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Isard's search for an integrated and general theory of spatial development led
also to the publication of two less well-known, but extremely original topics, viz.
his ambitious volume on General Theory, Social, Political, Economic, and
Regional with Particular Reference to Decision-Making Analysis, published in
1969, and a novel topic on spatial-ecological issues, with the title Ecologic-Eco-
nomic Analysis for Regional Development, published in 1972. All these topics were
without any doubt landmarks in the intellectual contributions of Isard to regional
science. But it goes without saying that—in addition to the wealth of topics—Isard
has also published numerous seminal articles in many journals. These share all the
same features: analytical rigour, a sound conceptual basis, and a high degree of
original thinking. His publications have influenced generations of regional
scientists for almost half a century. Walter Isard is not only the founder of regional
science but acted as the discipline's guiding light for much of its development.
In a way, regional science is a relatively recently developed discipline. But at the
same time it draws on established disciplines, such as economics, sociology,
planning and political science. Its novelty lies mainly in its capability to combine
different analytical frameworks from different disciplinary backgrounds, although a
quantitative economic theme has often dominated the toolbox of regional science.
Needless to say that the emergence of regional science has sometimes encountered
fierce resistance, as was extensively documented by Isard ( 2003 ) in his topic on
History of Regional Science and the Regional Science Association International.
The great achievement of regional science has been its potential to bring together
scholars from different disciplines from all over the world, through major
conferences, focused workshops, and advanced publications in major journals.
Scientific Contributions of Walter Isard to Regional Science
Walter Isard's research interests in regional and urban phenomena were
formed during his graduate studies, and led to his first major topic, Location
and Space Economy (1956). Next, he initiated research on the economic and
social consequences of atomic power and industrial complexes, and
intensified his research on methods of regional analysis, including industry
location analysis, interregional interindustry analysis, interregional linear
programming models, and migration and gravity models, among others.
These investigations resulted in his second major topic, Methods of Regional
Analysis: an Introduction to Regional Science (1960), in association with
several others. The final chapter of this topic depicted of how these methods
might be used together to forecast the future state of a system of regions.
(In 1998, Isard and five co-authors published a thoroughly updated version of
this work as Methods of Interregional and Regional Analysis .) During the
1960s Isard turned to more theoretical pursuits, which he presented in his
third major topic, General Theory, Social, Political, Economic, and Regional
with Particular Reference to Decision-Making Analysis (1969), co-authored
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