Routledge Companies, Cultures, and the Region: Interactions and Outcomes

Europe has its strength in regional cultural diversity. However, current debates surrounding globalisation and the integration of markets tend to focus on the homogenisation of cultures, whilst the emergence of vital and innovative regional cultures has typically been neglected. This edited collection addresses this gap, considering relevant questions such as how strategies, orientations, values and symbols help a company to become aware of its location, and how different regional cultures are of interest to particular types of companies. The book’s central focus is the interaction of regional and corporate cultures; how different cultures come together, shape each other and change. The volume takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together research from cultural science, regional science, social science and economics. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal European Planning Studies. About the Author Dr Nick Clifton is Reader in Economic Geography and Regional Development at the Cardiff School of Management, UK. His main research interests lie in the fields of regional economics, small business and entrepreneurship, networks, business strategy, innovation and creativity. In particular, he is interested in how firms use networks to acquire knowledge and innovate, and the factors that influence the location choices of creative individuals. Dr Stefan Gärtner has a Masters and PhD in Spatial Planning. Until 2001 he worked in a banking apprenticeship, undertaking consultancy work with a special focus on sustainability. He is a researcher at the Institute for Work and Technology, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and his main research areas include regional economies, structural policy, banking and space and the impact and perception of spatial identities. PD Dr. Dieter Rehfeld studied political science, modern history, psychology and sociology. He is a member of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, and heads the research department of Innovation, Space and Culture at the Institute for Work and Technology, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.