Regions and Cities in the Global World [antikvár]

PREFACE This book was prepared in honour of György Enyedi, the world-famous researcher in regional science. The volume comprises the results of research by his friends and colleagues active in a variety of international research projects in the field of regional processes, in the determinant factors of regional development and in the consequences of the transformation of Central Europe at the turn of the millennium. Although this book was published specifically for György Enyedi's 70* birthday, it should not be considered simply as the - by now customary! - gesture of respect. Quite independently of the birthday, this work merits publication in its own right since it deals most effectively with so many current and important problems. The selection of topics for inclusion displays none of the amiable tedium so typical of many Festschriften: truly serious issues are discussed - such as the impact of globalisation on the fundamentals of economic and social space, the responses of regional policy to new challenges, the reactions of nations to changes in regional development processes and future alternatives for development. The fourteen authors represented in this book introduce the motives for globalisation, demands that economic and social policies be adapted to local and regional factors, together with the forms of action necessary for the realisation of these aims. Regional science is a discipline of the 20"^ century. The formation of its terminology, the institutionalisation of its research programmes, the development of its educational system and the integration of its research results into the political decision-making process all took place within this period. We can now boast several truly distinguished scientific workshops operating worldwide. Their eminent personalities - sometimes by virtue of their leading positions in international organisations - created that discipline which we now term regional science. György Enyedi is one of those most eminent personalities within that élite international group of researchers who have played a major role in the long-term development of regional science. He was bom in Budapest on the 28"" of August 1930. He graduated from the Budapest University of Economics, where he commenced his research career. His early studies in economic geography concentrated on the development and regional problems of world agriculture. During this period of almost fifteen years he published his first papers and edited his first books ([1-5]). He was a lecturer in agricultural geography both at the Budapest University of Economics and at the Agricultural University of Gödöllő. hl the early I960's he became a researcher at the Geographical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was appointed Deputy Director (at a very early age) in 1962. At this time his research gained a new dimension in that