Restructuring and Competitiveness of Major Metropolitan Regions in Northeast Asia - A Preliminary Analysis

Restructuring and Competitiveness of Major Metropolitan Regions in Northeast Asia

  This paper deals with regional competitiveness in association with regional restructuring. The concept of regional competitiveness is understood to have direct relationship to a region’s assets such as economic structure, entrepreneurship and innovation activities and skill intensity. Regional restructuring, which alters the configuration of a region’s assets, affects regional competitiveness. Regional dynamics and restructuring processes of eight metropolitan regions are described to illustrate the relationship between regional assets and outcomes. The result of preliminary analysis suggests a close association between gross regional product and asset variables. Enhancing regional competitiveness involves, however, more than simply expanding assets such as human resource. This implies that different prescriptions are necessary for regions in different stages of development. Taking a longer-term perspective, this paper concludes that the long-term competitiveness of a city-region depends on the way that regional stakeholders organize their actions for the region’s future. Here, regional governance structures matter and the leadership of the public or private sector counts.