John Goddard

Regional Development Agencies and the Knowledge Economy: Harnessing the Potential of Universities

The authors explore the bases for regional engagement by universities in the light of structural change within higher education and ongoing debates about the nature of regional economic development. They focus on the implications for a universitys relationship with its region of the New Labour policy environment within England as set out in a series of White Papers and consultation papers concerned with industrial competitiveness, lifelong learning and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), and assess how far these new policy proposals address Old Labour issues of uneven development within the knowledge economy. The authors conclude the paper by setting out new procedures on the part of government departments, RDAs, and universities themselves for linking universities and regions in order to create regional learning systems.

Changes in corporate control in the British urban system 1972 - 1977

Analysis of changes in the locations of the headquarters of the leading thousand companies in the UK, both at the regional and urban levels, reveals evidence of increasing centralization of control in the Southeast. The main elements of change are analysed to assess their relative significance in the process.

Daily urban systems in Britain: From theory to practice

The theoretical issues of an earlier paper by the authors concerning daily urban systems are now followed by the problems of applying this concept to British data. The complexities of the British urban system pose difficulties for any approach which prohibits overlapping areas, multinodal regions, and recognition of the differing travel patterns of social groups. No single, simple algorithm can cope consistently both with the major metropolitan regions and with the peripheral areas. To overcome these problems, the additional concepts of ‘self-containment’ and ‘metropolitan dominance’ are introduced into the consideration of journey-to-work patterns. These developments result in a regionalisation which takes the form of an urban hierarchy by creating a two-tier structure in the densely populated parts of the country, and free-standing daily urban systems elsewhere.

Some Implications of the Commodification of Information and the Emerging Information Economy for Applied Geographical Analysis in the United Kingdom

This paper contains a consideration of some of the implications of the emerging information economy for quantitative geography. The vast increase in computer data bases creates exciting new prospects for applied analysis relevant to public policy and private organisations. An attempt is made to identify where these new opportunities are located, to discuss some of the reasons for previous failures, to exploit the intrinsic value of geographical analysis techniques, and to outline a research agenda for the future.

Towards a More Rational Consideration of Census Areal Units: Daily Urban Systems in Britain

The utility of data based on areal units, such as British censuses, depends at least as much on the definition of these areal units as on the variables measured. The discontinuation of the local-authority areas used for all previous censuses allows a radical evaluation of the alternative areas for census-data presentation. A conceptual basis is discussed which contrasts simple areal aggregates with genuine ‘objects of interest’. It is suggested that the daily urban system is the candidate which best meets these criteria for a meaningful areal unit for census-data presentation.

The impact of new information technology on urban and regional structure in Europe

Summary This paper discusses the revolutionary nature of information technology which affects the what, where and how of the production and delivery of goods and services. It suggests that it is virtually impossible to come to any quantitative assessment of the nature and timing of the impact of these technological changes on individual cities. What is more important is to assess the capacity of cities to respond to the challenge of new information technology. The extent to which they are able to adapt to this challenge will be deeply conditioned by their infrastructure, industrial, commercial and institutional capacity. Areas which lack the necessary telecommunications networks, innovative enterprises and public and private agencies well attuned to the new technology will lag behind in the race to take advantages of the opportunities. Drawing on a major research project undertaken for the European Commission the paper assesses the major components of the environment necessary to participate in the inform...

Universities and Regional Development

The article examines university partnerships with the community from the perspective of their contribution to the economic, social, and cultural development of localities (cities and regions). It explores the drivers behind such partnerships from both the university and the locality perspectives, the barriers to effective working, and how these barriers can be addressed at the institutional, local, and national levels. It notes that the nature of these partnerships is highly contingent on specific university and local-development trajectories and national policies toward higher education and the governance of cities and regions.

The Civic University and the City

Universities are quintessentially urban institutions and cannot avoid a relationship with the myriad of other institutions and communities that also inhabit the city, including local authorities responsible for the place in the round, businesses, and civil society.

La contribution des établissements d'enseignement supérieur au développement régional

Dans l’ensemble de la zone OCDE, pays, regions et etablissements d’enseignement superieur (EES) se decouvrent peu a peu. Chaque jour, ils instaurent entre eux de nouveaux partenariats, temoignant ainsi d’une conscience accrue des interets communs qui les unissent. Cet article s’interesse aux moteurs de cet engagement, analyses tant du point de vue des EES que de celui du developpement regional, etudie les obstacles a une collaboration efficace et examine les strategies mises en place, dans un certain nombre de contextes regionaux et nationaux, pour surmonter ces obstacles. Le rapport conclut en formulant diverses recommandations axees sur le renforcement des capacites de collaboration entre les EES et les regions, et basees sur une reorientation generale des politiques et des pratiques mises en œuvre au niveau des etablissements, des regions et des pays.