Ziyuan Kexue (Oct 2024)
A review on new industrial path development in special-type regions
Abstract
Under the current global political economic environment with multiple uncertainties, the issues of economic recession, social unrest, and political discontent in special-type regions (such as ethnic minority areas, resource cities, old industrial zones, and border areas) are particularly prominent. How to revive the economy and how to forge new industrial paths have become focal points of policy support and academic research in these places. This study started from the perspective and dynamics of economic geography research, and reviewed the literature on the development of new industrial paths in special regions in China and internationally. The study showed that: (1) The regional structural approach under evolutionary economic geography is insufficient for fully explaining the mechanisms by which new industries are shaped, and there has been a “turn” towards agency and subjectivity. But this turn tends to treat regional structure as a kind of “static” prerequisite, neglecting its own multi-scalar nature, spatial differences, and systemic logic of cause and effect. (2) A consensus has gradually emerged in the academic community that the impact of structure on agency, and vice versa, varies according to different contexts and gives rise to different outcomes. However, there has been a lack of empirical exploration and theoretical construction on this issue. (3) In the process of shaping new industries, the interplay between structure and agency assumes complex characteristics in different contexts. How to identify the patterns of interaction between structure and agency in various geographical contexts, understand the path emergence and effects of different combinations on regional economies, is the key to studying this topic. On this basis, the article proposed relevant issues for future research on the process and mechanisms of new industrial path development in China’s special-type regions, aiming to expand the empirical scope and theoretical progress of current regional industrial dynamic studies.
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