Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography

Regional Development in Peripheral Places – Integrating Economic Perspectives with Place-Based and Agency-Centred Approaches

Regional Development in Peripheral Places – Integrating Economic Perspectives with Place-Based and Agency-Centred Approaches

Call for Papers: Integrating Economic and Place-Based Perspectives on Peripheral Development

Contemporary non-metropolitan and peripheral regions are navigating a complex landscape of globalisation-driven pressures, rapid technological restructuring, and demographic shifts. While traditional models emphasise the primacy of urban agglomeration (Duranton & Puga, 2004), recent evidence (e.g. Pike et al., 2011; Rodríguez-Pose, 2013) indicates that many peripheral territories exhibit significant structural resilience and distinct evolutionary trajectories that challenge standard growth paradigms. An increasing number of studies and publications are focusing on innovation beyond agglomerations, and the focus on exploiting growth potential is being contested, and other types of goals as well-being (Randolph & Currid-Halkett, 2022), social and cultural values (Leick & Lang, 2018), are highlighted as important in a sustainable and resilient policy perspective (Syssner & Erlingsson, 2023). 

Current research, however, remains characterised by a degree of theoretical fragmentation. Research often bifurcates into siloed analyses: focusing either on economic drivers (e.g., innovation systems, human capital, labour market dynamics) or on more place-based dimensions (e.g., institutional governance, quality of life, and social cohesion).

However, regional development processes are not just purely economistic processes, but rather a conflictual process in which different opinions or even divergent views emerge and compete through different language relationships (Calignano & Nilsen, 2024). This special issue, therefore, seeks to synthesise these perspectives by examining the multi-dimensional interactions between social, environmental, and economic processes. We specifically aim to explore how structural conditions intersect with localised agency, place-based identity, and spatially anchored capital to influence regional outcomes.

By moving beyond deficit-based frameworks, this issue invites contributions that investigate how non-metropolitan territories leverage territorial rationality and endogenous agency to secure their long-term economic trajectories. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological papers that bridge the divide between economic and place-based scholarship to provide a more holistic understanding of development in the periphery.

References

Calignano, G., & Nilsen, T. (2024). Regional development is not a dinner party: a research agenda on power relations and the use of language in regional development studies. GeoJournal, 89(2), 74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-024-11075-w

Duranton, G., & Puga, D. (2004). Micro foundations of agglomeration economies. In J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (Eds.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics (Vol. 4, pp. 2063-2117). Elsevier.

Leick, B., & Lang, T. (2018). Re-thinking non-core regions: planning strategies and practices beyond growth. European planning studies, 26(2), 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2017.1363398

Pike, A., Rodríguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J., Rodríguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J., & Pike, A. (2011). Introduction: A handbook of local and regional development. In (1 ed., pp. 1-14). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203842393-1

Randolph, G. F., & Currid-Halkett, E. (2022). Planning in the Era of Regional Divergence: Place, Scale, and Development in Confronting Spatial Inequalities [Article]. Journal of the American Planning Association, 88(2), 245-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2021.1935302

Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2013). Do Institutions Matter for Regional Development? Regional studies, 47(7), 1034-1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2012.748978

Syssner, J., & Erlingsson, G. Ó. (2023). Place-based policies for the periphery? Policies for local development in sparsely populated areas in northern Sweden. Local Economy, 38(8), 794-803. https://doi.org/10.1177/02690942241275950