ABSTRACT
So far we have explored the purely local impact of establishing learning cities and regions as introspective entities looking inwards at themselves in order to enhance the economic and social life of their citizens. There is no dispute that the primary short-and medium-term objective of local and regional authorities is to build up local social and industrial capital, and to improve the physical infrastructure of the city through regeneration and maintenance projects. But, strong and urgent though this may be, there is another, more international, more extrovert, dimension to the learning city concept, notwithstanding ratepayers and other minimalist pressure groups to restrict its responsibilities to local issues. There is a sense in which cities and regions can play a much larger part on the national and global stage, often to their own medium and long-term advantage. The unprecedented emotional and financial response to the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami crisis by people of all ages, incomes and political persuasions is but one demonstration of the extent to which people have advanced in their perception of this planet as a global village, an integrated and holistic unity. The interest shown by participants in global projects such as PALLACE, and the vast maturity gain resulting from them, is another.
