From a new regionalism to an unusual regionalism? The emergence of non-standard regional spaces and lessons for the territorial reorganisation of the state

This paper reports on the results of research to explore a range of attempts to develop new regional forms, and considers the degree to which they accord to conceptualisations of the 'new regionalism' and accounts of the changing territorial structure of the state. It highlights the array of new regional configurations which now extends across the territory of the European Union, discussing the influence exerted by the growth of interest in European spatial planning over the course of the 1990s and considering the degree to which readings of new regionalist rhetoric have informed both the creation and substance of a number of recently conceived regional entities. The paper concludes by considering the implications posed by the growth of these new regional configurations for attempts to interpret the rescaling of governance and the reterritorialisation of the state.