This book provides an up-to-date assessment of the main processes and dilemmas of regional development and regional policy in the newer European Union Member States in Central and Eastern Europe and neighbouring countries. It highlights the difficulties of balancing the demands within the new Member States for rapid regional growth and development with, firstly, the demands of the European Union overall that restructuring and development should conform to the aims and principles of EU common policies; and, secondly, with budgetary constraints. The book covers a wide range of issues, including global and national challenges to regional convergence and cohesion; regional dynamics, city networks and border issues; the effectiveness of policy responses at national and European levels, including an assessment of policy experiences from outside the new Member States; and likely future developments.

Twenty-five years into transformation, Central and Eastern European regions have undergone substantial socio-economic restructuring, integrating into European and global networks and producing new patterns of regional differentiation and development. Yet post-socialist modernisation has not been without its contradictions, manifesting in increasing social and territorial inequalities. Recent studies also suggest there are apparent limits to post-socialist growth models, accompanying a new set of challenges within an increasingly uncertain world. Aiming to deliver a new synthesis of regional development issues at the crossroads between ‘post-socialism’ and ‘post-transition’, this book identifies the main driving forces of spatial restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe, and charts the different regional development paths which take shape against the backdrop of post-crisis Europe. A comparative approach is used to highlight common development challenges and the underlying patterns of socio-economic differentiation alike. The issues investigated within the Handbook extend to a discussion of the varied economic consequences of transition, the social structures and institutional systems which underpin development processes, and the broadly understood sustainability of Central and Eastern Europe’s current development model. This book will be of interest to academics and policymakers working in the fields of regional studies, economic geography, development studies and policy.

The integration of post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe into the EU is one of the success stories of European development. The region has seen significant economic convergence, dramatic changes in socio-economic indicators and improvements in the natural environment. However, some challenges remain, such as political divergence, public governance issues and population demographics. This book identifies and analyses the key post-1990 developments across the New Member States at the sub-national and national levels, with frequent country-level and regional comparisons. Careful attention is paid to drawing out commonalities in development trajectories while appreciating each country’s unique context. Drawing on the academic literature and illuminating empirical material, the broad range of topics discussed in the book paints a detailed picture of both change and stability in Central and Eastern Europe. It will be valuable reading for advanced students, researchers and policymakers in regional studies, European studies, human geography, political economy and transition economics.

This work analyses the opportunities and barriers for youth entrepreneurship amid systemic change in Central and Eastern Europe. The authors cover different aspects of youth entrepreneurship and its contribution to the debate on youth unemployment in transition economies. The book discusses the wide-spread over-optimism regarding youth entrepreneurship, self-employment, and its impact on economic innovation and job creation, resulting from a disregard of critical contextual features and the characteristics of young entrepreneurs themselves. The authors give due acknowledgment of the importance of both factors and so fully understand the impediments to youth entrepreneurship, especially in a transition context. Most importantly, the book provides the first empirical contribution to youth entrepreneurship in Central and Eastern Europe by offering a representative number of case studies.

This textbook provides a conceptual, theoretical and empirical analysis of regional development strategies within a European context.

This book is one of three inter-connected books related to a four-year European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action established in 2015. The Action, called Air Transport and Regional Development (ATARD), aimed to promote a better understanding of how the air transport related problems of core regions and remote regions should be addressed in order to enhance both economic competitiveness and social cohesion in Europe. This book focuses on case studies in Europe related to air transport and regional development. It is divided into four geographical regions after a general chapter that compares regional air transport connectivity between remote and central areas in Europe. The first region is Northern and Western Northern Europe (case studies related specifically to Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Ireland); the second is Central and Eastern Europe, (Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Poland); the third is Central Western Europe (Belgium and Switzerland); and finally, the fourth is Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, and Italy). There is no other single source publication that currently covers this topic area in such a comprehensive manner by considering so many countries. The book aims at becoming a major reference on the topic, drawing from experienced researchers in the field, covering the diverse experience and knowledge of the members of the COST Action. The book will appeal to academics, practitioners, and policymakers who have a particular interest in acquiring detailed comparative knowledge and understanding of air transport and regional development in many different European countries. Together with the other two books (Air Transport and Regional Development Methodologies and Air Transport and Regional Development Policies), it fills a much-needed gap in the literature.

This edited volume analyses and discusses the systematisation of Polish socio-economic transformations of the last three decades using selected examples of the most important changes. 1989 marked the onset of the political transformation process in Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The transition involved a shift from a socialist system to a parliamentary democracy and from a command economy to a market one. Due to the deep economic crisis that culminated in 1988 and the peaceful model of change developed and implemented in Poland, the magnitude and manner of implementing various initiatives was unprecedented and had specific implications. This transformation opened Polish society and the Polish economy to the impact of global social and economic changes, triggering successive transformations, often overlapping in terms of their causes and consequences. This publication aims to present the course and effects, in particular territorial, of Poland's socio-economic transformation in the years 1990–2020. The analysis covers the key aspects of this transformation, illustrated with references to the concepts and theories of development, domestic and foreign literature, own empirical research and existing or newly developed model approaches to transformation in the territorial dimension. The book appeals to researchers and student in the fields of geography, spatial management, economics and business, sociology and political sciences, public and private economic research institutes, employees of governmental bodies and corporations, consultants in public administration, journalists and policymakers.

With the achievement of further EU and NATO enlargement, a critical political and economic lens is now focused on East Central Europe and, to a lesser extent, the other former communist states. Economic growth in each transition state - and more broadly the region - pivots around the prospects for foreign direct investment (FDI), with decisions on where foreign investors will locate their projects now vitally important. This book - the first one devoted to a geographical survey concentrating specifically on FDI in the region - brings together a wide range of prominent authors from the US and Europe, including the late Frank Carter, to provide a timely and critical examination of the importance of foreign investment. It presents a detailed analysis of location patterns and their significance for regional development, with particular emphasis given to the important socioeconomic and political consequences of uneven distribution of FDI across the region and its constituent countries. Divided into two parts, the book first deals with general overarching themes and issues before applying these to more specific country case studies. The second part deals with regional studies, focusing broadly on the Western Balkans and Bulgaria, before looking at specific economic sectors in individual countries.

Demonstrates that the success of local development strategies depends on the capacity of the government and its partners to accelerate change within the policy and governance aspects of economic and social development.

This volume makes JEC-commissioned expert studies of economic developments in East-Central Europe available to business people, educators and students. Coverage includes economic, political and social reform issues, regional relations, and the impact of Western assistance programmes.