Spheres of influence and regional policy: The case of Northern Ireland

Abstract

Official response since the 1960s to Northern Ireland's regional economic problems has consistently stressed the benefits of concentrating manufacturing investment in 'good locations', where growth-centres are to be established. Consideration of the attributes of such 'good locations' from the industrial viewpoint leads to the view that they partly consist of reasonable access to a range of locationally-specific 'factors', whose geographical pattern cannot be altered by government action, other than in the long term. Around these factors 'spheres of influence' can be delimited, identifying areas with relatively high concentrations of industrial firms benefiting from access to them. Further discussion of this concept suggests how the locations of these same location factors can affect the justification for, and success of, any particular growth-centre strategy. Comments in official planning reports in Northern Ireland show that an awareness of such spatial policy constraints exists, but it is only a vague and often inconsistent awareness, reflecting an almost total lack of relevant empirical evidence on the nature of these 'spheres'. This has provided the stimulus for an on-going research project among the province's manufacturers, the nature of which is briefly outlined.