Regional Identity and Spatial Dynamics
Summary
Regional identity and spatial dynamics encompass the study of how regions acquire, express and transform distinctive characters through social, cultural, political and economic processes. This field examines the interplay between territory and identity, exploring how symbolic landmarks, institutional frameworks and everyday practices co-produce a sense of place. Spatial dynamics further consider how mobility, technological change and policy interventions reshape territorial connections and hierarchies over time. By integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches—from discourse analysis to network modelling—scholars reveal the mechanisms by which regions are both constructed and contested. This research has global significance, informing regional planning, heritage conservation, equitable development and resilience strategies in an era of rapid socio-environmental change.
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Regional Identity and Spatial Dynamics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in regional identity and spatial dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Regional identity: A collective sense of belonging and distinctiveness associated with a specific territory, shaped by cultural, historical and socio-economic factors.
Spatial dynamics: Patterns and processes of change in the organisation, connectivity and character of places over time and space.
Centre–periphery: A relational concept describing power imbalances between dominant (central) and less-dominant (peripheral) regions in political, economic or discursive terms.
Territorialization: The process by which social and political practices produce and stabilise the boundaries, meanings and governance of a region.
References
- Centre–periphery contestation and the spatialization of Covid-19 discourse in Norway. Territory Politics Governance (2022).
- Reconceptualising sparsely populated remote edges through the concept of region and space. Journal of Rural Studies (2022).
- Regional Identities in a Re‐Territorialising World: From thinning cosmopolitan to thickening resistance identities. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (2024).
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