Regional Studies

Future green economies and regional development: a research agenda. Regional Studies. The past 30 years have seen an explosion of interest and concern over the detrimental impacts of economic and industrial development. Despite this, the environmental agenda has not featured substantially in the regional studies literature. This paper explores a range of options for regional futures from a ‘clean-tech’ economy and the promise of renewed accumulation through to more radical degrowth concepts focused on altering existing modes of production and consumption, ecological sustainability and social justice. In so doing, it investigates the potential role of regions as drivers of the new green economy, drawing on research into sustainability transitions.