Socio-Economic System Analysis: Urban, Regional and Industrial Perspectives

A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Practice in Social Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 January 2027 | Viewed by 48

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Economy, University North, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia
Interests: socio-economic systems; regional development; urban and regional competitiveness; industrial transformation; digital transformation; sustainability; innovation ecosystems; entrepreneurship; public policy; EU projects and regional development

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Current socio-economic systems are shaped by deep and overlapping transitions. Digital transformation, sustainability pressures, demographic change, geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption, and evolving institutional settings are redefining the ways in which cities, regions, and industries develop and respond to new challenges. In this context, socio-economic processes can no longer be understood as isolated phenomena; they must be examined as part of broader, interconnected systems.

This Special Issue invites high-quality theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that explore socio-economic systems from urban, regional, and industrial perspectives. It seeks to advance our understanding of how such systems are organised, how they change, how they absorb shocks, and how they generate new development trajectories under conditions of uncertainty and transition.

We welcome papers addressing topics such as urban development, regional competitiveness, industrial restructuring, innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurship, labour market change, governance, public policy, sustainability transitions, and the institutional foundations of socio-economic performance. Contributions may focus on individual contexts or offer comparative insights across countries, regions, sectors, or development models.

Particular attention will be given to studies that adopt systems-oriented and interdisciplinary approaches, including systems thinking, complexity perspectives, network analysis, spatial analysis, modelling, and other frameworks capable of capturing interdependence and long-term structural dynamics. Research on smart and sustainable cities, regional innovation systems, industrial policy, digitalisation, circular economy, social inclusion, and strategic responses to structural transformation is especially encouraged.

This Special Issue fits well within the scope of Systems by addressing the interactions and dynamic relationships that shape socio-economic development across multiple levels and domains. By bringing together diverse perspectives, it aims to promote a richer and more integrative understanding of how socio-economic systems evolve and how they can support more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive futures.

Prof. Dr. Dinko Primorac
Dr. Katerina Fotova Čiković
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • socio-economic systems
  • systems analysis
  • urban development
  • regional development
  • industrial transformation
  • regional competitiveness
  • innovation ecosystems
  • sustainability transitions
  • governance
  • resilience

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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