2025 was a busy year for regional studies scholars and practitioners worldwide. From conferences and workshops to partnerships and research initiatives, the year reflected the continued relevance of regional studies in addressing pressing global and local challenges. Many regions helped celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the RSA. Across continents, RSA territories organised events and activities […]
The Regional Studies Association announces the departure of Alan Kinder as Chief Executive Officer of the RSA. We want to thank Alan for the role he played during his time as CEO, during which he oversaw an important number of important internal changes and helped to form the RSA’s strategy moving forward. We wish Alan […]
Having our journals online means articles are easier to access and have a smaller environmental footprint. To access journal content, please log in through RSA Lounge and head to the Publications tab. Here you can find the latest issues, articles, and journal updates. With improved search tools, quicker updates, and the flexibility to read anytime, […]
Regional Studies, Regional Science (RSRS) is an open access journal covering regional and urban issues in geography, economics, regional science, environmental studies, planning and governance. It explores a wide range of topics across the social sciences at various spatial scales, generally subnational (such as metropolitan regions and planning regions), but can cross jurisdictional boundaries (such […]
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) invites members, partners, and the wider regional research community to attend the public launch of the new 2026–2030 RSA Strategy in January 2026. This live online event will offer attendees a first look at the Association’s refreshed vision and priorities for the next four years, and provide an open forum […]
The global reach of policy and academic research on entrepreneurship by disabled people was the theme of the recent webinar on the Regional Studies Policy Impact Book: A Seat at the Table: A place for disabled entrepreneurs edited by Helen Lawton Smith, Connie L. McNeely, Jacqueline Winstanley, and Ayse Seyyide Kaptaner Demirhan. The Chair Alan […]
The RSA Board and staff at the RSA Office wish all our members and the wider regional studies community a very happy festive season and a peaceful start to 2026. We are excited about our programme of online and in-person events in 2026 and hope you can join us. These include free webinars, in-person conferences, […]
RSA Blog Series Call for Blogs Historical Regions: Same Place and Changing Policies, Politics and People Deadline: 20 December 2025 Introduction Across the world, regions are shaped not only by their contemporary boundaries but also by the layered traces of history, ambition, and governance. This blog series invites reflections on how the same place acquires […]
Watch as Lavanya Gupta, RSA Blog Editor, presents the 2025 RSA Best Blog Award to Ayush Srivastava and Asma Sayyad, both of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, for their blog entitled Tide and Territory: Vernacular Regionality in Maharashtra’s Koli Fishing Communities.
The Regional Futures Conference 2025 took place in London this month, bringing together around 250 participants from 35 countries. Over two days, participants engaged in 47 parallel sessions, two plenary lectures, and two major panel sessions, exploring themes ranging from industrial investment and regional inequality to sustainable development, digital infrastructure, global value chains (GVCs), regional […]
Professor Philip McCann, Sir Terry Leahy Chair in Urban and Regional Economics at Alliance Manchester Business School and a leading researcher at the Productivity Institute, has been awarded the Walter Isard Award for Scholarly Achievement, the highest honour given by the North American Regional Science Council. McCann, a long-standing member and Fellow of the Regional […]
Ahead of the Regional Futures Conference, the RSA Women’s Network held a workshop on 12 November. This revolved all around tips for career development and planning. For the first time, the workshop was held as a hybrid event, with participants joining from all over the world as well as in person in London. The workshop […]
We are delighted to introduce the Regional Studies Association Knowbot to our website. You may have noticed a new “Have a question? Ask Knowbot” link at the top of our main webpages. This feature takes you directly to the RSA Knowbot, an AI-powered assistant designed to help you find information quickly and easily. Whether you […]
Marking the 10th anniversary of the RSA Latin America Division, the 2025 RSA Latin America Division Conference brought together scholars, policymakers, and community leaders to explore how local and regional development can adapt to a rapidly changing world. Participants engaged in discussions spanning topics such as digitalisation and AI, sustainable regional development, governance, labour markets, […]
Thursday, November 13, 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM GMT The new publication from the RSA Policy Impact series, A seat at the table: A place for disabled entrepreneurs and innovators, will officially launch on Thursday, November 13, during a special session at the Regional Futures Conference. Edited by Helen Lawton Smith, Connie L. McNeely, Jacqueline […]
The RSA Sir Peter Hall Award is a significant honour of the Regional Studies Association, recognising outstanding and lasting contributions to regional studies through research, policy, or practice. The award is named in memory of Sir Peter Hall, one of the most influential regional and urban studies figures. It celebrates individuals whose work reflects his legacy […]
We are pleased to announce that the RSA Board have agreed funding for the RSA Research Network on Green(ing) Global Value Chains for Sustainable Regional Development (GGVC4SRD). The Green Transition presents significant economic, institutional and political shifts, challenging our understanding of sustainable regional development. Green Global Value Chains (GGVCs) and their actors, such as lead […]
The RSA 60th Anniversary Workshop on “Inclusive Innovation for Regional Futures” successfully convened around 70 participants, including leading academics, policymakers, and practitioners at Alliance Manchester Business School on 30th September 2025. The event explored critical questions around designing regional innovation ecosystems and policies that deliver economic competitiveness whilst addressing social and ecological imperatives. Richard Jones […]
We are pleased to announce that we will run a special track (i.e., set of research paper panels) at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Urban Affairs Association (UAA), taking place from April 29 – May 2, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. The session, titled The City-Region Reimagined: Intersections of Theory, Policy, Practice, and Place, will […]
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) 60th Anniversary Commemorative Session in Brazil took place during the XXX Regional Economics Meeting, organised by the National Association of Graduate Centres in Economics (ANPEC) in Aracaju, Brazil. The event aimed to mobilise both the academic and policy communities around pressing issues related to regional development and brought together a […]
Call for Proposals for the Regional Studies Association’s Regions & Cities Book Series Published by Routledge Places, Networks, and Uneven Spatial Development Regions and cities develop unevenly, within and without, and value is created spatially across their unevenness through places and networks. Regions and cities are sub- and supra-national geographies, often with contested, overlapping boundaries, […]
Publishing Open Access in RSA journals Authors can choose to publish Open Access in any of the RSA’s journals, either by selecting the Open Access publication route when publishing in one of our hybrid journals or by publishing in the RSA’s flagship Gold Open Access journal, Regional Studies, Regional Science. A complete list of the […]
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) is delighted to announce the award of Honorary Membership to three distinguished members of our community: Elisa Roller, Pedro Amaral, and Sally Hardy. Honorary Membership recognises individuals who have demonstrated exceptional and sustained service to the Association and who have made significant contributions to the field of regional studies. The award […]
The 2025 Annual Conference of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) China Division was successfully held at the College of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, between 19–21 September 2025. The conference brought together over 180 scholars from more than 80 leading universities and institutes worldwide, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, […]