Resilient regions in an uncertain world: wishful thinking or a practical reality?

What might a resilient region look like in the face of an uncertainty about the global economy and environment? To begin to answer this question, the article first reviews existing concepts of resilience and critically reviews dominant neoliberal concepts of regional development. This forms the basis for seeking to specify the characteristics of resilient regions, arguing that these must have a lighter environmental footprint and involve a greater degree of regional closure in and regionalisation of economic activities. The final concluding section evaluates the limits to regional resilience in the face of global change. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.