Understanding Peripheral Regions across Time and Space: A Reflection on the Northern Netherlands in 1972 from Sweden in 2025

Abstract This paper engages with the concept of periphery, as presented in Tamsma’s classic paper (1972), and reflects upon what has (or has not) changed in our approach to studying peripheries within regional economic geography over the past fifty or so years. In addition to providing reflections across time, it discusses the situation that Tamsma introduces the Netherlands periphery (the North) from the perspective of researching peripheral regions in Sweden, where we are used to working within a very different logic and scale regarding peripheral regions, including the challenges they face. Reflecting on a 50‐year‐old paper across time and space also invokes personal reflections on the issues around academic practice. Nevertheless, this piece argues that in many ways, surprisingly, little has changed when it comes to peripheries within Europe, and many of the issues Tamsma was concerned about issues that remain on the agenda of those interested in peripheral regions today.