İbrahim Tuğrul Çınar from Department of Economics, Anadolu University, Turkey received the 2025 Peter Nijkamp RSAI Research Encouragement Award for an Mid-Career Scholar from a Developing Country.

The jury for the Peter Nijkamp Research Award 2025, composed of Hans Westlund (Chair) Rosella Nicolini, Sarah Low and Yoshiro Higano, has carefully reviewed the nominations and research contributions of the applicants.

The committee provided the following text:

"The candidate is a mid-career scholar with a clear interest in research topics related to regional economics. His research has been published in well-known journals in the field of regional science. His curriculum highlights his commitment to RSAI activities through participation in several national and international conferences, as well as his service as a member of the executive board of the Turkish Regional Science National Association. The candidate is also actively engaged in training activities in regional science for younger scholars. The jury appreciates the quality of the candidate’s scientific contributions achieved to date, and this award is intended to encourage the further development of his scientific career within the international regional science community."

Congratulations!

The Award recognizes the outstanding potential of an mid-career researcher from a nation in the developing world and in which there is a formal Section of RSAI, and seeks to encourage the development of the early career scholar as a high quality researcher in the field of Regional Science and as a participant in the international Regional Science community.

No. 73 (2026): Portuguese Review of Regional Studies

 

 

Editor-in.Chef: José Cadima Ribeiro

Co-Editors: Conceição Rego e João Marques

Published: 19-01-2026

 

 

 

 

Full Issue

•  PDF

Technical Information

• Technical Information

  1-4 PDF (Português (Portugal))

Articles

• Urban Externalities: The case of a university and the mining activity and rental prices in the historic city of Ouro Preto, Brazil

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.763

  Rosangela Aparecida Soares Fernandes, Victor Henrique Lana Pinto, Edmundo Marinho Rosa de Amorim, Raquel Lessa Alves, Thais Galdino, Cibele Guedes Santiago Rosa

  7-20 PDF (Português (Portugal))

• Local Governance of Education Policy in Portugal: multilevel frameworks and instruments

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.741

  Joana Margarida Duarte, Ana Grifo, João Lourenço Marques

  21-36 PDF

• Effects of Education Quality on Childhood Vaccination Coverage in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.770

  Pedro Lucas Marciel Dias Monteiro, Adrian Luís Pereira da Silva Rocha, Evandro Camargos Teixeira

  37- 51 PDF (Português (Portugal))

• Spatial autocorrelation in indicators related to Portuguese agriculture: Data from the Agricultural Census

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.761

  Vítor João Pereira Domingues Martinho

  53-64 PDF

• Social preferences and choice experiments in biodiversity conservation in Manu National Park, Peru

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.765

  Carlos Alberto Minaya Gutiérrez, Carolay Zully Vasquez Quispe, Duber Orlando Chinguel Labán

  65-80 PDF

• Empowering Creativity and Disability Inclusion in the Enchantment and Social Innovation of “Gulijat Textiles” in Indonesia’s Creative Industries

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.762

  Fera Ratyaningrum, Muchammad Bayu Tejo Sampurno, Ika Anggun Camelia

  81-96 PDF

• Economic growth and uneven development in Araquari (SC): An analysis using shift-share and location quotient

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.59072/rper.vi73.764

  Patricia Gava Ribeiro, Vanessa Ishikawa Rasoto, Isaura Alberton de Lima, Rogério Allon Duenhas

  97-114 PDF (Português (Portugal))

Call for Papers

Special Sessions  "Happiness Economics: Moving beyond GDP to reverse the joyless economy" (organized by Dimitris Ballas, Martijn Burger, Spyridon Stavropoulos),and "Economic Geography: Regions in transformation. Development Traps, Narrative Fallacies and New Perspectives" (organized by Elli Papastergiou, Dimitris Ballas and Anastasia Panori). Deadline January 31^st 2026.  

These Special Sessions are part of the 10th International Conference on Applied Theory, Macro and Empirical Finance (AMEF). https://amef.uom.gr/, April 6th - 7th.   University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece  

SS: "Happiness Economics: Moving beyond GDP to reverse the joyless economy"

It’s been half a century since Richard Easterlin introduced his famous paradox about happiness and income in his 1974 article, and Tibor Scitovsky incorporated psychological concepts and insights into economics in his seminal book ‘The Joyless Economy’ (1976). Since then, the interdisciplinary science of well-being has been expanding rapidly towards a broader understanding of social welfare and progress. Today, this approach is more relevant than ever. Societies, amidst a global polycrisis, face a range of challenges whose implications for people’s life satisfaction and happiness are poorly captured by monetary indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ecosystem degradation, the climate crisis, and resource exploitation, mental health challenges that reach epidemic levels (including depression, stress, loneliness, and burnout), and rising interpersonal, intra-urban, and inter-territorial inequalities, interact and impose a substantial human and economic cost for societies (WHO, 2025; World Economic Forum, 2025; OECD, 2024; OECD, 2025).
These intertwined challenges underline the limits of growth-oriented paradigms and the need for policy frameworks that are not only concerned with traditional economic outcomes but also account for real quality of life impacts. While advances in well-being research have produced several tools, their systematic integration into public policy and planning still lags behind across regions and spatial scales.
This call invites contributions that advance the measurement, analysis, and governance of wellbeing beyond GDP. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological work that engages with subjective well-being and its determinants, including spatial and social inequalities, urban and regional dynamics, environmental sustainability, and policy design. Submissions may draw from economics, geography, urban studies, psychology, public health, environmental sciences and related disciplines

For more info see https://www.linkedin.com/posts/elli-papastergiou-521b1186_amef2026-happiness-beyondgdp-activity-7410287336611123200-9MGa/

SS: "Economic Geography: Regions in transformation. Development Traps, Narrative Fallacies and New Perspectives"
Regions across the globe are urged to transform to keep up with an increasingly competitive development paradigm. The pace imposed by technological and economic change frequently outstrips the institutional, financial, and social capacities of regions to respond, reinforcing forms of vulnerability and uneven development. These dynamics are commonly interpreted as evidence of enduring development traps that often go hand in hand with heightened feelings of left-behindness, despair, and fatalism that translate into political discontent. At the same time, critical perspectives question whether such diagnoses reflect structural constraints or narrative constructions that shape spatial imaginaries that inform governance choices. Limited collective capacity to imagine alternative regional features restricts the emergence of new forms of development, as well as disputing or recombining of existing ones.

We invite contributions that address the conceptual, empirical, and political dimensions of regional transformation. These may include, but are not limited to:

- Left-behindness, political discontent, and regional identities
- Conceptual and empirical assessments of development traps in regional contexts
- The role of spatial imaginaries in shaping regional policy and governance 

- The performative effects of development paradigms, indicators, and benchmarks
- Interactions between innovation advancements, institutional capacity, and uneven development

For more info see https://www.linkedin.com/posts/elli-papastergiou-521b1186_spatial-geography-amef2026-activity-7409190818542075904-_TM3/

In the first week of January, we received a tragic news. On Dec. 14, 2025 Dr. Plinio Esteban Ramirez Alvarez sadly passed away, aged just 44.

Plinio worked at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA), Paraguay, as Docente Investigador de la Carrera de Licenciatura en Administración Agropecuaria. Eduardo met Plinio years ago, as his career path brought him to Brazil, where he obtained a BA in Agricultural Economics from the Universidade Federal do Ceará, and where he obtained a Ph.D. in Agribusiness from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

Plinio has played a very active role in connecting the RSAI to the Paraguay institute where he worked. The main technical channel connecting his university with regional science was through the use of Input-Output models. In March 2023, the RSAI organized a summer school entitled “Regional Analysis of Input-output: Applications for Paraguay”, where local students and scholars attended classes that eventually led to the generation of the first regional IO table for the Country of Paraguay. Local staff was incredibly hospitable, and laughs and talks were not missed. One of the highlights of the summer school was a soccer game played between the home team and a mix of RSAI instructors. In the picture below, Plinio is the tenth player from the left, standing up. The RSAI team wears a black and green shirt gently provided by Eduardo Haddad, with the colors of his favorite Brazilian team (América Futebol Clube from Minas Gerais). The game was fair and hard-fought, and ended up with a sumptuous barbecue offered by UNA colleagues.

We stand shocked by the sudden news. Plinio fought bravely and with a smile on his face, the same we will remember him for, against a kidney disease. He sure will be missed, and remembered, by all who had the luck to know him.

Articles

Book Reviews

Special Issue Editorial

Call for Applications – Spring School 2026

“Building Knowledge, Shaping Cities: Nurturing Young Researchers in Urban Science”

14–18 April 2026 | Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania

About the Spring School

The Centre for European Studies (CSE) at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași is delighted to announce the Spring School 2026, supported by the RSAI Nurturing Talent Program. This intensive training program is designed to support early-stage researchers through lectures, analytical workshops, and interactive discussions on urban resilience, spatial modeling,

and urban data collection.

The event will bring together leading international scholars and emerging researchers to explore the complexities of contemporary urban transformations.

Program Highlights

Participants will engage in:

• Lectures by internationally renowned experts
• Methodological workshops (GIS, spatial modelling, academic writing)
• Field visits and guided tours on urban regeneration
• Research presentations with feedback from senior scholars

Confirmed Lecturers

• Özge ÖNER – Cambridge University
• Andrés RODRÍGUEZ-POSE – London School of Economics
• Fernando RUBIERA MOROLLÓN – University of Oviedo
• Vinko MUŠTRA – University of Split

…alongside members of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University research community.

Who Should Apply?

• PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and junior researchers (with less than 5 years of research experience since PhD award);
• Working on topics related to digitalization, smart development, smart cities, and other urban science challenges
• Maximum 25 participants will be accepted. The Spring School aims for international diversity and gender, age, and regional balance.

Why Apply?

• Access to cutting-edge methodologies in urban and regional science
• Guidance from internationally recognized experts
• Opportunities for academic networking
• A stimulating environment for refining research and publication strategies
• Hands-on field experience in urban regeneration
• A friendly atmosphere fostering international exchange

Application & Selection

Applicants must submit: a short CV and a research project summary

Registration

Participation fee: €200

• Accommodation for 5 nights (shared room, breakfast included)
• Lunches and coffee breaks
• Welcome reception, official dinner, closing reception, and social events

Key Dates

• Application deadline: 1 February 2026
• Notification of acceptance: 10 February 2026
• Payment deadline: 27 February 2026

Web page: https://city-focus.uaic.ro/school.htm

Call for Applications – Spring School 2026

“Building Knowledge, Shaping Cities: Nurturing Young Researchers in Urban Science”

14–18 April 2026 | Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania

About the Spring School

The Centre for European Studies (CSE) at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași is delighted to announce the Spring School 2026, supported by the RSAI Nurturing Talent Program. This intensive training program is designed to support early-stage researchers through lectures, analytical workshops, and interactive discussions on urban resilience, spatial modeling,

and urban data collection.

The event will bring together leading international scholars and emerging researchers to explore the complexities of contemporary urban transformations.

Program Highlights

Participants will engage in:

• Lectures by internationally renowned experts
• Methodological workshops (GIS, spatial modelling, academic writing)
• Field visits and guided tours on urban regeneration
• Research presentations with feedback from senior scholars

Confirmed Lecturers

• Özge ÖNER – Cambridge University
• Andrés RODRÍGUEZ-POSE – London School of Economics
• Fernando RUBIERA MOROLLÓN – University of Oviedo
• Vinko MUŠTRA – University of Split

…alongside members of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University research community.

Who Should Apply?

• PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and junior researchers (with less than 5 years of research experience since PhD award);
• Working on topics related to digitalization, smart development, smart cities, and other urban science challenges
• Maximum 25 participants will be accepted. The Spring School aims for international diversity and gender, age, and regional balance.

Why Apply?

• Access to cutting-edge methodologies in urban and regional science
• Guidance from internationally recognized experts
• Opportunities for academic networking
• A stimulating environment for refining research and publication strategies
• Hands-on field experience in urban regeneration
• A friendly atmosphere fostering international exchange

Application & Selection

Applicants must submit: a short CV and a research project summary

Registration

Participation fee: €200

• Accommodation for 5 nights (shared room, breakfast included)
• Lunches and coffee breaks
• Welcome reception, official dinner, closing reception, and social events

Key Dates

• Application deadline: 1 February 2026
• Notification of acceptance: 10 February 2026
• Payment deadline: 27 February 2026

Web page: https://city-focus.uaic.ro/school.htm