Territorial cohesion in insular contexts: assessing external attractiveness and internal strength of major Mediterranean islands

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the concept of cohesion goes beyond the economic and social concern, focusing also on alleviating territorial imbalances and rendering sectorial policies of countries belonging to the European Union (EU) coherent and unified. Territorial imbalances are particularly evident in island regions which, constrained by their geographical position, are confronted with greater difficulties, compared to mainland ones. This work explores the potential for territorial cohesion derived from the study of both an internal state indicator (I_is), highlighting inner inadequacies of an island; and an attractiveness indicator (I_A), illuminating its external linkages and interactions. Interpretation of these two indicators demonstrates how the internal state of an island forms the ground for implementing integration and cohesion policies that are capable of alleviating territorial cohesion imbalances not only within EU countries but, above all, within other islands’ realities. Both indicators are integrated into an index (composite indicator) of territorial cohesion (I_TC), experimented in major Mediterranean islands. An analytical approach is proposed in this respect, stressing the originality and value of this research for strengthening territorial cohesion among island regions through the improvement of their internal state as well as the attractiveness these can develop towards the external world.

KEYWORDS:

• Territorial cohesion
• Smart island
• attractiveness
• index of territorial cohesion
• islands’ structural problems

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

This paper is the result of the joint work of the authors. In particular, ‘Mediterranean Islands and the Case Study of Sardinia Island (Italy)', ‘Results' and ‘Discussion’, were written jointly by the authors. C.G. wrote ‘Introduction', G.D. wrote ‘Methods’, A.S. wrote ‘Conclusions'.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the project ‘Urban Polarities in the Cities of Newcastle (UK) and Cagliari (Italy) for monitoring the central and attractive effects of the city-territory', founded by the programme ‘Bando 2019 Mobilità Giovani Ricercatori (MGR)', financed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (under the Regional Law of 7 August 2007, n. 7 ‘Promotion of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in Sardinia'). This study was also supported by the MIUR (Ministry of Education, Universities and Research [Italy]) through a project entitled WEAKI TRANSIT: WEAK-demand areas Innovative TRANsport Shared services for Italian Towns (Project protocol: 20174ARRHT_004; CUP Code: F74I19001290001), financed with the PRIN 2017 (Research Projects of National Relevance) programme. We authorize the MIUR to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notations thereon. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MIUR. This study was also supported by the project ‘Investigating the relationships between knowledge-building and design and decision-making in spatial planning with geodesign’, founded by the Foundation of Sardinia and Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Fondazione di Sardegna – Convenzione triennale tra la Fondazione di Sardegna e gli Atenei Sardi Regione Sardegna 2018).