Measuring territorial cohesion is not a mission impossible

ABSTRACT

Territorial cohesion, recognized by the Treaty of Lisbon, has been subject to various policy and academic debates. Despite various efforts to operationalize it, territorial cohesion has remained at the level of policy intention and overall guiding policy paradigm rather than a clearly defined policy goal or task. Recently new light on possible measurement of territorial cohesion has been shed by some ESPON research. This paper examines the reasons and conditions of successful measurement of territorial cohesion . We conclude that the operationalization of territorial cohesion is the most promising when using the frameworks of existing policies and that such operationalization on smaller geographical scales (below the EU) might be easier and more productive than at the EU level.

KEYWORDS:

• Territorial cohesion
• measurement
• teritoriality

Acknowledgements

The paper is based on the outcomes of the NCN 2012/05/B/HS4/04212 grant ‘Concept of territorial cohesion in cohesion policy. Implications for Economic Growth’ financed by the National Science Centre in Poland. We would also like to follow Fritsch (2011) and acknowledge VASAB's continuing of its mission as the most influential entity in spatial planning and development of the Baltic Sea region and resource of European spatial planning.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For the definition of institutions see e.g. Hodgson (2006).

2 Description of all these projects can be retrieved from https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2013/applied-research

Additional information

Funding

The paper is based on the outcomes of the NCN 2012/05/B/HS4/04212 grant ‘Concept of territorial cohesion in cohesion policy. Implications for Economic Growth’ financed by the National Science Centre in Poland.