REGIONAL SCIENCE IN CRISIS: A PLEA FOR MORE OPEN AND RELEVANT APPROACH

This paper explores the current state of regional science. Our principal thesis is that “mainstream” regional science is in a state of crisis. There arc two major symptoms that justify the use of the term crisis: a lack of relevance and a narrowness of perspective. On the one hand, the field has not sufficiently demonstrated that it can address real world problems. On the other hand, the openness and breadth that was the original goal of regional science is mostly conspicuous by its absence. In order to stimulate a debate on the nature and evolution of regional science, we present a set of orienting principles that indicate desirable directions for the future orientation of the field.