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Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 41451

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz

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Guest Editor

Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Interests: local and regional development; globalisation; transnational corporations; regional and urban policies

Dr. Bartłomiej Kołsut

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Guest Editor

Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Interests: local economic development; inter-municipal cooperation; urban regeneration

Dr. Robert Kudłak

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Guest Editor

Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland
Interests: business and local development; urban regeneration; institutions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As living conditions, wellbeing, and life chances are unequally distributed across time and space, regional and local development remains the focus of both researchers and policy makers. Hence, discovering the sources of prosperity of some places and the hardships of the others, as well as designing the policies and instruments that stimulate economic development are robust and ambitious tasks even more. In recent decades, the landscape of regional and local development has become even more complex with the rise and omnipresence of globalization. The latter is a multifaceted process that causes a great variety of consequences for local and regional development. On the one hand, globalisation is sometimes seen as a threat to underdeveloped regions, as they become exposed to powerful transnational corporations capable of colonializing and dominating disadvantaged areas. On the other hand, however, the development capacity of underdeveloped regions can be spurred through international flows of capital and labor mobility, the establishment of trade relations, and links with corporate networks of production and innovation. Clearly, the relationship between regional and local development, and globalization remains intriguing and ambiguous.

We invite conceptual, theoretical, and empirical papers that include the following:

provide critical appraisals of the regional and local development processes influenced by globalization;
present various manifestations of globalization at a local and regional level;
demonstrate regional or local resilience/vulnerability in relation to global disturbances;
reflect upon policy instruments that allow for disadvantaged areas to benefit from globalization.

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz
Dr. Bartłomiej Kołsut
Dr. Robert Kudłak
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

Regional and local development
Globalization
Flows of capital and labor
Regional and local resilience/vulnerability
Policy instruments

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

37 pages, 4385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mediating Effects of Cohesion Policy and Institutional Quality on Convergence between EU Regions: An Examination Based on a Conditional Beta-Convergence Model with a 3-Way Multiplicative Term

by Mindaugas Butkus, Alma Mačiulytė-Šniukienė and Kristina Matuzevičiūtė

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 3025; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12073025 - 9 Apr 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2877

Abstract

The paper contributes to the existing literature on the EU’s Cohesion Policy outcomes by extending the conditional beta-convergence model with a 3-way multiplicative term to examine the mediating effects of the Cohesion Policy, institutional quality, and their interaction on regional convergence. The empirical analysis based on conditional slope coefficients and conditional standard errors provides evidence that both the mediating factors under consideration contribute positively to boosting regional convergence in the EU at the NUTS 2 and 3 disaggregation level, but with much bigger success over the 2007–2013 programming period compared to the previous one. Moreover, Cohesion Policy and institutional quality act as substituting rather than complementary mediating factors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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21 pages, 2866 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Typical Challenges of Governance for Sustainable Regional Development in Globalized Latin America: A Multidimensional Literature Review

by Alejandro Balanzo, Leonardo Garavito, Héctor Rojas, Lenka Sobotova, Oscar Pérez, Diego Guaquetá, Alejandro Mojica, Juan Pavajeau and Sebastián Sanabria

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072702 - 30 Mar 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4622

Abstract

The paper aims to identify and analyze what types of governance challenges for sustainable regional development in the context of globalization are more frequently found in scholarship regarding Latin America. In order to do so, we carried out a systematic review of scholarly works discussing regional sustainability issues across the region. Analytically, it provides a heuristic multidimensional framework for organizing and typifying the most frequent sustainable regional development governance challenges under study, offering a nuanced and interrelated account of economic, environmental, political, and socio-spatial scientific discussions. According to our findings, scholarship on Latin America shows a bricolage-like scenery where political atomization linked to economic factionalism and fragmentation stand out as frequently analyzed situations. Another frequent topic relates to discussions about political endeavors linked to environmental concerns, connecting incidence strategies with collective environmental conservation approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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18 pages, 2618 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Globalization on Economic Development Indicators: An Inter-Regional Approach

by Pedro Antonio Martín Cervantes, Nuria Rueda López and Salvador Cruz Rambaud

Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1942; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051942 - 3 Mar 2020

Cited by 58 | Viewed by 21390

Abstract

Background: The analysis of the problems derived from globalization has become one of the most densely studied topics at the beginning of this millennium, as they can have a crucial impact on present and future sustainable development. This paper analyzes the differential patterns of globalization in four worldwide areas predefined by The World Bank (namely, High-, Upper-Middle-, Lower-Middle-, and Low-Income countries). The main objective of this work is to estimate the effect of globalization on some economic development indicators (specifically per capita income and public expenditure on health) in 217 countries over the period 2000–2016. Methods: Our empirical approach is based on the implementation of a novel econometric methodology: The so-called Toda–Yamamoto procedure, which has been used to analyze the possible causal relationships between the involved variables. We employ World Development Indicators, provided by The World Bank, and the KOF Globalization Index, elaborated by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute. Results: The results show that there is a causal relationship in the sense of Granger between globalization and public expenditure on health, except in High-Income countries. This can be interpreted both negatively and positively, confirming the double character of globalization, as indicated by Stiglitz. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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22 pages, 4114 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Diversification and Local Embeddedness: The Rescaling of National New Area Governance in Post-Reform China

by Li Wang, Heng Chao and Guicai Li

Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6216; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226216 - 6 Nov 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3065

Abstract

In the rapidly growing literature on exploring urban restructuring in reference to the state rescaling, many authors have neglected the relatively fixed and immobile forms of territorial organization. The development of China’s National New Areas (NNAs) provides an opportunity to explore the hybrid and multiscalar processes of state rescaling. From the perspective of rescaling, an analytical framework was established to examine the practice of NNAs and their governance rescaling in China. Every National New Area (NNA) is the result of China’s “state spatial selectivity”, and the central government has guided policies to a specific spatial scale to cope with the development crisis. The rescaling of NNA governance is the process of the functioning of all-level administrative subjects in the functional orientation, spatial zoning, administrative system, and power allocation through rigid or flexible means. In practice, there are significant governance scale differences in territorial spatial organization, administrative systems, and power distribution among the various NNAs, which has led to diverse governance modes. The degree of coupling between the scale of new and existing administrative divisions is the key to the rescaling of NNA governance. Most NNAs are still facing the challenge of unifying their territorial development logic. Discussions of state rescaling in western countries have focused on the super-local level. The case of China clearly shows the role of local embeddedness and diversification in rescaling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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18 pages, 1130 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geographical Proximity Paradox Revisited: The Case of IT Service SMEs in Poland

by Grzegorz Micek

Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5770; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205770 - 17 Oct 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4054

Abstract

Knowledge flow is among the most crucial social processes triggering innovation and regional development. Intercompany knowledge flow among Polish information technology (IT) service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is studied in this paper. The main aim is to identify market and technological knowledge flow channels and their spatial scales. Based on information derived from computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATIs), in-depth interviews (IDIs) and data analysis (correspondence analysis and comparative study of spatial structures of knowledge flows), the geographical proximity paradox is tested. It is argued there is a need to move beyond the local buzz–global pipeline dichotomy. Knowledge is acquired at various spatial scales, which enhances the sustainability of the knowledge acquisition process and makes companies, regions and cities more resilient. The multiscalarity of knowledge flows is the most remarkable in the case of private contacts with colleagues from schools or previous workplaces. Spatially diversified study and job experiences of entrepreneurs goes along with return migration. In earlier Central and Eastern European studies, knowledge flow was often defined by the dominance of national (domestic) flow over weak global interactions. Trade relations, especially those occurring on an international scale, represent the most important channel of market and technological knowledge flow for the surveyed companies. The second most important channel is the employment of specialists, which is by far the most frequent and most important on an interregional scale. Due to the small size of surveyed companies, foreign specialists are used least frequently. Instead of using regional business events as a vehicle for knowledge flow, representatives of the IT service sector prefer to attend domestic meetings. In the case of Polish IT service SMEs, the paradox of geographical proximity is better described by the dominance of national over global knowledge flow. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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20 pages, 26320 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Revealing Urban Public Space Patterns through Quantitative Comparison between the Old City of Nanjing and Zurich

by Ning Xu, Jianguo Wang and Wei Wang

Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3687; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133687 - 4 Jul 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4637

Abstract

Urban public space is indispensable in a metropolitan environment. In recent years, green space, as an important part of that public space, has been studied in terms of its pattern and equity of accessibility. However, the pattern of urban public space, including streets, has not yet been studied, nor has it been studied among different countries. To resolve this gap in information, this study conducted a quantitative comparison on the general pattern, type pattern, and scale pattern of urban public space between Zurich in Switzerland and the old city of Nanjing in China. This study also explored using the location quotient method to quantify the pattern of urban public space and its physical structure characteristics. The results show the difference between urban public space in China and Europe exists not only in quantity, scale or type, but also in the pattern of the urban public space system, including the choice of location, distribution status, and service level of that public space. The maximum location quotient of Zurich’s public space is 9.5 for the areas located in the urban core area. Meanwhile, it is 8.5 for Nanjing for areas located in the periphery of the old city. Areas with a location quotient of greater than one cover 63.3% of the urban construction land in Zurich, while only 30.8% of the corresponding urban construction land is covered in Nanjing. The area and quantity of streets are quite different as well. The street areas of Zurich account for 51.5% of the total area of public space and the number of streets account for 51.2% of the total number of public space sites, while those numbers are only 22.6% and 17.5% for Nanjing, respectively. In addition, the scale gradient of public space is polarized. Both the area ratio and quantity ratio of medium, medium-large, and large public space in Zurich exceed 92%, while the area ratio and quantity ratio of Nanjing are less than 77% and 68%, respectively. This study provides important insights for revealing urban public space patterns to facilitate the sustainability development of urban public space. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Local and Regional Development in the Conditions of Globalisation)

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