The application of infrastructure as a regional development tool in resource peripheries has received little direct inquiry in both policy and scholarly debates. This article synthesizes theoretical and empirical directions across economic geography, regional studies and critical infrastructure studies to form a research agenda for investigating the role of built infrastructure in the development of ‘left behind’ peripheral regions in the USA. We argue that infrastructural systems’ material, social, fiscal and political dimensions potentially deepen rather than mitigate structural ‘left behind-ness’. Future research and policy design must account for such dynamics if infrastructure interventions are to prove generative for regional development.

中文翻译：

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基础设施能否帮助“落后”地区“迎头赶上”？理论化基础设施建设在区域发展中的作用

基础设施作为资源外围区域发展工具的应用在政策和学术辩论中很少受到直接质疑。本文综合了经济地理学、区域研究和关键基础设施研究的理论和实证方向，形成了一个研究议程，调查已建成的基础设施在美国“落后”外围地区发展中的作用。我们认为，基础设施系统的物质、社会、财政和政治维度可能会加深而不是减轻结构性“落后现象”。如果基础设施干预措施要证明能够促进区域发展，未来的研究和政策设计就必须考虑到这种动态。