Untangling regional development traps through narratives

2024/07/22 by Max Roessler · 2 voices · 5 citations
Social Sciences · #Island Studies and Pacific Affairs #Socioeconomic Development in Asia #Urban Planning and Governance

paper · doi:10.1080/21681376.2024.2373176

openalex publication_date 2024/07/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

Based on two case studies in Germany, this study disentangles development traps by focusing on the role of narratives and imaginaries in peripheral regions. Drawing on 43 interviews and two focus groups, it shows how regions move towards development traps despite putative new opportunities through green transitions. The study highlights different narrative dimensions and how they serve as indicators for regional development trajectories. It expands the understanding of development traps and peripheral regions by showing how stories and imaginaries held by key actors materialise and become regional realities and calls for more place sensitivity.

Citations

• Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography—Rethinking Regional Path Dependence: Beyond Lock‐in to Evolution
• The Regional Development Trap in Europe
• The Geography of EU Discontent and the Regional Development Trap

Cited by

• Behavioural theory and regional development: nurturing cultures of possibility
• Unlocking green transitions: system-level agency in peripheral regions
• The making and unmaking of uneven development: the role of anchor firms in creating and overcoming industrial decline in East Germany
• Strengthening Institutions for a Green and Digital Future: Regional Evidence from Europe's Twin Transition
• Imaginaries: The Ideational Foundation of Sustainability Transitions

Discussions

• My first open access publication is out in Regional Studies, Regional Science!✨ The study expands our understanding of development traps and peripheral regions by showing how imaginaries held by key a [bsky, 5 points, 0 comments]
• doi.org/10.1080/2168... [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

Related

• The Regional Development Trap in Europe
• Beyond path dependence: a methodological review for studying regional futures
• The making and unmaking of uneven development: the role of anchor firms in creating and overcoming industrial decline in East Germany
• Weaving a foundational narrative – place-making and change in an old-industrial town in East Germany
• Zero-sum thinking in regional development? – Green and/or inclusive socio-economic development dynamics in challenged regions