Local and Regional Challenges in Socio-Economic Development
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2023) | Viewed by 1738
Special Issue Editors
Interests: suburbs; urbanization; rural areas; human geography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: geography; demography; tourism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In the modern world, more and more attention is being paid to the sub-national level in socio-economic development, on the assumption that local and regional governments are actively involved in the social and economic life of the area. Thus, at the local and regional levels, not only are resources allocated but, above all, they are multiplied through rational policies aimed at investment in infrastructure, the labor market, development of the service sector, promotion, and marketing. The number of tasks and challenges that are carried out at these two levels, including those ensuring adequate quality of life for residents and the competitiveness of the territorial units themselves in the context of rapidly changing external conditions, make the concept of smart development an increasingly common denominator for the activities undertaken. Although this concept was originally proposed in relation to the expected directions of urban development, other settlement units, including suburban zones and rural areas, are now also considered within its framework. The versatility of the concept is mainly due to the fact that it is comprehensive and multifaceted, encompassing such dimensions as smart people, smart economy, smart environment, smart governance, smart living, and smart mobility. In addition, increasing attention to the smart development concept is being paid to the individual, the resident, and the user of the space in question, who is assumed to be best able to define his or her needs and expectations.
In this context, we invite authors of theoretical, methodological, as well as empirical papers who in their research tackle the challenges at the local or regional scale in socio-economic development to publishing in this Special Issue. By this, we mean researchers in the fields of, e.g., human geography, spatial planning, regional studies, urban studies, rural studies, and tourism. The papers may address issues related to the development of regions, cities, peri-urban zones, and rural areas and discuss solutions in the spheres of society, economy, mobility, governance, and the environment. Their distinguishing feature, however, should be a social perspective, determined by the inhabitants or users of the space in question, and an attempt to tackle socio-economic development in line with the smart idea.
Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Biegańska
Prof. Dr. Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska
Prof. Dr. Stefania Środa-Murawska
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- socio-economic development
- local & regional studies
- sustainability
- smart city
- social perspective
- placemaking
- participation
