Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Regional Science: What Matters? Which
Matters?
Peter Nijkamp, Adam Rose, and Karima Kourtit
1.1
Overview
It is often taken for granted that the year 1956 heralds the birth of regional science.
In this year Walter Isard's classic
Location and Space-Economy
was published.
Admittedly, Isard had already published some noteworthy articles in preceding
years. In 1949, he published a first major contribution to the foundations of early
regional science, in his article 'The General Theory of Location and Space Econ-
omy', in the
Quarterly Journal of Economics
. His article 'Interregional and
Regional Input-Output Analysis: A Model of a Space-Economy', published
in1951 in the
Review of Economics and Statistics
(vol. 33, pp. 318-328), was
also a remarkable scholarly achievement. The same holds for his article 'Location
Theory and Trade Theory: Short-run Analysis', published in 1954 in the
Quarterly
Journal of Economics
(vol. 68, pp. 305-320).
But the real break-through occurred with the publication of his seminal opus on
Location and Space-Economy.
The subtitle of this volume illustrates typically the
great ambition of Isard, as he is in search of
A General Theory Relating to Industrial
Location, Market Areas, Land Use, Trade, and Urban Structure.
This topic is a
scientific highlight, as it seeks to offer a critical analysis of past contributions by
various scholars to spatial issues and to lay the foundation for an integrated
perspective on the complex space-economy. The main goals of Isard's first com-
prehensive analysis of locational questions in a multi-faceted space-economy are
