Sustainability and Regional Development: Foundations and Challenges for This Symbiotic Relationship

Dear Colleagues,

This topic is presented to the scientific community with the aim of stimulating further research on the symbiotic relationship between regional development and sustainability, as well as its foundations and emerging challenges. While historically both concepts have been central to numerous socio-economic processes within spatial economies, the contemporary form of economies (characterized by models of scale, technological and knowledge intensification, agglomeration, urbanization, and digital transformation) has brought the study of this relationship to the forefront of cutting-edge issues. On one hand, the environmental and climate challenges faced by modern society have highlighted the reconsideration of the mix between the economy, the society, and the environment at the core of scientific research, policymaking, and social practice, in the balance (equilibrium) of sustainability. On the other hand, the demand for regional development, which transcends the neoclassical view of “regional growth”, is now seen as the pursuit of harmonious coexistence among regional economies and the convergence of regional disparities towards economic, social, and territorial cohesion. This, in turn, necessitates balancing the trade-offs between economic efficiency, social equity, and regional prosperity, while optimizing the management of natural resources and productive factors. Within this context, the primary focus of this topic is on the study of the coexistence of the two types of balance (equilibrium) required by sustainability and regional development. These issues have largely been studied in an intradisciplinary context but yet necessitate more interdisciplinary focus. To this end, this topic raises critical questions about whether the model towards sustainability and regional development is ultimately singular and multidisciplinary in nature; what we currently understand about it from both theoretical and empirical perspectives; and what emerging challenges science and society will need to confront moving forward. All papers delving into these critical debates are welcomed, i.e., theoretical and empirical, research and review articles, quantitative and qualitative, and letters or full-length articles, which are foremost multidisciplinary.

Dr. Dimitrios Tsiotas
Prof. Dr. Serafeim Polyzos
Topic Editors