68 research outputs found
Revisiting the Old Industrial Region: Adaptation and Adjustment in an Integrating Europe
The position of old industrial regions (OIRs) has been neglected in recent regional
development research, partly as a result of dominant discourses concerned with concepts
such as the knowledge economy, learning regions and the new regionalism. One outcome
of this conceptual overload is that empirical research has typically been confined to all
too familiar case studies of regional success that tell a rather partial story. Yet the
extension of the European integration project eastwards alongside growing competition
from the urban and regional âhotspotsâ of the global south prompts a series of largely
unconsidered questions about the ability of OIRs to achieve sustainable economic
development and social cohesion in the years ahead. Lacking the capital, technological
and labour assets of more dynamic cities and regions, and with the historic legacy of
deindustrialisation and the decline of traditional sectors, OIRs face some important
dilemmas of adjustment and adaptation.
In this paper our purpose is to engage with these issues through some preliminary
empirical research into the recent fortunes of OIRs in Western Europeâs largest
economies: France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Drawing upon material from the
Eurostat database, our results hint at interesting patterns of divergence in the performance
of OIRs in terms of processes of economic restructuring, employment change and social
cohesion. In particular some important variations emerge in the trajectory of regions
within different national contexts. Drawing upon recent thinking relating to commodity
chains and global production networks, our results lead us to pose a series of questions
that relate to the way regions are being repositioned within broader political and
economic networks as part of unfolding processes of uneven development and changing
spatial divisions of labour
Evolution in Economic Geography: Institutions, Regional Adaptation and Political Economy
Economic geography has, over the last decade or so, drawn upon ideas from
evolutionary economics in trying to understand processes of regional growth and
change, with the concept of path dependence assuming particular prominence.
Recently, some prominent researchers have sought to delimit and develop an
evolutionary economic geography (EEG) as a distinct approach, aiming to create a
more coherent and systematic theoretical framework for research. This paper
contributes to debates on the nature and development of EEG. It has two main aims.
First, we seek to restore a broader conception of social institutions and agency to
EEG, informed by the recent writings of institutional economists like Geoffrey
Hodgson. Second, we link evolutionary concepts to political economy approaches,
arguing that the evolution of the economic landscape must be related to the broader
dynamics of capital accumulation, centred upon the creation, realisation and
geographical transfer of value. As such, we favour the utilisation of evolutionary and
institutional concepts within a geographical political economy approach rather than
the construction of a separate and theoretically âpureâ EEG; evolution in economic
geography, not an evolutionary economic geography
Technology legitimation and strategic coupling: A cross-national study of floating wind power in Norway and Scotland
Building upon recent work in sustainability transitions studies and economic geography, this paper is concerned with the process of legitimation by which emerging technologies are aligned with broader societal rules and norms. Challenging the assumption of earlier research that legitimation occurs within regional and national borders, the paper views legitimation as set of transregional processes whereby the actors behind emerging technologies seek support from different regional and national organizations on an international basis. Inspired by the Global Production Networks (GPN) approach, the paper argues that technology legitimation can be understood as a trans-regional process of strategic coupling between the strategic needs of the industrial actors advancing new technologies and the efforts of national and regional organizations to promote their territories as leading nodes in emerging production networks. Empirically, the paper adopts a micro-level focus on the legitimation of a particular renewable energy technology: the Hywind floating wind power (FWP) technology, developed by the Norwegian energy firm, Equinor. The paper shows that the FWP technology was gradually legitimated in a pragmatic sense over the three stages of Hywind. The demonstration phase generated a temporary and conditional form of legitimacy at an intra-national scale, while the next phase, Hywind Scotland, generated a stronger and more durable form of legitimacy as the worldâs first floating wind farm. This led to the internalisation of legitimacy from outside into the Norwegian energy regime (absorption) in the third stage of Hywind Tampen.publishedVersio
Making Sense of the Northern Powerhouse
The Northern Powerhouse (NPh) is a UK government initiative for increasing the economic competiveness of the North of England launched by the former Chancellor, George Osborne in 2014. Informed by the new urban economics and the importance of agglomeration and urban scale and density in fostering competitiveness, the NPh sought to pool the strengths of the Northern core cites, principally Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield, as a kind of transformative urban counter-weight to London. This article aims to assess the nature and wider significance of the NPh, considering its evolution and impact since 2014. It argues that the NPh is a spatial economic narrative that has gained the support of a wide range of Northern interests, but that its coherence and implementation has been undermined by a lack of national government commitment and leadership since 2016.La Northern Powerhouse est une initiative du gouvernement britannique visant Ă accroĂźtre la compĂ©titivitĂ© Ă©conomique du nord de lâAngleterre. LancĂ©e par lâancien Ministre des finances, George Osborne en 2014, elle se base sur les principes de la Nouvelle Economie Urbaine et donc sur lâimportance des effets dâagglomĂ©ration, dâĂ©chelle et de densitĂ© urbaine en vue de promouvoir la compĂ©titivitĂ©. En mettant en commun les forces des villes clĂ©s du Nord (principalement Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool et Sheffield), la Northern Powerhouse a cherchĂ© Ă susciter une dynamique urbaine transformatrice en mesure de contrebalancer le poids de Londres. Lâarticle analyse en quoi consiste la Northern Powerhouse, en considĂ©rant son Ă©volution et son impact depuis 2014. Il avance que la Northern Powerhouse constitue avant tout un discours sur lâĂ©conomie spatiale ayant ralliĂ© le soutien dâun grand nombre dâintĂȘrĂȘts au nord de lâAngleterre mais dont la cohĂ©rence et la mise en oeuvre ont Ă©tĂ© mises Ă mal par un manque dâengagement et de leadership du gouvernement britannique depuis 2016
Devolution and Regional Development in the United Kingdom
Since the 1970s, many different governments around the world have sought to transfer power to sub-state governments, meaning that devolution has become a key âglobal trendâ of recent decades (Rodriguez-Pose and Gill, 2003). The term devolution can be defined as a form of political decentralisation, involving a âtransfer of power downwards to political authorities at immediate or local levelsâ (Agranoff, 2004, p.26). Devolution has introduced in response to pressures exerted on established states from both âbelowâ and âaboveâ, referring to demands from regions within the state for more say over their own affairs and the effects of processes of globalisation and supra-national integration respectively (Keating, 1997; Tomaney, 2000). Arguments for devolution have variously stressed questions of identity in relation to the recognition of minority groups, governance in terms of creating more effective political institutions, and the economy by allowing regions to adapt to changes in the economic environment and to fulfil their economic potential (Rodriguez-Pose and Sandall, 2008)
Rethinking path creation: a geographical political economy approach
A burgeoning strand of evolutionary economic geography (EEG) research is addressing questions of regional path creation, based on the idea that place-specific legacies and conditions play a critical role in supporting the emergence of new economic activities. Yet there has been little effort thus far to take stock of this emerging body of research. In response, the aims of this article are to offer a fresh synthesis of recent work and to develop a broader theoretical framework to inform future research. First, it presents a critical appraisal of the state of the art in path creation research. In an effort to address identified gaps in EEG research, this incorporates insights from sociological perspectives, the global production networks approach, and transition studies. Second, the articleâs development of a systematic theoretical framework is based on the identification of key dimensions of path creation and their constitutive interrelations. This contribution is underpinned by a geographical political economy (GPE) approach that provides the ontological basis for the integration of the five key dimensions of path creation within an overarching framework and the positioning of regional processes in relation to the broader dynamics of uneven development. Informed by GPE, the argument is that knowledgeable actors, operating within multiscalar institutional environments, create paths through the strategic coupling of regional and extraregional assets to mechanisms of path creation and associated markets. To inform further research, the article outlines four concrete propositions regarding the operation of path creation processes in different types of regions and explores these through case studies of Berlin and Pittsburgh
Globalisation, labour markets and communities in contemporary Britain
Conventional approaches to globalisation assume that increased global connections are a source of opportunity and empowerment. Through interviews and focus groups with people in three UK communities (north-east Lincolnshire, Greater Glasgow and west London/'Heathrow Village'), this study examines experiences of, and responses to, globalisation in the aftermath of the recession
Intervening in globalization: the spatial possibilities and institutional barriers to labourâs collective agency
Trade unions are facing a series of challenges around place-based forms of work in industries such as construction, transport and public services. New spatial strategies by employers involving corporate reorganization, increased outsourcing and the use of migrant labour, allied to a deepening of neoliberal governance processes are accelerating a race to the bottom in wages and conditions. Drawing upon the experience of two recent labour disputes in the UKâat Heathrow Airport and Lindsey Oil Refineryâwe explore the potential for workers to intervene in such globalizing processes. We highlight both the ability of grassroots workers to mobilize their own spatial networks but also their limitations in an increasingly hostile neoliberal landscape
Reframing urban and regional 'development' for 'left behind' places
The recent wave of populism has focused attention on âleft behindâ places as hotspots of discontent. Seeking to remedy their neglect in urban and regional studies, the aim of this paper is to engage with the problems of âleft behindâ places and to stimulate fresh thinking about alternative approaches. Reflecting the complex and inter-connected issues facing such places, it argues that a new conception is required to address issues of belonging and attachment. The paper outlines the basis of an expanded neo-endogenous development approach, identifying the foundational economy, income and livelihoods, social infrastructures and social innovation as key policy concerns
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