Territories Categories: England

The Report of An Inquiry into Regional Problems in the United Kingdom was published subsequent to an examination, by the Association, of the changing regional problem.

The first issue of the Newsletter was sent to members, and a programme of five meeting took place in London. Regional branches were formed in Scotland, Yorkshire and Humberside, and East Anglia.

A decision was taken to establish the Regional Studies Association, and a Steering Committee was formed

The International Centre for Regional Planning and Development (ICRPD) was formed

At the close of the 1970s, the Association’s conference entitled ‘The Death of Regional Policy’ held in Glasgow seemed prophetic. Shortly afterwards, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative administration won the 1979 general election and regional economic planning was challenged like never before as power was drawn to the centre.

As the Association adapted to this changing environment, it proclaimed a continued need for its work when, in 1973, Britain entered the European Economic Community (EEC). However, with the return to power of Wilson’s Labour party in 1974, a range of institutional innovations, such as the National Enterprise Board, were introduced as the national economy […]

One of the first goals of the Steering Committee was to establish a quality, peer reviewed publication to disseminate regional research. Following successful negotiations with Pergamon Press, Regional Studies was launched in May 1967 under the editorship of Peter Hall – a major landmark in the Association’s development as a learned society.

The British Group of ICRPD was dissolved, and the inaugural meeting of the Association was held on 9th April. The first conference, entitled Regional Planning in Britain, followed on 9th October, 1965 succeeded in bringing together a mix of academics from varied disciplines along with those from policy and practice.

Organisers: Martin Sokol, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Zoltán Gál, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary Dariusz Wójcik, University of Oxford, UK David Bassens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium The RSA Research Network on Financial Geographies has operated with RSA support under the auspices of the Global Network on Financial Geography (FinGeo), launched in Oxford in 2015 (building on a […]

The Chair of the RSA East of England Branch, Pete Tyler is Professor, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge and Director of Studies in Land Economy at St. Catharine’s College Peter Tyler is a Professor in Urban and Regional Economics. He has been a Project Director for over seventy major research projects for Government, […]

Lesa has worked at the Regional Studies Association since February 2012; arriving with over 20 years of experience in events and conferences management for a variety of organisations in London and the South East, covering disciplines such as fashion and education as well as those concerned with important governmental issues. Lesa made an immediate impact […]

Sally Hardy is the outgoing Chief Executive of the Regional Studies Association. She began her career at the Economic and Social Research Council where she worked as a Scientific Officer in the Industry and Employment Committee dispensing funding to UK based social science academics. Sally moved to the Regional Studies Association where she has been […]

Professor Ron Martin is Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Cambridge. His main research interests include the geographies of labour markets; regional development and competitiveness; the geographies of money and finance; geographical economics; and evolutionary economic geography. He has published some 35 books and monographs, and 200 articles, on these and related themes. […]

Mark is UCL Bartlett Professor of Cities and Regions at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London. He was previously Professor of Town Planning at Newcastle University (2012-20), and Professor of Spatial Planning and Governance at UCL (2001-12). Mark is a recognised authority and has written extensively on place innovation, urban and regional […]

We invite you to join us for dinner and our Annual Awards Ceremony to celebrate contributions to the field, both at personal and institutional levels. The President’s Event will be held on the evening of  14th November from 19.30pm at the Booker Suite in the Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury.  The evening will begin with welcome drinks followed […]