Introduction: New Frontiers in Regional Science

Abstract

In this first volume of the tribute to Walter Isard we have sought to present papers by leading scholars which, in the Isardian tradition, propound new theoretical problems in regional science, new theoretical approaches to the solution of old problems, or new theoretical challenges to established conceptions of old problems. An ‘appreciative dissatisfaction’ with existing modes of viewing regional reality and of seeking new theses and syntheses in a creative dialectic are hallmarks of Walter Isard’s leadership. Most frequently, the lens through which he probed beneath the surface of such perceptions of regional reality was that of a relevant theory, frequently of his own construction. This volume is a witness to and an appreciation of his example.