Suchergebnisse

The Territorial Cohesion goal was only included in the EU Treaty by 2009, with a view to promote a more balanced and harmonious European territory. One year earlier (2008), the European Commission (EC) published the 'Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion—Turning territorial diversity into strength'. Neither one, nor the other, clearly defines the meaning of the Territorial Cohesion concept. The later, however, proposes three main policy responses towards more balanced and harmonious development: (i) Concentration: overcoming differences in density; (ii) Connecting territories: overcoming distance; and (iii) Cooperation: overcoming division. Although not explicitly, this document identifies several 'urban questions' to be dealt when promoting territorial cohesive policies: avoiding diseconomies of very large agglomerations and urban sprawl processes, combating urban decay and social exclusion, avoiding excessive concentrations of growth, promoting access to integrated transport systems and creating metropolitan bodies. In this light, this chapter proposes to debate the importance of the urban dimension to achieve the goal of territorial cohesion at several territorial levels. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

This paper explores the implementation of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy in Portugal under the 2014–2020 programming framework (Portugal 2020) and its contribution to promoting environmental sustainability. It starts with an anatomization of the dominant analytic dimensions of the concept of sustainable territorial development. It then examines the approved projects under Portugal 2020 and relates them to the selected five dimensions of territorial sustainable development, which include a circular economy, social environmental awareness, environmental conservation, a global governance sustainability focus, and a global spatial planning sustainability focus. It concludes that the Portugal 2020' execution rate on supporting renewable sources of energy is strangely low, in view of the untapped potential of the country in, for instance, exploring solar energy. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This article proposes an alternative policy development approach for territories encompassing rural areas with small urban settlements or 'small places', which normally suffer from lagging territorial development trends. The proposed 'Development Clusters for Small Places' approach draws on the potential of all places to further their development via municipal clustering, based on four analytic dimensions: (i) existing functional areas; (ii) similarities in economic circularity and specialisation; (iii) presence of ongoing territorial and governance cooperation processes; and (iv) spatial physical connectivity and accessibility. Besides a theoretical overview of this policy approach, the article analyses concrete examples of its potential implementation in two case studies: Alentejo in Portugal and Innlandet in Norway. The findings highlight the potential advantages of municipal clustering over current mainstream regional development rationales to implement endogenous rural development in a supra-municipal scale, thus increasing institutional thickness and policy influence towards a more territorial cohesive region. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This article addresses the territorial impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy in Iberian Peninsula (1990-2010). It makes use of an innovated TIA tool (the TARGET_TIA) which goes beyond the typical EU dimensional TRIAD (economy + society + environment) in assessing territorial impacts, as it also values the "territorial governance" and "spatial planning" related components in this fundamental analysis. Moreover, this TIA tool allows for a multivector enquiry, by including counterfactual evaluation elements, such as the multiplier, the exogenous, and the sustainable policy effects. In the end, our analysis concluded that the territorial impacts from the EU Cohesion Policy in both Iberian countries were positive (+1.3 in a scale from -4 to +4). Notwithstanding, these impacts were more positive in Spain than in Portugal. However, the obtained "generic potential impact value" for Iberian Peninsula was far from a desired one, which showed high inefficiencies in the use of EU funds. Also, a high variation in the analysed dimensions was detected. In sum, the positive impacts were higher in the socioeconomic cohesion and the environmental sustainability dimensions, whereas the territorial governance/cooperation and morphologic polycentricity ones obtained residual positive impact values. Furthermore, at the regional level, large asymmetries were detected in these estimated impact values, as the less developed Iberian regions showed, in general, less positive results, than the more developed ones.

This paper provides new insights into the main pillars of the territorial universe of EU policies, by undertaking a systematic overview of European Union (EU) key territorial development reports, agendas and programmes. These include the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the three Territorial Agendas, and the European Territorial Observatory Network (ESPON) reports. The evidence shows widespread territorialicy, understood as a process of incorporating a territorial driven policy design, implementation and evaluation paradigm, still largely dominated by territorial development and territorial cohesion policy rationales. However, the socioeconomic policy prism continues to dominate the design and analysis of EU policies by EU entities. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper identifies the main territorial impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy in the Iberian Peninsula, in its first four programming periods (1989-2013). Moreover, it discusses the relevance of the strategy associated with this Policy, the role of the EU funds in promoting a more cohesive territory, and suggests alternative paths to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. In short, our analysis concludes that, despite the high levels of inefficiency, and the lack of an adequate medium-longer term strategic vision to make the most out of the Iberian Peninsula's territorial capital, the large volumes of funding were crucial in modernizing many territorial infra-structures, and in improving the human capital of both Iberian countries. Yet, overall, the territorial cohesion goal was not achieved during the last couple of decades. Worse still, the continuous negative trade balance which has been characterizing both Iberian economies for a long time, associated with low productivity increases, is illustrative of the existing and persistent structural territorial development constraints. Hence, these need to be tackled in a more effective manner during the next programming period of the EU Cohesion Policy, in order to put the Iberian Peninsula in track with the most developed territories in Europe. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion

The work of Jeffrey Sachs on world development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty is vast and, in my view, widely relevant for providing a global perspective of these processes. But, more important, his work is influential in providing alternative visions to solving global environmental problems by advocating the importance of sustainable development paths for policy implementation, namely within the United Nations, and as an advisor to several heads of state and governments across the world. Hence, and despite being three years old and widely reviewed upon publication, I consider that the content of the book embraces fundamental questions for the future of humankind, making it an important book that should be revisited. Moreover, this book is especially interesting and relevant since the concept of sustainable development is gaining worldwide acceptance, due to an overwhelming recognition of the impacts of human activities and rising population on global warming, environmental pollution, and natural resources degradation. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

This article addresses the process of industrialization and deindustrialization in Iberia Peninsula from the early XX century to the dawn of the XXI century. Specifically, it focuses on the dynamic territorial processes which led to a general deindustrialization trend in many industrial Iberian strongholds, since the early 1970s. Furthermore, it explores one case-study (Barreiro city in Portugal), which was known as the first, and most important modern Portuguese industrial city, and which has suffered from a violent process of deindustrialization in the last couple of decades. In synthesis, this article builds on the Barreiro experience in adapting to a new panorama where the industrial landscape is no longer a prevalent one, and assesses the role of the national and EU policies in supporting these adaptation processes. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The notion of territorial cohesion resulted from a long process which was initiated as early as 1989, during the first informal ministerial meeting of ministers responsible for spatial planning (Böhme 2011: 18). It was, however, with the publication of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) in 1999, that the concept of territorial cohesion was brought into the EU agenda (Vanolo 2010: 1305). Until it was formally included in the EU (Lisbon) Treaty in 2009, as an EU policy goal, alongside the goals of economic and social cohesion, territorial cohesion was an important line of enquiry in the first ESPON programme (2000–2006) (Abrahams 2014: 2136). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

Administrative boundaries create all sorts of barriers. These include obstacles associated with cross-border mobility. The presence of cross-border transports can be pivotal to reducing the barrier-effect on citizen's mobility and to increasing territorial integration of the European Union (EU). As recent surveys have revealed, cross-border accessibility is still considered a major barrier across most EU borders. In this context, this paper examines the overall current panorama of cross-border transports in the EU as a crucial barrier, whilst proposing a Cross-border Transport Permeability index to allow comparing this barrier across the EU. The findings indicate that cross-border transports are not yet sufficiently developed in the face of the increasing needs of EU citizens to cross borders, even in the most mature and socio-economically developed EU border areas, and that complex legal and administrative frameworks from both sides of the border make the creation of joint solutions for improving cross-border transportation across EU borders a challenging task. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

This paper explores the implementation of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy in Portugal during the 2014–2020 programming period (Portugal 2020) and its contribution to promoting sustainable territorial development. It starts with an anatomization of the dominant analytic dimensions of the concept of sustainable territorial development. It then examines the approved projects under Portugal 2020 and relates them to the selected five dimensions of territorial sustainable development, which include a circular economy, social environmental awareness, environmental conservation, a global governance sustainability focus, and a global spatial planning sustainability focus. The conclusions are that the Portugal 2020 goals of supporting sustainable territorial development have been, until late 2019, achieved beyond initial expectations in terms of relative allocated funding, and that the renewable energy and circular economy components have not been sufficiently explored, vis-à-vis the sustainable development needs of the country ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper investigates the role and influences of Geography and Geographers in the EU policymaking process. On top of this, it both adds to the perennial debate of the 'utility role' of Geography in policymaking, and the concerns in concentrating geographical analysis in more relevant and practical issues for designing, implementing, and evaluating public policies. Furthermore, it sheds some light on the Geographer's influence in the EU mainstream development strategies and policies. This article finds that there is, in fact, a 'hidden Geography' within the EU policymaking. Hidden because of the reduced presence and influential role of Geographers in the design of the EU mainstream development strategies and policies. Still, we find with a somewhat translucent and peripheral presence in the existing EU territorial analysis missions, like the ESPON programme. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

EU cross-border cooperation programmes were formally established with the launching of the first INTERREG Community Initiative (1989-1993). Since then, these programmes have been expanding to Northern and Eastern Europe. At present, the INTERREG V-A (2014-2020), formally known as European Territorial Cooperation (strand A – crossborder cooperation), covers more than 60% of the EU territory and 40% of EU inhabitants, making it one of the most politically relevant EU financed programmes. For the most part, however, these programmes are still regarded by both the European Commission and national and regional authorities as a complementary financial tool to support growth and regional development strategies. In this context, this article analyses what have been the main strategic goals of the EU cross-border cooperation programmes, whilst supporting a new strategic paradigm for these programmes during the post-2020 EU policies programming phase focused on reducing the barrier-effects in all their main dimension ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion