REGIONAL SCIENCE - BACK TO THE FUTURE

After initiating a provocative discussion on ''regional science in cri sis'' (Bailly and Coffey 1994; Gibson 1994; Plane 1994; Stough 1994; A nas 1994; Vickerman 1994; Casetti 1995), we now wish to present some a dditional thoughts on how regional scientists can simultaneously make their field more relevant scientifically and more useful for society. At a time when resources are tight, when the number of regional scienc e students is small, when administrators are scrutinizing our budgets and our ability to generate outside money, we need to do something to regain (or is it simply to gain?) our place in the sun. In this paper, we argue that regional scientists will not reestablish their field by using classical approaches to regional analysis alone. It is essentia l that we look at new ways to answer questions raised by our social, e conomic, and political institutions. More specifically, we make some o bservations concerning the history of regional science, its role withi n universities, and its nature, as well as offering some suggestions c oncerning how regional scientists can attempt to improve the situation .