regional Studies Association is a learned society with an international network of academics, policy makers and practitioner members. It was founded in 1965, following the foundation of the Regional Science Association in the USA and Internatio ...


References


Further reading

* Boyce, David. (2004). A Short History of the Field of Regional Science. ''Papers in Regional Science.'', 83 pp. 31–57
Short history
(PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-06-04. * Durlauf, Steven N., and Lawrence E. Blume, ed. (2008). ''
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' (2018), 3rd ed., is a twenty-volume reference work on economics published by Palgrave Macmillan. It contains around 3,000 entries, including many classic essays from the original Inglis Palgrave Dictio ...
'', 2nd Edition: :"new economic geography" by
Anthony J. Venables Anthony James Venables, CBE, (born 25 April 1953), is a British economist and the BP Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. Venables is known as one of the pioneers of New economic geography. He co-author ...

Abstract.
: "regional development, geography of" by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Gordon McCord
Abstract.
: "spatial economics" by Gilles Duranton
Abstract.
:"urban agglomeration" by William C. Strange
Abstract.
* Fujita, Masahisa, Paul Krugman, and Anthony Venables. (1999). ''The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions and International Trade'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT press). () * Fujita, Masahisa. (1989). ''Urban Economic Theory: Land Use and City Size'' (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press). () * Fritsch, Michael und Mueller, Pamela (2006), The Effect of New Business Formation on Regional Development over Time. The Case of Germany, Discussion Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, Jena * *

{{Authority control * Economic geography