Oikean kokoinen kaupunki?

Our study stems from the ongoing public discourse on urbanisation, especially as it pertains to growing and declining regions. Regional development and policies reflect narratives that are based on different value judgements. The growth narrative, which justifies centralising regional policies, has gained an almost paradigmatic standing. On the other hand, the place-based narrative, presently on the rise in academic and political forums, draws attention to local geographies and institutions as development potentials for regions and municipalities of all sizes. The study looks at both of these two narratives, with a focus on the latter. We briefly analyse recent research and policy papers with an aim to find answers to our main question: What kind of conceptual means do we need to interpret and implement place-based regional strategies? On this basis, we introduce a model of multilevel socio-technical networks for dealing with regional and urban development that is complex and uneven.