12th World Congress

The 12th World Congress of the Regional Science

• The Regional Science Association International (RSAI) and the Regional Science Association of India (RSAi) had invited regional scientists, economists, economic geographers, urban planners, policy makers, and researchers of related disciplines to participate in the 12th World Congress of the Regional Science Association International, with the main theme "Spatial Systems: Social Integration, Regional Development and Sustainability". The Regional Science Association of India had hosted the World Congress and the 49th Annual Conference of the RSAi at BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa, India, on May 29 - June 01, 2018.
• The 12th Regional Science World Congress was held in Goa, India, a coastal location with breathtaking landscapes sculpted by the Konkan Coast and the Western Ghats. The conference was open to regional scientists, practitioners and researchers in the field of regional science. The Congress includes Keynote Lectures, Scientific Sessions, Poster Sessions, Workshops and Themed Sessions. Field trip was organized in and around Goa. The theme of the 12th RSAI World Congress was ‘Spatial Systems: Social Integration, Regional Development and Sustainability’. The theme has been chosen to focus upon the development needs of regions as spatial entities, which is the subject matter of spatial science. The conference had encouraged the environment for researchers across the globe, to interact and learn from one another, and to create a network that will be attractive and inspiring for young students and scholars. The intention was to strengthen the community of regional scientists and achieve a better understanding of our future needs.

About the Focal Theme

• Across the world, communities are striving to achieve an ecologically and socially secure future. The intricately linked ideas of sustainability and integration are the key to achieving our development goals. As regional scientists, our common pursuit of a sustainable future may be attained with more efficient understanding of the ‘region’ as a spatial unit. Keeping this objective in mind, the theme of the 2018 Congress highlighted the importance of analyzing spatial systems as not just physical space or social space, but shared space. The sub-themes were aimed at providing a platform for debates and discussions around the key issues of contemporary regional science and to carve out the way for future research agenda.

Sub themes

• Big Data for Regional Science
• Cooperation and Development
• Environmental Issues
• Infrastructure, Transportation and Accessibility
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Location of Economic Activity
• Methods in Regional Science and Urban Economics
• Migration and Labor Markets
• Real Estate and Housing
• Regional and Urban Policy and Governance
• Regional Finance, Investment or Capital Markets
• Rural Development
• Social Integration
• Spatial Planning
• Spatial Systems in Transitional economies
• Tourism

Plenary Speakers:

Smt Mridula Sinha Governor of the State of Goa shall inaugurate the Congress
Abdul Shaban     Amitabh Kundu     Andres Rodriguez Pose     Anindita Datta     Armida S. Alisjahbana     Banashree Banerjee     Bibek Debroy                   Budy Resosudarmo     Debapriya Dutta     Iwan Azis     Janet E Kohlhase     Kingsley E Haynes     Luc Normand Tellier     Peter Nijkamp                   Roger R Stough     R. B. Bhagat     Sachidanand Sinha     Saraswati Raju     Satish Kumar     Steven G. Craig     S. T. Puttaraju                   Tapati Banerjee     Xue Ling

Special Sessions:

SS01 – Sessions of RSPP on Forty Under Forty Editorial Team of RSPP	SS13 – Citizenry and Regional Planning Subhra Chattopadhyay
SS02 – Smart Cities Initiatives for the 21st Century: Myth or Reality Sumana Banerjee and Vijay Pandey (Chair)	SS14 - Revisiting rural-urban dichotomy for integrated regional development Manisha Jain and Artem Korzhenevych (Chair)
SS03 – Territorial Governance and Local Development in Developing Countries Andre Torre (Chair) and Habibullah Magsi	SS15 - Conflict, Migration, and Diaspora Manas Chatterji
SS04 – Spatial Econometric Interaction Modelling Manfred M. Fischer (Chair) and Yee Leung	SS16 - Comparative Patterns of Indian and Chinese Urbanization Manas Chatterji
SS05 – Spatial Analysis: From Neural Computing to Deep Learning Yee Leung (Chair) and Manfred M. Fischer	SS17 - Regional Science and Peace Science Manas Chatterji
SS06 – Walled Territories Andrea Székely	SS18 - Natural and Man-Made Disaster Management Manas Chatterji
SS07 – Economic Corridors, Development and Regional Cooperation in South Asia and Beyond Siegfried O. Wolf	SS19 - Globalization and Regional Science Manas Chatterji
SS08 – Metropolitan Governance in a conflict, competition and cooperation contexts Jorge Gonçalves	SS20 - Gender and Social Justice Saraswati Raju
SS09 – Analytical Approaches to Climate Change at Multiple Scales Gerrit-Jan Knaap	SS21 - Innovation and Entrepreneurship Rudra P. Pradhan
SS10 – Rural Transformation Subrata Dutta	SS22 - Human Interaction within Fisheries and Marine Resources João P. Barreiros
SS11 – The future of leisure: tourism, mobility and transportation João Romão (Chair), Peter Nijkamp and Luca Zamparini	SS23 - Ocean observation and exploitation: from deep sea to space António Sarmento, António Pascoal, Miguel Miranda and Ramiro Neves
SS12 – Transforming Metropolitan Regions: Ideas and Examples Amit Chatterjee	SS24 - Regional Issues in Economic growth and Development Debasis Patnaik

Regular Session:

• Environmental Issues
• Location of Economic Activity
• Infrastructure, Transportation and Accessibility
• Migration and Labour Market
• Regional and Urban Policy and Governance
• Regional Finance, Investment or Capital Markets
• Spatial Planning
• Methods in Regional Science and Urban Economics
• Rural Development
• Social Integration
• Tourism
• Real Estate and Housing
• Cooperation and Development