Regional science: Directions for the future

Abstract

Academic disciplines evolve and regional science is no exception. Physics, French or economics changes over time but at the end of the day (or decade), they remain physics, French or economics. But regional science is different; it can take on the perspectives of geography, economics, planning, or other social sciences. At its best, perhaps regional science is a composite of these; many therefore think that the inevitable tension between these content areas and scientific and non-scientific orientations is not only healthy but is also essential. Balancing perspectives and managing tensions in a discipline where both basic and applied research is appropriate is challenging. Combine this with the fact of rapid change and increased competition for limited resources in academic institutions with regional science programmes. From this starting point it seems worthwhile to revisit how we manage regional science and position it within our universities and within our graduates’ job markets. We propose a model sensitive to both the supply side and the demand side, which indicates that we proactively cultivate markets within and outside educational institutions. We discuss the need for introductory regional science courses at the undergraduate level and for programmes at the masters and Ph.D. levels that transfer existing knowledge and prepare the next generation for intellectual and technical leadership in the field of regional science.

We would like to thank the colleagues who offered comments on various drafts of this article. We are especially grateful to Professor William M. Bowen, Dr. Lorraine Craig, Gérard Widmer, and the anonymous reviewers and guest-editors for detailed and thoughtful suggestions.