ABSTRACT
Policies and practices that seek to promote or sustain local or regional economic development are a feature of virtually all developed economies (OECD, 1997, 2001, 2005; Statskontoret, 2007; Halkier et al., 1998). Government agencies or community groups operating at the regional or local scale seek to foster growth through a mix of strategies including: encouraging inward investment in the region, fostering innovation, nurturing a ‘creative city’ environment, promoting new business start ups, engaging in regional economic planning, coordinating infrastructure investment, assisting small businesses gain access to capital and acting to facilitate development applications through the approval process (Beer et al., 2003a). In some nations, actions and strategies intended to encourage growth at the sub-national scale are considered regional policies (for example, Australia) but elsewhere (for example, the United States of America) comparable programs are referred to as local development initiatives. For this reason this chapter will refer to both local and regional economic development.
