Evolutionary economic geography and relational geography

Abstract

In the past decade, economic geography has encountered increasing interest and debates about evolutionary and relational thinking in regional development. Rather than comparing the two approaches, this chapter investigates how they can complement one another and be applied to specific research fields in economic geography. A comparison would be difficult because the approaches address different levels of the research process and are in a relatively early stage of their development. To demonstrate the potential of combining the two approaches, this chapter aims to conceptualize cluster dynamics in an integrated relational-evolutionary perspective. In recent years, research on clusters has experienced a paradigmatic shift from understanding their network structure to analyzing dynamic changes. Within this context, inspired by relational and evolutionary thinking, a comprehensive tripolar analytical framework of cluster evolution is developed that combines the three concepts of context, network, and action, allowing each to evolve in interaction with the others. Through this, the chapter argues that, rather than viewing relational and evolutionary accounts as competitive approaches to economic geography, they can, in an integrated form, become fundamental guides to economic geography research.