Territorial Cohesion Policy Research Articles

Scaling beyond north and south: local agency of Finnish municipalities in European structural funds

ABSTRACT Increasing regional differentiation and discontent in Europe have directed critical attention to European territorial cohesion policy and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Fund) mechanism. There is wide literature investigating macro-level processes of regional differentiation and cohesion as well as the efficiency of multi-level governance in the implementation of the funding mechanism. This study contributes to the existing multidisciplinary literature on cohesion policy and structural funds by extending an understanding of the ESI Funds system to a local agency perspective with a specific focus on Finnish municipalities and the programme period 2014–2020, characterized by austerity policies, regional discontent and disagreement between the ESI programme regions. The examination offers a new understanding of local agents and beneficiaries’ differential access in the ESI Funds, showing that the agency of municipalities in the ESI Funds is simultaneously enabled and constrained by the multilevel Structural Funds programme’s areas of specialization, national regional policies, partnerships and the local environment. The findings indicate that generating inclusive and equal possibilities for all municipalities would necessitate more attention to the allocation of ESI Funds within the programme regions, not just between them.

COVID-19 as a systemic shock: curb or catalyst for proactive policies towards territorial cohesion?

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic, originating as a health crisis but quickly expanding to other social spheres, had significant and asymmetric impacts across Europe, which potentially undermine territorial cohesion. Much has been written about the overall impact of the pandemic on the underlying thematic and budgetary focus of European Union-level policies with respect to territorial cohesion. However, it remains unclear to what extent policies implemented at regional and local levels in response to the crisis also contribute to territorial cohesion. To address this, we investigated the extent to which the pandemic constituted a ‘window of opportunity’ for developing innovative policies furthering territorial cohesion policy goals and objectives within member states, and assessed whether the crisis led to more collaborative, integrative and holistic policymaking. To this end, the research examined policy responses across 14 European regions by means of a mixed-method case study approach, including the analysis of relevant policy documents and over 100 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. We show that the pandemic led to the introduction of new short-term social policies to reduce socio-economic disparities produced by COVID-19 and accelerated the implementation of green and smart policies. Additionally, the crisis fostered greater collaboration between public authorities and key stakeholders, and between regional and municipal public authorities, although the long-term impact is uncertain. These findings could have policy implications for other crisis situations. Moreover, they suggest that territorial cohesion policies should be tailored to empower regions and local governments to use systemic shocks to draft and implement proactive social, economic and environmental policies.

Do new brooms sweep clean? Striving for ‘A Just Europe’ in the Territorial Agenda 2030

ABSTRACT The Territorial Agenda 2030, adopted in December 2020, introduces a new policy frame: that of ‘A Just Europe’. This intergovernmental policy document is intended to guide territorial cohesion policy and strategic spatial planning in and across the EU member states. But what does the adjective ‘just’ mean and to what extent can it become operational? Drawing on text analysis and expert interviews, the paper investigates the rationales and expectations underpinning this policy frame. It firstly contextualizes the policy frame of ‘a Just Europe’ within the policy and academic debates on spatial justice and territorial cohesion, and positions the Territorial Agenda 2030 against the backdrop of its forerunners. The analysis demonstrates that instead of guiding measures, the Territorial Agenda 2030, like its forerunners, essentially has a diagnostic and to some extent also a motivational function to mobilize policy actions. We do however identify and discuss three rather novel conditions which, unlike those of its forerunners, may revitalize the European spatial planning discourse. This contribution demonstrates that spatial justice is an inspiring notion to critically reflect on the current and future character and potentials of European spatial planning in general and territorial cohesion policy in particular.

Poverty in Polish regions in the light of European Union policy

Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, hard to define but of interest to many experts in social sciences. When it comes to economic sciences, the economic dimension of poverty and its consequences are underlined. The European Union pays attention to the problem of developmental disparities as well as the need to reduce poverty and disparities. It is reflected both in the EU treaties and in the EU activities undertaken within both the Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion Policy and the Lisbon Strategy, the Europe 2020 Strategy, as well as the EU reaction to the numerous challenges facing the EU in the 21 st century (the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian aggression against Ukraine). The main theoretical and cognitive aim of the research is to present the differentiated perception of the problem of poverty in economic theory and EU policy decisions. The main aim of the empirical part of the research is to identify and evaluate regional disparities in poverty using the example of Poland’s regions (provinces). The research was conducted with the application of several scientific methods, including literature studies, descriptive and comparative analysis, and critical thinking. Because of the complexity of the category of poverty and poverty conditions, the selected method of multivariate comparative analysis, i.e. the TMD introduced by Hellwig, was adopted. The conducted research indicated that poverty in Poland’s regions is unequally distributed, which results from their location in relation to richer markets, infrastructure conditions, and economic situation.

Genesis and Conceptual Foundations of the Territorial Cohesion Policy of Regions in Ukraine (Problems of Definition of the Concept and Essence)

Genesis and Conceptual Foundations of the Territorial Cohesion Policy of Regions in Ukraine (Problems of Definition of the Concept and Essence)

Genesis and Conceptual Foundations of the Territorial Cohesion Policy of Regions in Ukraine (Problems of Definition of the Concept and Essence)

Genesis and Conceptual Foundations of the Territorial Cohesion Policy of Regions in Ukraine (Problems of Definition of the Concept and Essence)

Генезис та концептуальні основи політики територіальної згуртованості регіонів в Україні (проблеми визначення поняття та суті)

The review established that, despite a significant spread of the concept of territorial cohesion over the past twenty years in numerous documents of the European Commission relating to cohesion policy, the aspect of forming a single generally acceptable definition of the concept remains insufficiently disclosed. Based on the analysis of main conceptual foundations and practical aspects of the cohesion policy implementation in the EU countries, which are mostly disclosed in the documents of the European Commission, it has been established that the concept of territorial cohesion acquires different contents, evolving in response to challenges that arise during the emergence of crisis phenomena, that the EU member states are facing, as follows: the global financial and economic crisis, a migration crisis caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Syria, as well as a crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the course of the analysis of the conceptual foundations of the territorial cohesion policy, it was revealed that results of scientific research made by European scientists confirm difficulties of forming a single generally acceptable definition for “territorial cohesion”. In the course of the research, the need to form a clear concept of territorial cohesion for the purposes of further research of the conceptual, theoretical and practical aspects of the formation of a policy of territorial cohesion is rationalized, therefore, within the framework of this goal, the author's interpretation of the concept of territorial cohesion is given.

Innovative policies for industrial transition in the European Union: mitigating the social impacts?

The resurgence of industrial policies in the European Union has led to the introduction of policies to support regions in industrial transition within the framework of territorial cohesion policies. There is an initial interest in introducing a social component in these policies. This brief investigation reviews the actions carried out to date and reflects on their implementation. The European Commission has launched several regional policy pilots, which could help in the definition of new industrial transition policies, but these policies require to progress in their practical implementation, in order to obtain the expected results, thus mitigating the social impacts that the transition may cause in the regions of Europe. From the analysis of the pilots and the state of the art, we propose some recommendations to operationalize these policies, based mainly in an appropriate policy mix, consideration of the spatial components, involvement of the stakeholders and the use of bottom-up and neo-endogenous approaches.

Territorial cohesion, the COVID-19 crisis and the urban paradox

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn due to the lockdown of economic activities have spurred a lively debate concerning their effects across locations in the EU and the resulting challenges to territorial cohesion policy. The COVID-19 emergency not only has provoked EU cohesion policy responses but also may change some of the basic principles on which these policies have been built. This paper briefly casts light on some present and future implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for two fundamental aspects of territorial cohesion policy, namely urbanization and economic agglomeration. Both aspects are linked to territorial cohesion's significant dimension of polycentricity (as balanced and harmonious development), and together they constitute a challenge to established norms of urban agglomeration. Finally, the paper discusses some policy ideas that have recently (re)appeared on the European policy landscape. Such policy options bring together urban development and regional policy agendas with the aim of promoting territorial cohesion by attempting to solve the `urban paradox' - the coexisting positive and negative effects of urban agglomeration and its established geography.

Territorial Development and Cross-Border Cooperation: A Review of the Consequences of European INTERREG Policies on the Spanish–French Border (2007–2020)

Territorial cohesion policies are a priority for the European Union. For over thirty years, they have aimed not only to provide greater social and economic development across all European space, but also to contribute to balancing g internal social and economic inequalities. On the other hand, European institutions have adopted regional scale as the optimal to achieve this broad goal. Consequently, the ability of these policies to solve the problems faced by some of these regions has been one of the most widely researched areas in numerous scientific disciplines. This article aims to assess the impact, over a fifteen-year perspective, of cooperation funds focusing on a specific area, the cross-border, and, in particular, the border area separating Spain and France. Specifically, the analyses of data from operative programmes IV and V of the INTERREG-A projects produces contradictory results. While the aim of European institutions was to use the European Territorial Cooperation instrument to achieve a greater, better real impact of funds in cross-border areas, and to progress towards territorial cohesion, the results show that, conversely, they have largely contributed to reinforcing unequal development. In the analysed border, the dynamics are an increasing distance between the more and less developed areas in the direct border space, and a privilege of urban areas, even if they are far from the borderline. A relevant conclusion of the text is that these unexpected results are partly a consequence of the design of the European programmes.

An institutional periphery in discussion. Rethinking the inner areas in Italy

Geographic peripheries in Italy are defined by the government in an institutional document as areas affected by increasing depopulation, high rates of demographic ageing, geographic marginality, and various degrees and forms of inequalities in the provision of services and infrastructure. These so-called ‘inner areas’ are identified based on the level of accessibility to three citizenship rights (mobility, education, and health) and characterized by nonuniform socio-economic and infrastructure conditions, a heterogeneity that raises questions about the criteria used for their definition. This paper therefore proposes an alternative approach to describe the features of marginality related to mobility, demographic, and socio-economic conditions in Italy, discussing the institutional classification of the inner areas. Based on the literature review, we select a set of indicators to identify different geographies of marginality. Combining them in a cluster analysis, we identify the most disadvantaged territories in terms of mobility, demographics, and economics, highlighting different forms of marginality that challenge territorial cohesion policies and address more selective and place-based measures.

Smart economic development patterns in Europe: interaction with competitiveness

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the smart economic development (SED) patterns in Europe in relation to competitiveness. Motivational focus corresponds to global events: the fourth industrial revolution, transition to a low-carbon economy, economic shocks (such as the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit or the coronavirus pandemic), which requires rethinking development policies, targeting competitiveness increase and reducing imbalances in economic development.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis includes self-organising neural networks cluster analysis and correlations, comparative analysis of SED indicators structure and cumulative index estimation with World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness index. The panel data set of 19 years from 2000 to 2018 for 30 European countries.FindingsOverall, cross-country examination suggests that European countries of higher competitiveness illustrate higher estimates in SED. The key determinants are juridical fairness, social responsibility, competence building, intelligence and welfare employment to develop smart patterns for reaching higher competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations relate to the particular sample of European countries and gathering statistical data and a methodology of the SED index calculation. In addition, the paper contains a macroeconomic environment focus on competitiveness estimation. Further research may be improved with micro and mezzo environment incorporation at a cross-country analysis level.Practical implicationsBy linking well-known terms of competitiveness and economic development with a concept of smartness, new approaches to policymaking emerged. The methodology presented in this paper has implications for territorial cohesion policies, competitiveness and branching strategies. The combination of SED sub-indexes and WEF GCI might aid a more accurate ex ante measurement.Social implicationsThe findings are essential for fostering a smart approach in economic development for long-term competitiveness.Originality/valueThis paper provides original empirical evidence about the relationship between SED and competitiveness and adds new knowledge that smartness becomes a way for building countries’ competitiveness by identified two profiles of SED patterns by development stages, namely, integrated to economic development and institutional-based which is divided to focus and balanced.

Territorial cohesion and democracy in the EU

Inequality not only has an economic and social dimension, but also a territorial dimension with relevant political implications. The clear regional differences in economic development and employment and therefore in quality of life and opportunities in the European Union (EU) make the social situation increasingly unequal in territorial terms. There seems to be a growing consensus that large and dynamic urban areas are the future, while rural areas are perceived as having low potential. In many EU Member States, populism as a political force seems to grow in these so-called "places that don't matter", in numbers which may create systemic risks. The strengthening of the economic, social and territorial cohesion is one of the Union's main objectives. Already the Treaty of Rome (1957) established mechanisms to foster the economic and social cohesion, but it was not until the Treaty of Lisbon that a third dimension, the territorial cohesion, was introduced. Taking advantage of the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the aim of this text is to analyse the concept and instruments of EU's territorial cohesion policy in order to study the challenges of this policy.

MACRO-REGIONAL STRATEGY AND TERRITORIAL COHESION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU), which aims to promote cross-border cooperation (CBC) through various policies and programs, introduced its first macro-regional strategy (MRS) in 2009 as a new tool that offers an integrated framework and governance for regional cooperation beyond the national scale. With adoption of MRS, the EU seeks to tackle common problems of certain regions at the transnational scale and improve the efficiency of policies by enhancing territorial cooperation and coordination among the local, regional, national and supranational levels and mobilizing the existing cross-border institutions and initiatives. This way, it is intended for achieving a more prosperous space and strengthening the territorial integrity of the EU. Thus, MRS is closely related to territorial cohesion policy that is based on creating a balanced and harmonious societal structure on a place-based approach. In this framework, this study addresses the contribution of MRS to the territorial cohesion of the EU by elaborating on the fundamentals and objectives of territorial cohesion policy and MRS.

Unravelling Territoriality in the European Union: Reconfiguring Territorial Affairs by Reconsidering the Guardian and Commercial Systems of Survival

Even when seen in its simplest forms, the basics of the territorial affairs of the European Union are complicated. For that reason, the purpose of this research is to make them easier to understand this by using the guardian and commercial systems of survival as heuristic tool. Through conceptual reflection five related developments then come to the fore: 1) the commercial syndrome emerges in the essentially guardian territorial affairs, 2) commercial rule challenges guardian encircling rule via networking, 3) the market of territories formed with commercial territoriality makes the territorial affairs in the European Union chaotic and ambivalent, 4) parasitic traders engender corruption in guardian corpora and generate systemic corruption in those territorial affairs, and 5) technical elites puzzle two contradictory territorial logics together by complexifying and loosening cognitive dissonance away. In short, what helps to more thoroughly understand the puzzling territorial affairs in the European Union is to recognise their fundaments in two interrelated puzzles, the guardian and commercial ones, instead of just seeing a single one. The reconsideration of the guardian and commercial syndromes this involves then indicates essential reconfigurations of territorial affairs and that, paradoxically, this symbiosis between the two systems of survival stays on course as long as the territorial puzzles are not solved. And to easier understand territorial affairs thus, also opens up a wide field of inquiry uncovering the interlinked underlying manners of territorialisation, which are exemplarily shown in the European Union by territorial cohesion policy.

Territorial Impact Assessment for evaluation of Territorial Cohesion Policies: the STeMA-TIA 3.0 and social housing in Italy

Download ArticleBy Maria Prezioso, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Francesco Dini, University of Florence, Silvia Grandi, University of Bologna, Michele Pigliucci, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Federico Martellozzo, University of Florence, Italy Researching Territorial Impact Assessment for Cohesion Policies The impact analysis and the identification of the most effective policy recommendations in order to set […]

Territorial Cohesion of What and Why? The Challenge of Spatial Justice for EU’s Cohesion Policy

Over the past two decades, both academics and policy makers have discussed the meaning of territorial cohesion in the context of the European Union (EU). This debate on the meaning and content of territorial cohesion is becoming increasingly important in a Europe that is facing multiple crises. This article contributes to the literature on EU’s territorial cohesion policies by tracing the ways in which territorial cohesion has been defined, framed and justified as an EU policy. We analyse public speeches made by the acting commissioners for Regional Policy and inquire into the Cohesion Reports from 2004 to 2017 produced by the European Commission. In particular, we interrogate both the meaning of the concept of territorial cohesion and the justifications for pursuing territorial cohesion. We conclude with some critical remarks on the relevance of economic production-based definitions and justifications for territorial cohesion policies. Accordingly, we argue that treating macroeconomic production as an indicator of territorial cohesion harmfully consolidates a narrow understanding of societal wellbeing and development and imposes on all regions a one-dimensional economic scale to indicate their level of development.

The rising importance of the "Smart territory" concept: definition and implications

The “Smart territory” concept emerges strongly not only as an extension of the smart city concept but also in opposition to it. The “smartization” of cities can produce a digital gap in the territories, particularly in rural areas that do not have the services and capabilities that citizens in urban areas enjoy. This is the first study fully focusing on the concept of ‘smart territory’, its relevance and the reasons for its emergence. It is also a wake-up call about the benefits of its momentum in the field of digital public policies, particularly in Europe. The beginning of the EU programming period 2021–2027 represents a good opportunity to include clear initiatives for smartization in the Territorial Cohesion Policies, expanding their wider scope and operationalization to different geographical areas.

Can Local Policies Reduce the Gap between ‘Centers’ and ‘Inner Areas’? The Case of Italian Municipalities’ Expenditure

This study analyzes the links between Italian inner area municipalities’ expenditure and per capita incomes, considered as a proxy of well-being. Inner areas are territorial contexts characterized by a significant distance from the centers, the main supply poles of essential services. Following a top-down approach, the paper at first demonstrates the existence of a global convergence process in per capita incomes, with a faster rate of convergence in inner areas with respect to centers; then, attention is focused on local administrations’ policies and their impact on incomes in Italian inner areas. The paper gives a twofold contribution to the debate about the implementation of territorial cohesion policies: (a) on one side, public expenditure data are considered for the first time in an econometric model regarding Italian inner areas; (b) on the other side, the reference territorial subdivision is the lowest possible, giving the opportunity to investigate the changes in well-being at the finest scale.

Cities and the Policy of Territorial Cohesion in the EU

The paper reveals the main instruments for ensuring the cooperative functioning of cities and surrounding regions in the context of territorial cohesion policy in the European Union. It was noted that the policy of territorial cohesion resonates primarily with the practical implementation of the concept of “functional urban areas”. Currently, such functional urban areas often transcend national borders, necessitating the implementation of cross-border administration. In addition, considerable attention is paid to the implementation of Integrated Sustainable Development Strategies, which began to be implemented at the pan-European level in the framework of Cohesion Policy for 2014-2020 as part of the overall transformation of political ideology and practice in favour of a place-based approach. It was noted that the “EU Urban Agenda” was launched in 2016 with the aim of achieving “better regulation”, “better funding” and “better knowledge” by cities, as well as to reach the compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals till 2030, in particular in the direction of inclusiveness, security, reconstruction and sustainable urban development. At the same time, it was noted that the priorities, themes and interdisciplinary aspects of the EU Urban Agenda were developed taking into account the priorities of the EU 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Keywords urban development, territorial cohesion policy, place-based approach, functional urban areas, cross-border urban areas, Integrated Sustainable Development Strategies, regional policy, EU Urban Agenda