IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/anresc/v51y2013i3p917-924.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A brief history of time, space, and growth: Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography revisited

Author

Listed:
  • Hans Westlund

Abstract

In the current knowledge economy, the most important production factor, human knowledge, is much more mobile than the dominating production factors of previous periods. This means that theories of spatial development, formulated during the manufacturing-industrial era, might not be wholly applicable today. One of the basic assumptions of spatial theory is formulated in Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography: “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” This article discusses the validity of this law in today’s knowledge economy. While several factors have made distance less important, a crucial factor for innovation and growth—tacit knowledge—is still highly dependent on face-to-face contacts. This suggests that Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography plays an important role also in the knowledge economy. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Westlund, 2013. "A brief history of time, space, and growth: Waldo Tobler’s first law of geography revisited," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(3), pages 917-924, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:51:y:2013:i:3:p:917-924
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-013-0571-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00168-013-0571-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00168-013-0571-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Westlund, 2006. "Social Capital in the Knowledge Economy," Advances in Spatial Science, Springer, number 978-3-540-35366-9, Fall.
    2. Douglass C. North, 1955. "Location Theory and Regional Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63, pages 243-243.
    3. Börje Johansson & John M. Quigley, 2004. "Agglomeration and networks in spatial economies," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Raymond J. G. M. Florax & David A. Plane (ed.), Fifty Years of Regional Science, pages 165-176, Springer.
    4. Diana Mok & Barry Wellman & Juan Carrasco, 2010. "Does Distance Matter in the Age of the Internet?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(13), pages 2747-2783, November.
    5. Åke E. Andersson, 1986. "The Four Logistical Revolutions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 1-12, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Qiu & Yinghua Li & Haitao Wu, 2023. "The role of direct financing on regional green development: inhibition or promotion?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3665-3699, October.
    2. Iréne Bernhard, 2016. "Innovation focusing on regional development in a European context - towards a new research agenda," International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karlsson, Charlie & Johansson, Börje, 2006. "Regional Development and Knowledge," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 76, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    2. Roberto Camagni & Roberta Capello, 2013. "Regional Competitiveness and Territorial Capital: A Conceptual Approach and Empirical Evidence from the European Union," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1383-1402, October.
    3. Ron Shaffer & Steve Deller & Dave Marcouiller, 2006. "Rethinking Community Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 20(1), pages 59-74, February.
    4. Arun Natarajan Hariharan & Arindam Biswas, 2020. "A Critical review of the Indian knowledge‐based industry location policy against its theoretical arguments," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 431-454, June.
    5. Martin Andersson & Johan P. Larsson, 2022. "Historical local industry structure, voting patterns and the long-run entrepreneurial character of regions: Swedish examples," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 611-631, December.
    6. Shuai Shi & Kathy Pain, 2020. "Investigating China’s Mid-Yangtze River economic growth region using a spatial network growth model," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(14), pages 2973-2993, November.
    7. Lego, Brian & Gebremedhin, Tesfa & Cushing, Brian, 2000. "A Multi-Sector Export Base Model of Long-Run Regional Employment Growth," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 192-197, October.
    8. Tomaz Dentinho & Vanda Serpa & Paulo Silveira & Joana Goncalves, 2006. "Land Use Change and Socio-Economic Evaluation in São Jorge Island (Between 15th and 20th Century)," ERSA conference papers ersa06p91, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Qiu, Bingwen & Li, Haiwen & Tang, Zhenghong & Chen, Chongcheng & Berry, Joe, 2020. "How cropland losses shaped by unbalanced urbanization process?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Shao, Yan & Sun, Lingxia, 2021. "Entrepreneurs’ social capital and venture capital financing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 499-512.
    11. Fikri Zul Fahmi, 2016. "Business networks, social capital and the productivity of creative industries in Indonesia," ERSA conference papers ersa16p351, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Karima Kourtit, 2017. "Effective Clusters as Territorial Performance Engines in a Regional Development Strategy - A Triple-Layer DEA Assessment of the Aviation Valley in Poland," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 4, pages 39-63.
    13. Antoine Grandclement & Guilhem Boulay, 2021. "From The Uneven De-Diversification Of Local Financial Resources To Planning Policies: The Residentialization Hypothesis," Post-Print halshs-03322259, HAL.
    14. Evert Meijers & Martijn Burger & Roberto Camagni & Roberta Capello & Andrea Caragliu, 2016. "Static vs. dynamic agglomeration economies. Spatial context and structural evolution behind urban growth," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 133-158, March.
    15. Maria Ljunggren & Hans Westlund, 2013. "Professors’ attitude to collaboration and central infrastructure for collaboration: an analysis of social capital establishment within higher education institutions," Chapters, in: Tüzin Baycan (ed.), Knowledge Commercialization and Valorization in Regional Economic Development, chapter 5, pages 85-109, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. JoseÌ Antonio de França & Wilfredo Sosa Sandoval, 2021. "Knowledge Economy in Brazil: Analysis of Sectoral Concentration and Production by Region," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(11), pages 1-53, November.
    17. Hans-Friedrich Eckey & Reinhold Kosfeld & Matthias Türck, 2007. "Regionale Entwicklung mit und ohne räumliche Spillover-Effekte," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 27(1), pages 23-42, February.
    18. Augeraud Veron, E. & Marhuenda, F. & Picard, P.M., 2021. "Local social interaction and urban equilibria," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 72-83.
    19. Bieri, David, 2006. "Picking a Winner? Evidence from the Non-Manufacturing High-Tech Industry in the Blacksburg MSA," MPRA Paper 1079, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Dec 2006.
    20. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2017. "A critical survey of the resource curse literature through the appropriability lens," CEPN Working Papers hal-01583559, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    F00; O10; O30; N00; R11; D83;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F00 - International Economics - - General - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:51:y:2013:i:3:p:917-924. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.