Territorial Approaches to Regional Economic Development
Territorial development refers to one of the bottom up, generative approaches to regional development, which focuses on the region as a whole. Rather than centering all development efforts on the central urban area exclusively and hoping that some of the benefits will trickle down someday, this approach seeks to work interdependently with the urban center. They try to develop a regional package of production and service facilities symbiotically.Sometimes sub-areas within a region, (e.g. Municipalities) enter into cost and tax sharing agreements in order to boost the effectiveness of the region. Instead of a plant being persuaded to locate in the part of the region which can offer the biggest package of incentives, it is helped to find the optimal location so that its performance is optimized and the benefits are shared throughout the region. Two good examples of this are the agreement in the Russell area north of Brandon, and now the agreement around Killarney to the south.
Sometimes spin-off companies are spread into the hinterland through such bottom-up initiatives, with or without tax sharing agreements. The key element in this approach to regional economic development is co-operative initiatives between the center area and the surrounding hinterland.
Trade Volunteer and Business Alliances
Apedaile and Fullerton ( )develop some interesting concepts as they reflect on the effects of globalization on existing voluntary networks in communities and districts. As boundaries and services change due to restructuring of assorted institutions in the rural areas, the voluntary networks which have evolved over the years become disrupted, and can disappear overnight. This "collateral damage" can have a negative effect on a local economy. Rebuilding these networks can be one way to develop a local economy.They note that there are three types of alliances which can link up businesses government and voluntary associations (etc:
- Process alliances - in which processes are sub-contracted out to outside firms.
- Strategic Alliances - in which firms and organizations are aligned in order to form an agreed upon chain of supply of some sort.
- Financial or Mercantile alliances - in which Government and Business work together to generate trade.
They note that underlying all such alliances (which are not governed by Trade Agreements) have always been informal networks of people. As these networks become disrupted, they suggest that voluntary associations be used to facilitate the development of replacement networks. The advantage of such associations is that they are national and often international, paralleling new global trade alignments.
A listing of International Trade associations is found at The FITA site. That is perhaps one of the most formal channels for individuals and businesses to develop networks locally with an international focus.
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