Where will the 29th Pacific Conference of the RSAI be held?

The conference will take place in Melbourne, AUS.

What is the primary focus of this conference?

The conference focuses on regional science, addressing economic, social, and environmental issues pertinent to regional development.

29th Pacific Conference of the RSAI (PRSCO 2026)

Name: 29th Pacific Conference of the RSAI (PRSCO 2026)
Start: 2026-12-01T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-12-03T00:00:00Z
Location: Melbourne

Dec 1–3, 2026Melbourne, AustraliaIn-person

Registration open

The 29th Pacific Conference of the RSAI (PRSCO 2026) is an upcoming academic gathering focused on regional science, bringing together researchers and practitioners from across the Pacific Rim. Hosted in Melbourne, AUS, this conference provides a platform for in-depth discussions on economic, social, and environmental issues pertinent to regional development. It is organized by the Australia and New Zealand Regional Science Association International (ANZRSAI) and will be held at RMIT University.

Committees & topics

Topics
Regional Science: Theory, Methods, and the Evolution of a Discipline · Regional Development: Inequality, Convergence, and Sustainable Growth Across the Pacific · Regional Planning: Spatial Strategy in an Era of Climate Risk and Urban Transformation

Why it matters

This conference is significant for several reasons. First, it convenes experts from a diverse range of countries, including AUS, USA, JPN, KOR, CHN, NZL, IDN, FJI, and CAN, fostering a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives on regional challenges and opportunities. The focus on regional science allows for interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems, moving beyond single-sector analyses to understand the interconnectedness of various factors influencing development.

Second, the gathering in Melbourne, AUS, highlights the growing importance of the Oceania region in global discussions on sustainable development, urban planning, and economic resilience. The insights shared at the conference can inform policy-making and strategic planning across the Pacific, contributing to more effective and equitable development outcomes. The emphasis on regional development is particularly relevant in a world grappling with localized impacts of global phenomena, from climate change to technological shifts.

Finally, the conference serves as a critical forum for networking and collaboration among academics, researchers, and practitioners. Such interactions are vital for advancing the field of regional science, identifying emerging research priorities, and translating academic findings into practical solutions. The long-standing tradition of the PRSCO conferences underscores the sustained commitment to understanding and addressing regional disparities and fostering inclusive growth.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the 29th Pacific Conference of the RSAI should consider several key areas to maximize their engagement and contribution. Understanding the diverse perspectives of countries within the Pacific Rim is crucial. This involves not only grasping the economic and social landscapes of nations like JPN and CHN but also appreciating the unique developmental challenges faced by island nations such as FJI and larger economies like CAN.

Effective participation will benefit from a strong grasp of interdisciplinary approaches to regional issues. This includes familiarity with concepts such as "what-is-stakeholder-mapping" to identify key actors in regional development, and "dynamic-analysis" to understand evolving trends. Considering "gender-dynamics-across-cultures" can also provide a nuanced understanding of social equity in development initiatives.

Furthermore, attendees should be prepared to engage in discussions that bridge theoretical research with practical applications. The conference's setting in AUS, a country with significant regional development initiatives, offers a valuable context for examining how academic insights can inform policy and practice. Familiarity with various "engagement-strategies" will be beneficial for fostering productive dialogues and collaborations.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Australia

Host nation with significant regional development challenges and research contributions.

Role in topic

As the host country, AUS plays a central role in facilitating discussions on regional science, particularly concerning issues relevant to Oceania and the broader Pacific. Its own experiences with urban growth, rural development, and environmental management provide valuable case studies and research perspectives.

Japan

Major economic power with strong interests in regional stability and development in the Pacific.

Role in topic

JPN contributes significantly to regional science through its advanced research institutions and its engagement in development initiatives across the Pacific. Its perspective often includes technological innovation, disaster resilience, and sustainable urban planning within a regional context.

China

Influential player in regional economic development and infrastructure projects.

Role in topic

CHN's rapid economic growth and extensive investment in regional infrastructure projects make its perspective on regional development critical. Discussions often revolve around its impact on neighboring economies, trade patterns, and environmental considerations within the Pacific Rim.

United States

Key strategic and economic partner in the Pacific, with interests in security and sustainable growth.

Role in topic

The USA's involvement in the Pacific Rim spans economic, security, and environmental domains. Its contributions to regional science often focus on trade, international relations, and the impacts of global change on regional economies and communities.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Regional Science: Theory, Methods, and the Evolution of a Discipline

Regional science emerged in the 1950s through the work of Walter Isard and colleagues who sought to bring rigorous quantitative analysis to questions of location, spatial interaction, and the economic geography of regions. Frustrated by mainstream economics' inattention to space, Isard founded the Regional Science Association in 1954, which later became the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), spawning regional bodies including the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization (PRSCO) in 1969. Over the following decades, the field developed core tools such as input-output analysis, gravity models, spatial econometrics, computable general equilibrium models, and geographic information systems, while drawing on economics, geography, planning, and demography. The Pacific Rim has been a particularly active arena for regional science, given the diversity of its economies, rapid urbanization, exposure to natural hazards, and dense trade linkages. PRSCO conferences have historically served as venues to refine methods for analyzing agglomeration economies, migration, transport networks, and regional disparities across very different institutional contexts, from advanced economies like Japan and Australia to fast-industrializing ones in Southeast Asia. Recent decades have seen the discipline absorb advances in big data, machine learning, remote sensing, and network science. Today the field faces both opportunity and identity questions: how to integrate climate risk, demographic decline in aging societies, digital economies, and supply-chain resilience into spatial models; how to maintain methodological rigor while engaging policy; and how to bridge regional science with allied fields such as urban economics and complexity science. Debates within PRSCO 2026 focus on the relevance of classical regional science frameworks for 21st-century Pacific challenges.

Key players

Regional Development: Inequality, Convergence, and Sustainable Growth Across the Pacific

Regional development as a field of policy and scholarship took shape in the postwar era, when governments confronted persistent gaps between leading metropolitan economies and lagging hinterlands. Early frameworks—growth poles (Perroux), cumulative causation (Myrdal), and core-periphery models (Friedmann)—shaped national strategies from Japan's Comprehensive National Development Plans to regional industrial policies in Korea, Australia's decentralization debates, and later China's Western Development and Belt and Road initiatives. The Pacific region has long been a laboratory for these strategies because its economies span vast disparities in income, geography, and institutional capacity. The core dispute concerns whether market-led integration naturally produces regional convergence, or whether persistent agglomeration forces and structural disadvantages require active state intervention through infrastructure, fiscal transfers, special economic zones, and place-based policies. Empirical evidence across the Pacific is mixed: China and Vietnam saw rapid coastal-led growth with widening interior gaps before partial catch-up; Japan and Korea continue to struggle with rural depopulation; Pacific Island states confront geographic remoteness and climate vulnerability that no standard development model addresses well. Current debates center on how to align regional development with decarbonization, demographic aging, digital transformation, and supply-chain reconfiguration following recent geopolitical shocks. Policymakers and scholars are reassessing place-based policy in light of evidence on left-behind regions, the rise of remote work, and the uneven regional impacts of the green transition. PRSCO 2026 discussions are expected to weigh these challenges against the SDGs and the distinctive needs of small island developing states.

Key players

Regional Planning: Spatial Strategy in an Era of Climate Risk and Urban Transformation

Regional planning evolved in the 20th century as governments recognized that land use, infrastructure, and environmental management transcend municipal boundaries. From the Tennessee Valley Authority in the United States to Japan's national land plans, Greater London's strategic plans, and metropolitan governance experiments in Seoul, Sydney, Vancouver, and Shanghai, regional planning has sought to coordinate housing, transport, water, energy, and ecological systems across functional regions. The Pacific Rim's mix of megacities, sprawling suburban frontiers, resource hinterlands, and disaster-prone coastlines has made it a central testing ground. The core tensions in regional planning today are between economic competitiveness and equity, between growth accommodation and ecological limits, and between technocratic strategic planning and participatory, community-led approaches. Climate adaptation has become unavoidable: sea-level rise, wildfires, typhoons, and heat extremes are forcing planners to rethink coastal development, managed retreat, green infrastructure, and the resilience of critical lifelines. Housing affordability crises in cities such as Sydney, Auckland, Vancouver, Tokyo, and across coastal China have reopened debates over zoning, density, and transit-oriented development. Contemporary regional planning agendas integrate net-zero pathways, biodiversity protection under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, digital and data-driven planning tools, and Indigenous co-governance of land and water. PRSCO 2026 sessions are likely to examine how Pacific jurisdictions are aligning statutory planning systems with long-term climate, demographic, and technological transitions, and how cross-border and cross-jurisdictional planning can be strengthened.

Key players