We would like to offer you a publication covering the problems of local and regional growth, in terms of both theoretical and practical aspects, and also discussing Polish and international issues. This publication is dedicated to a wide range of readers: research workers, students of economics and spatial management, and also to employees and councillors working for local governments. Regional development represents a multidimensional process, characterized by positive changes occurring in many areas of economy and society as well as in institutions and environment, which frequently remain of spatial nature. The ultitude of problems covered by regional growth is reflected in the number of topics discussed in the present publication. Regional growth issues are discussed in the context of their relations with knowledge, innovations, human and social capital and also with reference to the regional system of knowledge transfer as an important element of a regional innovation system, affecting its efficiency and ability to meet the equirements of the modern knowledge-based economy. The problems discussed in the publication often cover issues related to labor market and mainly to the situation of young people. In this area the analysis and the rating of strategic documents from selected regions are presented as well as the statistical analysis results based on a model which defines key factors determining the regional labor market situation of young people and which reveals impacts resulting from these factors. The presented soft model has a practical application in monitoring the labor market situation of young people in Polish regions. '