This unit is concerned with identifying the particular development issues that confront non-metropolitan regions today and understanding their possible causes. Via a comparative survey of regional development issues across Australia, Canada and northern England, the unit explores the nature of regional inequality and inequity, and their relationship to broader processes of economic, social, political and technological change. A range of competing schools of thought that seek to explain uneven development are also assessed. The unit concludes with a review of the effectiveness of regional development strategies employed by all tiers of Australian, Canadian and British governments during the last three decades in order to understand the complexities of the policy task, as well as the ingredients of successful policy.