ABSTRACT
A regional development agency has been defined as ‘any publicly financed institution outside the mainstream of central and local government administration having powers designed for the specific purpose of promoting industrial development (including non-manufacturing activities) in regions that are generally designated as problem or priority areas’ (Yuill and Allen, 1982, p.1). This, however, is perhaps too narrow a definition since, in addition to economic functions, many agencies have responsibilities for the environmental, and even social, development or regeneration of the region concerned. Regional development agencies are not new. For example, the Rural Development Commission (previously the Development Commission) was established as long ago as 1909 to address problems of rural development in Britain and, perhaps the best known agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the US, was set up in 1933. However, most regional development agencies have been created since the Second World War and agencies now exist in most developed countries. This paper reviews the experience of regional development agencies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and speculates as to their future role in UK regional policy.
