It can be argued that the ongoing financialization of local economies challenges the need for physical presence of credit intermediators, local bank branches in particular. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has only sped up the process of ‘bank de-branching’ of economies. Hypothetically, reduction in local bank networks, if compensated by new online distributional channels, should have […]
Earlier this month, the IPCC released the Working Group III contribution of its 6th Assessment Report, Mitigation of Climate Change. This report concludes, in unambiguous terms, that far-reaching climate action is needed now: “without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach.” The scientific community agrees that […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly altered the habits and lifestyle of worldwide populations and will have effects in the medium-long run. The need for «social distancing» has encouraged a reschedule of the working methods. It was evident in the service industry, where remote working- including teleworking and home-working – achieved the limelight. Background […]
We invite graduate students from any discipline of regional studies to blog about their research for a global audience. 2022 RSA Blog Student Summer Series Key dates 15th May – submit blog abstract 20th May – notification of results June-August – blog published Winter 2022 – prizes awarded Click here for how to write a […]
In this blog – Dr. Balázs Forman, RSA Ambassador to Hungary, offers insights on the recent 2022 Hungarian Election. As a result of the April 3rd election, a surprising turn of events placed the Fidesz party on top with a two-thirds mandate, leaving the United Opposition and other groups with the remaining third of […]
Tourism can bring about economic benefits to any area – including rural communities with economies traditionally based in primary resource sectors such as agriculture. The National Agricultural Law Center in the USA defines agritourism as “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism in order to attract visitors onto a […]
We have long known that Australians live in a hard-working nation, with employees commonly having some of the longest working hours in the developed world. The combination of productivity and number of hours worked are, of course, fundamental for shaping the health of our economy and the wellbeing of all Australians. Shifting work-life balance and productivity […]
This blog follows the launch of the new book Border Cities and Territorial Development The new book focuses on territorial development processes associated with border cities. In this light, the 12 chapters cut across not only economic, but also governance and cross-border planning processes and innovation, in both European and North American border cities, […]
An emerging paradox may be clouding the future of EU cohesion policy. The four funds (European Regional Development Fund; European Social Fund Plus; Cohesion Fund; and Just Transition Fund) under its remit have been given an increasingly important role in delivering the main political priorities of the EU, whether structural ones such as the Green […]
“My ideal mountain area is a lively place and a well-populated community of people” explained a young graduate from Slovenian Carinthia. The desire for a dynamic mountain life and vibrant villages is a constant in Euromontana’s new study on mountain youth. But do young people want to live or settle in the mountains? How can […]
Spatial Inequality in the Smart City – Does increasing smartness lead to increased inequalities? The Spatial Inequality in the Smart City project, funded by The Alan Turing Institute, highlights the potential of smart cities increasing rather than reducing observed spatial inequalities. The backbone of Smart City infrastructures are digital technologies, such as sensors, that are […]
Traditionally, eco-feminist theories hold that women are custodians of traditional knowledge. But there is a gap in this theory by not fully exploring the questions of: (1) What is this “knowledge”?; and (2) What is the scope of identifying gender-based knowledge? I work towards answering the latter question throughout this article, but for the first […]
The Cohesion Policy Funds, commonly known as the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds, are a significant source of public investments across EU countries. The EU average of government capital investment provided by Cohesion Policy has been equivalent to 8.5%. The share of Cohesion Policy funding among Member States is characterised by a diversity – […]
As the main redistributive policy of the European Union – amounting to roughly one third of the EU 7-year budget – cohesion policy offers considerable resources to tackle imbalances among European regions. The need to manage such an amount of public funds in an effective and accountable inevitably brings about specific requirements for evaluation. These […]
Benedict Arko is the new Regional Studies Association Ambassador to Ghana. For further details about the opportunities that the RSA can offer regional studies scholars, students, and researchers in Ghana, please connect with Benedict at ben.arko@outlook.com. Regional studies in Ghana emerged in the 1970s. Scholars in the early days of the sub-discipline were mainly […]
In this Youtube video, Professor David Bailey discusses the recent report explored below in this RSA Blog Post. Back in mid-2020, UK in a Changing Europe published a report on the effects of Brexit on UK manufacturing, analysing the picture up to the point of publication and offering thoughts on the likely effects after […]
I joined the RSA in August 2016, when the RSA office was still based in Seaford, East Sussex, UK. I helped pack boxes when we moved into the Sussex Innovation Centre and now, five years later I am saying goodbye whilst working from home. Klara (right) and Daniela (left) in Brussels (2016) I feel […]
This blog was originally published on the Bennett Institute for Public Policy website and has been reproduced with permissions from the authors. This blog follows the release of the book Levelling Up Left Behind Places: The Scale and Nature of the Economic and Policy Challenge by Ron Martin, Ben Gardiner, Andy Pike, Peter Sunley and […]
The COVID-19 pandemic constituted a huge shock for tourism regions across Europe. National borders were closed, effectively reducing international tourism to zero, and in many countries national or regional lock downs closed tourism and hospitality businesses for long periods of time. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a great deal of discussion among […]
The countries of the Western Balkan region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*[1], North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia – share a common aspiration for a future within the European Union, despite their diversity and idiosyncrasies[2]. That said, the territorial and political complexities of this region of nearly 20 million inhabitants, render the translation of EU […]
We are delighted that a Best Paper Award for the RSA Blog has been established. We are happy to announce, for the very first time, the winners for the Best Paper for a Blog submitted in 2020; and the Best Paper Award for a Blog in our 2021 Student Summer Series. Best RSA Blog 2020 […]
This blog follows the launch of the new book: Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration. Follow this link for additional promotional material for the book – passcode: &J04F*Gd Drawing on the concept of the “politics of compassion”, the Handbook on Human Security, Borders and Migration interrogates the political, geopolitical, social and anthropological processes […]
Whether we call it cohesion, levelling up, lagging regions, or place-based policy; regional inequality has been a long-term persistent problem. I started to become really interested in how places adapt, and what we would find if we begin from the starting point of adaptation – particularly using the Deleuzian Assemblage and the complex adaptive […]
One of the most striking features of the COVID-19 pandemic is the marked spatial difference in the spread of the virus. Initially, urban areas were hit hardest by Covid-19, followed by smaller cities, rural towns and small hamlets. Differences in population density and occupational concentration have been proposed as key factors explaining the urban-rural difference […]