PLACE-BASED POLICY RESPONSES TO SPATIAL INEQUALITIES

Daniela Constantin and Clara-Alexandra Volintiru ()
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Clara-Alexandra Volintiru: Professor at the Department of International Business and Economics, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest, Romania

Regional Science Inquiry, 2024, vol. XVI, issue 2, 43-62

Abstract: This paper aims to contribute a review of the recent literature on spatial inequalities at subnational level, building on the main foundations of regional studies and specific preoccupations with this subject. The overview of the literature has sought to derive key trends and to identify current knowledge frontiers and debates. It has been deployed on a comprehensive and systematic research of the relevant sources of the past decades and has been structured into three main parts, namely: (1) basic contributions and recent and state-of-the-art literature, (2) current debates, open issues or questions and (3) policy implications. The undertaken inquiries point to a variety of approaches, from those which bring into the spotlight the ‘left-behind places’, the ‘places that don’t matter’ (and their revenge), the ‘geography of discontent’, etc. to those proposing an entire typology for the lagging regions, revealing the interest of both academic community and policy-makers in this subject. The policies gravitate around place-based solutions, which, without neglecting the strongest European regions, aim to support the weaker regions as well. They go beyond simple compensatory measures, concentrating on the turning to good account of the untapped potential of the left-behind places. Moreover, building on the up-to-date findings and useful lessons, the current orientations regarding the future of the Cohesion Policy and the European growth model point to the need of a deeper integration of place-based and people-based approaches, in accordance with the spatial justice desideratum, as well as to the ambition “to bring EU closer to citizens and to leave no one behind” (European Commission, 2023, p.5), in the complex context generated by the ongoing transitions – energy, digital, industrial ones – and COVID-19 recovery.

Keywords: spatial inequalities; European Union; spatial justice; place-based solutions; people-based approaches (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R10 R11 R28 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hrs:journl:v:xvi:y:2024:i:2:p:43-62

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