Patterns Of Regional Development Research Articles

The regional development pattern of South Australia 1961‐71

The regional development pattern of South Australia 1961‐71

REGIONAL IMPACT OF WATER RESOURCE INVESTMENTS IN A DEVELOPING AREA1

ABSTRACT: Regional development and industrialization patterns are investigated and related via regression analysis to water resource investments for the island of Puerto Rico. Although results of this study indicate such investments have little immediate or short‐term impact, significant relationships and variations in regional responses appear over longer time periods. This is shown by applying a variation of Zellner's method of performing seemingly unrelated regressions jointly. By this method, subsets of parameter coefficients of specific economic variables were restricted across regional equations while unrestricted coefficients were interpreted as explaining systematic regional variations in response to public investment. Regional differences, obtained by using this method, are frequently neglected when simply examining the overall development process. Among the more interesting results in terms of policy implications is the apparent significant relationship, over the period considered, between changes in the distribution of income and the pattern of water resource development.

Development Centers and Central Places in West German Regional Planning Schemes

In spite of increasing American interest in European regional development patterns and planning approaches, English-language reports on the West German scene have remained scarce. Nevertheless, Germany has its share of regional problems worthwhile to be analyzed. This paper discusses these topics and issues.

Office communications and office location: A review of current research

Goddard J. B. (1970) Office communications and office location: A review of current research, Reg. Studies 5, 263–280. The paper first establishes the growing importance of office type activities, the role of communications in office location and the problem of assessing the likely impact of future telecommunication systems on location. Three basic research questions are suggested. First, what forms of personal contact could be satisfactorily maintained by future telecommunication systems? Second, what are the patterns of communication within and between existing organizations and do these reveal characteristics that suggest strong locational constraints or substantial volumes of contact that might be transferred to telecommunications, so enhancing locational flexibility? Third, how with knowledge of existing communications patterns and of substitutability, can decisions about location be made to take account of communications characteristics? Finally, how can knowledge about contact systems be used by planners to influence patterns of regional development? These questions are approached by reference to current research into each topic. The first topic covers management science research into communications behaviour and laboratory experiments into the characteristics of person to person communications in relation to the characteristics of various communications channels. The second topic covers field surveys of contact patterns in 80 central London offices and 100 Swedish companies and a classification of these contacts using latent profile analysis. The third topic covers an operational research approach to the location of government in which communications characteristics are incorporated in a management decision-making model. The paper concludes with some comments on the implications for regional planning of telecommunication developments.

Regional growth and economic potential—A dynamic analysis

Peaker A. (1971) Regional growth and economic potential—A dynamic analysis, Reg. Stud. 5, 49–54. The concept of economic potential was introduced by C. Clark as a possible tool to be used in explaining past patterns of regional development and in forecasting future patterns of growth. This paper accepts without question that some measure of economic potential can be used to explain the spatial pattern of capital formation and investigates the consequences of making such an assumption.

The spatial dimensions of economic development: The case of the upper Midwest

Logan M.I. (1970) The spatial dimensions of economic development: The case of the upper Midwest, Reg. Studies 4, 117–125. Few theoretical notions have been developed with reference to regional patterns of economic development. Three hypotheses, however, may be formulated: (1) regional economic development occurs on a number of interpretable dimensions, (2) a region's level of development is associated with its functional integration into the wider economic system and (3) regional development is associated with distance from large urban centres. The study area consists of the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the data is for counties and the methodology is principal components analysis and multiple regression analysis. The first hypothesis is verified, the second appears to be supported, but the third, the most important from a spatial viewpoint, is not confirmed.

Regional Development in Post-Industrial Society

Abstract Regional development is best discussed within the framework of location theory. In an economy like that of the United States, where service industries predominate and where spatial immobilities are progressively losing their importance, regional development is primarily a function of national influences. Accordingly, a distinction is drawn between “developmental” and “adaptive” planning. Because of the predominant role of national policy in shaping regional development patterns, increased research is urged on the spatially differentiated effects of national policies.

Les instituts régionaux de crédit

The Regional Credit Institutes. The article explains the nature of the Italian problem of regional development ; this is concerned not with the industrialization of entirely backward economy but with the co-existence in Italy of under-developed regions and highly developed and industrially and technically advanced regions. The emphasis of development policy upon industrialization (though associated with such expenditures on infrastructure and agriculture as are clearly valuable) is explained and discussed , and the character , powers, functions, and problems of the Regional Credit Institutes, set up to further a satisfactory pattern of regional development, are then described and evaluated.