Earlier in 2025, the UK government announced a commitment to reduce spending on disability benefits by restructuring entitlements and eligibility to various health-related benefits. It claims through its Pathways to Work, papers that it seeks to reduce economic inactivity across the UK ‘…[so] that everyone who can realise the benefits of work is expected and […]
In the UK, the Covid-19 pandemic was marked by strong spatial differences in the strictness and duration of government-mandated lockdowns. The average number of weeks spent in strict lockdown was 50% higher in urban local authorities than in rural ones. The marked increase in working from home that ensued, largely facilitated by the use of […]
Tools play a crucial role in research and the visual representation of regions. In this piece by Dr Jakob Eder, we explore mapping (graphicacy) and discuss its application and potential improvements for presenting research. Let’s face it: as geographers, we know that maps are a powerful tool to communicate findings, but many maps out there […]
Devolution has been at the core of the UK government’s initiatives to reduce regional inequality across the country. The Conservatives’ ‘Levelling up’ agenda was built around it, and Labour’s plan to ‘Power Up Britain’ also relies on the empowerment of local and sub-regional authorities and communities, based upon an analysis that areas have been ‘held […]
Place leadership has come to be seen as the ‘missing factor of the regional development puzzle’ (Sotarauta et al, 2017), but how such leadership operates in environments of conflict and contestation is still poorly understood. Using Northern Ireland as an illustrative case, recent research has sought to better understand how place leadership dynamics manifest when […]
On November 25th 2024, the Ontario government officially passed Bill 212, which became the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024. This legislation greenlit the proposal to implement a framework for bike lanes that require the removal of a traffic lane. For the city of Toronto, this meant the removal of existing bike lanes on […]
A just socio-ecological transformation may be understood as a transformation ensuring “a good life for all within planetary boundaries” (O’Neill et al., 2018). This implies meeting basic human needs while remaining within ecological limits as delineated by the planetary boundaries framework. The area in which both objectives are satisfied has been described as “a safe […]
The 40th Anniversary of the miners’ strike has encouraged considerable academic and media attention on the nature and lessons of the strike (Hendy,2024), but less on the long-term economic and social consequences of Thatcher’s and subsequent Governments’ policies on the former Coalfields. Our report, on the impact of austerity on inequality and deprivation in the […]
Athens serves as a vital site of democratic heritage and urban evolution. Over the decades, its society and built environment have undergone a gradual but significant transformation. Like many historic cities, Athens faces complex challenges across social, economic, environmental, cultural, tourism, and security dimensions. This blog explores initiatives focused on the preservation and development of […]
In 2024 and early 2025, a large number of Regional Studies Association (RSA) members participated in a series of focus group sessions convened by the RSA to understand the priorities of the regional studies research community (Kinder, 2024). This post reports the results of that ‘listening exercise’: in particular, the challenges currently faced by regional […]
The UK has historically failed to learn important lessons from European countries on spatial rebalancing. It has recently acknowledged the need for effective local institutions and a long-term national strategy, but its asymmetric approach is unlikely to reduce geographic inequality. The failure of levelling up When the previous UK government launched its levelling up agenda […]
Child poverty is regarded as a multidimensional, yet heavily economically based phenomenon. Previous studies on the UK or OECD countries underline the role of low income, job insecurity and worklessness, especially in lone-parent and minority households (Bradshaw, 2002; Thevenon et al., 2018). Additionally, in-work poverty is rising, and other factors, like housing, parental health and […]
The first signs of a slowdown in residential address changing were identified towards the end of the last century, starting in the USA, as is so often the case with social trends and then being found to be particularly marked across the rest of the New World. But other countries, including the UK, have not […]
The “advantage of backwardness”—the notion that low-income countries can grow faster by borrowing and adapting existing technology—has long been central to the theory of economic convergence. However, transition countries seeking European Union (EU) membership have been lagging behind. Despite some progress, the gap between them and the EU remains substantial. Why have these countries struggled […]
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) Annual Conference 2025, held in Porto from May 6 to 9, brought together nearly 900 scholars, marking the largest gathering in RSA history. The event showcased diverse, cutting-edge research that is shaping the future of regional development, innovation systems, spatial justice, and policy governance. Among the many contributors, researchers affiliated […]
Clusters are geographically concentrated areas of activity around a certain industry. The central question for modern cluster theory from the perspective of industry dynamics is why firms co-locate in the same space. The classic example is Silicon Valley, where multiple IT companies compete side by side, amidst some of the highest costs in the world. […]
In a world grappling with pressing challenges like economic volatility, social inequality, and climate change, traditional development strategies, largely focused on economic growth, often fall short. As these issues intensify, there is a growing need to explore alternative solutions that embrace inclusion and sustainability. One promising avenue is territorial development, a concept that has long […]
The following piece is a brief extract from a more comprehensive study on the impact of two trends in the context of Cohesion Policy: hyper-Lisbonisation and re-nationalisation. The article investigates how these trends are intertwined with the reiterative resort to employing Cohesion Policies funds outside of their original objectives and legal provisions, particularly to counterbalance […]
Incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, or so-called third places are places dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, and they have proliferated across regions in recent years. They are designed to give entrepreneurs access to a wide range of resources to help them develop a project or their business. These places can be specialized in an activity (e.g., tech, […]
The voting behaviour in Nigeria has been attributed to many factors, such as clientelism, vote buying, party identification, the performance of the government, and ethnicity. Most of these studies have been done at a macro level. There were limited studies done on the rural dwellers. According to the World Population Review (2024), the Nigeria population […]
The concept of ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’ is gaining popularity in regional studies. Under this label, we find various conditions and policies that either support or inhibit local entrepreneurship, especially its most dynamic variety – innovative and growth-oriented new firms. In our ongoing research, we ask if the city ecosystem characteristics that support dynamic entrepreneurship are consistent […]
Environmental politics face undeniable challenges. Despite decades of international agreements, key targets like emission reductions and biodiversity conservation remain unmet. With six of seven Earth-system boundaries transgressed and societal resistance growing over energy security and rising living costs, the dominant approach is failing. A shift toward “eco-social” politics is urgently needed. The Limits of Environmental […]
Traditional urban design education often relies on theoretical lectures and isolated projects, which can fall short of preparing students for the complexities of creating sustainable, inclusive cities. Recognizing this gap, Dr. Nancy M. Abdel-Moneim (Associate Professor at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Smart Village Campus) and Dr. Mennatullah Hendawy (representing the Center for […]
Kantha, a traditional embroidered quilt from Bengal (now divided between Bangladesh and West Bengal, India), historically represented women’s domestic artistry through distinctive running stitches and colored motifs on layered muslin garments. There is a growing demand for commercial Kantha textiles in conditions of the ‘market,’ driven primarily by NGO setups (Modak, 2021). These ‘marketable Kanthas‘ […]