One of the Possible Approaches to Integrated Regional Development Problem Analysis

In the last 10-15 years much work devoted to the problem of regional economic modeling was fulfilled both in countries with planned economies and those with market economies. This work differs by the objectives, complexity, time horizons, and extent of interregional problem analysis, applied tools and so on. It seems that the time has come to start comparative analysis of this work with the main aim to generalize elaborated approaches to the solution of the whole problem and methods which are used to solve particular parts of it. As a result one or more systems of models with a more general-and as far as possible universal -- description of a subsystem may be constructed. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) seems to be the most appropriate place in which to try to organize this kind of exploration. Having the feasibility to organize an international team of scholars who represent different schools and directions of exploration, cooperating with the scientists from East and West, organizing international conferences and workshops, IIASA seems to be the natural center for this cooperative activity. Undoubtedly, the activities might be fruitful only if cooperation with national institutions and other international organizations -- the Regional Science Association is one of the first -- is installed. Nevertheless, several years of cooperative activity are needed to obtain the first practical results in order to achieve mutual understanding of the approaches and apparatus which correspond to the conditions in different countries

Guidelines for the Elaboration of the Subsystem: Regional Water Supply

The regional water supply model must be one of the blocks of the system of models for regional planning. The main ideas of the common approach for the construction of this system were described in the report to the XIII European Congress of the Regional Science Association, Krakow, Poland, August 1977. The central idea of one of the possible approaches consists of the following: a plan of perspective development is elaborated by the region using special functions which accumulate an effect of manufacture of the main (base) products in the region under analysis. These functions of effect per unit of resource (for example per unit of labour) can be constructed on the basis of sectoral optimization models and a system of marginal costs (prices) of the regional products. In this scheme the choice of the level of regional activities can be made as a result of the coordination of all kinds of activities with the help of a number of "effect" functions. Another approach is based on the assumption that sectoral or other calculations can give the opportunity to fix the level of regional production for the future. The first of these approaches is laid in the core of the analyses because the second one can be seen as a particular case. The regional water supply model must supply other blocks (subsystems) of the IRD model with the information which is needed for the solution of the following tasks: (a) the choice of directions of regional economic specialization and calculation of the growth rate; (b) the solution of the tasks of intraregional location of the industry and agriculture, the growth of the urban and rural settlements network, etc; and (c) the verification of the allowance of the assigned variants within permissible limits of future regional and sub-regional growth

Linkage of Regional Models

For several years the activities of the Regional Development Task at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have been directed towards the development of a system of regional models, the elements of which were elaborated over. the period 1977-1979. The final stage of the work, which involves the coordination of these individually developed models, is now nearing completion. However, before this system can become fully operational, three major problems have to be overcome. They concern the modeling approach, level of aggregation, and method of coordination to be used. The linkage problem is examined in this paper

An Approach to the Construction of the Regional Water Resource Model

The contemporary analysis of regional development is unthinkable without taking into account the water resource factor. Many specific properties of the regional water resource model developed for this purpose result from that information about water resources which is necessary for the regional planner. In actual fact, he wouldlike to know not so much what the water supply or quality management system should be, as what the influence of water resource availability on regional development is. In the present approach such an influence is implemented through the mechanism of the total cost associated with the creation of regional water supply and treatment systems as well as the marginal water costs distributed geographically. The regional water resource model below consists of the two interconnected systems: water supply and water quality management. Many general statements are implemented for the Silistra Case Study and submitted in the conclusive section

NOTEC REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT- Proceedings of Task Force Meeting I on Notec Regional Development

The first Task Force Meeting on Notec (Poland) regional development was held at IIASA, Schloss Laxenburg, Austria, May 10-11, 1978, with joint cooperation between the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and a group of prominent Polish scholars. The principal aim of this meeting was to clarify the main problems of this region to international scholars and to discuss the possibilities of their solution. A broad spectrum of intraregional problems, starting from water supply touching regional agriculture and industrial development, migration processes, development of urban and rural settlement systems, was discussed. The results of these discussions serve as a good introduction in problem understanding and promote the choice of the interdependent core problems to be solved

The Strategy of Future Regional Economic Growth

A Task Force Meeting was held by IIASA at Schloss Laxenburg, Austria, April 19-21, 1977, on integrated regional development (IRD). The main aim of this meeting was to clarify the possibilities of the generalization of international experience in studying the problem and to elaborate the corresponding mathematical tools. A broad spectrum of regional problems, starting from theoretical analysis and ending with proposals for the organization of practical case studies, was discussed. The focus was on problems of feasibility of constructing a generalized system of models, interregional equality of access to services, and coordination between national and regional goals, among others. Also, the problems of interaction between IRD work and other IIASA activities (resources, human settlements, management problems) were brought up. In the results of the discussion some conclusions on the development of theoretical analysis in parallel with practical work on mathematical models were made

Regional Development Modeling: Theory and Practice

This volume contains a collection of papers presented at IIASA's conference on "Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Regional Development Modelling". Of the 50 papers presented , 26 were selected for publication, in such a way as to strike a balance between theory and application of regional systems analysis. The book is divided into seven parts. After an introduction, the second and third parts contain overviews of current modelling practice and planned economies. In the next two parts, the focus shifts to the theoretical problems encountered in structural and multi-objective analysis of regional systems. The final two sections contain examples of regional development models currently ready for use or in operation and analyze the success of these models in clarifying regional planning and policy problems

Regional Systems Analysis Applied to the Silistra Region of Bulgaria - A Progress Report

Regional policy problems are universal. This means that all countries need good methods for analyzing and solving their regional problems. Models for regional policy making and planning have also been worked out in scientific institutions. It is obvious that these abstract models are often not specific enough to be used in policy making but have to be adapted to the institutional, historical and natural conditions of the specific region to be planned. It is also necessary to integrate the models within a comprehensive system analytical framework. It is one of the ambitions with the Silistra regional case study reported in this paper, to test the possibility of applying regional policy models, developed in Bulgaria, at IIASA and elsewhere, to the solution of the Silistra development problems and to regional planning issues in other Bulgarian regions. This paper describes briefly the work undertaken by scholars within the Regional Development Task and elsewhere at IIASA on this topic

Generalized Regional Agriculture Model (GRAM): Basic Version

The Generalized Regional Agriculture Model (GRAM) presented in this paper is to form part of a system of regional models. It is not intended as a specialized agriculture model but rather as a means of reflecting the agricultural sector in the model system. This model, being general, may be used in various socioeconomic systems and yet it is sufficiently detailed to be capable of providing practical results. The main purpose of the model is to solve, by means of linear programming, large-scale problems of regional agricultural specialization. It has been designed to include all significant feedbacks and results from the other models in the system. Information will be transferred both directly and indirectly from these other models to GRAM and vice versa. GRAM includes a comprehensive description of factors such as land use, production structure, animal-feed rations, technology choices, and availability of resources. These factors affect decisions about agricultural specialization. The model includes both monetary and nonmonetary objective functions