Development and Consolidation of Regional Studies in Spain

Abstract

Regional problems have always occupied a rather important place among the concerns of the Spanish society. This has been closely linked to longstanding historical and internal political conflicts. But, leaving aside some contributions developed in the past, the research on territorial issues emerged really in the 1960s and the consolidation phase took place from 1975 to 2000, as explained in sections 2 and 3. From the beginning of the actual century the field has received a clear thrust, supported by a new generation of economists and geographers. The increasing presence of Spanish researchers in international congresses, workshops and specialized journals enable to state that Spain has reached a similar level as in more advanced countries. Section 4 collects the most outstanding topics and innovative contributions made and section 5 suggest some new fields of interest. A short final note points out why a continuity of the progress observed can be expected. The main objective of the paper is to offer a panoramic review of the development and consolidation or regional and urban studies in Spain.