Public policies for resilient local economies

Abstract

Local economic development policies are part of the areas of intervention of local governments in Spain for three decades. However, the trajectory of these policies has been conditioned, among other factors, by a lack of legal powers and dependence on external resources and programs. Therefore the prevailing concept of local economic development is often limited to fostering entrepreneurship, business support and employment services in the exclusive setting of the capitalist market economy, and does not integrate a much broader and diverse perspective of both development and economy.
A local economic development strategy that is able to integrate its three dimensions (attraction, projection and networking) according to local possibilities and aspirations provides a much better basis for governing the development model and its evolution in each territory. On the other side, the application of the term “resilience” to local economies, although controversial, provides a powerful framework to build a renewed agenda for local economic development strategies and policies.