Theory Led by Policy: The Inadequacies of the ‘New Regionalism’ (Illustrated from the Case of Wales)

Abstract

Wales is a good lens through which to examine a number of issues in economic geography. It is one of the most highly globalised regions of Western Europe, it has a well-defined institutional apparatus of economic development, and it is about to establish a new all-Wales layer of governance (the National Assembly for Wales). It is also the object of a debate as to the virtues of existing patterns of development and the possibilities of alternatives. This paper reports on some themes raised in that debate. An Amazing Spectacle in Cardiff! The setting is the prime music and conference venue in the region. The stage is lit by a professional crew and the sound is managed by a commercial P.A. outfit. The hall is crowded, and the lights are dimmed. A video, accompanied by pop music, lights up the back of the stage, echoed by monitor screens all around the room. The video reaches it’s climactic conclusion, culminating in a hi-tech print-out of the name of the first act. This turns out to be not the Spice Girls but a middle-aged business-man in a suit. For this is not a pop concert, or even the latest airing of New Labour’s media machine. It is a Conference on The Intelligent Region. The venue is the Cardiff International Arena. It is May 1998. A parade of the great and the good from the Welsh establishment (known locally as the ‘Taffia’) present carefully drafted addresses, accompanied by bullet-point summaries on the monitors. Several hundreds of participants have been invited at a cost rumoured in the corridor to be up to a thousand pounds each. This hugely-subsidised presence is celebrated by speaker after speaker in the name of ‘networking’, much of