Workshop B Spatial positioning and definition of characteristics

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1 This presentation expresses the author's views. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ESPON Monitoring Committee, which is not liable for any use that may be made of the information provided. Workshop B Spatial positioning and definition of characteristics ESPON 2013 Seminar Malmö, 3 December 2009 TARGETED ANALYSIS: USING EUROPEAN KNOWLEDGE IN PRACTICE Erik GLØERSEN

2 The ESPON TeDi project Focus on opportunities for growth and sustainable development in areas with geographical specificities: iti mountain areas, islands, sparsely populated areas areas with high a population density in peripheral position such as islands

3 Contrasted population density patterns

4 Access to urban nodes: a critical parameter

5 What is a mountain area? Basis: rugged topography What criteria, what thresholds? Local concentration of grid cells with rugged topography What is the appropriate scale of local? Should population figures be taken into account? Does a mountain area cease to be policy relevant if it is unpopulated?

6 What is an island? Eurostat definition defined in 1994, and widely applied since Restricted to NUTS 3 areas and extended to Cyprus and Malta in Green Paper

7 What is an island? Eurostat definition defined in 1994, and widely applied since Restricted to NUTS 3 areas and extend to Cyprus and Malta in Green Paper Are the smaller areas relevant from a European point of view? Notion of double insularity it

8 What is a sparsely populated area? Are regional population density figures adequate? Too low number of people p within daily mobility area - to establish diversified and robust labour market areas - To run services efficiently i Measure e to be improved: - radius should be replaced by time-distance Grid data (NO, FI, SE) Data by settlement (NW Russia) Municipal data (other Europe countries)

9 Population increase and decline

10 Economic activities

11 Turning territorial diversity into strength The shared feature of TeDi case studies is that they national authorities characterise them as specific The first challenge for Europe is to handle the diversity of approaches of diversity Notions such as mountains, islands or sparsely populated provide a powerful first framework for this purpose pose Main question: How to use these notions most efficiently? How to translate the Green Paper slogan into concrete action?

12 Shared traits of TeDi case study areas Not necessarily low economic and social performance in absolute terms but perceived structural and permanent obstacles The accessibility of TeDi areas can be extremely variable but they all experience relative isolation Most TeDi areas include small communities but their development opportunities depend on the geographic context Can/Should territorial diversity be measured? If yes, how?

13 A conceptual framework that need to be specified (1) Level of performance Structural obstacles to growth More than average scores good scores Geographically specific area Lagging area (2) Economic importance Economic weight (3) Balanced, harmonious and sustainable development requires more than economic growth geographic specificities may help identifying contradictions and mutually beneficial effects of different types of policies i

14 The governance of geographically specific areas Dealing with geographic specificities is often about creating new types of connections between areas - Within regions - Across regional and national boundaries Compensating for imbalances in flows Creating alliances through which actors can strengthen the robustness and resilience of their local communities Gaining greater weight in economic and political systems dominated by main urban areas The critical issues at the European scale are: - How to accompany these processes so as to promote European territorial i cohesion and growth - What are the appropriate scales of intervention?

15 Economic development strategies for Territorial Diversity World Bank report Shaping economic geography: - Economies of agglomeration key to growth - Efforts must be concentrated in metropolitan areas - The rest of the territory should rely on diffusion effects, carried by small and medium-sized towns But there are numerous examples of small, local economies that perform well (Hotspots) The reasons for their success have been theorised through notions such as - innovative milieus, - entrepreneurial environment, - specific territorial resource.

16 Economic development strategies for Territorial Diversity Other types of alternatives are formulated by focusing on the difficult-to-measure benefits produced in specific types of territories: - Strategically important inputs, needed d for the functioning of highly efficient metropolitan economies - Common or public goods, e.g. environmental services, social functions (leisure) - Risk management through maintained presence in fragile environments (erosion, forest fires ) If one does acknowledge that some presence and certain types of resource exploitation are needed, the question is what social form this should take.

17 What types of measures? A question of Either or or Both and What types of interventions are needed? - Compensations for cyclical variations in local economies? - Support for structural change? - Regulatory adaptations? - Measures to promote environmentally sustainable modes of development? Which of these aspects need to be covered through measures targeting geographically specific areas? Which are rather part of more general strategies promoting regional development and growth?

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19 Land use Diverse patterns Different types of balance between forests, barren land and agricultural areas

20 Land use Diverse patterns Different types of balance between forests, barren land and agricultural areas