Book Review: Policies and Strategies in Marginal Regions : Summary and Evaluations

This is a sel -a chi ed e sion o an o iginal a icle. This e sion may di e om he o iginal in pagina ion and ypog aphic de ails. Au ho (s): Ti le: Yea : Ve sion: Copy igh : Righ s: Righ s u l: Please ci e he o iginal e sion: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Book Re iew: Policies and S a egies in Ma ginal Regions : Summa y and E alua ions © 2005 Copy igh (2005) THE AUTHORS. Published by Else ie B.V. Published e sion Hi onen, Ta u Hi onen, T. (2005). Book Re iew: Policies and S a egies in Ma ginal Regions : Summa y and E alua ions. Pape s in Regional Science, 84(1), 142-144. h ps://doi.o g/10.1111/j.1435- 5957.2005.00009_4.x 2005 chap e highligh s he di e si y o ma ke s uc u es ha exis and he di e en ways in which anspo policy has e ol ed in di e en anspo sec o s and coun- ies. A inal chap e d aws oge he he a ious ecommenda ions a ising o anspo policy om he economic p inciples add essed in he book. Reasons o di e gence be ween heo y and p ac ice a e iden i ied. Recogni ion o ins i u ional ac o s which p o ide he con ex o anspo policy, an imp o emen o ou unde s anding o he link be ween anspo and spa ial planning, oge he wi h a ho ough unde s anding o he economics o anspo , a e key ac o s a gued o be impo an in inding e ec i e solu ions o cu en anspo p oblems. P inciples o T anspo Economics succeeds in p o iding a igo ous ea men o anspo economics. I shows how economic heo y can be applied o he ans- po sec o and p o ides a se o ools o analyse and in o m policy. Th oughou he ex he e is a good balance be ween heo e ical ma e ial, empi ical e idence and policy which makes i pa icula ly s imula ing. O e all, he book o e s a weal h o in o ma ion. To ake ull ad an age o he book, some p io expe ise is equi ed and, as he au ho s poin ou , eade s should ideally ha e an in e media y le el o eco- nomics. Howe e , he policy and empi ical sec ions as well as he less echnical pa s o he book should be easily accessible and o in e es o anyone wo king in he ield o anspo , ei he as academic, p ac i ione o policy make . To acil- i a e he eading o non-economis s, he au ho s ha e placed he mo e echnical ma e ial in boxes h oughou he ex . These can be skipped wi hou loss o he main a gumen , bu s ill p o ide he in e es ed eade wi h he mo e ad anced aspec s o he ma e ial. P inciples o T anspo Economics should also p o e use ul as an excellen cou se ex o ad anced s uden s. Adelheid Holl Depa men o Town and Regional Planning, Uni e si y o She ield She ield, UK Policies and S a egies in Ma ginal Regions: Summa y and E alua ions. Wal e Leimg ube , Rose Majo al and Chul-Woo Lee (eds). Alde sho : Ashga e Publishing Limi ed 2003. 400 pp. $ 99.95/£ 55. ISBN 0 7546 3627 5 Take he e en s o 9–11 and he g owing economic inequali y, hen mix and bake, and you’ll ha e se e al smoking ‘buns’ o p o e ha ma ginali y is back on he agenda. The edi o s o his olume a gue ha he de as a ing e en s on 9–11 showed us in he mos ho i ic o m wha despe a e people can do when ma gin- alized. Now, shouldn’ ha be enough o make ma ginali y he new pos -9–11 buzzwo d o egional de elopmen and esea ch? A leas I am willing o aise my hand in he accep ance ha all hings ma ginal ma e – and possibly mo e han e e . Since he book does no , a leas no o any g ea leng h, deal wi h he ques- ion o why ma ginali y esea ch is impo an , I am bound o belie e ha mos eade s who decide o pick up his book ake ha as gi en. I would go as a as 142 Book e iews o a gue ha many o hem, amilia wi h he hemes add essed in his book, app oach ma ginali y wi h a mo al mindse , and do no conside i na owly. And hey a e igh in doing so. The mo al o he s o y, o o ma ginali y, is ha we should be conce ned. And as such, scien is s should do hei pa in inding ou how o help sol ing he p oblem o ma ginaliza ion in i s many o ms. A e all, mo e han wo hi ds o he wo ld’s popula ion su e s om i e e y day. Indeed, o i s uni e sali y we could a gue ha ma ginali y should be he mains eam o all de elopmen esea ch. Ins ead, i has been b ushed aside. Like a sel - ul illing p ophecy i has been, well, ma ginalized. Un o una ely, his book will no change ha . A e he agic e en s o 9–11 and ye ano he book on his ield, ma ginali y will s ill be he hushwo d a he han he buzzwo d o egional de elopmen and esea ch. The six h olume in he Ma ginal Regions Se ies published by Ashga e (in associa ion wi h he IGU – Dynamics o Ma ginal and C i ical Regions), p esen s a selec ion o 29 a icles d awn om wo IGC mee ings held in Seoul du ing he summe o 2000. The selec ion in ends o co e he ull scope o cu en esea ch and deba es on he opics o ma ginali y and ma ginal egions. The book’s main ene is o show how, in he pas ew yea s, he ange o hemes has widened. Ma ginali y is no longe limi ed o pu ely economic conside a ions, bu now encompasses a wide a ie y o subjec s such as cul u e, socie y, geopoli ics and he en i onmen . Mo eo e , when conside ed spa ially, he con ex s and scales o ma ginali y a y om u ban o u al, om local o egional, and om na ional o global. The book is di ided in o i e main sec ions. Economic aspec s and scales o ma ginali y a e discussed a he beginning o he book. The ollowing sec ion en i- led “Managemen , Policies and Conse a ion” p esen s some speci ic s a egies a emp ing o educe ma ginali y in Eu opean moun ain egions, EU’s u al a eas, in bo de egions o Spain and Po ugal, in Kyongbuk p o ince in Ko ea, Bahia in B azil, Galicia in Spain and Wes e n Aus alia. The sec ion on se lemen dynamics ela es o u ban/semi-u ban ma ginaliza ion in Hunga ia (u ban ne wo k), Ca alonia, Ha a e in Zimbabwe and in he communal illages o he Middle Eas and No h A ica. Some e y in e es ing in e p e a ions o he p oblem o ma ginali y a e discussed in a sec ion en i led “Pe cep ion and Awa e- ness”. The las g ouping o a icles app oaches ma ginali y in di e en socio- cul u al con ex s. This is de ini ely a esea che ’s book. As a summa y o se e al yea s o wo k, i s scope o issues, me hods and con ibu o s is indeed wide. I de ini ely is no a basic in oduc o y ex on he subjec . No was i in ended o be such a book. The e o e, I ecommend his book o esea che s al eady amilia wi h he issues o ma ginali y and in e es ed in cu en deba es in he schola ly communi y. Howe e , I am a aid ha esea che s who a e looking o new leads, inno a i e me hodology o new a enues o u u e esea ch, will be disappoin ed. Simila ly, his book does no ha e much o o e o eade s looking o conclusi e policy p oposals and insigh ul s a egies. In he end, o all ha ma ginali y esea ch should be wo h, he eade may ac ually eel le down. Tha said, he e a e some a icles which excel and a e de ini ely wo h a close pe usal. Pa icula ly ecom- Book e iews 143 mendable a e Leimg ube ’s chap e on “ma ginali y and di e si y”, Capella and Fon ’s chap e en i led “So – o une smiles on he ma gins”, and Meh e u, Pigozzi and Somme s’s empi ical analysis o spa ial ma ginali y in Michigan. As inal ques ion we may ask whe he he book is an illus a i e accoun o ma ginali y. Mos de ini ely. Is i an in-dep h summa y o ma ginaliza ion p ocesses and policies o e adica e ma ginali y? I am a aid no . Ta u Hi onen School o Business and Economics, Uni e si y o Jy äskylä Jy äskylä, Finland 144 Book e iews