The 2020 RSAI World Conference will be held from 2 to 5 June, 2020, in Marrakech, Morocco. It will be organized by the Moroccan Section of the Regional Science Association International. The meeting is open for the world-wide regional science community and aims to bring together the key elements of multidisciplinary regional science research and to provide a scientific platform for presenting and discussing research at the frontiers of the spatial sciences in a broad sense. The themes addressed zoom in particular on the pressing challenges of meeting the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals, in both developed and developing economies, and cover spatial dimensions ranging from local to global development. Such challenges relate to both people and places, and call for innovative and critical contributions from a conceptual-theoretical, statistical-modelling, practical evidence-based, or governance perspective.
Consequently, topics such as urban-rural development, migration, spatial and resources (al)location, border effects, urbanization, sustainable and circular cities, mobility, land use, environmental quality, disaster management, energy transition, culture, poverty, segregation, spatial justice, social justice, gender, social enterprises, policy and governance, entrepreneurship, spatial statistics and modelling are important ingredients of the 2020 World Congress. A new challenge to regional science research is formed by the emerging digital technology and its implications for analysis, monitoring, evaluation and forecasting spatial dynamics at all levels. Therefore, the potential of spatial and temporal big data, of social media information, and of the new spatial maps emerging from digitization and robotization will be addressed as well, as these forces will have far-reaching impacts on human behaviour and interaction in space.
The Mediterranean area and Africa are challenging realities on their own, and Morocco, named the most attractive investment destination in Africa according to the Africa Investment Index 2018, is the ideal venue for a conference that focuses upon the friction zones between developed and developing worlds in the Americas, in Eurafrica and in Asia. The Ocher City Marrakech provides the perfect setting of a geographically varied and pristine landscape, well connected by air, suitable to accommodate, in high quality and modestly priced hotels, many scientists from all countries, and from where they can enjoy the images of the desert, the wisdom of the Mediterranean, and the challenges and opportunities of global routes and networks. Its historical setting and geographical location at the foot of the High Atlas M ountains and at less than one hundred miles either from the Sahara dunes or from the Atlantic beaches, is a guarantee for a creative and enjoyable regional science gathering.
Contact details for more information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Main organizing institutions: Regional Science Association International and its Moroccan Section AMSR in collaboration with various public and private institutions