The new EU Cohesion Policy is one of the largest integrated development policies in the Western world, and one of the largest of such programmes anywhere in the world. The reforms to the EU Cohesion Policy contain many different elements each of which interlink in order to provide a cohesive overall framework. Some of the key elements in the reforms, however, relate to the conditionalities employed and their effects on policy governance and the control mechanism, the smart specialization approach to policy prioritization and resource allocation, the underlying place-based logic of the policy, and the overall results orientation and evaluation emphasis of the policy. In each of the areas of the EU Cohesion Policy reforms, many different scholars from the fields of regional studies, regional science and economic geography have played important roles in shaping the new policy, and the chapters here highlight these increasing interactions between the policy and academic spheres of debate. The collection of essays in this book each deal with specific aspects of these critical elements of the Cohesion Policy reforms. In particular, they examine some of the strengths and weaknesses of these individual elements and allowing for a better understanding of the origins and backgrounds of many of the ideas underpinning these reforms. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

Despite the non-territorialised strategic goals of the EU 2020 Strategy, the long-term aim of EU Cohesion Policy to promote harmonious development of the European territory – social, economic, and ‘territorial cohesion’ – remains a central goal of achieving a more cohesive EU territory. This book examines the ‘territorial dimension’ of EU Cohesion Policy, specifically assessing territorial impacts at the various spatial levels, engaging theoretically and empirically with the notion and role of the ‘territorial dimension’ within a strongly fragmented EU policymaking process, and examining more generally EU Cohesion Policy, as the main driver of the EU territorial development process. It provides an updated and fresh theoretical discussion on the precise meaning of the ‘territorial dimension’ of policies and the relatively recent EU policy evaluation technique, known as ‘Territorial Impact Assessment’ (TIA). Assessing the history, relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of these procedures, it presents several empirical findings on the implementation of specific territorial-focus and place-based financial instruments, as part of the Territorial Agendas and the EU goal of achieving a more integrated, territorial approach. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of spatial planning and cohesion policy, European sector policies and European spatial planning, and more broadly to European and EU studies/politics, regional economic geography and public policy.

Rural Development in the Digital Age explores current theoretical and policy developments in EU rural policy during the 4.0 period. The book offers an analysis of the contradictory and complex drivers and multiple impacts of Period 4.0 policy within the specific territorial context of its implementation. It is commonly agreed within academic and policy circles that the contexts, trends, drivers and impacts which are currently morphing have the potential to determine the nature and boundaries of rural areas in the longer-term. The authors examine inconsistencies in the design and implementation of EU rural development policy driven largely by intensifying neo-productivist pressures. The importance and novelty of the book lie in defining and critically examining the territorial impacts of neo-productivism as an ideology, a practice and a set of policy imperatives during the EU’s 2014-2020 programming period. The authors argue that such a paradigm shift in EU rural policy may reduce its effectiveness and ability to meet its goals of balanced territorial development and cohesion. This book will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and policymakers in rural policy, regional studies, economic geography and EU policy.

This book investigates why and how cycle and walking paths can help to promote the regeneration of marginalized areas facing depopulation and economic decline. In addition, it offers a broad overview of recent scientific research into slow tourism and marginality/spatial inequality and explores the linkages between these topics. Key issues are addressed by experts from various disciplinary backgrounds, and potential measures are proposed for the integration of slow tourism into strategies for regional development. Particular attention is devoted to the VENTO project, which involves the creation of a 700-km-long cycle route from Venice to Turin that passes through various rural and marginalized areas of northern Italy. The goal, research process, design, and early lessons from this important project are all discussed in detail. Moreover, the book describes policies and strategies that have successfully been used to enhance the slow tourism infrastructure in other European countries. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers, professionals, and students interested in e.g. policymaking, tourism planning, regional development, and landscape and urban planning.

Universities are becoming more entrepreneurial, and for local communities and companies, this has increased their economic standings tenfold. However, the competitiveness of developing economies thanks to these financially focused institutions has likewise increased. Examining the Role of Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Development provides emerging research exploring how universities foster and support entrepreneurship and the development of a more entrepreneurial organization and highlights the importance of this process for local communities and companies. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as institutional entrepreneurship, public management, and economic contribution, this book is ideally designed for university presidents, provosts, rectors, chancellors, board members, managers, business professionals, policymakers, academicians, students, and researchers.

At a time of extraordinary challenges confronting the world, this book analyses some of the profound changes occurring in the development of cities and regions. It discusses the uncertainties associated with the stalling of hyper-globalization and asks whether this creates opportunities for resurgent regional economies driven by local capabilities, resource efficiencies and domestic production. Theory and evidence on socio-economic and environmental transitions underway in many regions are brought together. Implications of the shifting balance of global power towards emerging economies in the East are explored, along with the consequences of urbanization in the global South for politics and democracy. Dilemmas surrounding migration are also discussed, including whether incomers displace local workers and depress wages, or bring benefits in the form of know-how, new technology and investment. More integrative concepts of the region and theories of regional development are analysed, recognising the role of human capital, knowledge, innovation, finance, infrastructure and institutions. This was originally published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

The strengthening of relations between Poland and Ukraine over the last 25 years is one of the most positive examples of transformations in bilateral relations in Central and Eastern Europe. In spite of the complex and difficult historical heritage dominated by the events of the World War II and the first few years that followed, after the fall of Communism in Poland and Ukraine, bilateral institutional cooperation was successfully undertaken, and mutual social contacts were recreated. The issue of Polish-Ukrainian relations at the international and trans-border level gained particular importance at the moment of expansion of the European Union to the east, and announcement of the assumptions of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2004. Since then, relations have continued to thrive and provide a blueprint for cross-border relations in other parts of the EU. In this book the authors examine the issue of cooperation and cross-border relations on the new external border of the EU. The book’s primary objective is to present the way in which the Polish and Ukrainian parties develop the bilateral cooperation, adapting to the changing geopolitical conditions, and responding to the related challenges. The chapters offer a comprehensive diagnosis of the conditions determining the current and future state of Polish-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation and describe the area as a social, economic, and political space. The EU’s New Borderland will be of interest to university students of international relations, geography, economy, or history as well as those willing to expand their knowledge in the scope of regional geography, European integration, cross-border cooperation, and international relations.

In response to both policy and conceptual debates, alternative narratives have begun to emerge about territorial governance and policymaking. As local and regional policy actors strive to respond to the geographically uneven effects of the economic crises of the early twenty-first century, a crucial question emerges: what are the opportunities and challenges presented by alternative forms of territorially based governance and policy? The aim of this edited volume, therefore, is critically to explore the opportunities and challenges presented by different forms of territorial policy and governance. Drawing on conceptual debates and empirical research from the United Kingdom and other international contexts, the contributors engage with issues around the politics and governance of territorial development, economic development, planning and regeneration and the environment. Territorial Policy and Governance addresses the question of how alternative forms of territorial governance and policy can help to shape patterns of urban and regional development, highlighting the related opportunities, constraints and challenges that confront their operationalisation. This book will be essential reading for international audiences with an interest in territorial development, governance, politics, human geography and planning and regeneration.

Within the European context of innovation for growth, public and corporate actors are faced with pressing questions concerning innovation policy and the return on public and private investment in innovation at the regional level. To help them answer these questions, researchers in the field of Geography of Innovation propose interesting developments and new perspectives for the analysis of localized innovation processes, interactions between science, technology and industry, and their impact on regional growth and competitiveness, offering new foundations for designing and evaluating public policies. The aim of this book is firstly to highlight major recent methodological advances in the Geography of Innovation, particularly concerning the measurement of spatial knowledge externalities and their impact on agglomeration effects. Strategic approaches using microeconomic data have also contributed to showing how firms’ strategies may interact with the local environment and impact upon agglomeration dynamics. Interesting new results emerge from the application of these new methodologies to the analysis of innovation dynamics in European regions and this book shows how they can help revisit some of the main tenets of received wisdom concerning the rationale and impact of public policies on the Geography of Innovation. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.