The article is devoted to the changing ways of interpretation and description of a region. It shows the interrelations between particular approaches and the connections between changing concepts of a region and different stages of social change. Three main approaches to regional studies are emphasized: the chorological tradition, Regional Science and contemporary social and cultural interpretations of region. Each approach is presented in three perspectives: theoretical, methodological and practical. The changing role and meaning of geographical research in regional studies is analyzed in the concluding comments.
This paper provides a review of structure and contents of Local Economic Development (LED) programmes. It also offers a list of data and information necessary to develop and implement such programmes. The author emphasises the difference in approach to LED by the researchers (theorists) and the practitioners, dealing with LED on every day basis. This gap, according to the author is in part a legacy centrally managed economy and is typical for the countries in transition period.
This article presents, from a sociological perspective, selected methodological issues concerning urban studies. The authors of such studies either create theories of a city’s rise and fall or describe a changing urban reality, investigating the history of cities. Examples of the first approach are the more or less formalized works of Louis Wirth or Richard Florida, as well as Geoffrey West’s and Louis Bettencourt’s quantitative concept.. The second type of studies is represented by Max Weber, Fernand Braudel and others. The author, although he is not denying the merits of the first approach, claims that the descriptive-historical perspective has so far been more useful in explaining the process of urban development.
This article aims at creating the foundations for a coherent theoretical concept of cluster structure, meeting high requirements of a continuously changing area of social sciences. Such a concept should provide an opportunity to make comparisons between clusters of various branches and at various stages of development. To construct such a theory, a modified and supplemented Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital was used, putting large emphasis not only onto stricte economic sources of influence in the cluster but also onto human beings and their activities, which influence the operation of cluster structure to the greatest degree.
The article was published in Polish in "Studia Regionalne i Lokalne", 2/2004
The paper offers a review of the evolution in defining and describing regions, showing mutual relationships between particular approaches and logical succession between various analytical concepts of the region. The analysis highlights the strong relationship between individual theories and overall social change. Three main approaches to regional research are outlined: the chorological approach, Regional Science and contemporary social and cultural interpretations of the region. Each approach is presented in three perspectives: theoretical, methodological and practical. The changing role and status of geographical research in regional studies is also discussed.
The aim of this paper is to present the first 16 coherent regional input-output tables for Poland, together with the methodology applied to their regionalization from the national level. On the basis of the tables – especially the use and trade tables aggregated to the 19 NACE sections – the structure as well as intra- and inter-regional trade is presented for all 16 NUTS2 regions. Based on the example of the R & D sector, the usefulness of the tables as an analytical tool is confirmed. Like in network analysis, the authors present the links and exchanges of this sector with other sectors of the regional economies in individual voivodships and between them. The regional input-output tables together with their methodology presented here is the first attempt, to the best knowledge of the authors, to publish methodologically coherent 16 input-output tables at NUTS2 level for Poland. They path the way for further research in such directions as: higher regional and sectoral disaggregation, application of the tables to the analysis of different regional economic policies in Poland, and for international comparisons.
