ABSTRACT
The field of regional development is permeated by a grand narrative that has developed in a reciprocal dynamic between policy making and research where the ‘simple truths’ of the core context and dynamics of contemporary regional development are formulated and consolidated. If the regions as actors earlier had an interest to influence the national development policies from a distributional perspective, in more recent times, they operate directly on global markets, competing for resources and capital needed for development in line with the narrative of new regionalism. The innovation systems promoted in the new regionalist narrative can contain features such as regional incubators, cluster formations, and joint work with development strategies to streamline the regional actors for the sake of making the region globally competitive. The need for knowledge about global economic dynamics and theories about the mechanisms of economic growth has been closely intertwined with the policy field of regional development.
