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Cultural resources are today the object of considerable attention in regional economics. Ground for new forms of innovation these resources have given rise to numerous works aiming at understanding the emergence and organisation of culture based economic activities and at identifying the role of these activities in regional development and urban planning. The objective of this article is to explore the way in which resources, and in particular cultural resources, are incorporated into production processes on the one hand, and the consequences on the resources of doing so on the other hand. Becoming an economic resource, a cultural “object” (symbol, image, cultural heritage, traditional know-how, etc.) becomes embedded within commercial relationships. The question we address here is what are the causes and consequences of this commodification of culture for the production systems, the customers and for the local communities which put a certain number of their constitutive elements into play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper summarizes empirical findings and results from the author's most recent research publication in Chinese: China's Unbalanced Economic Growth. It studies China's economic growth with a special emphasis on its regional disparities. It provides an analysis of China's overall economic landscape as well as an empirical study of China's unbalanced regional development. Based on its quantitative findings and results, the author predicts the emergence of ten Chinese metropolitan economies in the early twenty-first century and recommends a regional development strategy as well as implementation policies for China's future development. The major empirical findings, results and conclusions of this research are outlined in three sections: the first describes China's economic future—the emergence of ten regional metropolitan economies, the second reports the empirical findings of China's national and regional economic disparities and discusses policy implications, and the third investigates China's future economic growth and discusses its growth limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although there is great interest in the new knowledge economy, less favoured regions seem permanently disadvantaged because they lack a critical mass of knowledge capital to initiate accumulation, growth and economic development processes. This is a problem for policy-makers seeking to promote economic growth and territorial cohesion in such regions. Despite this, examples from two such regions, Newcastle, UK and Twente, the Netherlands, suggests that such companies can be very successful. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of how university spin-off companies (USOs) can improve their regional economies. The economic benefits that such companies bring are explored, to identify those elements which can potentially upgrade regional economies through knowledge accumulation, which are termed ‘building up territorial knowledge pools’. This paper concludes by developing a conceptual framework for the operation of the territorial knowledge pool; highlighting four different roles played by USOs in improving regional innovation environments and considering the conceptual and policy implications raised by the framework model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the planned reviews of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON). The work of ESPON carries forward the Study Program on European Spatial Planning organized by Nordregio in seeking a better understanding of spatial development trends across Europe. The program differentiates the thematic policy impact and cross-thematic projects.

The article reviews perceptions of regional problems in Australia and opposing views of regional policy. It argues that regional conditions vary widely and that much of non-metropolitan Australia is not in decline, casting doubt on the existence of a divide and on arguments that the divide can, and should, be addressed by government. The article also argues that views on policy reflect perceptions of the nature and causes of regional problems, and of the capacity and desirability of government being involved in shaping regional outcomes. Current regional policy approaches, characterized by ‘pragmatic incrementalism’, are outlined and explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 7 years Australia has been undergoing substantial economic reform under a collaborative Federal and State government program known as national competition policy. These reforms have increased the nation's productivity and international competitiveness, and are generally held responsible for Australia's increased growth rate in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita over the past decade. However, the reforms have been carried out against a background of increased interregional disparities, to which the reform program may have partly contributed. In this study we examine a number of Australian studies that have used computable general equilibrium modeling to uncover the regional economic consequences of national competition policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the regional development and land use planning in rural British Columbia. Overview on the resource based economy of the region; Geographical difficulties; Passage of the 1961 Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act; Provincial development priorities.

This article outlines a model of regional cluster development in which the clusters and foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) are interdependent. Such clusters are characterized by a strong or dominant presence of foreign MNEs as well as a strong contribution by cluster-based subsidiaries to the overall strategy of the MNEs. The case of the Hong Kong financial-services cluster is used to demonstrate that interdependent clusters provide types of investment opportunities, particularly for "marketplace-seeking" and "information-seeking" investments, and benefits to foreign multinationals that go beyond those usually contemplated in the MNE literature, while the locations housing such clusters receive benefits that also go beyond those usually contemplated. The article concludes with implications for economic policy, firm strategy, and further research on the interaction between clusters and MNEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Councils of governments (COGS) have been subjected to powerful forces of change in the 1980s, due principally to drastic reductions in federal financial support. To survive, the councils have had to become more entrepreneural, to extend themselves in new directions. They have scanned their local and regional task environments intensively for opportunities to form and/ or join new networks and to provide more services in traditional and in new areas. The new style of council is described in this paper, using a market model. The model emphasizes opportunistic scanning of the regional task environment, and the assessment of issue networks as an iterative process in COG direction setting and implementation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides background information on authors who contributed to the December 2005 issue of the "Journal of Urban Technology". Katrin Anacker is a candidate of the city and regional planning program at the Ohio State University. Ron Boschma is a professor in regional economics at the faculty of geosciences of the Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Hisham Ekaldi is a professor of architecture at the University of Ulster in Belfast. Catherine Lawson is an assistant professor in the geography and planning department at the University of Albany, New York.