Abstract
Traditional industries have historically played an important role in shaping regional economies through their embeddedness in local resource systems, knowledge traditions, and community institutions. However, contemporary development discourse has largely marginalized these sectors, often treating them as residual economic activities or cultural heritage assets rather than as strategic contributors to regional development. This paper revisits the role of traditional industries through a sustainability-oriented perspective and argues for their conceptual repositioning within contemporary regional development frameworks. Drawing on insights from regional development theory, sustainability studies, and evidence from the Indian handloom sector, the paper examines how traditional industries contribute to environmental sustainability, localized economic development, and social inclusion. The analysis highlights that these industries promote resource-efficient and low-carbon production systems, strengthen local value chains and livelihood opportunities, and preserve cultural knowledge while supporting vulnerable and marginalized communities. Despite these multidimensional contributions, traditional industries remain under-integrated within mainstream development planning due to persistent policy and conceptual biases that privilege large-scale industrialization and productivity-oriented growth models. The paper argues that traditional industries should be understood as sustainability-linked regional growth systems that embody principles of endogenous development, circular economy transitions, and place-based development. Repositioning these industries within regional policy and planning frameworks can contribute to more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable development pathways. In doing so, the paper contributes to ongoing debates on local economies, sustainability transitions, and territorially grounded approaches to regional development.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.