New regional development paradigms: An exposition of place-based modalities

The policy field of regional development is perennially faced with new challenges and, as a result, it continues to evolve. More recently, according to some researchers there has been an important transformation or change in emphasis in the character of regional development. Some have characterised this qualitative transformation as a shift from an 'old' paradigm of regional development that sought to compensate lagging regions to a 'new' paradigm, commonly labelled 'place-based development', which attests that all places can grow when policymaking is attuned to spatial particularities. Nevertheless, recognition that all places exhibit potential to grow and develop does little to advance longstanding debates about how to go about realising inherent possibilities specific to particular places. This paper aims to provide an exposition of this new paradigm of regional development to help to (i) enhance our understanding of contemporary modes of regional development; (ii) develop a clearer understanding of its progressive potentials alongside some unresolved tensions; and (iii) identify practical matters when implementing place-based principles