NIMBY! Aligning regional economic development practice to the realities of the 21st Century

Times have changed for regional economic development. Back in the not-so-far-ff good old days, announcements of a new factory setting up in town of the approval granted for a new large apartment block would have been widely accepted and even applauded by communities.

Now mostly they are not.

NIMBY has become the standard cry. Not in my backyard now extends to so many areas beyond nuclear plants, mines and waste dumps, including to some that at first sight seem just plain puzzling.

But this is the 21st Century reality and regional economic development policy and practice must respond with more sophisticated analysis and smarter tools. Setting up a rival camp to outwit the NIMBYs and waging war in the media battle is a short sighted, unsustainable approach.

This book analyses what makes NYMBYism tick, surveys current best practice regional economic development and posits a coherent, sustainable approach to the creation of wealth and well-being in communities.