Peter Nijkamp

Karima Kourtit

Robert Laurini

Louafi Bouzouina

The present publication focusses the attention on new avenues in regional information and knowledge management, while we will zoom in particularly on the potential promises and hurdles of digital technology. This digital challenge has already generated a wealth of implications in the area of smart or intelligent cities, but as yet far less has been achieved in the field of regional planning and regional science. There is clearly a need for a more systematic and wide-ranging assessment and presentation of emerging approaches and concepts in this field, for instance, in regard to principles (e.g. geographic rule modeling), methodologies (e.g. blockchain systems), data analytics (e.g. machine learning) and data governance (e.g. data sovereignty) of regional information and knowledge. Especially in our ‘big data’ era, a systematic, comprehensible and reliable acquisition, storage, sharing and handling of data (e.g. on the basis of systematic decomposition and filtering principles) is more needed than ever before. The present study seeks to present a selection of state-of-the-art contributions on advanced – often digitally-oriented – regional information and knowledge management foundations, principles and practices written by several experts in the field of spatial informatics. These contributions were collected with a view to the design of a comprehensive knowledge and research agenda, which was discussed during a brainstorm workshop in Lyon, France (October 2021). This book covers various fields of interest, such as GeoAI, knowledge modelling, IoT and scalability, space syntax, rule extraction, data governance and data self-sovereignty. It is concluded with a knowledge and research agenda outlining future endeavors in the field of the spatial information sciences (or spatial informatics).

Knowledge Management for Regional Policymaking

Roger Stough

In the aftermath of both ongoing globalisation (with both widening and deepening effects on countries, regions and cities) and structural changes resulting from the 2008 economic recession, regions and cities in our world are confronted with a different arena of players, performances and institutions. The challenges are formidable and numerous. Many regions and cities seem to resort to their indigenous strength, without much regard to other players in the field. This has enormous consequences for the competitive behaviour and profile of regional and urban actors but has at the same time deep impacts on the distribution of wealth, income and employment over and within countries, regions and cities. There is indeed much evidence that disparities among regions and in cities are increasing in this new force field. This special issue of REGION makes a solid scientific attempt (i) to map out the spatial consequences of recent transitions in growth trajectories of countries or regions, and (ii) to trace policy strategies and design effective policy information, to cope adequately with these new challenges. The present special issue does so by highlighting the new force field of regional and urban dynamics from three angles in the context of spatial quality and inequality. These will be briefly sketched below.

Quality and Inequality in Regional and Urban Systems

Roger R. Stough

Uwe Blien

The aging and migration megatrends and their impact on spatial – regional and local – labor market performance is the core theme of this book, and thus together define its scope and focus. The contributions provide an overview of key aging and migration issues in various countries together with analyses of their varied impacts on regional labor markets. Systematic database research and related empirical analyses are used to map out the complex and dynamic nature of these trends, while cutting-edge economic and modeling techniques are used to analyze them. In closing, the book critically reviews and assesses selected policy measures designed to cope with the effects of aging and migration on regional labor markets.

Modelling Aging and Migration Effects on Spatial Labor Markets

Edward Glaeser

We live in the ‘urban century’. Cities all over the world – in both developing and developed countries – display complex evolutionary patterns. Urban Empires charts the backgrounds, mechanisms, drivers, and consequences of these radical changes in our contemporary systems from a global perspective and analyses the dominant position of modern cities in the ‘New Urban World’. This volume views the drastic change cities have undergone internationally through a broad perspective and considers their emerging roles in our global network society. Chapters from renowned scholars provide advanced analytical contributions, scaling applied and theoretical perspectives on the competitive profile of urban agglomerations in a globalizing world. Together, the volume traces and investigates the economic and political drivers of network cities in a global context and explores the challenges over governance that are presented by mega-cities. It also identifies and maps out the new geography of the emergent ‘urban century’. With contributions from well-known and influential scholars from around the world, Urban Empires serves as a touchstone for students and researchers keen to explore the scientific and policy needs of cities as they become our age’s global power centers.

Cities as Global Rulers in the New Urban World

Urban Empires

Cities and city regions are growing throughout the world and this trend is forecast to continue well into the 21st century. The authors of The Rise of the City see the next 100 years as being the ÒUrban CenturyÓ. In this book they examine urban growth

Karima Kourtit

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