Analysis of the responses of Bremen and Hampton Roads to cutbacks in military spending illustrates how conversion planning—and economic development planning generally—are embedded within a sociopolitical context. This context is largely determined by the regions’ industrial structure, but it is strongly influenced by the structure and power of local government and the region’s social cohesion. National and international economic conversion policies should be flexible enough not only to rapidly respond to severe regional adjustment problems to maintain qualified technological and human potentials, but also to be useful to regions with diverse sociopolitical structures.
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