Previous Issues

Many countries resort to the decentralization of economic development through regional planning as a means for balanced regional development to stave off negative socio-political outcomes of urbanization. The article reviews and devises a topology of economic and regional development theories. This is followed by an examination of a wide range of national and regional policies from various regions around the world. It espouses critical assessment of a great variety of experiments to be readily deployed at the hand of government planners and decision makers pondering national and regional decentralization policies. The author warns against uncritical application of western models without paying attention to territorial historical processes, socio-economic factors and calls for the appreciation of the development stage of non-western societies. Arduous measures must be taken to ensure the successful application of Western-born technical models. Regional development policies and strategies must be matched by political decentralization in the form of capacity building at the local level in which substantial financial independency is devolved and local participation is genuinely encouraged by national governments.