Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
It is noteworthy that the spatial economy is not a result of a random process, but
emerges out of rational and interactive decisions of a multiplicity of economic
actors, on both the supply and demand side. For example, the emergence of large-
scale industrial concentrations near accessible places and the growth in interre-
gional or international trade are two interlinked factors, as is also argued by the
'new economic geography'. The structure of the space-economy may sometimes
look rather complex, but has a deep underlying economic foundation that is shaped
by economic motives and responses which evolve over time. One of the founding
fathers of structured land use, for example, was Johann Heinrich von Th¨nen, who
was able to combine locational market advantages with transport and production
patterns so as to derive a consistent relationship between land rent and hierarchical
ordering of industrial activities in space.
Regional Science and Its Surroundings
Professor Walter Isard was not only the founder of regional science and
organiser of the world research movement developing in this field. What is
still underestimated is the impact of his ideas on the development of two other
areas: he was one of the forerunners of the research on the complexity of
social systems and on space-time socio-economic development.
According to Professor Isard, regions, or their systems, are living
organisms composed of a variety of units: political, economic, social, and
cultural. Their interdependent behaviour patterns are determined by psycho-
logical, institutional, natural and technical factors. Regional science focuses
on spatial aspects of the behaviour of those organisms and their component
units. In search of answers to questions that arise when examining the object
of study thus defined, regional science relies on the conceptions and methods
of many other sciences, in particular economy, geography, political science,
sociology, and ecology. It seeks to explain how new structures form and
develop, and also how the new structures modify the behaviour patterns of
individual units. In doing this, it employs methods for the study of nonlinear-
ity, microstructural and macrostructural systems, as well as deterministic and
probabilistic ones.
Initially, Professor Isard's conceptions were connected with general equi-
librium theory. In his later works he advocated seeking ways of giving this
theory a dynamic character. He admitted that it was not enough to introduce
time variables to a system of equations describing static states. Each unit
should be defined as a dynamic system already at the stage of assumptions.
The behaviour of macrosystems should be derived from probability theory
applied to a large number of interacting units.
Ryszard Doma´ski
Poznan University of Economics, Poznan, Poland
