Researchers and practitioners in the field of regional studies have long promoted spatial approaches to policy, development and the application of public sector resources. In Europe, concepts such as territorial cohesion, place-based approaches and integrated spatial planning all promote spatial sensitivity in policy-making and are critical of the ‘spatial blindness’ of approaches which do not […]
Some Euro mapping today, from the wonderful web pages of Ben Hennig, author of the Views of the World blog at the University of Sheffield. Ben recently looked at the financial state of the European Union in a series of maps and his latest blog goes one better – it visualises the EU budget with […]
The 2012 Regional Studies Association Early Career Conference took place on 1st and 2nd November at Hafen City University in Hamburg. The conference under the title of Times of Change: Future Directions in Geography, Urban and Regional Studies examined the implications of the current economic and financial crisis for future of regional studies. Individual sessions covered a wide range […]
As the North Eastern coast of the U.S. recovers from the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy questions are being raised about urbanisation processes and how best to accommodate growth while also protecting homes and businesses against the potential impact of major natural disasters. Here at RSA headquarters we have picked up on a discussion being […]
On the 11th of September this year, we reported that RSA Chief Executive Sally Hardy was planning to cycle from London to Slovenia. We were informed that, contrary to popular belief, this was not simply a new RSA membership drive but instead a much more ambitious charity fund-raising adventure that would pass through 7 countries […]
Eurostat, the official publishers of European statistical data, have recently released their Regional Yearbook for 2012. The yearbook is a useful resource for anyone interested in all things European, as it highlights recent economic, social and demographic developments throughout the territory. Most of the data is provided at the EU standard NUTS 2 regional level, […]
Commencing operation in 2021, a new tunnel will provide the final piece in the jigsaw linking the city of Hamburg in Germany to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden which together form the STRING region. This fixed link will complement the existing bridge crossing the Öresund strait between Denmark and Sweden which opened to […]
Like many RSA members who are interested in the events at the 10th European Week of Regions and Cities event in Brussels from today (8th October) – otherwise known as Open Days 2012 – the blog squad can’t attend in person. Thankfully, much of what is happening can be viewed over the web via the […]
An interesting article in the Autumn 2012 edition of ‘panorama’ captured our attention here at the RSA blog. Jacques Delors, president of the European Commission from 1985-1995, reflects upon cohesion policy during this time – and more recently – and makes some interesting comments in relation to the current financial predicament much of Europe finds itself in. […]
The Regional Studies Association would like to wish the best of luck to Sally Hardy, our intrepid Chief Executive, who is taking on the mammoth task of cycling over 1250 miles from London over two alpine passes and travelling via 7 countries to Ljubljana in Slovenia. Sally will be joined by fellow cyclists Rob Blackman […]
While the United Nations Human Development Index is quite well-known for its global analysis of human development at the national level, there is a lesser known version that seeks to apply the same basic methodological approach to the European Union’s regions. The indices, Human Development Index and Human Poverty Index, were developed for the EU’s […]
August is a quiet month here at RSA blog HQ so David Bailey, Regional Studies Association Chair, has stepped up and provided us with some great twitter tips. Don’t forget to tweet David after reading this! Many of us use social media and blogging as a way of making academic research in regional studies more […]
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in the U.S. recently published a report called ‘Making Room for a Planet of Cities‘. The report discusses the results of a five-year study on global urban expansion that was funded by the World Bank. They use a range of mapping techniques to explore how the world’s cities have […]
In Brussels this October (8th to 11th) there will once again be an EU Open Days event focusing on regions and cities. This is the tenth year it has happened, but not everyone really understands what it’s all about, so let’s see what the organisers say… “The OPEN DAYS – European Week of Regions and […]
A short post today with some photos from our first ever conference in China. For those of us who were able to make it to Beijing, I think it is fair to say that we were in awe at the sheer scale of the city and humbled by the graciousness of our hosts at the […]
Artificial satellites have a long and interesting history, from ‘Newton’s Cannonball‘ thought experiment, to Arthur C. Clarke‘s prediction of telecommunication satellites in ‘Wireless World’, to Sputnik and the modern day space station. These high-flying gadgets have allowed us to see the world from a different perspective. In particular they have allowed detailed images of our […]
Hot off the press from the European Commisssion’s Regional Policy unit is a working paper by Nicholas Charron, Lewis Dijkstra and Victor Lapuente Gine on the quality of regional governance in the EU. This is part of the ‘Regional Focus & Working Papers’ series and it contains some fascinating insights into the quality of regional […]
A lot of us here at RSA blog headquarters love a good map. So it is no surprise that we took an interest in what the folks at Google have been announcing lately. While there have often been concerns about privacy in relation to their Street View mapping service they have decided to expand beyond […]
The Regional Studies blog squad note with some alarm that the Beijing conference is nearly upon us. We say ‘note with some alarm’ in the typical academic manner of not having yet finalised the all important conference presentation but, as usual, we’re working to a just-in-time production model so everything will be fine! Anyway, before […]
With the 2012 London Olympics close at hand we thought it might be a good time to take a look at what is being done to try and manage the traffic associated with the arrival of 15,000 athletes, 7,000 technical officials, throngs of media and millions of visitors. London is already fairly well known […]
In a blog post from last summer, we looked at some interesting facts about China and compared it to Europe and the USA. From the image below, you can get the basic point we made back then – China is very big and the population is more than twice that of the European Union. In […]
If you happen to be watching television on Sunday 3 June 2012 you might see coverage of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, an event in London to celebrate 60 years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom. “What on earth does this have to do with Regional Studies?”, you might ask. […]
The Delft conference has been and gone, and it was a very successful and enjoyable event! Hundreds of papers were presented, lots of new friends were made and many old friends were able to re-connect. The RSA blog squad are also able to report that the fine hostelries of Deflt continue to serve fine quality […]
In anticipation of the RSA’s 2012 European Conference in Delft, The Netherlands we thought it might be useful to provide a bit of a primer on Dutch Urban Planning so that those of you travelling to the country have a bit of background on how things work and how they have changed in the past […]