Henk Folmer (p)

Karima Kourtit

WHAT IS REGIONAL SCIENCE ?
In the philosophy of science, a distinction is made between the material and the formal object of a discipline. The former is the subject matter; the latter the point of view under which the material object is studied. For example, the material object of the main social sciences, psychology, sociology, economics, human geography, political science and law is the human being or collectives like the household. The six disciplines differ because of their formal objectives. Psychology, for instance, is the science of the conscious and unconscious mind of man wheras human geography deals with the location and interaction of people, their organizations like firms, and the organization and development of their communities in space.
Whereas there is a vast literature dealing with the formal objects of the basic social sciences, it is hard to find a definition of the formal object of regional science that clearly distinguishes it from the other social sciences. Of course, the definition of the material object is straightforward. It is the region, i.e. a part of a larger geographical entity that may range from neighborhoods to parts of a continent. However, there is no definition of the formal object of regional science.
There are at least two compelling reasons why regional scientists should be engaged in debates about its formal object. First, it is a matter of scientific purity that a discipline that pretends to be different and distinguishable from other sciences carefully and meticulously defines its formal object and demarcates itself from related disciplines, yet has the same material object. A second and the most important reason is that it may lead to an inventory of under-explored substantive research topics and methods. To fill the gap I propose the following definition of the formal object of regional science
the systematic integration of the formal objects of the sister social sciences with respect to the material object of the region.
Based on this definition I point out some new substantive and methodological research areas of regional science.

Maria Karanika (p), Dimitris Kallioras

Karima Kourtit

Abstract:
It is not surprising about what and how concerning space occupied spiritual minds for decades, nor the fact that the questions concerning space are often philosophical questions with economic and geographic endings. The answer for decoding of space inconsistencies was given by the Walter Isard, who saw total space as not undifferentiated or homogeneous, pointing out that neither are patterns of activity spatially chaotic. By directing efforts to construct macro-geographic measures of spatial structure, through spatial statistics, he initiated regional science in order to identify and analyze the problems of regions and suggest solutions.
Reflecting on its formal origins, evolution, approach and focus, regional science focused on the concept of region and regional structure. However, the organization and configuration of data from exploring social and economic phenomena based on the development of new theories and models in order to clarify spatial components are not sufficient to ensure the continuity of the idem numero of regional science. The extremely abstract assumptions, the mathematical complexity and the vague perceptions of space and behavior have created the first doubts about the ability of regional science to offer particular truths than universal ones.
Irrespective of intense vitriolic attacks, the tangible example of the EU suggests that, in addition to its strong emphasis on modeling and mathematical correlation, regional science strengthens its essence as being identical to reality, following social and political commitment, exploration of causality and defense of efficiency.
This paper is an intellectual debate over the foundations, directions and priorities of regional science. It discusses the formal structure of regional science including the type of analytic propositions and conceptual primitives, which characterize its scientific structure. We turn our attention to the research areas that have been successfully explored, outlining the essential content and boundaries of the field; thereby, we illustrate its relationship with the other neighboring disciplines in order to find out how the unique perception of the science transform it as an imperative for Spatial planning. We will highlight how regional science may merge to EU spirit and will discern the europeanisation of regional science through regional policy. In conclusion, we will try to conclude if the science of regions is feasible and probable or utopian as a science of history.

"see extended abstract"

Robert Stimson (p), Antoine Bailly (p)