Future-oriented green and just regional industrial path development: Towards a critical examination

The Economic Geography literature and beyond has witnessed a growing interest in developing new green regional industrial paths and an increased emphasis on future-oriented green and just regional industrial path development. In this article, we raise new and critical questions about the notion of green and just regional industrial path development regarding who eventually benefits from it and whether the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized actors are met. From this base, we provide an overview of two burgeoning research themes in this area: (1) the politics and agency of regional future-making narratives and practices and (2) developing new policy capabilities to build transformative resilience and navigate toward socially desirable futures. Finally, the article concludes with future research opportunities related to these promising themes and uncovers the complexities linked to future-oriented green and just regional industrial path development.