The first years of the 90s have witnessed thorough political and economic changes in northern Europe. The long period of strong political separation between east and west and the less strong economic separation between the northern and southern sides of the Baltic Sea seemed to be replaced by far-reaching integration. There is no doubt that further integration will have additional impacts on the regional patterns in northern Europe. The amplitude and composition of these changes are difficult to project. In this volume a number of scholars in regional science and related disciplines (geography, economics, environmental and political sciences, planning) have brought together important material on the current processes that reshapes northern Europe. Visions andstrategies on local, national and supranational levels are penetrated in depth. A "mosaic" vision of the regional development pattern emerges highlighting the importance of cooperative and competitive strategies affecting the local conditions of European regions.

This book is written primarily for a Scandinavian and European audience interested in regional policy and planning. Attention is placed on the transformation process in the Swedish economy and its implications for regional balances of socio-economic conditions and changes in spatial structures. Conditions in the United States, especially North Carolina, are used as a reference. The book is based on work originating within the framework of an international forum for exchange of ideas and co-operation between researchers, planners and practitioners, The Consortium for the Study of Perceived Planning Issues in Marginal Areas -PIMA. The group was established in 1989 and is interested in various aspects of marginal areas defined either in locational or developmental terms. Members of the core group represent universities in the United States, Sweden and Ireland. During recent years a subgroup within PIMA has focused attention on studies of areas located between urban centres and rural peripheries. These areas have been labelled Intermediate Socio-econornic Regions - ISER. Joint work between Sweden and North Carolina of a comparative nature has been conducted by the authors of this book and Professor Ole Gade and some of his students at Appalachian State University, North Carolina. This work has been published in proceedings from PIMA meetings (Planning Issues in Marginal Areas, Boone: Ole Gade, Vincent P. Miller Jr. and Lawrence M. Sommers, eds. 1991; Planning and Development of Marginal Areas, Galway: Micheal O'Cinneide and Seamus Grimes, eds.