Spatial analysis of economic systems and land use change

Abstract

For many years now, the Regional Science Association International has been one of the primary homes for basic and applied spatial analysis research. Personal experience and numerous conversations with distinguished colleagues have convinced me of the fact that many key developments in the field have been originally conceived, discussed, refined, and finally disseminated, in one of the various meetings of the Association throughout the world. Such was the case I think of the 2007 North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International in Toronto, a conference where there were 13 dedicated sessions to the topic of spatial statistics and spatial econometrics. These sessions, that I co-organized with my colleagues Julie Le Gallo (Universite de Franche-Comte), Ron Buliung (University of Toronto at Mississauga), and Sandy Dall’Erba (University of Arizona), gave evidence, if any was needed, of the vitality of the field. It is from these sessions that the selection of papers for the current theme issue is drawn, and that I am pleased to introduce here. The original intention of the theme issue, after seeing the robust response to the call for papers for the meetings, was to highlight, after the issue guest-edited by Arbia and Fingleton (2008), new developments and applications in spatial statistics and econometrics. As luck and the reviewing process would have it, the theme issue coalesced around parallel clusters: methodologically, the study of continuous and discrete variables; and thematically, the analysis of regional economic systems and land use change. Together, these areas have been identified as key lines of inquiry where spatial analysis can make important contributions to the understanding of spatial processes, and that in turn can help to motivate further theoretical and methodological research in spatial analysis (e.g. Irwin and Geoghegan 2001; Paez and Scott 2004, p. 64; Rey and Le Gallo 2009). While not fully anticipated, a secondary and most welcome outcome of the selection process is that the papers collected for this issue include a good representation of young regional scientists. The authors are, in the order of their papers, Cristina D. Checherita, Adriana Kocornik-Mina, Catherine Baumont, Raja Chakir and Olivier Parent, Xiaokun Wang and Kara M. Kockelman, and last but not least Richard D. Robertson, Gerald C. Nelson, and Alessandro De Pinto. If the names sound familiar, it is because many of these authors have already been recognized to be among the most promising talents in the world of regional science. Dr. Checherita was the winner of the student paper competition in the meetings where her paper for the issue was originally presented. Dr. Kocornik-Mina was the winner of the 2007 RSAI Dissertation Award. Dr. Parent received the William H. Miernyk Research Excellence Medal from the Southern Regional Science Association. Dr. Wang is a previous recipient, in 2005, of the prestigious Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship. And Dr. Kockelman was the 2006 recipient of the Geoffrey J.D. Hewings Award for scholars who have recently completed their Ph.D. studies. As guest editor, I could hardly have hoped for a more inspiring selection of contributors and contributions. doi:10.1111/j.1435-5957.2009.00246.x