1. Introduction.

This book has three objectives to provide a readable, readily comprehensible survey of the literature and current discussion in the fields of regional economics, regional development, regional policy and planning, to lay the foundations for improved economic and social policy, formulated and implemented at the regional or community level, and to demonstrate that the social sciences and economics can be more effective instruments for discovery of truth and acquisition of new knowledge. Societies and economies cannot be well understood without analyzing the multi-faceted interactions, feedback, and overlaps among spaces, structures, and societies.