ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the mapping exercise of that inquiry, the element which laid out for the first time the range of key players within each area in Scotland. It introduces the concepts of institutional thickness and capacity as background to the analysis of the position in Scotland. By the time the Scottish Parliament had been re-established in 1999, the infrastructure landscape for economic development in Scotland had become somewhat crowded. Since the late 1980s, it has been argued that regional economic development can be promoted through regional learning and intelligence embedded in the agents and governance structures of an area. The advantages of involving a wide range of partners also stresses the need to consider economic development in broad terms and not simply as business development. The essential roles that local authorities play in delivering many services, and in investing in and maintaining infrastructure must be recognised in the analysis of local and regional economic development.
