Abstract
The book describes and classifies the theories of regional development. The sequence in which the regional development theories are presented also broadly respects the chronology in which they were conceptualised.
The theories are split into five groups or blocks according to their predominant source of inspiration: neoclassical, Keynesian, structuralist, critical realist and institutionalist. Naturally, the continuous development of various individual theories, their mutual cross-fertilisation, their varying degrees of popularity at different periods, as well as their multiple sources of intellectual inspiration make any clear classification and chronological sequence debatable at times.
Despite this difficulty and the inherent risk of oversimplification, we believe the effort to classify the theories and concepts represents, in its own right, an important contribution of this book. Throughout the book we try to present the individual regional development theories and concepts in the context of an on-going debate, to reference the relevant scientific discourse, and to generalise and formulate some tentative conclusions based on our own reading and interpretation.
To make orientation within the text easier, each section concludes with a schematic table that characterises the respective theoretical approaches, as well as an overview of the regional policy implications of a given paradigm.