ABSTRACT Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum and the 2016 EU referendum are often interpreted as politically aligned at the national scale, reinforcing a simplified narrative of a strongly pro-independence, pro-EU portion of the Scottish electorate. This regional graphic challenges that view using a bivariate, population-weighted cartogram that jointly visualises both votes across parliamentary constituencies. By correcting for uneven population distributions and revealing sub-regional variation, the graphic exposes multi-scalar political cleavages within cities, regions and economic hinterlands. The visualisation demonstrates how national aggregates obscure regional political heterogeneity and highlights the value of spatially explicit graphics for interpreting constitutional and electoral change.

ABSTRACT National net-zero policies have varied regional impacts on patterns of investment and employment. In this paper, we introduce a Net-Zero Vulnerability Index for regions and Local Authority Districts (LADs) in England, Scotland and Wales. To do so, we draw on theories and methods from complexity economics and develop a measurement approach using measure of economic complexity, relatedness, reliance and population. Our results highlight LADs deemed most vulnerable to the negative economic consequences of climate policies (broadly labelled as net-zero in UK policy). These are disproportionately concentrated in regions that were most disadvantaged by previous and ongoing rounds of deindustrialisation. The anticipated geography of net-zero policy impacts highlights the need for proactive policies that span local authority boundaries, with devolved Mayoral Combined Authorities presented as an opportunity to do so.

ABSTRACT Digital solutions are seen as promising ways of addressing current challenges in rural regions. Individual or group key actors accessing resources foster these developments through networks. In light of regional clustering and agglomeration effects on the one hand and increased virtual mobility on the other hand, assumptions about the spatiality of such networks are highly controversial. Our paper takes this as a point of departure, asking how spatiality is constructed in the networks of so-called ‘digital pioneers’ (DPs). The sampling process took place in two German rural regions with different preconditions for digital technology adoption, where we conducted egocentric network analysis and qualitative interviews. Employing the assemblage perspective, we analysed networks of 30 individuals in terms of the analytical categories of territoriality, stability and connectivity. Our findings distinguish between three important roles of network contacts: (1) multipliers in social networking, (2) users of the DP’s products and services, as well as (3) close family members that are important in professional contexts. Although DPs are often deeply embedded in and feel attached to their region, networks vary significantly in their territorial radius, also including highly functional problem-solving contacts to distant places. Consequently, our evidence challenges static territorial models of innovation processes, advocating for processual and multidimensional perspectives that consider social networks and individual agency. Likewise, our study complements current research on rural governance by shifting the focus from key institutions and formal networks to less formally integrated actors and problem-solving networks.

ABSTRACT As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) continues to reshape economies, understanding regional vulnerabilities is crucial to ensuring equitable development. This study investigates regional vulnerability to the 4IR across 236 European regions, emphasising the interplay between exposure and adaptability in shaping the impacts of new technologies’ integration, specifically in the labour market. Using a comprehensive framework, we classify EU regions into four categories based on their levels of exposure and adaptability, revealing distinct patterns of vulnerability and opportunity. Regions with high exposure and adaptability, predominantly in Northern and Western Europe, are positioned to leverage the 4IR for economic growth and innovation. Conversely, areas with high exposure but low adaptability, particularly in Eastern and Southern Europe, face heightened risks of job displacement and economic instability. Regions with low exposure and high adaptability present untapped potential, while those with low exposure and low adaptability risk falling behind in the 4IR-driven transition. Our findings built on the notion of vulnerability, through the lens of exposure and adaptive capacity, highlight significant disparities rooted in sectoral structures, workforce composition and innovation capacity, underscoring the need for tailored, region-specific policies not only for adapting to new technological landscapes, but also for leveraging new opportunities for regional development.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially increased remote and hybrid working rates, creating a large group of workers whose experiences differ from those in traditional workplace settings. While previous studies have compared remote and non-remote workers in relation to productivity, performance and well-being, less attention has been given to how their mobility patterns differ. Although researchers have suggested that the ability to work remotely affects workers’ mobilities, there remains limited empirical evidence comparing remote and non-remote workers’ mobilities. This paper presents the first study to compare the mobilities of these groups in the UK. It focuses on four types of mobility studied in relation to remote work: counterurbanisation, commuting, multi-local work and immobility. It is the first to integrate analysis of all four mobilities, offering a novel, integrated perspective on remote work and mobility. The paper examines regional differences in these mobilities across the UK, highlighting how workers’ mobility patterns vary between regions. This study draws on data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study and employs bivariate statistical tests and regression analyses. The results show that remote workers are more likely than non-remote workers to move to rural areas, own second homes and commute longer distances. These trends are pronounced in southern English regions. Remote work risks reinforcing existing inequalities between knowledge workers and manual workers and perpetuating traditional associations between mobility and urban areas in the UK. Furthermore, while remote work may generate new economic opportunities, it may also increase demand for accessible rural housing, particularly in regions surrounding London.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic brought an immediate shift to work-from-home, creating differential impacts on regional economies depending on their industrial structure. The increase in work-from-home led planners, researchers and others to hypothesise dramatic changes in housing demand and preferences. This paper examines changes in home sales in the core metro areas of three economically different Mid-Atlantic cities: Baltimore, MD; Washington, DC; and Philadelphia, PA. We use data from the region’s multiple listing service (MLS), Bright MLS, to examine price changes as an indicator of consumer preferences. Descriptive statistics on closed sales prices reveal general price stability related to several key housing characteristics (home type, number of bedrooms, distance to the city centre and location in the metro area) after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent rise in work-from-home. Regression results generally confirm the donut-effect of prices for each of the core metro areas, however, housing market resilience is the most notable overall result. Also notable is that homes with more bedrooms, thought to possibly be used for home offices, have mixed results.

ABSTRACT Environmental degradation and climate change permeate our society and have unforeseen regional impacts. The literature on green transitions highlights preexisting structures that hinder or facilitate change and, more recently, micro-level actions in creating change. However, little is known about peripheral regions struggling to overcome systemic decline and ‘left-behindness’ in this context. In this paper, we adopt the approach of path tracing following a bioeconomy initiative aiming for circularity. We create a timeline of critical junctures to demonstrate the dialectic relationship between agency and structures influencing the prevailing change. Our findings highlight that local actors in the periphery are embedded in temporal and spatial relations (top-down causation), and that these processes hinder local agency (bottom-up causation), due to critical events that resonate with international, national and regional (i.e., multi-level) macro-political and economic conditions.

ABSTRACT Current research suggests digital financial inclusion (DFI) can promote economic resilience regionally by reaching marginalised groups. This paper aims to innovatively determine the function of DFI on urban economic resilience (UER) from a spatial perspective by taking Guangxi province in China as an example. The spatial Durbin model with dual fixed effects and panel data from prefecture-level cities over the period 2011–2022 were employed in our study. We find that (1) the advancement of DFI in Guangxi has a notable positive contribution to the improvement of UER, and the higher the DFI index of a city, the higher its UER level; (2) the expansion of DFI in surrounding regions has negative spatial spillover effects on the local UER level and (3) a distinct Siphon Effect is observed in the urban economic resilience among Guangxi cities. This study also provides recommendations for enhancing urban economic resilience in Guangxi.

ABSTRACT English policymaking has traditionally been centralised, assuming homogenous needs across regions and contributing to economic inequalities. The Levelling Up Agenda aims to address these disparities through a place-based approach using devolved Combined Authority (CA) organisations. Despite being the first national strategy with an extensive place-based focus, it faces criticism as a potentially centralised political tool. Concerns also exist about whether Combined Authorities can deliver regional economic development as they have centrally controlled aspects. If regional planning approaches are identical, decentralisation through Combined Authorities would essentially be futile. This paper uses a novel quantitative method with Strategic Economic Plans to determine if regional planning inhibits a place-based or ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, contributing data-driven insights to the debate regarding the efficacy of Combined Authorities. Through exploratory text analysis, hierarchical and K-means clustering, findings indicate regions adopt place-sensitive planning with varying sector priorities. A northern-southern and an inland-coastal distinction emerge, with London as an outlier. This suggests Combined Authorities are fit for purpose at this quantitative clustering level and do consider their geographical context in planning despite a devolved yet centrally controlled oxymoronic landscape. Collaborations like an inland and a coastal CA network are recommended to potentially maximise place-based growth.

ABSTRACT This research aimed to identify the principal factors predicting social welfare and inequality in the neighbourhoods of Madrid city. A comprehensive dataset representing various socioeconomic metrics of Madrid’s neighbourhoods is analysed utilising different linear regression models and the XGBoost machine learning algorithm. The findings indicate that demographic variables play a crucial role in shaping social welfare and inequality in Madrid's neighbourhoods, with the percentage of women, and the percentage of children under 14 years old and adults over 65 years old being the most important variables for predicting social welfare and inequality in the studied neighbourhoods. Contrary to expectations, the average net income per household does not emerge as a significant predictor. Policymakers and urban planners should consider these factors to ensure equitable development and welfare distribution. The low impact of average net income per household on social welfare and inequality observed in this study should be regarded with some caution, but our findings certainly underline the need for a deeper understanding of socioeconomic dynamics in urban settings.