The Regional Economic Development Movement: The Evolution of Strategy from Early to Contemporary Approaches

Summary

In this chapter the discussion has been focused on the evolution of systematic approaches to regional economic development planning and strategy formulation during the 1970s and into the end of the pre 2001 millennium, drawing specific attention to the stages involved in the process of information gathering and analysis through conducting a regional socio economic audit and an institutional capacity and capability assessment, creating a development strategy and implementing plans through actions and programs, and the evaluation of outcomes. The use of SWOT analysis as a methodological framework to assist this process was discussed, as were the importance of benchmarking and the identification of appropriate policy tools for implementation of various approaches to regional and local development. A number of case studies was presented to illustrate the applications of such approaches. This was followed by a discussion of the emerging focus during the 1990s on the concern with achieving sustainable development. Finally, we proposed a conceptualization of an enabling planning framework for approaching regional economic strategy formulation.

Reference was made also to a number of tools of analysis that may be used to assist the conduct of an audit of the performance of a region and to benchmark performance against that of other competing regions. Some of these quantitative analytical tools are now discussed in detail in Chaps. 3 and 4.