The State of the Mature Industrial Regions in Western Europe and North America

The paper reports the economic transformation of four major steel-producing areas - Pittsburgh, Nord-Pas de Calais, the Ruhrgebiet and west central Scotland. The relationship between demographic and economic change is examined. In the long run, the scope and impact of policies for economic regeneration are found to be determined by the role and functions of the different levels of government, the pattern of relations which exist between the public and private sectors, labour-management relations and the role of the political parties. The paper further compares economic change in Pittsburgh with twelve other US regions.