NEWSLETTER

Even if you didn't get a paper together in at least draft form by the traditional October 15 submission deadline, there's still time to secure a place (or two!) on the Program as a discussant or session chair. Simply email or drop a note to Executive Secretary Dave Plane with an indication of the topics of sessions you'd be most interested in. And the Program Committee will be delighted to "put you to work!"

This is one WRSA conference you simply don't want to miss. Set in the coastal mountains inland from Ventura (about an hour north and west of Los Angeles) and not far by back roads from Santa Barbara, Ojai is a picturesque small village. The Ojai Valley Inn (site of an annual Senior PGA golf tournament) ranks among the very best in WRSA=s long line of fine meeting hotels. In addition to the golf course, the Inn features a superb modern conference building, an acclaimed fine-dining restaurant, a brand-new 30,000 square-foot European-style spa, a state-of-the-art tennis facility, equestrian and hiking trail access, and finely appointed guest rooms.

The conference will begin with an opening plenary session and welcoming reception on Sunday, February 21. "WRSA-style" paper sessions will be held all-day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, February 22, 23, and 24, with plenty of time for feedback and discussion. The Annual Banquet Luncheon will be held on Tuesday. It will feature the presentation of the Springer-Verlag and Tiebout Prizes (this year marks the 13th anniversary of WRSA's prestigious graduate student competition) as well as Arthur Getis=s Presidential Address.

As usual, we've negotiated tremendous room rates at a truly world-class resort: our Ojai Valley Inn sleeping room rates begin at just $130.

This year's competition is being organized by Robert Formaini, who reports that the entry fee will be $135, including greens fees and cart, lunch, beer, and prizes. Players of all levels are welcome to participate. An accurate count is needed as soon as possible, so please get with Bob if you are interested. His email is bob.formaini@dal.frb.org; phone (214) 922-5343. Entry fee checks should be made out directly to Bob and sent to Robert Formaini / 7520 Woodthrush Dr. / Dallas, TX 75230.

Last year's plans to add a tennis tournament to the WRSA social program were frustrated by Monterey's El Nino rains. This coming February the sun will shine on the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa's championship tennis complex as WRSAers take to the courts for our first annual tennis competition! Players of all skill levels are invited to participate. All interested should get in touch with organizer Andrei Rogers, University of Colorado, Boulder, as soon as possible. His email is: andrei.rogers @colorado.edu. Phone: (303) 492-2145.  [The round-robin competition is tentatively scheduled for Sunday afternoon, February 21.]

WRSA Provides Restorative Moments

We ran across the following Editor's Note in the July 1998 issue of Travel and Leisure.

... One such interval, after a busy weekend in California with my husband and son. When they left to fly back East, I got in a car and drove 75 miles northwest from Los Angeles to the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

Never mind that I had less than 36 hours to experience this celebrated new spa. It was worth the traffic jam on Highway 101, the rapid-fire sequence of hikes, treatments, and aerobics sessions -- and even the pressure to get myself in reasonable shape for an early-morning photo shoot and for a round of appointments in L.A. that afternoon.

Without ever standing still, I managed to be swept away on a tidal wave of well-being. During a solitary bike ride from the inn to the center of the lovely town of Ojai, a late-afternoon stroll through the dappled shadows of centuries-old live oak and eucalyptus trees, and a quiet dinner on the inn's stone terrace overlooking the mountains and valley, I had a sense of exhilaration and peace. Like catnaps, these intermissions can provide the impetus and fuel to keep us going at sonic speed.

... WRSA: "The way academic life should be."

Or How About This from USA Today (9/1/98 edition)

The Ojai (Calif.) Valley Inn and Spa.  Surrounded by the Topa Topa Mountains, the Ojai Valley stood in as Shangri-La in the classic film Lost Horizon. Don't miss the Pink Moment, when the setting sun turns the peaks a dusty pink. This 220-acre, Spanish colonial-style resort is "for those who want to indulge, recharge and rejuvenate over the holidays - take a yoga class, get a massage, go for a bike ride." There's also golf, tennis, swimming, horseback riding and a new spa complex.

WRSA Cohosting Largest Ever North American Regional Science Gathering

The upcoming November 11-14, 1998 North American Meetings of the RSAI in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, will draw a record turnout. The Preliminary Program lists the most paper presentations in the 45-year history of the conference.

The conference is being cohosted by WRSA and the Department of Geography and Regional Development of the University of Arizona. Program Chairs adrian X. esparza and Brigitte_Waldorf have done a superb job of arranging the scholarly program. Arrangements Chair David a. Plane has been coping with the realities of holding the largest ever North American conference in the smallest ever city. Events will be split between two adjacent, lovely, historic hotels: La Fonda and Hotel Loretto.

This year's meeting gets underway with council meetings and a full-slate of paper sessions on Thursday, November 12 -- followed by an opening plenary session, with North American Regional Science Council President, and WRSA Board Member, Geoffrey J.D. Hewings at the podium. Geoff's address will be on "Visualization of Economic Systems." Scholarly sessions continue all-day Friday and Saturday, with no sessions on Sunday to facilitate homeward travel. Friday evening will feature a conference party in memory of Ben Stevens, cosponsored by WRSA, The Journal of Regional Science, Blackwell Publishers, and The University of Arizona. Saturday's Annual Luncheon will feature NARSC award presentations, a lecture by Edward Glaeser "Do We Need Cities?," and a couple of WRSA-style "extras."

If you've not already made plans to attend, do so immediately as our hotel-room blocks filled and a third hotel (The Inn of the Governors) is now accepting overflow reservations. For complete details view our attractive "Regional Science: Santa Fe Style" web site:

Mailed to all 1998 members with the paper edition of this Newsletter is the new edition of WRSA's Annual Membership Directory.

Listed are all persons who paid 1998 membership dues as of September 1, 1998.  Dues renewals are now being accepted -- $45 if paid before February 1, 1999 ($50 thereafter).  Memberships may also be included with the Annual Meeting registration fee (forms are available on the web site now -- and they will be mailed to conference participants and current members later in the fall).

The official 1998 membership count is 355.  Members come from 24 countries, 40 U.S. states, and 7 Canadian provinces.

Please send any corrections and address changes to the Association's office so that we may maintain an accurate data base to service the membership.  Any changes received since September 1 may not be reflected in the printed Directory.

New Web-Based Journal Devoted to the Study of Planned Interventions vs. Market Approaches

The premier issue of Planning & Markets, a wholly electronic, fully refereed journal published on the World Wide Web is now available. Go to:

http://www-pam.usc.edu/

Planning & Markets is devoted to the study of planned interventions versus market approaches.

Planning & Markets is the first academic journal in its field to be edited, refereed, and published exclusively using the Internet and the World Wide Web. Email subscriptions to Planning & Markets are free. Web visitors can subscribe directly from the Planning & Markets web site.

The premier issue includes the following articles: "Planning and the Two Coordinations, With Illustration in Urban Transit" by Daniel B. Klein, Santa Clara University; "Market-Oriented Planning: Principles and Tools for the 21st Century" by Samuel R. Staley and Lynn Scarlett, Reason Public Policy Institute; "Market-Based Exchanges of Rights within a System of Performance Zoning," by John R. Ottensmann, Indiana University; "Regional Policies for Gross Emitting Vehicles," by John Merrifield, University of Texas, San Antonio; "Farmland Preservation and Ecological Footprints: A Critique" by Peter Gordon and Harry Richardson, University of Southern California.

For more information, please contact: Co-editors Peter Gordon (pgordon@usc.edu), Jim Moore (jmoore@usc.edu), and Harry Richardson (hrichard@usc.edu).

"Europe Quo Vadis? Regional Questions at the Turn of the Century" was the theme of the Regional Science Association's 1998 European Congress held in Vienna, Austria during the period August 28-September 1. The Congress opened on Friday, August 28 with RSAI, European Organizing Committee (EOC), and Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization (PRSCO) governance meetings, registration, and a welcoming reception. It ended just before midnight on Tuesday, September 1 with the Congress dinner sponsored by the Mayor of Vienna in the Vienna City Hall.

A special feature of the formal Congress dinner was the award of the Epainos Prize. This prize is designed to stimulate young scholars and their work, encourage young scholars to publish in internationally referred journals, and to introduce them to the community and networks of regional scientists. Former RSAI President Lay Gibson made the presentations to two finalists and the winner, Aki Kangasharju, who is currently working as a researcher at the Pellervo Economic Research Institute (Finland).

The Vienna meeting was huge! There were 431 papers in 109 sessions. Over five hundred scientists registered for the Congress. Working under the direction of Chairman Manfred M. Fischer and Secretary Gunther Maier, the Local Organizing Committee produced a program that was representative of the breadth and depth of contemporary regional science.

The five hundred plus registrants came from six continents and 37 countries. Especially conspicuous are Austria (88 registrants), Spain (59), USA (40), United Kingdom (40), Germany (35), Italy (34) and the Netherlands (33).

Are ERSA Congresses getting bigger and better? Apparently so! (They are always very good but they are certainly getting bigger!) The 1996 Zurich Congress had 230 presentations. The Rome Congress had 341 presentations. Vienna had 431 presentations. Given this we all look forward to the 1999 European Congress in Dublin (web site http://www.ucd.ie/~economic/rsa/ index.html) which is sure to be an outstanding affair.

The conference will be held at Seoul Teacher Education Mutual Fund Hotel, Seoul, Korea, July 12-16, 1999. This Seoul Conference will deal with broad topics in regional science. While the conference will primarily focus on the Pacific Rim, discussions on any geographic area will be invited.

The internet homepage address is: http://prome. snu.ac.kr/~prsco16. Participants are strongly recommended to use the facilities this site provides.

Persons wanting to present a paper should submit a title to the organizing committee as soon as possible. The cutoff date for title submissions is 28 February 1999. Abstracts (200 words) are required by 31 March 1999. It is advised that both paper titles and abstracts be submitted electronically through direct email or via the internet web pages. All files are to be compiled with Microsoft Word (any version) or ASCII format. If you are unable to use the internet then please post the following details: full name, title, position, full postal address, email address (if available), title of paper, fax number, and phone numbers.

Persons wish to organize one or more sessions should submit a tentative session outline by 28 February 1999, and the final contents by 31 March 1999.

The registration fee is US$350. If you register before 31 May 1999, the cost is US$300. The registration fee includes four lunches, three dinners, and a half-day excursion.

A wide range of accommodations are available in Seoul, from luxury hotels to university hostels. For your convenience, we recommend staying at the conference venue (Seoul Teacher Education Mutual Fund Hotel). For further details, see the PRSCO 16 web page.

The PRSCO Organizing Committee may be contacted at: email, presco16@prome.snu.ac.kr. Chairperson of the PRSCO 16 Organizing Committee is Prof. Sam Ock Park, Dept. of Geography, Seoul National University: email, parkso@plaza.snu.ac.kr. Secretary-General of the PRSCO 16 Organizing Committee is Dr. Sungiae Choo, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. Email: sjchoo@krihs.re.kr.
 

UNLV Job Opening

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is recruiting a regional or urban economist at the full professor level. The successful candidate will be a Ph.D. economist with a strong record of research productivity as evidenced by publications in top tier journals. Responsibilities for this position include mentoring junior faculty with their research agendas. Send applications to Bernard Malamud, Chair, Dept. of Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-6005.
 

Australia and New Zealand Section Back on Schedule!

In 1997 the Regional Science Association International's ANZ Section combined its "domestic meeting" with the Pacific Regional Science Conference in Wellington. In 1998 it was business as usual. The annual meeting was held in the Barossa Valley wine country of South Australia September 20-23, 1998. The primary organizer was Alaric Maude, Flinders University. The meeting was co-hosted by the South Australian Regional Development Association and the Barossa Regional Economic Development Authority.

Over 50 papers were given in 27 sessions. There were 104 participants including one each from Israel, Spain, Wales, and the U.S.A., two from Japan, and three from New Zealand. The rest were from Australia. A slight majority of the participants came from the practitioner side as opposed to the academic side.

WRSA was represented by Bob Stimson, Kevin O'Connor, Tony Sorenson, Brian Roberts, Xiao-Ping Zheng, Guy West, and Lay Gibson.

Aleric Maude and his team are to be congratulated for putting together a first-rate program. Paper sessions, panel presentations, and the field trips were all strong.

French Speaking Regional Scientists Meet in Mexico

The 34^th Colloque de l'ASRDLF (Association de Science Regionale de Lanque Francaise) was held in Puebla, Mexico during the Period 3-5 September, 1998. The theme was "Regions, Villes et Development." The meeting was organized by Salvador Perez of the local host institution - Universidad Autonoma de Puebla and by Mario Polèse, INRS - Urbanisation, Montréal, Canada (former WRSA Board Member). Some 90 papers were offered in 24 sessions.

The French-Speaking Regional Science community was represented by a strong cadre of scholars including Pierre-Henri Derycke, Alain Sallez, ASRDLF President Claude LaCour, Sylvette Puiissant, Peter Treuner, Denis Maillat, Jean Paelinck, Jean-Marie Huriot, Antoine Bailly, and of course, Mario Polese.

The meetings were organized in association with four partners - The Mexican Regional Science Community (AMECIDER), the CRSA, the WRSA, and the Groupe Interuniversitaire de Montréal Villes et Development. A special feature of this conference were two sessions organized by WRSA President Lay Gibson. They featured papers by Denis Maillat, Peter Batey and Moss Madden, Mustafa Dinc and Kingsley Haynes, Jorge Serrano, Art Silvers, Roger Stough, and Bud Weinstein.

The fact that the French Speaking association held its 1998 meeting in Mexico is not as unusual as one might suspect. For years the ASRDLF has held its annual meeting outside of France every other year. Over the years they have selected venues in Europe, Africa, and North America. In 1999 the meeting will return to France.

Mexican regional scientists met in Oaxaca, Mexico June 3-5, 1998. The 4th national conference of AMECIDER, the Asociacion Mexicana De Ciencias Para El Desarrollo Regional, was hosted by the Instituto to Technologico De Oxaca. The conference had some 280 participants; there were 180 papers in plenary sessions and in 36 regular paper sessions. Abstracts are available on diskette.

The 1999 meeting is tentatively schedule for late April. For information contact AMERCIDER President Salvador Rodriguez y Rodriguez in Mexico City (Fax: 623-00-97); Jorges Serrano Moreno in Cuernavaca (Fax: 011-52-73-17-5981); or Alfonso Corona in Versailles, France (Fax: 011-33-1-39-25-53-00).

45^th North American Meetings of the RSAI, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, November 11-14, 1998
See article, p. 1 this Newsletter.
 

38^th Annual Meeting, Western Regional Science Association, Ojai, California, February 21-24, 1999
See article, p. 1 this Newsletter.

38th Annual Southern Regional Science Association Meeting, Richmond, VA, April 15-17, 1999
Submit abstract of paper to: [email preferred] Judith Stallmann, Program Chair for 1999, Southern Regional Science Assoc., Dept. of Ag. Econ., 340 Blocker Bldg., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-2124. Telephone: 409-845-4445. Email: judystal@tamu.edu.

16^th Pacific Conference of the RSAI, Seoul, Korea, July 12-16, 1999
See article, p. 3, this Newsletter.

39th European Congress of the Regional Science Association, Dublin, Ireland, August 28-September 1, 1999
The Congress is being hosted by the RSAI British and Irish Section. The general subject of the Congress is "Regional Cohesion and Competitiveness in 21st Century Europe." For more information, contact Dr. Annette Roberts, Secretary RSAIBIS, Welsh Economy Research Unit, Cardiff Business School, 43 Park Place, Cardiff, CF1 3BB, UK. Phone: +44 (0)1222 874173; Fax: +44 (0)1222 874446; Email: robertsa1@cardiff.ac.uk.