This work aims to provide unique insights into the multidisciplinary research on spatial disparities from an unconventional point of view. It breaks with the conventional narrative that tends to interpret this theoretical tradition as a series of factual contributions to a better understanding of the issue. Instead, related theories are investigated in their political, economic, and social contexts, and spatial disparity research is presented as a political discourse. It also reveals how the propagandistic problematization or de-problematization of geographical inequalities serves the substantiation of political goals, while taking advantage of the legitimate authority of science and the image of scientific objectivity. The book explains how the discourse has functioned from 19th century social physics over the Cold War period up to Marxist geographies of the current neoliberal age, and in what way and to what extent political considerations prevent related concepts producing ‘objective’ knowledge about the complex phenomenon of spatial inequalities.

This work aims to provide unique insights into the multidisciplinary research on spatial disparities from an unconventional point of view. It breaks with the conventional narrative that tends to interpret this theoretical tradition as a series of factual contributions to a better understanding of the issue. Instead, related theories are investigated in their political, economic, and social contexts, and spatial disparity research is presented as a political discourse. It also reveals how the propagandistic problematization or de-problematization of geographical inequalities serves the substantiation of political goals, while taking advantage of the legitimate authority of science and the image of scientific objectivity. The book explains how the discourse has functioned from 19th century social physics over the Cold War period up to Marxist geographies of the current neoliberal age, and in what way and to what extent political considerations prevent related concepts producing ‘objective’ knowledge about the complex phenomenon of spatial inequalities.

"This is an introduction to spatial and regional inequality. Drawing on data from 25 countries from around the world, it examines the questions: What exactly is spatial inequality? Why does it matter? And what should be the policy response to it?"--Provided by publisher.

List of Oral History and Interview Participants -- Notes -- Index

We are used to thinking about inequality within countries--about rich Americans versus poor Americans, for instance. But what about inequality between all citizens of the world? Worlds Apart addresses just how to measure global inequality among individuals, and shows that inequality is shaped by complex forces often working in different directions. Branko Milanovic, a top World Bank economist, analyzes income distribution worldwide using, for the first time, household survey data from more than 100 countries. He evenhandedly explains the main approaches to the problem, offers a more accurate way of measuring inequality among individuals, and discusses the relevant policies of first-world countries and nongovernmental organizations. Inequality has increased between nations over the last half century (richer countries have generally grown faster than poorer countries). And yet the two most populous nations, China and India, have also grown fast. But over the past two decades inequality within countries has increased. As complex as reconciling these three data trends may be, it is clear: the inequality between the world's individuals is staggering. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the richest 5 percent of people receive one-third of total global income, as much as the poorest 80 percent. While a few poor countries are catching up with the rich world, the differences between the richest and poorest individuals around the globe are huge and likely growing.

In September 1977 a 'Regional Science Symposium' was held at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Organized because of the recent establishment at the Faculty of Economics of a group that is engaged in teaching and research in the field of regional science, the aim of the symposium was to make university members more familiar with regional science and to introduce the newly created group to the national and international scene. Two separate topics were selected, of potential interest to both re searchers and policy-makers. The first, spatial inequalities and regional development, was chosen because of its central place in regional science. Authors from several disciplines were asked to approach this theme from a general, policy orientated point of view. This ensured the enlightenment of the various dimensions of spatial inequality and its implications for regional policy. The results have been collected in the volume Spatial Inequalities and Regional Development. The second theme focused on spatial statistical analysis. This branch of statistics is a relatively new one which receives growing attention among researchers in the field of applied regional science. The meeting on this topic concentrated on new results of research on the use of appro priate statistical and econometric methods for analyzing spatial data. The papers concerned have been collected into another volume, Explora tory and Explanatory Statistical Analysis of Spatial Data.

In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclusion, to a nation with a stagnating economy, a shrinking population and a very high proportion of elderly people. Within this, new forms of inequality are emerging and deepening, and a new model of Japan as 'gap society' (kakusa shakai) has become common-sense. These new forms of inequality are complex, are caused in different ways by a variety of factors, and require deep-seated reforms in order to remedy them. This book provides a comprehensive overview of inequality in contemporary Japan. It examines inequality in labour and employment, in welfare and family, in education and social mobility, in the urban-rural divide, and concerning immigration, ethnic minorities and gender. The book also considers the widespread anxiety effect of the fear of inequality; and discusses how far these developments in Japan represent a new form of social problem for the wider world.