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{{short description|Field of the social sciences}}

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{{Economics sidebar}}

'''Regional science''' is a field of the [[social science]]seconomics concerned aboutwith analytical approaches to problems that are related specifically [[urban]],to [[ruralregional]], orand regionalinternational issues. Topics in regional science include, but are not limited to, [[behavioral___location geography|behavioraltheory]] modelingor ofspatial economics, ___location modeling, transportation, trade and [[migration]] decisionsflows, economic geography, [[land use]] and [[urban development]], [[inter-industry analysis such as input-output analysis]], environmental and [[ecology|ecological]] analysis, [[resource management]], urban and regional [[public policy|policy]] analysis, [[geographical information systems]], and [[spatial data analysis]]. In the broadest sense, any social science analysis that has a spatial dimension is embraced by regional scientists.

==Origins==

Regional science was founded in the late [[1940s]] when some economists[[economist]]s began to become dissatisfied with the low level of regional [[economics|economic]] analysis and felt an urge to upgrade it. But even in this early era, the founders of regional science expected to catch the interest of people from a wide variety of disciplines. Regional science's formal roots date to the aggressive campaigns by [[Walter Isard]] and his supporters to promote the "objective" and "scientific" analysis of settlement, industrial ___location, and urban development. Isard targeted key universities and campaigned tirelessly. Accordingly, the [[Regional Science Association]] was founded in 1954, when the core group of scholars and practitioners held its first meetings independent from those initially held as sessions of the anuualannual meetings of the American Economics Association.<ref>Isard, Walter. 1975. ''Introduction to Regional Science.'' New York: Prentice Hall.</ref> A reason for meeting independently undoubtedly was the group's desire to extend the new science beyond the rather restrictive world of economists and have natural scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, lawyers, sociologists, political scientists, planners, and geographers join the club.<ref>Isard, Walter. 1975. ''Introduction to Regional Science.'' New York: Prentice Hall, p. 6.</ref> Now called the [[Regional Science Association International]] (RSAI), it maintains subnational and international associations, journals, and a conference circuit (notably in North America, continental Europe, [[Japan]], and [[South Korea]]). Membership in the RSAI continues to grow.

==Seminal publications==

Topically speaking, regional science took off in the wake of publications by Edgar M. Hoover's books Location Theory and the Shoe and Leather Industry (published in 1937) and The Location of Economic Activity (in 1948); Edgar S. Dunn's (1954) The Location of Agricultural Production; Edward Chamberlin's (1950) The Theory of Monopolistic Competition; Martin J. Beckmann, C.B McGuire, and Clifford B. Winston's (1956) book Studies in the Economics of Transportation; August Lösch's (1954) The Economics of Location; Melvin L Greenhut's (1956) tome Plant Location in Theory and Practice; Albert O. Hirshman's (1958) The Strategy of Economic Development published; and Claude Ponsard's (1958) Histoire des théorie économique spatiales. Nonetheless, Walter Isard's first book in 1956, Location and Space Economy, apparently captured the imagination of many, and his third, Methods of Regional Analysis published in 1960, only sealed his position as the father of the field.

Topically speaking, regional science took off in the wake of publications[[Walter Christaller]]'s book ''Die Zentralen Orte in Sűddeutschland'' (Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1933; transl. ''Central Places in Southern Germany'', 1966), soon followed by [[Tord Palander]]'s (1935) ''Beiträge zur Standortstheorie''; [[August Lösch]]'s ''Die räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft'' (Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1940; 2nd rev. edit., 1944; transl. ''The Economics of Location'', 1954); and [[Edgar M. Hoover]]'s bookstwo books--''Location Theory and the Shoe and Leather Industry'' (published in 19371938) and ''The Location of Economic Activity'' (in 1948);. EdgarOther Simportant early publications include: [[Edward Chamberlin|Edward H. DunnChamberlin]]'s (19541950) ''The LocationTheory of AgriculturalMonopolistic ProductionCompetition''; Edward[[François ChamberlinPerroux]]'s (1950) The''Economic Spaces: Theory ofand MonopolisticApplication''; Competition[[Torsten Hägerstrand]]'s (1953) ''Innovationsförloppet ur Korologisk Synpunkt''; [[Edgar S. Dunn]]'s (1954)''The Location of Agricultural Production''; [[Martin J. Beckmann]], C.B McGuire, and Clifford B. Winston's (1956) book ''Studies in the Economics of Transportation; August Lösch's (1954) The Economics of Location'; [[Melvin L. Greenhut]]'s (1956) tome ''Plant Location in Theory and Practice''; [[Gunnar Myrdal]]'s (1957) ''Economic Theory and Underdeveloped Regions''; [[Albert O. HirshmanHirschman]]'s (1958) ''The Strategy of Economic Development published''; and [[Claude Ponsard]]'s (1958) ''Histoire des théorieThéories économiqueÉconomiques spatialesSpatiales''. Nonetheless, Walter Isard's first book in 1956, ''Location and Space Economy'', apparently captured the imagination of many, and his third, ''Methods of Regional Analysis'', published in 1960, only sealed his position as the father of the field.

Walter Isard's efforts culminated in the creation of a few academic departments and several university-wide programs in regional science. At Walter Isard's suggestion, the [[University of Pennsylvania]] started the Regional Science Department in 1956. It featured as its first graduate [[William Alonso]] and was looked upon by many to be the international academic leader for the field. But its unusual multidisciplinary orientation undoubtedly encouraged its demise, and it lost its department status in 1992.

As is typically the case, the above works were built on the shoulders of giants. Much of this predecessor work is documented well in Walter Isard's ''Location and Space Economy''<ref>Isard, Walter. 1956. ''Location and Space-Economy: A General Theory Relating to Industrial Location, Market Areas, Land Use, Trade and Urban Structure'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.</ref> as well as Claude Ponsard's ''Histoire des Théorie Économique Spatiales''.<ref>Ponsard, Claude. 1958. ''Histoire des Théories Économiques Spatiales''. Paris: Librairie Armand Colin (Translated in 1983 by Benjamin H. Stevens, Margaret Chevallier and Joaquin P. Pujol as ''History of Spatial Economic Theory''. Springer-Verlag: New York.)</ref> Particularly important was the contribution by 19th century German economists to [[___location theory]]. The early German hegemony more or less starts with [[Johann Heinrich von Thünen]] and runs through both [[Wilhelm Launhardt]] and [[Alfred Weber]] to [[Walter Christaller]] and [[August Lösch]].

Part of the movement was, and continues to be, associated with political and economic realities of the role of the local community. By targeting federal resources to specific geographic areas the [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] administration realized that political favors could be bought. This is also evident in [[Europe]] and other geographic areas were economic areas do not coincide with political boundaries. In the more current era of devolution knowledge about “local solutions to local problems” has driven much of the interest in regional science. In the spirit of Walter Isard, regional science is truly interdisciplinary and is not limited to geographers, economists, political scientists, or sociologists.

==Core journals==

In 1991, Paul Krugman, a highly regarded international trade theorist, put out a call for economists to pay more attention to econonomic geography in a book entitled Geography and Trade, focussing largely on the core regional science concept of agglomeration economies.

{{category see also|Urban studies and planning journals}}

Today there are dwindling numbers of members from academic [[planning]] programs and mainstream [[geography]] departments (the largest grouping in North America is probably at the [[University of Arizona]]). (Although, there has been some revival among geographers, as broadly-trained 'new' economic geographers combine quantitative work with other research techniques, for example at the [[London School of Economics]].) Perhaps part of the decline in interest from practitioners in planning and geography may be due to the rise of [[geographic information system|geographic information systems]] and other readily used statistical and modeling software, which have allowed predictive modeling and analysis to be done more efficiently and by non-specialists. In fact, such easy quantification apparently has induced somewhat of a reactionary response among some in academic [[geography]] away from the quantitative analysis of human activities as an end in itself - or as a guide to planners or corporations{{fact}}. Attacks on regional science's practitioners by radical critics started as early as the [[1970s]], notably [[David Harvey]] who believed it lacked social and political commitment. Such debates became strong and heated, as exemplified by some arguments by [[Trevor Barnes]] who suggests that the decline of regional science practice among planners and geographers in North America could have been avoided. He says "It is unreflective, and consequently inured to change, because of a commitment to a God’s eye view. It is so convinced of its own rightness, of its Archimedean position, that it remained aloof and invariant, rather than being sensitive to its changing local context." <ref>Barnes in ''Canadian J of Reg.Sci''. [http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~tbarnes/CSRA%20new.doc 1]</ref>

If an academic discipline is identified by its journals, then technically regional science began in 1955 with the publication of the first volume of the ''Papers and Proceedings, Regional Science Association'' (now ''[[Papers in Regional Science]]'' published by [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]). In 1958, the ''[[Journal of Regional Science]]'' followed. Since the 1970s, the number of journals serving the field has exploded. The [http://www.regionalscience.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=95&Itemid=619 RSAI website] displays most of them.

The dawning of [[globalization]] and the internet age has rendered one core technique of regional science, ___location theory, less applicable - since a number of social activities require no 'optimal spatial ___location' whatsoever. Then again, the unification of Europe and the increased internationalization of the world's economic, social, and political realms has generated more interest in the study of regional, as opposed to national, phenomena.

Most recently the journal ''[[Spatial Economic Analysis]]'' has been published by the RSAI British and Irish Section with the ''[[Regional Studies Association]]''. The latter is a separate and growing organisation involving economists, planners, geographers, political scientists, management academics, policymakers, and practitioners.<ref>[http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/ Regional Studies Association – Home] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219053606/http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/ |date=2008-12-19 }}. Regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-06-04.</ref>

==Academic programs==

[[Walter Isard]]'s efforts culminated in the creation of a few academic departments and several university-wide programs in regional science. At Walter Isard's suggestion, the [[University of Pennsylvania]] started the Regional Science Department in 1956. It featured as its first graduate [[William Alonso]] and was looked upon by many to be the international academic leader for the field. Another important graduate and faculty member of the department is [[Masahisa Fujita]]. The core curriculum of this department was [[microeconomics]], [[input-output analysis]], [[___location theory]], and [[statistics]]. Faculty also taught courses in [[mathematical programming]], [[transportation economics]], [[labor economics]], energy and ecological policy modeling, [[spatial statistics]], spatial interaction theory and models, [[benefit/cost analysis]], urban and regional analysis, and economic development theory, among others. But itsthe department's unusual multidisciplinary orientation undoubtedly encouraged its demise, and it lost its department status in 19921993.<ref>Boyce, David. 2004. "A Short History of the field of Regional Science," ''Papers in Regional Science,'' 83, 31–57. The source for a few dates in this paragraph.</ref>

With a few exceptions, such as [[Cornell University]] which awards graduate degrees in Regional Science <ref>[https://aap.cornell.edu/crp/programs/regsci/ Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Department of City and Regional Planning: About Regional Science]</ref> and where Walter Isard had spent the rest of his life after UPENN, most practitioners hold positions in departments such as economics, geography, [[civil engineering]], [[agricultural economics]], [[rural sociology]], urban planning, public policy, or [[demography]]. The diversity of disciplines participating in regional science have helped make it one of the most interesting and fruitful fields of academic specialization, but it has also made it difficult to fit the many perspectives into a curriculum for an academic major. It is even difficult for authors to write regional science textbooks, since what is elementary knowledge for one discipline might be entirely novel for another.<ref>Scott Loveridge discusses the pros and cons of a multidisciplinary field. [http://www.rri.wvu.edu/loveridgeintroregsci.htm link] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624065420/http://www.rri.wvu.edu/loveridgeintroregsci.htm |date=June 24, 2010 }}</ref>

==Public policy impact==

Part of the movement was, and continues to be, associated with the political and economic realities of the role of the local community. On any occasion where public policy is directed at the sub-national level, such as a city or group of counties, the methods of regional science can prove useful. Traditionally, regional science has provided policymakers with guidance on the following issues:<ref>Classical regional science questions. [http://www.rri.wvu.edu/loveridgeintroregsci.htm link] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624065420/http://www.rri.wvu.edu/loveridgeintroregsci.htm |date=June 24, 2010 }}</ref>

:*Determinants of industrial ___location (both within the nation and region)

:*Regional economic impact of the arrival or departure of a firm

:*Determinants and patterns of intra-national and inter-national trade(commodity) and migration(people) flows

:*Regional specialization and exchange

:*Environmental impacts of social and economic change

:*Geographic association of economic and social conditions

Part of the movement was, and continues to be, associated with political and economic realities of the role of the local community. By targeting federal resources to specific geographic areas the [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] administration realized that political favors could be bought.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Regional Economics|last1=Hoover|first1=Edgar M.|publisher=Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University|year=2020|___location=Morgantown, WV|pages=272–273|last2=Giarratani|first2=Frank|orig-date=1999}}</ref> This is also evident in [[Europe]] and other geographicplaces areaswhere werelocal economic areas do not coincide with political boundaries. In the more current era of devolution knowledge about “local"local solutions to local problems”problems" has driven much of the interest in regional science. In the spirit of Walter IsardThus, regionalthere sciencehas isbeen trulymuch interdisciplinarypolitical and is not limitedimpetus to geographers,the economists,growth politicalof scientists, orthe sociologistsdiscipline.

==Developments after 1980==

Regional science has enjoyed mixed fortunes since the 1980s. While it has gained a larger following among economists and public policy practitioners, the discipline has fallen out of favor among more radical and [[post-modernist]] geographers. In an apparent effort to secure a larger share of research funds, geographers had the [[National Science Foundation]]'s Geography and Regional Science Program renamed "Geography and Spatial Sciences".

===New economic geography===

In 1991, [[Paul Krugman]], as a highly regarded international trade theorist, put out a call for economists to pay more attention to economic geography in a book entitled ''Geography and Trade'', focusing largely on the core regional science concept of agglomeration economies. Krugman's call renewed interest by economists in regional science and, perhaps more importantly, founded what some term the "new economic geography", which enjoys much common ground with regional science. Broadly trained "new economic geographers" combine quantitative work with other research techniques, for example at the [[London School of Economics]]. The unification of Europe and the increased internationalization of the world's economic, social, and political realms has further induced interest in the study of regional, as opposed to national, phenomena. The new economic geography appears to have garnered more interest in Europe than in America where amenities, notably climate, have been found to better predict human ___location and re-___location patterns, as emphasized in recent work by Mark Partridge.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1435-5957.2010.00315.x | volume=89 | title=The duelling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining US engines of growth | journal=Papers in Regional Science | pages=513–536 | last1 = Partridge | first1 = Mark D. | year=2010| doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2008 Krugman won the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] and his Prize Lecture has references both to work in regional science's ___location theory as well as economic's trade theory.<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2008/krugman-lecture.html Paul Krugman's Nobel Prize Lecture 2008]. Nobelprize.org (2008-12-08). Retrieved on 2011-06-04.</ref>

===Criticisms===

Today there are dwindling numbers of regional scientists from academic [[planning]] programs and mainstream [[geography]] departments. Attacks on regional science's practitioners by radical critics began as early as the 1970s, notably [[David Harvey (geographer)|David Harvey]] who believed it lacked social and political commitment. Regional science's founder, Walter Isard, never envisioned regional scientists would be political or planning activists. In fact, he suggested that they will seek to be sitting in front of a computer and surrounded by research assistants. [[Trevor J. Barnes]] suggests the decline of regional science practice among planners and geographers in North America could have been avoided. He says "It is unreflective, and consequently inured to change, because of a commitment to a God’s eye view. It is so convinced of its own rightness, of its Archimedean position, that it remained aloof and invariant, rather than being sensitive to its changing local context."<ref>Barnes in ''Canadian J of Reg. Sci''. [http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~tbarnes/CSRA%20new.doc 1] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050310040429/http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~tbarnes/CSRA%20new.doc |date=March 10, 2005 }}</ref>

However, such critics have failed to provide empirical evidence for their claims and ended up criticizing for the sake of criticizing.

== See also==

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

* [[:Category:Regional scientists|Regional scientists]] (category)

* [[Economic geography]]

* [[Regional economics]]

* [[List of planning journals]]

* [[Regional development]]

* [[Regional planning]]

* [[Rural economics]]

* [[Spatial planning]]

* [[Unified settlement planning]]

* [[Urban economics]]

* [[Urban planning]]

* [[Walter Isard]] - founder of regional science

* [[Regional Studies Association]]

{{div col end}}

==References==

{{reflist|30em}}

<references/>

==Further reading==

== External links ==

* Boyce, David. (2004). A Short History of the Field of Regional Science. ''Papers in Regional Science.'', 83 pp.&nbsp;31–57. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926134502/http://www.civil.northwestern.edu/trans1/boyce_pubs/short_history.pdf Short history]. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-06-04.

* [http://www.regionalscience.org Regional Science Association International]

* Durlauf, Steven N., and Lawrence E. Blume, ed. (2008). ''[[The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics]]'', 2nd Edition:

* [http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/mcrsa/ Mid-Continent Regional Science Association]

:"new economic geography" by [[Anthony J. Venables]]. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_E000247&q=geography&topicid=&result_number=2 Abstract.]

* [http://www.narsc.org North American Regional Science Council]

: "regional development, geography of" by [[Jeffrey Sachs|Jeffrey D. Sachs]] and Gordon McCord. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_R000077&q=Regional%20&topicid=&result_number=1 Abstract.]

* [http://www.u.arizona.edu/~plane/wrsa.html Western Regional Science Association]

: "spatial economics" by Gilles Duranton. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_S000195&q=geography&topicid=&result_number=7 Abstract.]

* [http://www.geog.ubc.ca/~tbarnes/ Critical research articles and the history of the field] by Trevor Barnes, UBC

:"urban agglomeration" by William C. Strange. [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_U000064&edition=&field=keyword&q=urban%20agglomeration&topicid=&result_number=3 Abstract.]

* [http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/jrap/frontpage.html Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy]

* Fujita, Masahisa, Paul Krugman, and Anthony Venables. (1999). ''The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions and International Trade'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT press). ({{ISBN|0-262-06204-6}})

* Fujita, Masahisa. (1989). ''Urban Economic Theory: Land Use and City Size'' (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press). ({{ISBN|0-521-34662-2}})

* Fritsch, Michael und Mueller, Pamela (2006), The Effect of New Business Formation on Regional Development over Time. The Case of Germany, Discussion Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, Jena

* {{cite journal | last1 = Krumm | first1 = Ronald J. | author-link2 = George S. Tolley | last2 = Tolley | first2 = George S. | year = 1987 | title = Regional economics | journal = [[The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics]] | volume = 4 | pages = 116–20 }}

*{{cite journal | last1 = Scott | first1 = A. J. | year = 2000 | title = Economic Geography: The Great Half-Century | journal = Cambridge Journal of Economics | volume = 24 | page = 504 }}

* [http://www.oznetrri.ksuwvu.edu/mcrsa/loveridgeintroregsci.htm Mid-ContinentWeb Book of Regional Science Association]

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[[Category:Regional economics|*]]

[[Category:Economic geography]]