Re-conceptualising Territorial Cohesion Through the Prism of Spatial Justice: Critical Perspectives on Academic and Policy Discourses

Abstract

This chapter’s authors conduct a critical review of academic and policy engagements with the concept of territorial cohesion as the guiding principle for the European Union’s regional policies. The authors discuss the limitations of the idea of territorial cohesion and frame some conceptual and more policy-related benefits that could arise from the notion of spatial justice. The authors argue that paying more attention to the academic literature on spatial justice, human capabilities and agency might help to spatialise the European Union’s social model in more effective ways. The authors conclude that applying more plural and long-term conceptions of ‘development’, ‘well-being’ and ‘justice’ could help to formulate regional policies that contribute more directly to the well-being and welfare of people in various parts of Europe.

Territorial Cohesion of What and Why? The Challenge of Spatial Justice for EU’s Cohesion Policy

“…We further address this issue in the final section of this article with particular reference to the concept of spatial justice. Despite having its roots in the North American context and the urban realm the idea of spatial justice has been increasingly discussed with interregional framing over the last few years (see, e.g., Israel & Frenkel, 2018;Jones et al, 2018;Rauhut, 2018).…”

Reenergizing European spatial planning

“…This is shown, for example, by the distinction between more developed, transition and less developed regions which is based on thresholds in the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The general tendency in EU politics to label Cohesion Policy an economic investment instrument rather than a socially oriented redistribution mechanism from richer to poorer countries and regions confirms this emphasis on the economic dimension over social aspects (Jones et al, 2019).…”

Distributed Rural Proofing – An Essential Tool for the Future of Rural Development?

“…The joining of three different strands of research in this article gives the opportunity to respond to several issues raised in previous research. First, combining spatial justice with rural proofing contributes to the implementation of the concept of spatial justice in rural areas called for by Jones et al (2019). Second, the dependency on market forces implied in both the NED and SI literature have raised concerns for territories with weak resource bases (Bock 2016;Bosworth et al 2016).…”