ABSTRACT

Regional Studies is inextricably intertwined with history. Cultural and institutional legacies inform choices between different policy options, meaning that the past plays a crucial role in how we think about regional economic development, planning and policy.

Through a selection of accessible theoretical, methodological and empirical chapters, this book explores the connections between regional development and history. Drawing on the expertise of scholars in several disciplines, it links history to topics such as behavioural geography, interdependence, divergence and regional and urban policy.

This innovative book will be of interest to researchers across regional studies, planning, economic geography and economic history.

part |2 pages

Prolegomenon

chapter |6 pages

Bringing the past back in

Taking history seriously in the study of regional development
ByRon Martin, Peter Sunley, Emil Evenhuis

part |2 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|8 pages

The importance of history for regional economic development

BySara Svensson, Marijn Molema

part I|2 pages

Disciplinary and theoretical explorations

chapter 2|15 pages

Regional development, history and the institutional lens

ByMarijn Molema, John Tomaney

chapter 3|25 pages

Behavioural economic geography and regional history

Explaining uneven development from a human perspective
ByRobert Huggins, Piers Thompson

part II|2 pages

Innovations in research design and methodology

chapter 5|16 pages

Regional GDP before GDP

A methodological survey of historical regional accounts
ByKerstin Enflo, Anna Missiaia

chapter 6|19 pages

Comparative research designs

Interdependence as challenge and opportunity in regional studies
ByMartin Åberg, Thomas Denk

part III|2 pages

Empirical case studies

chapter 7|26 pages

Catching the ladder

The formation and growth of the São Paulo automotive industry cluster 1
ByTomàs Fernández-de-Sevilla, Armando J. dalla Costa

chapter 8|19 pages

Urban and regional development policy

Its history and its differences
ByKevin Cox

chapter 9|19 pages

Spatial-economic development

The effect of urbanization on education in China, 1890–present 1
ByMeimei Wang, Bas van Leeuwen

part |2 pages

Conclusions

chapter 10|12 pages

Setting an agenda for a “New Regional History”

ByMarijn Molema