RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
THE BLOUSTEIN SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND PUBLIC POLICY
970:645 spring 2015
Regional Development
Thursday: 6:10 – 8:40 p.m.
Room: CSB-113
Prof. H. Amirahmadi
Phone: 609-509-2999
hooshang@amirahmadi.com
www.amirahmadi.com
COURSE CONTENTS
This seminar investigates theories and strategies of regional development worldwide and offers
insights into new theoretical directions and alternative strategies. Conventional, critical,
institutional, and most recent hybrid perspectives are included. Implications of recent global
changes, both in the East and West, for regional development will also be covered.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
In addition to weekly reading assignments and active class participation, students are required to
make two class presentations using the assigned readings (please consult the instructor). Students
are also required to write two critical essays based on their class presentations (3-5 pages). There
will be a mid-term exam (week 8) and a final exam (week 14). Distribution of final grade is as
follows: each class presentation and corresponding essay: 20 points, each exam: 25 points, and
class participation 10 points (absence from class is considered lack of participation, while
bringing new articles, newspaper clips, etc. to the class is highly valued).
TOPICAL OUTLINE
Concepts and Theories
1. Origins of Regional Development Thought
2. Place, Development and Prosperity
3. Seeing Development in 3-D (Density, Distance, Division)
4. Forces Shaping Economic Geography and Regional Development
5. Regional Self-Balance, Imbalance, and Uneven Growth Theories
6. Comparative Advantage, Trade and Stages of Growth Theories
7. Territorial and Institutional Growth Theories
8. Regional Production and Agglomeration Theories
9. Knowledge and Sustainable Regional Development Policy
10. Institutions and Regional Development Policy
Strategies and Policies
1. Supply-Side and Demand-Driven Regional Development Strategies
2. Regional Planning and Export-Led Development Strategies
3. Growth Pole and Territorial Production Complexes
4. Regional Policy Instruments: Incentive versus Control
6. Regional Specialization and Integration
7. Reframing the Policy Debates and New Directions
READING LIST
Readings for this course are selected from the following books and more! Students must buy the
first book (Pike). Readings from other sources will be provided on Sakai. For each class, I have
listed the required readings and readings from which student must select their class presentations.
1. Pike, Andy, Andres Rodriguez-Pose and John Tomaney. 2006. Local and Regional
development London and New York: Routledge.
2. Capello, Roberta and Peter Nijkamp. 2009. Handbook of Regional Growth and
Development Theories, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, US: Edward Elgar.
3. Pike, Andy, Andres Rodriguez-Pose and John Tomaney. 2011. Handbook of Local and
Regional development London and New York: Routledge.
4. World Bank. 2009. World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography.
Washington, DC: World Bank.
5. Green Leigh, N. and Blackely, E. 2013. Planning Local Economic Development: Theory
and Practice. LA and London: Sage.
Week 1: Course Overview
No required readings.
Week 2: Origins of Regional Thought and the Role of Place in Development
World Bank, “Overview,” pp. 1-32. In World Development Report 2009: Reshaping
Economic Geography.
Gore, Charles. 1984. Regions in question, NY: Methuen, pp. 175-210.
Slater, David, 1989, “Fundamental Issues in the Development of Regional Analysis,” in
Territory and State Power in Latin America, New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 3-29.
Week 3: Space and Development
Capello, R., “Space, growth and development,” in Capello Nijkamp, “pp. 33-52.
Duncan, S and Savage, M., 1989, “Space, Scale and Locality,” Antipode, 21:3, pp. 179206.
Week 4: Forces Shaping Economic Geography and Regional Development
Pike, Rodriguez-Pose and Tomaney, “Introduction: Local and Regional Development,”
pp. 3-22.
McCann, P. and F. von Oort, 2009, “Theories of agglomeration and regional
development: a historical review,” in Capello and Nijkamp, pp. 19-32.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Gordon, D.M., 1984, "Capitalist Development and the History of American Cities," in
William W. Tabb, and L. Sawers, Marxism and the Metropolis, NY: Oxford University
Press, pp. 25-55.
Browett, J., 1984, "On the Necessity and Inevitability of Uneven Spatial Development
under Capitalism," in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 8, No.
2, pp. 155-174.
Week 5: Concepts and Theories of Local and Regional development:
 Regional Self-Balance, Imbalance, and Uneven Growth Theories
 Comparative Advantage, Trade and Stages of Growth Theories
 Territorial and Institutional Growth Theories
Pike, Rodriguez-Pose and Tomaney, “Concepts and Theories of Local and Regional
Development,” pp. 61-122.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Gore, C. 1984, "Regional Imbalance as a Policy Problem," pp. 25-49.
Camagni, Roberto, “Territorial Capital and Regional Development,” in Capello and
Nijkamp, pp. 118-132.
Week 6: Theories of Regional Production and Agglomeration
Amin, A. and Thrift, N. 1992, "Neo-Marshallian Nodes in Global Networks",
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 16, No.2., pp.571-587.
Garnsey, E., 1998, “The genesis of the high technology milieu: a study in complexity,”
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 22, No. 3, Sept., pp. 361-377.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Gore, C., 1984. Regions in Question, London: Methuen, Chapter 3, “Urban-industrial
growth pole strategies and the diffusion of modernization,” pp. 81-117.
Tsui-Auch, Lai Si, 1999, “Regional Production Relationships and Developmental
Impacts: A Comparative Study of Three Production Networks,” International Journal of
Urban and Regional Research (June), pp.345-359.
Week 7: Knowledge and Regional development
OECD, “Innovation, Learning and Regions in the Knowledge-Based Economy (Chap.
2)” and “Policy Principles: Creating Learning Cities and Regions (Chap. 7),” in Cities
and Regions in the New Learning Economy.
Audretsch, D. and T. Aldridge, “Knowledge spillover, entrepreneurship and regional
development,” in Capello and Nijkamp, pp. 201-210.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Amirahmadi, H. and Wallace, C., 1995. ”Information technology, the organization of
production, and regional development,” Environment and Planning A, Vol. 27, pp. 17451775.
Amirahmadi, H. and Staff, G., 1993. “Science Parks: A Critical Assessment,” Journal of
Planning Literature, Vol. 8, No. 2 (November), pp. 107-123.
Malecki, E. J., 1983. “Technology and Regional Development: A Survey,” in
International Regional Science Review. Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 89-125
Week 8: Mid-term Exam
Week 9: Institutions and Regional Development
Pike, Rodriguez-Pose and Tomaney, “Institutions: Government and Governance,” pp.
123-152.
Lakshmanan, T.R. and K. Button, “Institutions and Regional Development,” in Capello
and Nijkamp, pp. 443460.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Amin, Ash, 1999. “An Institutionalist Perspective on Regional Economic Development,”
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. June, pp. 365-378.
OECD, “Governance Contexts and Management Frameworks (Chap. 1)” and “Territorial
Governance in a Devolved Context,” in Territorial Outlook (2001).
Week 10: Endogenous and Exogenous Resources in Regional Development
Pike, Rodriguez-Pose and Tomaney, “Mobilizing Endogenous Potential,” p. 153-174.
Pike, Rodriguez-Pose and Tomaney, ‘Attracting and Embedding Exogenous Resources,”
pp. 175-194.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Perloff, H. and L. Wingo, Jr., “Natural Resource Endowment and Regional Economic
Growth,” in J. Friedmann and William Alonso, eds., Regional Development, Cambridge:
MIT Press, pp. 215-239.
Tiebout, Charles M., 1964, "Exports and Regional Economic Growth," in J. Friedmann
and William Alonso, eds., Regional Development, Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 256-265
(includes "A Reply" by North and a "Rejoinder" by Tiebout).
Week 11: Regional Planning, Sustainability and the State
Gore, C., 1984. Regions in Question, London: Methuen. Chapter 5, “Neo-populist
regional development strategies,” pp. 146-171, and “The state, development and regional
planning practice” pp. 236-264.
Alden, J., and R. Morgan, 1974. Regional Planning: A comprehensive View. NY: Wiley,
pp. 123-160.
Hooshang Amirahmadi, 1986, "Regional Planning in Iran: A Survey of Problems and
Policies," The Journal of Developing Areas, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 501-530.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Hooshang Amirahmadi, 1988, "The State and Territorial Social Justice in PostRevolutionary Iran," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 13, no.1,
pp. 92-120.
Batabyal, A. and P. Nijkamp, “Sustainable development and regional growth,” in Capello
and Nijkamp, pp. 282-301.
Week 12: Regional Policy: Incentive versus Control
Dijk, van Jouke , et.al., “Regional Policy: rationale, foundations, and measurements of its
effects,” in Capello and Nijkamp, pp. 461-478.
Abreu, Maria and Maria Savona, “New Regional Policies for Less Developed Areas: the
case of India,” in Capello and Nijkamp, pp. 479-494.
Friedrich, P. and Chang Woon Num, “Economic decline and public intervention: do
special economic zones matter?,” in Capello and Nijkamp, pp. 495-523 (ignore the
mathematical equations).
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
Armstrong, Harvey and Jim Taylor, 1985, "The Origins and Objectives of Regional
Policy," "Regional Policy Instruments," and "New Directions in Regional Policy," in
Harvey Armstrong and Jim Taylor, Regional Economics & Policy, op. cit., pp. 171-224.
Demko, G.J. and Fuchs, R. J., 1984, “A Comparison of Regional Development Policy
Instruments and Measures in Eastern and Western Europe,” in Demko, J.L., ed., Regional
Development, pp. 83-97.
Weaver, Clyde, 1984, "The Rise and Fall of Regional Policy," in C. Weaver, Regional
Development and the Local Community, op. cit., pp. 91-111.
Week 13: Final Exam
Academic Integrity at Rutgers










Principles of academic integrity require that every Rutgers University student:
properly acknowledge and cite all use of the ideas, results, or words of others
properly acknowledge all contributors to a given piece of work
make sure that all work submitted as his or her own in a course or other academic activity is produced
without the aid of unsanctioned materials or unsanctioned collaboration
obtain all data or results by ethical means and report them accurately without suppressing any results
inconsistent with his or her interpretation or conclusions
treat all other students in an ethical manner, respecting their integrity and right to pursue their educational
goals without interference. This requires that a student neither facilitate academic dishonesty by others nor obstruct
their academic progress
uphold the canons of the ethical or professional code of the profession for which he or she is preparing.
Adherence to these principles is necessary in order to insure that:
everyone is given proper credit for his or her ideas, words, results, and other scholarly accomplishments
all student work is fairly evaluated and no student has an inappropriate advantage over others
the academic and ethical development of all students is fostered
the reputation of the University for integrity in its teaching, research, and scholarship is maintained and
enhanced.
Failure to uphold these principles of academic integrity threatens both the reputation of the University and the value
of the degrees awarded to its students. Every member of the University community therefore bears a responsibility for
ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld.