Regional Science Association
Encyclopedia
The Regional Science Association (RSA) is a cluster of scholarly societies whose members engage in regional science
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worked to draw together a group of academics interested in analyzing regional (i.e., sub-national) development. These academics were drawn from a number of disciplines: economics, geography, city planning, political science and rural sociology. Naming their new approach regional science, they envisioned it as an interdisciplinary effort, one that would require unique theoretical concepts, methodological tools, and data. Because their effort was interdisciplinary, no existing academic organization brought the participants together; they therefore created their own organization, the Regional Science Association, which first met in December 1954.
By 1961, the RSA had 960 members, and its first local "section", which organized conferences for regional scientists located in the western United States. The next section to form (in 1963) was in Japan, followed by sections throughout Europe, as well as in India, Argentina, and Brazil. In 1969, the Western section and the Japan section began to cooperate in holding a biennial Pacific Rim international conference.
Gradually issues of coordination among the various sections were worked out, resulting in much the present structure by 1990. The Regional Science Association International functions as the umbrella organization for three other organizations: the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization, the North American Regional Science Council, and the European Regional Science Association. Each of these serve as the umbrella organization for a number of other organizations, as seen in the next section.
It is not to be confused with the Regional Studies Association
which is a completely separate and successful international network of academics, practitioners and policy makers interested in a range of regional issues.
Regional science
Regional science is a field of the social sciences concerned with analytical approaches to problems that are specifically urban, rural, or regional...
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Origins
In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the economist Walter IsardWalter Isard
Walter Isard was a prominent American economist, the principal founder of the discipline of Regional Science, as well as one of the main founders of the discipline of Peace Science....
worked to draw together a group of academics interested in analyzing regional (i.e., sub-national) development. These academics were drawn from a number of disciplines: economics, geography, city planning, political science and rural sociology. Naming their new approach regional science, they envisioned it as an interdisciplinary effort, one that would require unique theoretical concepts, methodological tools, and data. Because their effort was interdisciplinary, no existing academic organization brought the participants together; they therefore created their own organization, the Regional Science Association, which first met in December 1954.
By 1961, the RSA had 960 members, and its first local "section", which organized conferences for regional scientists located in the western United States. The next section to form (in 1963) was in Japan, followed by sections throughout Europe, as well as in India, Argentina, and Brazil. In 1969, the Western section and the Japan section began to cooperate in holding a biennial Pacific Rim international conference.
Gradually issues of coordination among the various sections were worked out, resulting in much the present structure by 1990. The Regional Science Association International functions as the umbrella organization for three other organizations: the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization, the North American Regional Science Council, and the European Regional Science Association. Each of these serve as the umbrella organization for a number of other organizations, as seen in the next section.
It is not to be confused with the Regional Studies Association
Regional Studies Association
The Regional Studies Association is a major international learned society that is concerned with the analysis of regions and regional issues. Through its international membership, the RSA provides an authoritative voice of, and network for, academics, students, practitioners, policy makers and...
which is a completely separate and successful international network of academics, practitioners and policy makers interested in a range of regional issues.
Structure
Regional Science Association International The umbrella organization for all affiliated regional science associations.- The Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization An umbrella organization for the following associations:
- Australia New Zealand Regional Science Association
- Canadian Regional Science Association
- Chinese Regional Science Association -- Taiwan
- Indonesian Regional Science Association
- Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International
- Korean Regional Science Association
- Mexican Association of Science for Regional Development
- The Western Regional Science Association
- The North American Regional Science Council An umbrella organization for the following associations:
- Canadian Regional Science Association
- The Mid-Continent Regional Science Association
- The Northeast Regional Science Association
- The Southern Regional Science Association
- The Western Regional Science Association
- The European Regional Science Association An umbrella organization for the following associations:
Sources
- Boyce, David. (2004). "A short history of the field of regional science." Papers in Regional Science. 83(1): 31-57. http://www.civil.northwestern.edu/trans1/boyce_pubs/short_history.pdf
- David Plane's links to Regional Science related websites