Welcome message from the RSA Ambassador to Chile, Miguel Atienza
As Ambassador of the RSA in Chile I would like to welcome you to the Regional Studies Association (RSA). I intend to promote and develop RSA activities in Chile and Latin America so keep in touch with me if you have any queries about the RSA. My fields of research are the development of peripheral regions particularly in relation to extractive activities and the effect of multinationals and also the analysis of the effect of spatial concentration on national growth and development.
Como embajador de la RSA en Chile, les doy la bienvenida a la Asociación de Estudios Regionales (RSA). Pretendo promover y desarrollar las actividades de la RSA en Chile y América Latino por lo tanto pónganse en contacto conmigo si tienen alguna consulta sobre la RSA. Mis áreas de estudio son el desarrollo de regiones periféricas especialmente en relación con las actividades extractivas y el efecto de las multinacionales, y también el análisis del efecto de la concentración en el crecimiento y desarrollo nacional.
Upcoming Events
2023 RSA Annual Conference Special Sessions
2023 RSA Annual Conference “Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places” – Ljubljana, Slovenia – 14 June 2023
The Regional Studies Association’s Annual Conference 2023 #RSA23 will be our largest knowledge exchange and networking gathering in 2023. It is being held in partnership with the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. This four-day conference brings together academics and policymakers to exchange news, views and research findings from the fields of regional studies and science, regional and economic development, policy and planning. There will be representation from around 50 different global territories as we gather both established experts and early career researchers in the beautiful city of Ljubljana.
As part of the 2023 RSA Annual Conference, there will be a number of Special Sessions running throughout the academic programme. The RSA Ambassador to Chile, Miguel Atienza is one of the organisers of SS25: From New Industrial Path Development to Regional Development Outcomes.
Session Description:
The study of how new regional industrial paths develop is a key topic in economic geography. In the last years, a number of important conceptual advancements and constantly growing empirical insights from distinct cases have contributed to refine our understanding of new industrial path development. One major reason for this interest is that new paths are perceived to generate positive regional development outcomes. However, up to now we know surprisingly little about the short- and long-term economic and social effects for regions. Existing studies on new path development tend not to make a link to such regional development outcomes. Although a new regional industrial path has the potential to generate substantial economic gains – both directly (e.g. employment generation, firm entries, etc.) as well as indirectly (e.g. knowledge spillover, production linkages, etc.) – recent research also points to possible ‘dark sides’ of new industrial path development (MacKinnon et al. 2019; Breul et al. 2021; Morales & Atienza 2022). In other words, the development of a new industrial path cannot automatically be interpreted as a positive regional economic or social outcome. The emergence of new industrial paths can lead to displacements, such as in the form of resource movement effects or through processes of creative destruction, that can have mixed socio-economic implications for regional economies. This points to the important role for policy, also beyond supporting the creation of new industrial paths, to optimize its socio-economic outcomes throughout the region, and for different groups in society.
This Special Session sets out to improve our understanding of the conditions under which new industrial path development contributes to what kind of regional economic and social development and for whom.
The Special Session thereby aims to contribute to a significant shortfall in the existing stream of research on regional diversification and regional industrial path development, which Kogler noted “should move to the top of the research priorities list” (2017, p. 366). This advancement would provide the current debate the required directionality to address critical challenges, such as the need to transform regional economies via green industrial path development or the creation of economic opportunities in so-called places that ‘don’t matter’.
We invite submissions that elaborate how to link the study of new industrial path development with a developmental perspective, both conceptually and methodologically. Possible topics include but are not limited to:
• Conceptual contributions that link path development with a developmental perspective
• Methodological approaches that allow to grasp the regional economic, environmental, and social consequences of new industrial path development
• Analyses of inter-path relations (synergies, resource movement effects, path reformation processes)
• Exclusion in path development processes
• Value capture and distribution in new path development
• Role of policies for shifting new path development towards environmental and societal outcomes
• Discussions on the ‘desirability’ of paths for regions
• Theoretical and empirical analysis of potential negative forms of new path development
• Role of agency in a broader perspective of regional development
Session Organisers:
Markus Grillitsch, Department of Human Geography and CIRCLE, Lund, Sweden
Moritz Breu,l University of Cologne, Germany
Miguel Atienza, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile
Rhiannon Pugh, CIRCLE, Lund, Sweden
If you would like to submit an abstract to this sessions, or any other special session at the conference, please submit your abstract in the normal way – you will find each session listed in the gateway themes on the abstract submission page.