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There is only one region--the surface of the earth--on which mankind finds its home. Yet, although much effort is devoted by geographers towards the study of this diversified environment as a whole, it has long seemed necessary, by the methods of aespecial' or aeregional geography', to study its component parts. And although nature abhors lines, geographers might appear to adore them, so busily do they engage themselves in delimiting on their maps allegedly significant areas called aeregions'. As a result, every student of geography in school, college of education and university has been taught, read books, and attempted to answer questions on regional geography.The problem of region in geographic thought--how it may be defined, how it has developed, and how it is applied--has been vigorously debated within the discipline. In this incisive examination of the types of regions and regional methods treated in modern geography, Roger Minshull analyzes in detail the concepts of formal, functional, and city regions in an attempt to clarify this vexing problem.In addition to sizes, shapes, boundaries, and organization, the phenomena that usually form the content of regions are delineated in an attempt to define the nature of regional geography. As some regions are seen to be products of geographers' minds, it is suggested that certain influences, especially the methods of mapping the separate topics that form the content of regions, have been exaggerated. Regionalism and possible alternatives to the regional method are treated, and a large section of the book is devoted to the idea of the compage, in which the geographer's choice of topics and method of working is much freer than in more traditional approaches.

This book explores the impact of localities and regions on universities and shows how the diversity of the higher education landscape is critically affected by the geophysical character of regions and their differentiated economies and cultures; regional inequalities bear heavily on universities' strategy-making. A study of the interrelationship between higher and further education argues that from a regional perspective a change to a tertiary education system in England (following Wales) would create the conditions for better local and regional coordination. Universities make a significant contribution to 'levelling up' through technology transfer and the creation of innovation hubs but the contribution of locally or regionally based students who on graduation return to disadvantaged communities rather than seek employment elsewhere should be recognised also as a longer term step to redressing regional inequality. The book argues strongly that the time has come to decentralise the governance of a re-aligned tertiary system to regions and identifies the move to create metro mayors and combined authorities as providing the appropriate vehicle to release new initiative from regional sources. It cites the success of decentralisation to Scotland and Wales as offering relevant models for scrutiny. The authors draw on 12 UK widely differentiated university case studies, a survey of further education and a study of three continental European comparators (Germany, Ireland and Norway) to develop the argument.