Regional development is a complex phenomenon involving social, economic and ecological processes. It can be defined as a process of creating and improving local economic opportunities and quality of life, in the context of the whole regional ecosystem (environmental, socioeconomic, cultural, etc). This article seeks submissions from researchers and academicians, interested in developing the concept of regional development in an integrated way.
Economically, this means boosting the economic potential of a region and increasing its competitive advantage. In this regard, regional development agencies work to improve the attractiveness of a region through a variety of measures including economic incentives and infrastructure investments. At the same time, they are tasked with balancing equity and efficiency in development processes.
Often, noneconomic factors also play a crucial role in regional development. They refer to the ways in which people organize themselves in society and business, and they also include the resulting patterns of behavior, including forms of value creation and capture. These noneconomic factors may take the form of specific natural resources, cultural heritage, or unique regional identities.
This is often referred to as bottom-up or endogenous regional development. It focuses on the development of initiatives that are started and implemented by the region’s own actors, using mainly regional resources and aiming at local benefits. These activities are often motivated by the desire to create viable and worthwhile employment in the region or to improve regional living conditions. Examples include agrarian projects aimed at producing high-quality traditional goods such as wine, fruit or wood, as well as grassroots urban regeneration processes.