Regional Studies Policy Impact Books
About the Book Series
Policy Expo books are an exciting new series of publications from the Regional Studies Association. The books in this series are commissioned to address topical policy questions of contemporary importance to all communities engaged in regional and urban studies issues. The term "Expo" is taken to mean "a comprehensive description and meaning of an idea or theory". The publication style is to use clear and coherent narrative addressing evidence for different policy and theoretical positions. Each topic is broad in scope, achieving global reach and relevance wherever possible. There is a consistent focus on the impact of policy research both in terms its reach to policy, academic and practitioner communities and also in its significance, to show how evidence can inform policy change within regional and urban studies.
Going Circular: Unlocking the potential of regions and cities to drive the circular economy transition
1st Edition
Edited
By Marcin Dąbrowski, Karel Van den Berghe, Joanna Williams, Ellen van Bueren
May 12, 2025
Going Circular explores the concept of a circular economy (CE) and its transformative potential for cities and regions. It emphasises the importance of spatial planning and the role of urban and regional authorities in driving the transition to a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic ...
Social infrastructure and left behind places
1st Edition
By John Tomaney, Maeve Blackman, Lucy Natarajan, Dimitrios Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Myfanwy Taylor
February 19, 2024
This book explores the making, unmaking and remaking of social infrastructure in ‘left-behind places’. Such places, typically once flourishing industrial communities that have been excluded from recent economic growth, now attract academic and policy attention as sites of a political backlash ...
COVID-19 and informal workers in Asian cities: Impact, response, and implications for urban recovery
1st Edition
Edited
By Redento B. Recio, Kazi Nazrul Fattah, Nausheen H. Anwar, Noman Ahmed, Iderlina Mateo-Babiano, Michele Acuto, Ian Jayson Hecita, Shiva Nouri
August 24, 2023
As COVID-19 took hold across local and international borders in 2020 and 2021, over 1.6 billion informal workers were estimated to have been adversely impacted by mobility restrictions and other 'lockdown' measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. In the Global South, the pandemic has severely ...
Harnessing Global Value Chains for regional development: How to upgrade through regional policy, FDI and trade
1st Edition
By Riccardo Crescenzi, Oliver Harman
March 03, 2023
This Regional Studies Policy Impact Book brings together the latest academic evidence and public policy insights with global value chains (GVCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). It comprises a comprehensive description and explanation of why they matter for regional development and policy. It ...
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: The challenges facing cities and regions
1st Edition
By Stephen Parkes, Ed Ferrari
February 24, 2023
The past decade has seen substantial progress towards the development of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). Accompanying the technological developments, there has been much dialogue around the potential for CAVs to help solve a range of economic, social, and environmental issues. Some of ...
Levelling Up Left Behind Places: The Scale and Nature of the Economic and Policy Challenge
1st Edition
By Ron Martin, Ben Gardiner, Andy Pike, Peter Sunley, Peter Tyler
December 21, 2021
This book aims to understand the predicaments of ‘left behind places’ and the scale of the policy challenge of ‘levelling up’ their economic prosperity. Drawing out lessons of wider international significance, it examines how places (cities, towns and localities) have grown apart over recent ...
Putting Universities in their Place: An Evidence-based Approach to Understanding the Contribution of Higher Education to Local and Regional Development
1st Edition
By Louise Kempton, Maria Conceição Rego, Lucir Reinaldo Alves, Paul Vallance, Maurício Aguiar Serra, Mark Tewdwr-Jones
August 04, 2021
There have been several attempts in recent years to create conceptual frameworks and models to help universities and policy makers understand the role and contribution of higher education to local and regional development. However, these models have failed to fully reflect or give insufficient ...
The Belt and Road Initiative as Epochal Regionalisation
1st Edition
By Xiangming Chen, Julie Tian Miao, Xue Li
April 08, 2021
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by China in 2013, carries and projects powerful regional dimensions and transformations, with short- and long-term global, national and local consequences. The BRI’s regional significance lies in its designation and creation of several cross-border ...
Every Place Matters: Towards Effective Place-Based Policy
1st Edition
By Andrew Beer, Fiona McKenzie, Jiří Blažek, Markku Sotarauta, Sarah Ayres
December 09, 2020
Across the globe policy makers implement, and academics teach and undertake research upon, place-based policy. But what is place-based policy, what does it aspire to achieve, what are the benefits of place-based approaches relative to other forms of policy, and what are the key determinants of ...
Revitalising Lagging Regions: Smart Specialisation and Industry 4.0
1st Edition
Edited
By Mariachiara Barzotto, Carlo Corradini, Felicia M. Fai, Sandrine Labory, Philip R. Tomlinson
December 17, 2019
This Expo book brings together leading academic and policymaker experts to reflect on the significant challenges faced by lagging regions in participating in the European Union’s Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) programme. In doing so, the book offers a set of new ...
Towards Cohesion Policy 4.0: Structural Transformation and Inclusive Growth
1st Edition
By John Bachtler, Joaquim Oliveira Martins, Peter Wostner, Piotr Zuber
November 14, 2019
In the context of the debate on the future of Europe, this book makes the case for a new approach to structural transformation, growth and cohesion in the EU. It explores both the opportunities and challenges from globalisation and technological change, the widening differences in productivity ...