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This monograph provides a coherent and systematic explanation of China's regional economic development from the perspective of regional government competition. It gives an almost unknown exposition of the mechanisms of China's regional economic development, with numerous supporting cases drawn from both China and elsewhere. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested to learn more particularly the development and transformation of China's regional economy from both the Chinese and global perspectives

AbstractNovel forms of regional identities emerge in response to global competitive pressures and challenges to the nation‐state. Regions have to react and position their identity in relation to the rescaling of statehood. Especially, the growing autonomy of regional administrations makes support from local stakeholders more important. Communicating a specific regional identity is one of the instruments regional administrations use for mobilising support. However, at the same time old, traditional regional identities become more fluid. Regional identity traditionally focuses on shared past and specific social and cultural characteristics. Especially globalisation and individualisation undermine this traditional thick regional identity. Regional administrations have to adjust their communicated regional identity. By communicating the image of a future oriented region that can face the challenges of global competition, they increasingly use a thin regional identity. This paper analyses different case studies from the Netherlands and Germany.

This unique text has as its main themes the development of Greek regions and the impact of the structural policies of the European Union on their progress and prosperity. By analyzing the regional policy of the country during the last decades and presenting the current trends, the book provides evidence on the gradual reduction in regional disparities in Greece. Emphasis is given to the geographic and socio-economic characteristics of the 13 regions of Greece and the objectives of the Community Support Framework for the period 2000 - 2006. Separate chapters are devoted to the development prospects of the Greek islands, the big cities and the mountainous areas. Original maps, tables and graphs together with a comprehensive text make this book a valuable reading for administrators, diplomats, regional scientists, geographers, planners, economists, sociologists, as well as for students of social sciences

"For decades the Middle East has been one of the most unstable and unsafe regions in the world. Trying to resolve the regional conflicts is a prime goal on the agenda of many governments and international institutions. Nevertheless, most of the peace initiatives proposed by outside actors so far have failed, as their proposed solutions to the conflicts often did not really take into account the political realities in the region, but instead were more oriented towards the interests of the external actors. This instance is particularly apparent in the case of the current US administration. After having already failed at attempting to reorganize the political landscape of the Middle East through power politics, the administration of President George W. Bush turned to diplomacy in order to achieve its goals in the region. However, when that change of attitude gradually evolved the credibility of his administration was already weakened to such an extent that none of the regional players appeared to accept them as a serious partner in the handling and, ultimately, resolving of the various conflicts. What is more, its rhetoric notwithstanding, the US also failed to offer a promising solution to the conflicts. At the same time, neither the so-called Middle-East Quartet (consisting of the US, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations), nor the Europeans themselves have been able to step in and fill the growing diplomatic vacuum. Instead regional actors have taken on the task of settling the regional disputes. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, to only name a few. Their approach: refraining from proposing ready-made solutions, and instead focusing on the negotiation process, including the stake-holders and taking into account their specific interests, dealing with a single issue at a time, and not putting pressure on anyone by officially proclaiming a great breakthrough before anything has been officially agreed upon. What are the prospects of these regional initiatives? Has US engagement in the region become obsolete? And what implications does this have for the European Union? What should its role be? These questions shall be addressed in this paper." (author's abstract)

Recommended readings (Machine generated): 1. Sebastiano Brusco (1982), 'The Emilian Model: Productive Decentralisation and Social Integration', Cambridge Journal of Economics, 6 (2), June, 167-84 -- 2. Giacomo Becattini (1990), 'The Marshallian Industrial District as a Socio-Economic Notion', in F. Pyke, G. Becattini and W. Sengenberger (eds), Industrial Districts and Inter-Firm Co-Operation in Italy, Chapter 4, Geneva, Switzerland: International Institute for Labour Studies, 37-51 -- 3. Sebastiano Brusco (1990), 'The Idea of the Industrial District: Its Genesis', in F. Pyke, G. Becattini and W. Sengenberger (eds), Industrial Districts and Inter-Firm Co-Operation in Italy, Chapter 2, Geneva, Switzerland: International Institute for Labour Studies, 10-19 -- 4. Bjørn T. Asheim (2000), 'Industrial Districts: The Contributions of Marshall and Beyond', in Gordon L. Clark, Maryann P. Feldman and Meric S. Gertler (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, Part IV, Section 9, Chapter 21, New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press, 413-31 -- 5. Roberto P. Camagni (1995), 'The Concept of Innovative Milieu and its Relevance for Public Policies in European Lagging Regions', Papers in Regional Science, 74 (4), October, 317-40 -- 6. Denis Maillat (1995), 'Territorial Dynamic, Innovative Milieus and Regional Policy', Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 7 (2), 157-65 -- 7. Giorgio Fuà (1983), 'Rural Industrialization in Later Developed Countries: The Case of Northeast and Central Italy', Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, 36 (147), December, 351-77 -- 8. Charles Sabel and Jonathan Zeitlin (1985), 'Historical Alternatives to Mass Production: Politics, Markets and Technology in Nineteenth-Century Industrialization', Past and Present, 108 (1), August, 133-76 -- 9. A. J. Scott (1988), 'Flexible Production Systems and Regional Development: The Rise of New Industrial Spaces in North America and Western Europe', International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 12 (2), June, 171-85 -- 10. Michael Storper and Bennett Harrison (1991), 'Flexibility, Hierarchy and Regional Development: The Changing Structure of Industrial Production Systems and Their Forms of Governance in the 1990s', Research Policy, 20 (5), October, 407-22 -- 11. Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift (1992), 'Neo-Marshallian Nodes in Global Networks', International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 16 (4), December, 571-87 -- 12. Michael Storper (1995), 'The Resurgence of Regional Economies, Ten Years Later: The Region as a Nexus of Untraded Interdependencies', European Urban and Regional Studies, 2 (3), July, 191-221 -- 13. AnnaLee Saxenian (1996), 'Inside-Out: Regional Networks and Industrial Adaptation in Silicon Valley and Route 128', Cityscape: Bridging Regional Growth and Community Empowerment, 2 (2), May, 41-60 -- 14. Richard Florida (2002), 'The Economic Geography of Talent', Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92 (4), 743-55 -- 15. Meric S. Gertler (2003), 'Tacit Knowledge and the Economic Geography of Context, or The Undefinable Tacitness of Being (There)', Journal of Economic Geography, 3 (1), January, 75-99 -- 16. Michael Storper and Anthony J. Venables (2004), 'Buzz: Face-to-Face Contact and the Urban Economy', Journal of Economic Geography, 4 (4), August, 351-70 -- 17. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (2013), 'Do Institutions Matter for Regional Development?', Regional Studies, 47 (7), 1034-47 -- 18. Bjørn Asheim, Philip Cooke and Ron Martin (2006), 'The Rise of the Cluster Concept in Regional Analysis and Policy: A Critical Assessment', in Clusters and Regional Development: Critical Reflections and Explorations, Chapter 1, Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 1-29 -- 19. Michael E. Porter (2000), 'Locations, Clusters, and Company Strategy', in Gordon L. Clark, Maryann P. Feldman and Meric S. Gertler (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, Part III, Section 6, Chapter 13, New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press, 253-74