A DOOYEWEERD-BASED APPROACH TO REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Within regional science there is a need for a general theory of regional economic development, one that evaluates and integrates existing approaches. In this paper, the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd is used as a basis for conceptualising the contours of such a theory. Contributions of this philosophy especially relevant for regional economic development are functional pluralism and non-reductionism, interweaving among entities, a broad understanding of the human person and built-in normativity. While all the aspects are significant in regional economic development, the spatial aspect is singled out for particular attention. Dooyeweerd's philosophy is able to incorporate existing approaches to regional economic development though not without criticising and revising them. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.