This diploma thesis deals with a new approach to the rural development in the EU, which is the LEADER initiative. This initiative is significative by involving of local actors to the rural development, elaboration of coherent strategy of development and the bottom-up approach. First part of this thesis deals with the level of exercise of this principle in two concrete member states. I choosed two very different states for my comparaison: Czech republic as a new member state (2004), which has never used LEADER initiative and France as one of six founders of the EC, a country, where the LEADER initiative has been exercised since it's begginings in 1991. I've concluded my analyse of the implementation of this initiative (or sub-measure of LEADER+ type) by finding, that the bottom-up principle is exercited better in France than in the Czech republic. The selection of projects to be financed by LEADER initiative had to be approved directly by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. The selection in France was done only by local action groups. I've realised a comparative case study of two concrete local action groups LAG Posázaví, o.p.s. (Czech Republic, Středočeský kraj) and LAG Pays d'Albret (France, Aquitane region) in the second part of my thesis. My target was to ratify or disprove a...

The presented thesis is analyzing the cross-border co-operation between three units, the Czech-Polish-Slovak Euroregion Beskydy, the Czech-Slovak Bílé-Biele Karpaty and the Czech-Polish Euroregion Silesia. The object of the work is to point out the concrete factors influencing the collaboration in these Euroregions in 2004-2006 period. From the beginning of this date caught the countries, on whose territory particular structures are situated, as the lawful Member States of the European Union draw the financial aid from the Community Initiative INTERREG. An important part of this Initiative, INTERREG IIIA Programme, was in the Multiannual Financial Framework concerned designated to the support of the cross- border co-operation. The criteria are built on the base of the Theory of learning regions, according which the collaboration in cross-border structures is analysed: a milieu, from which the co-operation arised, a participation of the other subjects on the activities of the Euroregion and main areas of the co-operation and knowledge imparted. The priorities specified at the beggining of the partnership are envisaged with the intern setting of the Euroregion and with the projects truly realized in the period defined.

This thesis deals with regional development policy in Corsica region in the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. During the first period region remained temporarily in objective 1 - Promoting the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind. This period should facilitate the preparation for the transition into the developed European regions. The aim is to answer the question whether the region succeeded in coping with the new requirements of regional policy in 2007-2013 and if any shift towards an economy based on competitiveness and employment occurred there in contrast with the previous period. Based on the theory of new regionalism and learning regions this work defines three criteria which are used to compare of regional policy region in the given time frame. These are the institutional embeddedness with regard to who is involved in the negotiation of regional policy strategy, the environment in terms of economic configuration of the region and the density of institutions focusing on cooperation between fields of education, research and the private sector. The analysis shows that there has been an economic growth in the region. On the other side the regional policy could not fully focus on competitiveness and employment, as it has to deal with structural...

För att nå en hållbar utveckling måste förhållandet mellan människor och miljö beaktas genom att ta hänsyn till ekologiska, sociala och ekonomiska aspekter. Proportionerna mellan dessa aspekter är inte lika då det visat sig att ekologisk hållbarhet är en förutsättning för social och ekonomisk hållbarhet. För att begränsa klimatpåverkan måste utsläpp av växthusgaser minska, och det innebär att det måste ske en omställning inom bland annat transportsektorn. Regeringen anger att utsläppen av växthusgaser inom transportsektorn måste minska kraftigt och i en snabbare takt för att i princip vara noll år 2045.  Under våren 2021 påbörjade Region Västernorrland processen med att revidera den gällande infrastrukturplanen som gäller mellan åren 2018–2029. Planen revideras vart fjärde år och den pågående revideringen kommer att omfatta åren 2022–2033. I samband med revideringen pågår också en strategisk miljöbedömning (SMB) för att integrera hållbarhetsaspekter i planprocessen på bästa sätt. SMB är ett lagstadgat verktyg för att integrera hållbarhetsaspekter i planering och beslutsfattning under framtagandet av planer och program som väntas ha en betydande miljöpåverkan. Eftersom regionala infrastrukturplaner förväntas ha betydande miljöpåverkan ska en SMB tas fram i samband med planprocessen, vilket Region Västernorrland gör. Det övergripande syftet med fallstudien i Region Västernorrland är att bidra med en djupare förståelse och kunskap om hur regioner på bästa sätt kan arbeta med SMB i samband med framtagandet av en regional infrastrukturplan.  Resultatet av studien visar att Region Västernorrland har utvecklat sitt arbete med SMB till en mer strategisk process jämfört med föregående planeringsprocess. De har tagit med sig erfarenheter gällande till exempel dokumentation och att säkerställa att deltagarna får relevant grundkunskap inför processen. Regionen är förändringsbenägna och vill utveckla sitt arbete med SMB, trots detta upplevs processen som svår eftersom det inte finns någon vedertagen vägledning för en strategisk process. Förhoppningen med en mer strategisk process, där miljöbedömningen startar tidigt i planprocessen, är att den kommer kunna påverka planen i en större utsträckning än tidigare.  Resultatet visar att det finns utvecklingspotential inom regionen men även nationellt. Inom branschen rekommenderas att ta fram en vägledning för hur en SMB kan tas fram som inte baseras på den specifika miljöbedömningens metod och att det skapas en plattform för att utbyta erfarenheter. Vidare rekommenderas regionen att besluta om ett överordnat mål för att förenkla hantering av konflikter mellan mål. För att bidra med viktig kunskap till nästa process, rekommenderas det att både små och stora beslut dokumenteras i en beslutslogg och att det sker en strukturerad erfarenhetsåterföring i slutet av processen. / The system between humankind and the environment is key in the work towards sustainable development, and the aspects of ecological, social, and economic sustainability. The proportions of these aspects are not equal, as it has been shown that ecological sustainability is the foundation for social and economic sustainability. A decrease in greenhouse gas emissions is a necessity to limit the impacts on the climate, a change in approach will be essential in e.g., the transport sector. The emissions from the transport sector must start decreasing by a log and at a faster pace to reach the goal of essentially zero emissions by 2045.  The region of Västernorrland in Sweden started the process of revising the current transport plan during the spring of 2021. The transport plan contains national investments in regional transportation infrastructure e.g., investments in roads and railways. The plan is revised every fourth year and the revised plan will cover the years 2022-2033. In connection to the revision a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was conducted to integrate sustainability aspects to the process. SEA is in Sweden compulsory by law as a tool to integrate sustainability aspects into the planning process and the decision making for plans and programs that are expected to have a significant environmental impact. As the regional transportation plan is expected to have significant environmental impact, an SEA needs to be conducted along with the revision process of the transportational plan, as the region of Västernorrland does. The aim of this case study is to contribute with a deeper understanding and knowledge of how regions can work with SEA in relation to the revision of regional transportation plans.  The results of the study show that Region Västernorrland have developed their work with SEA towards a more strategic process, compared to the previous revision process. They have developed their work with documentation of the process and ensured they provide relative knowledge to the participants of the process in advance. The region is inclined to change and develop their work with SEA, however, do the process come across as difficult due to that there are no established guidance for the strategic process. The expectation with a more strategic process is that the assessment will start earlier in the planning process and result in a greater influence on the plan than previously. The results also show that there is an opportunity for development within the region but also nationally. A recommendation is to develop a guide that describes and exemplifies how the process for SEA can be performed in a strategic way and create a platform that enables experience exchange. Further it is recommended to decide on a superior goal to simplify when goals are conflicting, this would help in the process of handling these conflicts. Also, to document all decisions in a structured decision log and ensure that there is a structured process to incorporate experience from previous processes.

Recent population estimates from 2018 have placed Delhi as the second most populous urban agglomeration, and it is set to become the most populous urban area by 2030 in the world. The region’s expansion is far from complete. The visible growth in the last decades is intuitively experienced by the city’s inhabitants and commuters who travel from nearby areas in the form of congestion. Also, in the last two decades, the growth of Metro Rail network has been a part of that visible expansion. At its inauguration in 2002, it symbolized a solution for easing the congestion of vehicles on Delhi’s roads, and it demonstrated the possibility of implementing a transportation system in India comparable to those in other rapidly growing economies. Since then, Delhi Metro Rail (DMR) has expanded to a network length of 389 kilometers with 285 stations. A larger legacy of DMR is in spurring similar projects in other Indian cities. Prior research examining the impact of DMR has speculated that its development strategy may have triggered new ways of deriving value from land and property markets and played a role in neighborhood transformation processes. Are these speculations about land use and property change indeed correlated with the rapid development of transit systems? Furthermore, are these impacts similarly seen in all parts of DMR's network?This dissertation empirically examines the magnitude of urban changes in the context of new transit development with a well-founded understanding that the announcement and construction of the new transportation systems are two critical junctures to understanding the process of spatial fragmentation and neighborhood transformation in emerging mega-urban regions. The research questions considered are: RQ1. How did various actors and decisions shape the trajectories of urban transportation development in Delhi? What is the role of Metro Rail development in producing a World-Class city? RQ2. How has the land cover and land use changed in the past two decades? What prominent patterns of land transformations can be seen from urbanization phenomena? RQ3. How do transportation and land development change land markets? What are the effects of proximity and access? In this study, I use a spatial and temporal approach to investigate the transportation-land connection framed around the development trajectory of DMR. I utilize multiple techniques, including remote sensing classification, data analysis and analysis of historical materials, and land market analysis to understand the making of this urban agglomeration. The main findings are as follows: First, the impact of transportation development is mixed. Peripheral cities have seen more land transformation due to metro rail development than the core (Delhi -NCT). Second, due to the ease of access to the land, cities in the study area have expanded horizontally outwards. Land built or absorbed in the urban boundaries has been derived from agricultural land holdings. Thus, the question of access needs to be revisited. Lastly, masterplans and State actors play a critical role in the land transformation process. Together, they have shaped the land use configurations in Delhi and its peripheries. This study contributes to the broader understanding of the process of transportation-led urbanization and the more-than-accessibility impact of metro-rail systems in shaping land systems. Findings from this study will be useful to understand the impact of mass rail transit systems, developed in the style of DMR, on other urban geographies in India. / Geography

In 2009, the Swedish Basketball Federation started a Region U15 development project in order to change the structure of the regional organization to get into a more transparent and similar operations throughout the country. My purpose is to study the attitudes to the change among the region leaders in the regional operations and evaluate the change from an organizational perspective. The study is primarily based on the following questions: What are the experiences of the change process among the region leaders in the regional organization? How involved have region leaders been in the changing process? Which are the positive and negative aspects with the regional operation today? What can be done further to develop the regional operation and to what extent do the organizational change follow general organizational theories? In my study, a qualitative method was used in terms of interviews with 8 regional leaders to understand their attitude to the project and the changing process. To analyze the results of the region leaders ‘responses, a transcription have been made. One of the main results of the study is that the organizational change to some extent mean bureaucratization and centralization, in order to structure the activities in the regions. One example is the development of a policy document for all regions to follow. The results also show that the attitudes to the change are overall very positive among the region leaders.

Das Thema "Möglichkeiten und Grenzen regionaler Kooperationen am Beispiel länderübergreifender Kooperationen im Raum Halle-Leipzig" ist Inhalt einer Diplomarbeit (2004 vorgelegt am Institut für Geographie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), deren wichtigsten Erkenntnisse im Folgenden gestrafft dargestellt werden. Dabei stehen vor allem die Ergebnisse des empirischen Teils der Arbeit im Mittelpunkt, der einerseits das Kooperationsgeschehen im Hinblick auf eine abgestimmte Regionalentwicklung im länderübergreifenden Verdichtungsraum Halle-Leipzig erfasste und andererseits die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen gebildeter Kooperationen abzuleiten versuchte. Als theoretischer Hintergrund der Diplomarbeit dienten regulationstheoretische Forschungsansätze, die regionale Entwicklung im Zusammenhang mit Ökonomie, Politik und Gesellschaft betrachten und damit auch regionale Kooperationen als Teil regionsinterner Organisation in einen wirtschaftlichen sowie gesellschaftlichen Kontext stellen. In diesem Band soll vor allem das kooperative Geschehen in der Region Halle-Leipzig im Vordergrund stehen, daher werden auf regulationstheoretische Bezüge hier verzichtet.

Résumé Depuis le début des années 1990, la recherche sur le développement régional a pris une importance considérable dans les disciplines de l’économie et de la géographie dans la plupart des pays. De nombreuses études ont été consacrées à ce sujet et l’on constate une approche analytique de plus en plus sophistiquée. Que les économies pauvres ont tendance à converger vers les pays riches, ou bien à diverger au fil du temps est une question qui a attiré l'attention des décideurs et des universitaires depuis quelques décennies. Convergence ou de divergence économique est un sujet d'intérêt et de débat, non seulement pour valider ou non les deux modèles principaux de croissance qui sont considérés comme concurrent (l’approche néo-classique et celle des approches de croissance endogène), mais aussi pour ses implications pour les publiques politiques. En se basant sur une analyse des politiques de développement régional et des analyses statistiques de la convergence et des disparités régionales, les objectifs de cette thèse sont de tenter de fournir une explication des différents processus et des modèles de développement économique régional poursuivis dans le cas de territoires immenses en utilisant le Canada et la Chine comme études de cas, d'entreprendre une analyse des différents facteurs et des forces motrices qui sous-tendent le développement régional dans ces deux pays, et d'explorer à la fois les réussites et les échecs apparents dans les politiques de développement régional en comparant et contrastant les expériences de développement régional et les modèles de ces deux pays. A fin d'atteindre cet objectif, la recherche utilise une approche multi-scalaire et des méthodes de mesure multidimensionnelle dans le cadre des analyses sur les disparités « régionales » entre les macro régions (sous-ensembles de provinces) des deux pays, des provinces et des régions urbaines sélectionnées, dans le but ultime d’identifier des problèmes existants en termes de développement régional et de pouvoir proposer des solutions. Les étapes principales de la recherche sont : 1. La cueillette des données statistiques pour le Canada et la Chine (incluant les provinces de Québec et de Xinjiang) pour une gamme d’indicateurs (voir ci-dessous). 2. D’entreprendre une analyse de chaque dimension dans les deux juridictions: Population (p.ex. composition, structure, changement); Ressources (p. ex. utilisation, exploitation de l’énergie); Environnement (p.ex. la pollution); et le Développement socioéconomique (p.ex. le développement et la transformation des secteurs clé, et les modèles de développement rural et urbain), et les disparités changeantes par rapport à ces dimensions. 3. La définition d’une typologie de différents types de région en fonction de leurs trajectoires de développement, ce qui servira pour critiquer l’hypothèse centre-périphérie. 4. Le choix d’une région métropolitaine dans chaque juridiction (province). 5. D’entreprendre une analyse temporelle des événements clé (politiques, investissements) dans chaque région et les facteurs impliqués dans chaque événement, en utilisant l’information documentaire générale et des agences institutionnelles impliqués actuellement et dans un passée récent. Cette étude a tenté d'expliquer les schémas et les processus des deux économies, ainsi que la présentation d'études de cas qui illustrent et examinent les différences dans les deux économies à partir de l’échelle nationale jusqu’au niveau régional et provincial et aussi pour certaines zones urbaines. Cette étude a essayé de répondre aux questions de recherche comme: Est-il vrai que les pays avec des plus grandes territoires sont associés avec des plus grandes disparités interrégionales? Quel est le résultat des comparaisons entre pays développés et pays en développement? Quels sont les facteurs les plus importants dans le développement économique de vastes territoires dans les pays développés et pays en développement? Quel est le mécanisme de convergence et de divergence dans les pays développés et, respectivement, les pays en développement? Dans l'introduction à la thèse, le cadre général de l'étude est présenté, suivie dans le chapitre 1 d'une discussion sur les théories et les concepts utilisés dans la littérature théorique principale qui est pertinent à l'étude. Le chapitre 2 décrit la méthodologie de recherche. Le chapitre 3 présente une vue d'ensemble des politiques de développement économique régional et les programmes du Canada et de la Chine dans des périodes différentes à différentes échelles. Au chapitre 4, la convergence des deux pays à l'échelle nationale et la convergence provinciale pour chaque pays sont examinés en utilisant différentes méthodes de mesure telles que les méthodes traditionnelles, la convergence bêta et la convergence sigma. Dans le chapitre le plus complexe, le chapitre 5, les analyses comparatives sont présentées à l'aide de données statistiques, à partir des analyses des cas régionaux et provinciaux retenus des deux pays. Au chapitre 6, ces dispositions sont complétées par une analyse des régions urbaines choisies, qui permet également des aperçus sur les régions les plus périphériques. Dans la recherche proposée pour cette thèse, la politique, la population, le revenu, l'emploi, la composition industrielle, l'investissement, le commerce et le facteur de la migration sont également pris en compte comme facteurs importants de l'analyse régionale compte tenu de la superficie du territoire des deux pays et les différences de population entre eux. Cette thèse a évalué dans quelle mesure les politiques gouvernementales ont réussi à induire la convergence régionale ou ont encore ont creusé davantage les disparités régionales, ce qui implique nécessairement une évaluation de la durabilité des patrons et des programmes de développement régional. Cette étude a également mis l'accent sur les disparités régionales et la politique de développement régional, les comparaisons entre pays, pour mesurer la convergence entre les pays et entre les régions, y compris l'analyse spatiale, d'identifier les facteurs les plus actifs tels que la population, les ressources, la politique, l'urbanisation, les migrations, l'ouverture économique et leurs différents rôles dans le développement économique de ces grands territoires (au Canada et Chine). Les résultats empiriques et les processus de convergence et de divergence offrent un cadre intéressant pour l'examen de la trajectoire de développement régionales et les disparités régionales dans les deux économies. L'approche adoptée a révélé les différentes mosaïques complexes du développement régional dans les deux pays. Les résultats de cette étude ont démontré que la disparité en termes de revenu régional est une réalité dans chaque zone géographique, et que les causes sont nombreuses et complexes. Les deux économies ont certains parallèles dans la mise en œuvre des politiques de développement économique régional, mais il existe des différences importantes aussi et elles se sont développées à différentes vitesses. Les deux économies se sont développées depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, mais la Chine a connu une croissance rapide que le Canada comme témoignent de nombreux indicateurs depuis 1980. Cependant, la Chine est maintenant confrontée à un certain nombre de problèmes économiques et sociaux, y compris les disparités régionales marquées, un fossé toujours croissant entre les revenus ruraux et urbains, une population vieillissante, le chômage, la pauvreté et la dégradation rapide de l'environnement avec toujours plus de demandes en énergie. Le développement économique régional en Chine est plus déséquilibré. Le Canada accuse un degré de disparités régionales et provinciales moins important que la Chine. Dans les cas provinciaux, il existe d'importantes différences et de disparités dans la structure économique et spatiale du Québec et du Xinjiang. Les disparités infra provinciales sont plus grandes que celles à l’échelle des provinces et des grandes régions (des sous-ensembles de provinces). Les mécanismes de convergence et de divergence dans les deux pays sont différents. Les résultats empiriques et les processus de convergence et de divergence offrent un cadre intéressant pour l'examen de la trajectoire de développement régionale et les disparités régionales dans les deux économies. Cette étude démontre également que l'urbanisation (les métropoles et les villes) s’avère être le facteur le plus actif et contribue à l'économie régionale dans ces grands territoires. L'ouverture a joué un rôle important dans les économies des deux pays. La migration est un facteur majeur dans la stimulation de l'économie des deux pays mais de façons différentes. Les résultats empiriques démontrent que les disparités régionales ne peuvent pas être évitées et elles existent presque partout. Il n'y a pas une formule universelle et de politiques spécifiques sont de mise pour chaque région. Mais il semble possible pour les décideurs politiques nationaux et régionaux d’essayer de maintenir l'écart à une échelle raisonnable pour éviter l'instabilité sociale. / Abstract Whether poor economies tend to converge towards rich ones or else to diverge over time is an issue that has attracted the attention of policy-makers and academics alike for some decades. Economic convergence or divergence is a topic of con¬siderable interest and debate, not only for validating or otherwise the two leading and competing growth models (the neoclassical and the endogenous growth approaches) but also for its policy-oriented implications. The conflicting predictions of the two alternative theoretical frameworks (endogenous versus exogenous development approaches) have given rise to an explosion of empirical studies especially since 2000. Significant progress has been made in dynamic modeling under the neoclassical model and endogenous growth models. The new economic geography approach, which emerged in the early 1990s, has gained much attraction for its arguments on centralizing and decentralizing forces in geographic economic space, which could lead to convergence or divergence of regional incomes. A similar set of issues and questions have been posed in relation to patterns of convergence or divergence between different regions of a given country. Based on an analysis of regional development policies and statistical analyses of convergence and regional disparities, the research objectives of this thesis are to attempt to provide an explanation of the different processes and patterns of regional economic development in large territories (countries) using Canada and China as examples, to undertake an analysis of the different factors and driving forces underlying regional development in both countries, and to explore both the apparent successes and failures in regional development policy through comparing and contrasting the regional development experiences and models of these two countries. In order to achieve this objective, the research uses a multiscalar approach and multivariate measurement methods in the course of investigating regional disparities across both countries’ macro regions (sub-sets of provinces), provinces and selected city regions. The overall approach has involved: 1. Gathering statistical data for Canada and China (including provinces as well as the selected provinces of Xinjiang and Quebec) for a range of variables (see below). 2. Undertaking an analysis of each selected dimension in the two jurisdictions: Population (e.g. composition, structure, change); Resources (e.g. energy resources); Environment (e.g. pollution); and Socio-Economic Development (e.g. development and change for key economic sectors, and rural and urban development patterns), and changing disparities on these dimensions. 3. Defining a typology of different types of region based on development trajectories that are used as the basis for questioning the core-periphery hypothesis. 4. Selecting a metropolitan region in each jurisdiction. 5. Undertaking a temporal analysis of major events (policies, investment,) and the factors involved in these events in each chosen region, using statistical and documentary evidence. This study has tried to explain the patterns and processes of both economies as well as presenting case studies which illustrate and examine the differences in both economies from the national to regional and provincial scales and for some urban areas. This study has focused on trying to answer research questions such as: Is it true that large territorial countries have larger interregional disparities? What are the results of comparisons between developed and developing countries? What are the most influential indicators (in a statistical sense) in the economic development of large territories in developed and developing countries? What are the mechanisms of convergence and divergence in large territories in developed and developing countries? This thesis has assessed whether government policies have succeeded in inducing regional convergence or have further widened regional disparities, thus necessarily involving an evaluation of the sustainability of patterns and programmes of regional development. This study also focused on regional disparity and regional development policy, and cross-country comparisons, for measuring convergence between countries and across regions including spatial analysis, and identified the most active factors such as population, resources, policy, urbanization, migration, openness and their different roles in the economic development of large territories (in Canada and China). The empirical results and the process of convergence and divergence offered an interesting framework for examining the regional development trajectory and regional disparities in both economies. In the introduction to the thesis, the general framework of the study is presented, followed in Chapter 1 by a discussion of the theories and concepts used in the principal theoretical literature relevant to the study. Chapter 2 outlines the research methodology. Chapter 3 presents an overall perspective of the regional economic development policies and programmes of Canada and China in different periods at different scales. In Chapter 4, cross-country convergence between Canada and China at the national scale and within country provincial convergence for each country is examined using different measurement methods such as traditional methods, and beta convergence and sigma convergence analyses. In the most complex chapter, Chapter 5, comparative analyses are presented using statistical data, moving from analyses of the two countries to analyses of the broad regions and the provincial cases retained. In Chapter 6, this is complemented by an analysis of selected urban regions which also provides some insights on the more peripheral rural regions. In this thesis, policy, population, income, employment, industrial composition, investment, trade and migration factors are also considered important factors of regional analysis given the territorial size of the two countries and the population differences between them. The approach adopted revealed the different complex mosaics of regional development in both countries. The results of this study demonstrated that disparity in regional income is a reality in every geographically large area, the causes of which are numerous and complex. Both economies have some parallels in the implementation of regional economic development policies, but there are important differences as well and they have been implemented at different speeds. Both economies have developed since the Second World War but China has grown faster than Canada on many indicators since 1980. However, China is now faced with a number of economic and social problems, including pronounced regional disparities, an increasing rural-urban income gap, an aging population, unemployment, poverty and rapid environmental degradation with ever-increasing energy demands. Regional economic development in China is more unbalanced. Canada has a lesser degree of regional and provincial disparity than China. At the provincial level, there are significant differences and disparities in the economic and spatial structure of Quebec and Xinjiang. Sub-provincial disparity is larger than provincial and broad regional (sub-sets of provinces) disparities. The mechanisms of convergence and divergence in both countries are different. The empirical results and the process of convergence and divergence offered an interesting framework for examining the regional development trajectory and regional disparity in both economies. This study also shows that urbanization (metropolitan and cities) was found to be the most active factor contributing to the regional economy in large territories. Openness has played a significant role in the economies of both countries. Migration is a major factor in boosting the economy in both countries but in different ways. The empirical results show that regional disparity cannot be avoided in either economy. There is not a specific universal formula and policy for every country and region. Regional disparities represent a development challenge in a large territory (or country). The persistence of large regional disparities may pose a threat to a country’s territorial integrity and affect its political unity. But it appears possible for national and regional policy makers to try to keep the disparity at a reasonable scale to avoid social instability.

A fundamental research question in regional economic development, is why some regions are able to diversify into new products and industries, while others continue to face challenges in diversification? This doctorate research explores the different pathways to diversification. It follows the three-stage modular structure of DBA for Cranfield School of Management. This thesis consists of a systematic literature review, a single qualitative case study on UAE, and a research synthesis of published cases on Singapore, Norway and UAE. The linking document provides a summary of the three projects and consolidates findings and contributions into a path creation model that provides new understanding on the pathways to regional diversifications. This research integrates existing theoretical foundations of evolutionary economic geography, institutional economic geography, path dependence, industry relatedness, economic complexity, and path creation into a unified conceptual path creation model. It generates propositions, builds a framework and develops a matrix for path creation that integrate context, actors, factors, mechanisms and outcomes shaping regional diversification. It finds that in the context of path dependence and existing conditions of a region, economic actors undertake strategic measures to influence the institutional capabilities to accumulate knowledge and trigger indigenous creation, anchoring, branching, and clustering diversification mechanisms to create complex varieties of related and unrelated diversification outcomes. The institutional collaboration capabilities are found to be instrumental in accumulating knowledge and determining the relatedness and complexity of diversification outcomes. This research further provides a set of integrated platform strategies to guide policy-makers on setting up the pathways to regional diversification.

The main objective of thesis is to empirically assess the level of social capital in relation to the development of the city. First, the thesis discusses the theoretical framing of the concept of social capital; it also deals with the topic of regional development and its conditionality, including the issue of the development of small and medium-sized towns. The second part is devoted to a quantitative analysis of social capital and regional development in all Czech small and medium-sized towns. The last part presents detailed qualitative research on social capital, specifically the results of case studies observed at the level of comparable towns Týn nad Vltavou and Třeboň. In these case studies, key equalities and differences of social capital in connection with the formation of the city were identified. We also confirm the importance of social capital as one of many factors that determines the territorial development. Key words: social capital - regional development - small and medium-sized towns - Týn nad Vltavou - Třeboň