Territorial Cohesion: How to Operationalize and Measure the Concept?

Cultural heritage in a changing world

“…The word cohesion is often prefixed by terms such as community, social, and territorial. It refers to a sense of togetherness and connectedness between groups or individuals, usually in a defined geographical area, such as region, city or neighbourhood (Turok and Bailey 2004;Hamez 2005). The appeal of cohesion lies in its perceived capability of wholesomeness and it has been regarded as a solution to problems of increasing fragmentation, conflict, and inequality between different social and ethnic groups (Turok and Bailey 2004).…”

Territorial Impact Assessment of European Draft Directives—The Emergence of a New Policy Assessment Instrument

“…The notion of a "territorial impact" and the technique of TIA thus originate in European discussions relating to how EU action supports (or hinders) the sustainable development of regions and places in Europe. From the late 1990s onwards there was a shift in the language in which such issues were discussed in the EU context, with terms such as "spatial development" and "spatial planning" progressively making way for discussion of the goal of achieving "territorial cohesion" (Abrahams, 2013;Davoudi, 2005;Faludi, 2004;Finka, 2007;Hamez, 2005). The latter was included as a fundamental objective of the EU in the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 (Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, 2007) and in 2008 the European Commission launched a debate about its meaning and implications for EU action (Commission of the European Communities, 2008).…”

The Development of Territorial Cohesion Policies in Latvia

“…According to Hamez (2005), territorial cohesion is ab road concept that combines several distinct dimensions including multi-sectorality (in terms of the promotion of not just economic cohesion but also social and environmental), territoriality (involving different levels of government) and temporality (since it is not just concerned with current disparities but also with possible future disparities). The notion of territorial cohesion is closely linked to the development of European institutional foundations and regional policy documents (Davoudi 2005).…”