Regional development is the process of increasing opportunities for residents in a region. It includes promoting job growth, improving infrastructure, and addressing unique challenges that the region faces. Regional development involves a diverse range of disciplines and professions, including geographers, economists, sociologists, and political scientists.

While governments have long been involved in regional development activities, there are also organizations that are made up of several countries that work together to tackle problems related to regional development. These agencies work both domestically and internationally to address issues, such as trade policies, education, and taxation.

A primary goal of regional development is reducing welfare inequality between regions. This can be achieved by providing funds or other assistance to lagging regions and managing the development of more developed ones. These policies can be implemented at a local or national level, but they are more effective when they are carried out at the regional level.

Despite the importance of power relations in regional development, few studies have explored them explicitly or deeply enough to make a significant contribution to the field. This lack of attention is due, in part, to the tendency of economic approaches to put noneconomic factors into more or less black boxes, beyond further explanation and analysis. However, a more thorough conceptualisation and empirical evidence of these important factors can help us understand and deal with the problems that emerge in the practice of regional development.