Issue 14: Smart regions, sustainability-driven regional policies, and the use of technology

By Stefania Fiorentino, Eduardo Oliveira and Robert Bowen

Issue 14 (online) covers the topic of Smart regions, sustainability-driven regional policies, and the use of technology. The issue concludes the 2022 theme of Sustainable Regional Futures. See also Issue 12: The transition towards a green economy and deals (online) and Issue 13: Pathways to a regional circular economy (online)

While we live in increasingly uncertain times, the use of technology for the development of “smart(er) cities and regions” is increasingly becoming one of the top items on the agenda of planners, economists, policy makers and regional experts. However, a number of open questions remain to be addressed. Technology is surely a useful resource to help tracking data and achieving efficiency targets of different kinds (e.g. transport flows, energy consumptions and carbon emissions). But reconciling all the different challenges and establishing the order of priorities to address is potential more of a human decision-making task.

This Issue addresses some of the technological responses offered to our contemporary challenges: e.g., the recovery from Covid-19 in Europe, improving health services, the use of renewable sources as a response to the energy crisis and a more efficient urban governance system (see Research Insights section).

Similarly, the Research Frontline section explores ways to integrate digital technologies in a new generation of regional development policy.

The future does not necessarily look bright ahead of us with the looming challenges of climate change, the post-Covid recovery targets and the global geo-political instability, but technology offers a variety of supporting tools for easier navigation through these extremely complex challenges.

The year ahead of us will explore the theme of “Regional Development at a time of uncertainties”.

Regional Insights

• Emerging regional geographies of the global hydrogen rush, By Will Eadson and Phil Northall
• The variegated policy response to Covid-19 in European regions By David Evers, Sébastien Bourdin and Guus de Hollander
• Geographical inequalities in cancer prehabilitation. Can m-Health applications be the answer? By Alison Kelly
• Improving Urban Governance through Gamification as the Use of Technology By İlayda Köroğlu

Frontline

• DIGISER: new approach to measuring digital transformation of public services locally By Michelangelo Secchi, Frank Holstein and Ana Robalo Correia
• The un-charted road to smart specialisation and sustainability in regions By Stan Griffioen, Joost Kuijper, Karolien de Bruine, Arnout Lagendijk

Research Hacks

• Research Today Policy Tomorrow By Sally Hardy

Editorial team

Eduardo Oliveira | Stefania Fiorentino | Robert Bowen

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