Regional and Urban Development

Partnerships, Meso-institutions and Learning. New Local and Regional Economic Development Initiatives in Latin America
Bert Helmsing / Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands / 2001
Perspectives of regional development policy have changed during the last 25 years. Is there a theory evolving out of the new practices of local and regional development promotion found in Latin America? In the mid-90s, ECLAC in association with GTZ commissioned a series of case studies that might help answer the question. These in total more than 22 studies can be found on the CEPAL website, 12 of them are meta-analyzed in this paper, with a focus on emerging trends, common features and differences, and the importance of interaction among public and private actors, the creation of new institutions for LED and different processes of learning.
(pdf-file, 75KB, 16pp.)

Local Development Case Studies in Latin America
Juan Luis Llorens, Francisco Alburquerque, Jaime del Castillo / 2001
Six local economic development initiatives in Latin America are analysed to draw conclusions concerning the design of Bank loan operations for the improvement of competitiveness and promotion of business development on a territorial basis.
"Various conclusions are drawn in which the study underlines the importance of defining or identifying the economic vocation of the different territories as a basis for the structuring actions of local development; the relevance of the human resource training programs in accordance with demands of the different local productive systems; the need for developing the social capital for the cooperation of the different local, public and private actors, which determines to a great extent the sustainability of the local development processes; the importance of leadership in creating social dynamics for local resource mobilization; the need for setting in motion a territorial offer of productive services in keeping with the requirements of the local business fabric; and the usefulness of urban planning and the marketing drive of the cities as a form of achieving contexts favorable to competitiveness and giving the local community a dynamic image."
(pdf-file, 417KB, 53pp.)

Systemic Instruments for Regional Development. English Summary
Richard Hummelbrunner, Robert Lukesch / ÖAR-Regionalberatung GmbH / 2002
Due to a shift of focus in regional policy, tasks and projects become increasingly multi-layered and -faceted; social actors become more and more aware of the complexity of development processes. The aims of this research project commissioned by the Austrian Federal Chancellery are:
 - To give an overview of instruments particularly suitable for working with / in social systems;
 - To assess their relevance and applicability for regional development work;
 - To present and describe the instruments in a concise and well-structured manner.
 - To provide useful background information to facilitate their application
This English summary presents the main findings of the project under the headings of the need for new instruments in regional policy, sources and models for new instruments, and an overview of categories and instruments
(word-file, 495 KB, 29pp.)

Download of the full version (pdf-file, 2067 KB, 186pp., German only!)

Gérer l'économie localement en Afrique - Cadre conceptuel de l'approche ECOLOC
Jean- Marie Cour / Club du Sahel / 2001
"Par commodité, les experts en développement et leurs partenaires des agences de coopération et des pays en développement ont pris l'habitude de découper le monde réel en secteurs (agricole, non agricole) et en milieux (rural, urbain), et de raisonner séparément sur chacune de ces composantes. Cette approchesectorielle a - entre autres - eu pour résultat de faire perdre de vue la dimension spatiale des processus de développement, dimension pourtant essentielle dans les pays en voie de peuplement qui sont durablementmarqués par de fortes hétérogénéités spatiales et sociales."
(pdf-file, 273 KB, 22pp.)

Local economic development agencies - International co-operation for human development, economic democracy and poverty reduction (Preface)
Bruno Catenacci (Ed.) / ILO / UNOPS / EURADA / 2000
This book deals with a key issue in development: how to make the economic system accessible to those who are at present excluded from it. The issue at stake is not simply one of social justice and equality, but touches the question of people's capacity to to actually generate wealth. It is clear that, by significantly limiting the number of actors in the economy and increasing unemployment, current development models deprive the economy of vital resources. Conflict and violence, possible side-products of these models, in their turn further hinder overall development.

Local Economic Development. New generations of actors, policies and instruments
A. H. J. (Bert) Helmsing / Institute of Social Studies, The Hague  / 2001
A summary report prepared for the UNCDF symposium on Decentralization and Local Governance in Africa.
(pdf-file, 66 KB, 20pp)

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