Discussion Draft 8/19/2013

SECURING THE FUTURE OF REGIONAL SCIENCECONDITIONS FOR A CORE DISCIPLINE 1)
Antoine S. Bailly* and Lay J. Gibson**

I. THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IS ALSO THE CRISIS OF ECONOMIC SCIENCE,
BUT NOT OF REGIONAL SCIENCE
Economic theories seem useless in front of the crisis. Economists don’t give solutions
others than liberalism or keynesianism… where is the 21st century Keynes? Since 2007
it is the time of “the misery of economic thought” (Paul Jorion, 2012).
The reasons include:--

an economic knowledge sliced into various expertise domains. Nobody has a
global view of the entire economic and social system
the transformation of the field into a mathematical exercise, forgetting thehuman aspects of societies and trying to invent numbers. There is no magicalnumber, even for public debt
the ivory tower of many researchers, living in the black and white technocratic
world.

II. FOR REGIONAL SCIENCE THE WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS IS NOT
NEW
Since the 1990’s many regional scientists were able to measure the end of the regional
convergence: after 20 years of growth, Southern Europe, Western China, Southern USA
are declining again. Their regional growth is slower than the metropolitan growth ofNorthern Europe, Eastern China, the Northeastern USA… and the gap in between theregions is giving rise to the social and economic crisis. This was predicted by regional
scientists before the crisis.

__________* University of Geneva. CH. antoine.bailly@unige.ch** University of Arizona. Tucson. USA. ljgibson@comcast.net
1) Paper presented at the 2013 Tokoshima Meeting of the Japanese Section of theRegional Science Association International

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Regional scientists, with their indisciplinary approaches, including geography, socialand political sciences, have a broad scope of view and can measure the regional
evolutions in space and time. Many RSAI round tables, and many papers were dealing
with the subject. Their know-how is neither sliced nor only theoretical. Regional
science is an applied field, using qualitative and quantitative methods. It “is capable ofusefully addressing the real world and its complex set of social, economic andenvironmental problems” (Bailly, Coffey, 1994, p.3).
Regional scientists have proposed since 2000 (before the crisis) ways of reducing the
gap between regions: milieu theory, clusters, innovations, to name three items. But few
of the proposals were heard and used in part due to the lack of regional science's
reputation.

III. HOW TO IMPROVE REGIONAL SCIENCE REPUTATION?
Regional science has grown a great deal since its first years in the 1950s. Sections andassociations such as the French Language Association, the Western Regional Science
Association, the Japan Section of the RSAI, to name just three, have grown in size andstature and a new constitution for the Regional Science Association International
established a basis for a worldwide network of associations dedicated to supporting the
expansion and maintenance of a worldwide network of regional scientists. The RSAI
now has a well-defined system of super-regional organizations in the Americans, in the
Pacific Realm, in Europe and even into Africa. There is a world regional science
conference, a North American conference, a Pacific conference, a European conference,and recently an "Americas conference" has emerged. The work of establishing thisworld network is certainly not done but with the new constitution and now with
universal membership the broad brush strokes are clearly visible and systems
management tasks are more easily seen than they were in the second half of the 20th
Century.
What are needed now are new and different initiatives to assure that regional science
improves its standing in the largely academic worlds of scientific scholarship andexpands its influence into new realms. If regional science is to grow and expand its
reach it needs to expand its influence into the now underserved areas of business,governmental organizations, and government sponsored enterprises and nongovernmental organizations.
Meeting the challenges of these new initiatives will not be easy it will involve
understanding sometimes foreign corporate cultures, new approaches to articulating
scientific outcomes, different reward systems, and new vocabularies. But if regional
science expects to be nimble in the evolving landscape of scientific research and toreach a point where sustainability is assured it must meet a variety of challenges.

IV. THREE PERIODS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE
Regional science received a first boost after the Second World War (Figure 1: Three
periods in regional science) (Bailly, Gibson, 2004). In Asia, Europe and North America,

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spatial scientists were in demand as planners and managers of the war effort and of thepost war reconstruction efforts.
The 1950s, 60s and 70s were good years for regional science. But in the 1980s“thinking regionally” was replaced by “thinking globally” and spatial planning was
succeeded by liberalism. In the years since 1980 we have witnessed the closure of
regional science’s flagship department at Penn, the closure of the spatial economics unit
at Rotterdam, and the closure of some departments friendly to regional science.
The new Millennium is evolving in a different way: "thinking sustainably" and"continental cooperation" are main themes well appreciated by regional science as new
approaches open ways for more public and private funding and the need for new
programs..
Our next 14 proposals are following this trend.
1950

1980

2010

Post war regional adjustments

Globalisation

Environmental and Social
Sustainability“Thinking regionally”“Location matters”“Cold war programmes”_________________________“Thinking globally”“Flexible space”“Liberalism”__________________________“Thinking sustainable”“Continental cooperation”“Financial power”___________________________

New programme in regional
sciencePublic funding

Suppression of programmes
in regional science
Less public funding

New programmes and new
approaches
More public and private funding

Fig. 1. Three periods for regional science (Bailly, Gibson, 2004, p.131).

V. ENHANCING THE STATUS OF REGIONAL SCIENCE AS A COREDISCIPLINE
Regional Science is certainly a well-established feature on the intellectual landscapes of
the Americas, Europe, and Asia and is emerging in Africa and elsewhere. The future of
regional science is bright but it could be even brighter if regional science were toaccomplish several additional steps or milestones. None of these will be easily achieved
but all can be managed by the existing associations and sections and in some cases evenregional science programmes in universities.
1. DEPARTMENTAL STATUS FOR REGIONAL SCIENCE

Regional science is certainly a respected field of study but it falls short as a core
discipline in colleges and universities. It also falls short when it comes to wide-spread
public recognition. There are many attributes of a core discipline but if regional science
were to achieve departmental status at just a few highly regarded universities in Europe,Asia, or North America this alone would go a long way toward making regional sciencea recognized brand. At present there are individuals, courses, and programmes but not,

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typically, departments. Having regional science achieve departmental status would be amajor achievement.
2. LARGE INTRODUCTORY CLASSES IN REGIONAL SCIENCEClasses in regional science at any level will help to promote the regional science brandbut perhaps especially helpful are classes for year one or year two students. Introductory
classes often reach large numbers of students but help recruit students for moreadvanced courses including those used by more senior students including graduate
students.
3. USE REGIONAL SCIENCE IN JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Use of the term regional science increases awareness of the field. It is likely that theterm regional science is not part of most vocabularies. Increased use of the term whenappropriate in job descriptions for positions in academic institutions, government
agencies, private firms, non-governmental organizations, and government sponsoredenterprises will build awareness and in some cases increases understanding of exactly
what it is that regional scientists do.
4. ENCOURAGE REGIONAL SCIENTISTS TO “SELF-IDENTIFY”

Encourage colleagues to appropriately use the term “regional scientist” when describing
their positions and capabilities. Create awareness among those conducting bothcuriosity driven research and client driven research that it is helpful to be identified as aregional scientist. The term “regional science” (or scientist) can be used either alone orin conjunction with a more traditional identifier, e.g. “economist and regional scientist,”“geographer and regional scientist,” “planner and regional scientist,” etc.
5. PROMOTE BROAD-BASED PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL SCIENCECONFERENCES

Encourage students, academics, and other professionals who are researching and writing
on regional science topics and who are using regional science approaches to use
regional science conferences as an outlet for their work and regional sciencepublications as outlets for their published research. Similarly promote regional science
conferences among those who are, at least at the moment, consumers of research but not
producers.
6. RECOGNIZE THAT REGIONAL SCIENCE CAREERS OUTSIDE OF THE
ACADEMY CAN BE REWARDING

Encourage students working in the field of regional science to seek non-academic
employment opportunities to expand the job base. Once students are employed business,government, and in NGOs and GSEs encourage them to stay active in the intellectual
life of regional science by attending conferences as both participants and as observers.

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7. SUPPORT REGIONAL SCIENCE AS BEING BOTH CURIOSITY DRIVEN AND
CLIENT DRIVEN

Regional science can contribute to the broad goals of a general education and it can leadto careers that emphasize more focused perspectives and skill sets. It is for regional
scientists to be able to deal with territorial planning and all type of jobs linked toregional sustainable development and societal environmental preservation.
8. PROVIDE “PRESS PACKETS” TO EXPLAIN CONFERENCE PAPERS AND
PUBLICATIONS TO THE PUBLIC

Press packets or press releases might focus on research that promises to have general or
broad public appeal or to work by regional scientists that promises to be especially
important for positive outcomes for government, business, or other sectors. In any case
it is important for regional science to reach more than just an “insider” audience.
9. BE EXPLICIT WHEN STATING TO SCIENTISTS THE ROI THAT COMES FROMCONFERENCE PARTICIPATION

What is ROI? It is shorthand for return on investment. We guess that most participantsin regional science conferences, seminars and even publications do not weigh the costs
and benefits of participation in a mature and comprehensive way. Further, many seem toconsider such participation to be a “one off-event”. Ideally, participants will think about
participation as part of a life-long plan for “continuous intellectual improvement”. In the
short term benefits might be improved conference revenue for organizers and theopportunity to bring the so-called demonstration effect into play when participants seethat participation brings not only intellectual benefits but maybe even some social
benefits and opportunities for collaboration. In the longer term organizations have
improved opportunities to engage in “relationship marketing” with an establishedparticipant base.
10. EMPLOYERS ALSO NEED TO BE EXPLICITLY TOLD ABOUT CONFERENCE
PARTICIPATION ROI

It is essential that the value added that comes with participation in regional science
conferences and publications is made clear to those in public and private sector
leadership positions who employ regional scientists. There is a cost to firms andagencies when employees participate in conferences and when employees’ budget“billable time” to attending conferences, to preparing conference publications, and whentime is devoted to preparing papers for publication. Unless scientists are using their own
time (including vacation time) this can be an issue. Many if not most employers requirethat time used for conferences and publications either be billed to a client or, perhaps, toan in-house professional development account. Regional science associations need to beprepared to help scientists justify their participation in ways that support the notion thatthe employer is making a critical investment to the business of human capitol building.
The notion of costs and returns has always been an important one but perhaps in thesedays of declining research support and travel budgets it is even more critical. In the faceof declining “perks” it is increasingly necessary that there are tangible benefits or“business reasons” tied to conferences and similar activities. Regional scienceorganizations can help support participants by emphasizing value added and ROI in6
promotional materials and in conference programmes and other similar publications.
Similarly the tone of announcements and publications should emphasize the serious sideof the undertaking.
In short, regional scientist in positions of association leadership need to think of ways of“giving cover” to those in industry and government who need a clear “business reason”
for participation in conferences or for preparing scientific publications.
11. REGIONAL SCIENCE NEEDS A CORPORATE CULTURE THAT IS
WELCOMING TO MULTIPLE CONSTITUENCIESThe culture of regional science is aimed at university and college based scientists andthis is certainly appropriate. But our culture needs to evolve to be more inclusive andthis means explicitly meeting the need of those in business, government, and the NGO
and GSE sectors.
12. RENEW THE FOCUS ON THE TEACHING OF REGIONAL SCIENCEOver the years regional science conferences have hosted sessions on the teaching ofregional science. However, in recent years such sessions have been few and far between.
Initiatives of this sort need to be revived and expanded. The goal of expanding the footprint of regional science in universities and colleges is an important one but this will not
happen until regional science grows as both an undergraduate and a graduate field. If
regional science expects to be a core discipline it needs to be an essential part of theundergraduate curriculum. It could be argued that an expanded number of graduates
would build awareness of the value of regional science as well as increasing the pool ofperspective graduate students seeking advanced training. In any case the business ofcreating an undergraduate curriculum in a subject that is now a largely graduate level
field is something that can be nurtured by regional science associations and conferences.
13. REGIONAL SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD EXPAND THEIR
OFFERINGS

Regional science associations should explore the efficacy of accommodating a variety
of appropriate activities now undertaken by governmental organizations, business firms,
NGOs, and GSEs. In doing this the associations would be creating a revenue stream andthey would be clearly establishing the value of the regional science community toemployers of regional scientists. Scientific associations provide cache and respectability
beyond that which these organizations can provide for themselves.
Corporations and government organizations routinely organize and conduct training
sessions and corporate or agency retreats and seminars. There might be occasions whenthese activities have substantial regional science content and could be held inconjunction with a regional science conference. Such activities might even be organizedby conference managers on a contract basis to provide a revenue stream for theorganization and to assure that content and presenters represent state of the art
approaches to regional science issues. This sort of mixing of functions could also allow
those with backgrounds in regional science to use one trip and one conference toparticipate in the general conference agenda and in specialized training and discussions
appropriate to their employment.

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14. EXPAND THE FOCUS OF REGIONAL SCIENCE
From the beginning regional science has had an economic focus. It is time to follow
Walter Isard's lead and continue to expand regional science into areas that are the focus
of other fields including sociology and environmental science. Fields such as these willcertainly benefit from the perspectives offered by regional science approaches. There
will also be societal benefits as regional science tackles a wide-ranging selection ofcontemporary problems such as environmental protection, new energy producing
technologies, sustainable development, and spatial variation in quality of life measures.
By moving into areas of these sorts regional science will further establish itself as afield dedicated to finding answers to questions that contributed to a better quality of life.

VI IMPLEMENTATION
We would like to see all 14 of our action steps implemented. Leadership for
implementation should logically come from regional science sections and associations.
They are the organizations with a comprehensive mandate to "grow" regional science.
They are also the organizations with the ability to cut across firm, agency andgeographical boundaries to put initiatives in place that will promote the growth anddevelopment of regional science. Associations are also well positioned to negotiate thepartnerships that are necessary for the advancement of regional science.
In one sense sections and associations represent the supply side of the supply anddemand equation. Government agencies, private firms, NGOs, and GSEs, effectively
represent the demand side.

VII CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSWhen compared to the core disciplines of the social and economic sciences regional
science is relatively new and still "emerging." We do, however, think that regional
science has the potential to evolve to become a core discipline with powerful potential
to more fully develop its theoretical foundations and to make substantial contributions
to the solutions of pressing socioeconomic problems.
With this in mind we offer five general recommendations:
1. DESIGN INSTRUCTIONAL COURSES.
The proliferation of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels will broaden
awareness of the regional science "brand" and will build appreciation of regional
science a useful applied field.
2. MAKE RECOGNITION OF REGIONAL SCIENCE EXPLICIT.
It is essential to make recognition of regional science and the work of regional scientists
an explicit, not just implicit, part of the instructional package. Regional science needs tobe recognized for its leadership in the search for solutions to significant research

8problems.
3.DEVELOP NETWORKS.
By strengthening existing networks and building new ones regional scientists will have
expanded access to, and more regular contact with, professional planners, government
agencies, businesses, consultancies and the private research sector. Improved access to
the research staff and management and administration of such organizations andagencies should result in expanded opportunities for regional scientists.
4. CREATE AN ACADEMIC CULTURE THAT VALUES EXTRAMURALFUNDING.
Curiosity driven research will always be valued but client driven research carries with it
the fact that its value is more widely recognized. And it provides expanded
opportunities for research scientists. The most sustainable academic enterprises arethose which forge appropriate partnerships with government agencies, private firms,
GSEs and GSOs.
5. BE AGGRESSIVE IN CULTIVATING THE MEDIA.
The media can encourage public awareness and recognition of the contributions ofregional scientists to solving problems facing government, private firms, GSEs, and
NGOs.

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Bailly AS, Gibson LJ (2004) Regional science: directions for the future. Papers in
Regional Science 83: 127-138
Gibson LJ (1994) Fixing the fix we are in. Papers in Regional Science 79: 19-25
Gibson LJ (1998) Institutionalizing regional science. Annals of Regional Science 32:459-467
Gibson LJ (2000) Size matters: Why regional science needs to think bigger. The Review
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Gibson LJ, Monahan RL, Plane DA (2012) The first fifty years of the Western Regional
Science Association: the making of the WRSA brand. Annals of Regional Science. 48/2:
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Science Association 24: 7-21
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Jensen RC, West (1995) Regional science and regional practice in Australia (review andcomment). Australasian Journal of Regional Studies I: 7-20
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Rees J (1999) Regional science: from crisis to opportunity. Papers in Regional Science78: 101-110
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ABSTRACTRegional science is certainly a well-established feature on the intellectual landscapes of
the Americas, Europe, and Asia and is emerging in Africa and elsewhere. The future of
regional science is bright but could be even brighter if regional science were toaccomplish several additional milestones. In this paper we present 14 items to improve
the future of regional science and 5 recommendations.

KEYWORDS
Regional science, management of regional science, history of regional science, regional
development, sustainable development.

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