ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the rationales for intervention, visions and strategy, and policy design and development. It first examines the different arguments and rationales used by actors to think about and justify interventions in the relations and processes of local and regional development and its government and governance in particular times and spaces. The chapter second examines how strategies for local and regional development and policy intervention are conceived and formulated addressing issues relating to visions and aspirations, and aims, purposes and goals. Lastly, it provides approaches to policy development are outlined that tackle the issues raised by the policy cycle framework and its constituent stages including: diagnosing the issues; building the knowledge base through research, evidence and analysis; developing, appraising and consulting on the options; selecting the instruments in projects and programmes; delivery and implementation; assessing the differences that policy intervention has or has not made through monitoring and evaluation; and, policy learning and adaptation.
