Regional development is a process of enhancing wealth and economic wellbeing in subnational territories. It involves the growth of production, employment and income based on a competitive and innovative economy, and an improvement of social, political, and environmental conditions in those regions. The underlying principles of regional development are characterized by the fact that they should be tailored to the specific local contexts in order to foster unrealized potentials.
Developing a regional strategy requires a deep understanding of the factors that affect economic growth and future prospects, as well as an ability to understand the interaction between the various elements in those regions. Several different perspectives on regional development can be distinguished, ranging from the more traditional view to a more integrative one that takes into account noneconomic factors such as cultural processes, as well as the way in which these are linked with economic ones.
The research in this field of Development Geography focuses on the identification and analysis of these differences, as well as the identification of regional development trends and the factors that influence them. This includes the exploration of spatial-temporal patterns, and the identification of convergence mechanisms using methods such as a-convergence, b-convergence and club convergence.
It is also necessary to explore the effectiveness of policies designed to promote regional development. This work has to be performed in a multilateral context, which is why there are international organizations made up of countries that are devoted to the task of addressing global problems such as climate change, food security and trade policy, among others.
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