Regional development – theories, factors and obstacles

The paper presents selected theories of regional development. The first one is the concept of “top-down” development, according to which the region is understand as an “object” of development: the processes taking place in the region are the consequence of external conditions of development. Subsequently, selected “bottom-up” regional development theories, in which the leading role is attributed to the differentiated activities of the region which is the “subject”, not the “object”, of the development processes, are presented. Finally, the paper points out the references to regional development in the concepts of “new economic geography” and evolutionary economics, which show the complexity of modern regional development processes