Regional development has become an international priority for both governments and the private sector. It is often defined as a process that leads to the accumulation of economic and social capital in a region. This can take place in the form of economic growth and the creation of employment, as well as the enhancement of social welfare and quality of life.
A substantial body of research in geographical literature focuses on regional development. It largely follows two influential theoretical perspectives. The first, called evolutionary economic geography (EEG), attributes a dominant role to the firms that shape economic landscapes and determine successful regional development dynamics. The second, called regional innovation systems (RIS), views regions as agglomerations of economic actors that can generate new development paths depending on the specific set of assets, economy of scale, level of networking and capabilities and institutions possessed by a given region.
Although these approaches have a great deal in common, they often neglect to address noneconomic factors and issues that play an important role in shaping regional development trajectories. For example, they tend to view externalities and information asymmetries as unavoidable constraints of market economies rather than as elements that can be changed.
It is for this reason that we argue in this article that it is time to move beyond these two dominant perspectives and adopt a more holistic approach to regional development. We call for a greater attention to political and power struggles in the analysis of regional development processes.
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