Regional Development and Regional Development Research

Regional development is an important interdisciplinary research field among geography, resource and environmental sciences, economics and management sciences that is characterized by three distinctive features of comprehensiveness, spatial diversity and time variability[1]. Due to the extremely complex role of “human” in its affecting factors, driving mechanism and development status, regional development displays an eminent feature of uncertainty. It is not only the important foundation of modernization process in China, but also a key dimension of the implementation of the Scientific Outlook on Development and the construction of harmonious society. The carrying capacity of natural resources and eco-environmental foundation is weak with great disparities in the natural background and physical structure of different regions in China. Meanwhile, the pressure exerted by the increasing amount of economic aggregate and the expanding process of urbanization is intensified. As a result, a large number of scientific and technologic issues in regional development are of great significance to the development of our country which is characterized by such distinctive features and is currently at the stage of industrialization[2,3]. Internationally, there have been some scholars in developed countries conducting research on land and regional development and getting involved in the making of territorial governance policies by various governments[4,5]. In fact, some key international programs, such as the “International Human Dimensions Program” (IHDP) has already revealed the interactive relationship between human socio-economic activities and physical foundation at different spatial scales through a combination of socio-economic development with global changes in natural sciences [6].