The UK has now joined a Europe-wide trend towards more devolved forms of government (e.g. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Assemblies). In the context of this general trend towards regionalizm as a focus for public policy and as a source of cultural and political identity, an interdisciplinary team from Newcastle University combine to analyze how this affects the North East of England. There has been comparatively little published on the contemporary development of English Regions and the North East is a particularly important case study, as throughout the 1990s it has experienced a range of social, economic and political changes. This book will contribute to key contemporary policy debates, which will affect all of the English regions and should be read by all social scientists interested in European regional development.

Despite the rhetoric of "unification" and of a "single Europe", Europe is still marked by sharp social and regional disparities. More acutley than ever, Europe faces the dual problem of how to ensure sustained growth and how to combine it with social equity. "Cohesion" is the term coined by the European Community for its aim of reducing the social and regional gap in the European Union. This book explores the potential for cohesion in Europe, assessing the difficulties facing "less favoured" regions in the context of the Community's policies on economic integration and social cohesion, and looking at the wider processes of industrial change in Europe. It argues that current measures which purport to facilitate cohesion will not be adequate, suggesting that the Community's measure for promoting growth and productivity are biased towards the interests of the advanced regions and the major corporations.

The vision of the original architects of the European Community was to create a Europe of economic prosperity and social harmony. Economic integration has come ever closer, but sustained growth and a reduction in social disparities seem as far away as ever. This book examines the prospects for the real cohesion in Europe and finds that, far from promoting it, many of the Community's current policies are divisive. The neo-liberal philosophy is producing policies which favour relatively wealthy regions and major corporations at the expense of less favoured regions and peoples.

The Handbook of Local and Regional Development provides a comprehensive statement and reference point for local and regional development. The scope of this Handbook’s coverage and contributions engages with and reflects upon the politics and policy of how we think about and practise local and regional development, encouraging dialogue across the disciplinary barriers between notions of ‘local and regional development’ in the Global North and ‘development studies’ in the Global South. This Handbook is organized into seven inter-related sections, with an introductory chapter setting out the rationale, aims and structure of the Handbook. Section one situates local and regional development in its global context. Section two establishes the key issues in understanding the principles and values that help us define what is meant by local and regional development. Section three critically reviews the current diversity and variety of conceptual and theoretical approaches to local and regional development. Section four address questions of government and governance. Section five connects critically with the array of contemporary approaches to local and regional development policy. Section six is an explicitly global review of perspectives on local and regional development from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Section seven provides reflection and discussion of the futures for local and regional development in an international and multidisciplinary context. With over forty contributions from leading international scholars in the field, this Handbook provides critical reviews and appraisals of current state-of-the-art conceptual and theoretical approaches and future developments in local and regional development.

The UK has now joined a Europe-wide trend towards more devolved forms of government (e.g. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Assemblies). In the context of this general trend towards regionalizm as a focus for public policy and as a source of cultural and political identity, an interdisciplinary team from Newcastle University combine to analyze how this affects the North East of England. There has been comparatively little published on the contemporary development of English Regions and the North East is a particularly important case study, as throughout the 1990s it has experienced a range of social, economic and political changes. This book will contribute to key contemporary policy debates, which will affect all of the English regions and should be read by all social scientists interested in European regional development.

Actors and institutions in localities and regions across the world are seeking prosperity and well-being amidst tumultuous and disruptive shifts and transitions generated by: an increasingly globalised, knowledge-intensive capitalism; global financial instability, volatility and crisis; concerns about economic, social and ecological sustainability, climate change and resource shortages; new multi-actor and multi-level systems of government and governance and a re-ordering of the international political economy; state austerity and retrenchment; and, new and reformed approaches to intervention, policy and institutions for local and regional development. Local and Regional Development provides an accessible, critical and integrated examination of local and regional development theory, institutions and policy in this changing context. Amidst its rising importance, the book addresses the fundamental issues of 'what kind of local and regional development and for whom?', its purposes, principles and values, frameworks of understanding, approaches and interventions, and integrated approaches to local and regional development throughout the world. The approach provides a theoretically informed, critical analysis of contemporary local and regional development in an international and multi-disciplinary context, grounded in concrete empirical analysis from experiences in the global North and South. It concludes by identifying what might constitute holistic, inclusive, progressive and sustainable local and regional development, and reflecting upon its limits and political renewal.

Geographers (and other social scientists) working in local and regional development ultimately seek to understand how-and to what extent-local and regional policy can positively affect economic growth and progress. This area of research and study throws up difficult and challenging questions, such as: what are the sources of regional development? And how do we account for the uneven development of regions, an apparent feature of geographical development in general, and one which seems to be reinforced by globalization? This new four-volume collection from Routledge meets the need for a comprehensive reference work to allow users to make better sense of the voluminous scholarly and practical literature on these and other issues. Indeed, the sheer scale of the research output-and the breadth of the field-makes this title especially welcome. Local and Regional Development has been assembled by the same editorial team behind Routledge's award-winning Handbook of Local and Regional Development (2010) (978-0-415-54831-1). The collection is fully indexed and has a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editors, which places the material in its intellectual context. It is an essential work of reference and is destined to be valued by scholars, advanced students, and policy-makers as a vital one-stop research resource.

Planning Practice: Critical Perspectives from the UK provides the only comprehensive overview of contemporary planning practice in the UK. Drawing on contributions from leading researchers in the field, it examines the tools, contexts and outcomes of planning practice. Part I examines planning processes and tools, and the extent to which theory and practice diverge, covering plan-making, Development Management, planning gain, public engagement and place-making. Part II examines the changing contexts within which planning practice takes place, including privatisation and deregulation, devolution and multi-level governance, increased ethnic and social diversity, growing environmental concerns and the changing nature of commercial real estate. Part III focuses on how planning practice produces outcomes for the built environment in relation to housing, infrastructure, economic progress, public transport and regeneration. The book considers what it means to be a reflective practitioner in the modern planning system, the constraints and opportunities that planners face in their daily work, and the ethical and political challenges they must confront.

Planning Practice: Critical Perspectives from the UK provides the only comprehensive overview of contemporary planning practice in the UK. Drawing on contributions from leading researchers in the field, it examines the tools, contexts and outcomes of planning practice. Part I examines planning processes and tools, and the extent to which theory and practice diverge, covering plan-making, Development Management, planning gain, public engagement and place-making. Part II examines the changing contexts within which planning practice takes place, including privatisation and deregulation, devolution and multi-level governance, increased ethnic and social diversity, growing environmental concerns and the changing nature of commercial real estate. Part III focuses on how planning practice produces outcomes for the built environment in relation to housing, infrastructure, economic progress, public transport and regeneration. The book considers what it means to be a reflective practitioner in the modern planning system, the constraints and opportunities that planners face in their daily work, and the ethical and political challenges they must confront.

The Handbook of Local and Regional Development provides a comprehensive statement and reference point for local and regional development. The scope of this Handbook's coverage and contributions engages with and reflects upon the politics and policy of how we think about and practise local and regional development, encouraging dialogue across the disciplinary barriers between notions of 'local and regional development' in the Global North and 'development studies' in the Global South. This Handbook is organized into seven inter-related sections, with an introductory chapter setting out the rationale, aims and structure of the Handbook. Section one situates local and regional development in its global context. Section two establishes the key issues in understanding the principles and values that help us define what is meant by local and regional development. Section three critically reviews the current diversity and variety of conceptual and theoretical approaches to local and regional development. Section four address questions of government and governance. Section five connects critically with the array of contemporary approaches to local and regional development policy. Section six is an explicitly global review of perspectives on local and regional development from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Section seven provides reflection and discussion of the futures for local and regional development in an international and multidisciplinary context. With over forty contributions from leading international scholars in the field, this Handbook provides critical reviews and appraisals of current state-of-the-art conceptual and theoretical approaches and future developments in local and regional development.

Actors and institutions in localities and regions across the world are seeking prosperity and well-being amidst tumultuous and disruptive shifts and transitions generated by: an increasingly globalised, knowledge-intensive capitalism; global financial instability, volatility and crisis; concerns about economic, social and ecological sustainability, climate change and resource shortages; new multi-actor and multi-level systems of government and governance and a re-ordering of the international political economy; state austerity and retrenchment; and, new and reformed approaches to intervention, policy and institutions for local and regional development. Local and Regional Development provides an accessible, critical and integrated examination of local and regional development theory, institutions and policy in this changing context. Amidst its rising importance, the book addresses the fundamental issues of 'what kind of local and regional development and for whom?', its purposes, principles and values, frameworks of understanding, approaches and interventions, and integrated approaches to local and regional development throughout the world. The approach provides a theoretically informed, critical analysis of contemporary local and regional development in an international and multi-disciplinary context, grounded in concrete empirical analysis from experiences in the global North and South. It concludes by identifying what might constitute holistic, inclusive, progressive and sustainable local and regional development, and reflecting upon its limits and political renewal.