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The key feature of EU Smart Specialization is experimentalist governance, or the idea that policy principals only partially possess the necessary knowledge for policy design and implementation. Instead, discovering policy priorities, designing instruments, and detecting and correcting errors are the responsibilities of a wide range of innovation stakeholders. However, particularly in institutionally less developed countries and regions, there is often a clash between the requirements for experimental governance and the public policy demand for predominantly procedural accountability. Our central argument is that the experimentation dimension cannot be added to the conventional policy cycle without altering it. This results in a trade-off between experimentation and accountability, leading to four disconnected governance regimes: EDP, design, implementation, and M&E. This paper demonstrates this issue in the case of Croatia's S3. Using the concept of a dynamic policy cycle, we critically examine different solutions to experimentation and highlight their deficiencies. Our analysis and conclusions are highly relevant for countries and regions adopting experimental policy approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability has been a key policy goal of the European Union (EU), particularly under recent EU Cohesion Policy strategic frameworks. This paper contributes to the analysis of the relevance of EU Cohesion Policy-related environmental sustainability investments, by assessing the impacts of the Operational Programme for Sustainability and Use of Resources (POSEUR 2014–2020), in the Portuguese North NUTS II. In detail, the impact scores of the following five analytical dimensions related to this programme were obtained: (i) low-emissions economy, (ii) adaptation to climate change, (iii) risk prevention and management, (iv) environmental protection and (v) resource efficiency. The analysis was supported by a territorial impact assessment methodology (TARGET_TIA) which was complemented by an online analytic geographic information system (GIS) policy evaluation platform (Impact-WEB_GIS). The results showed that the POSEUR's regional implementation efficiency fell short of the stakeholders' expectations. This can be explained by factors such as the obstacles posed by the prior underdeveloped infrastructural conditions, coupled with the panorama created by the Covid-19 outbreak. Nonetheless, the risk prevention and management dimension had a solid positive impact score that reflected the efficacy of POSEUR in tackling environmental threats, mostly in rural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we perform a preliminary analysis of the technologies, firms and industries that may be affected by the possible futures of the metaverse, attempting to derive some hypotheses on the spatial effects of this process. We distinguish between two possible evolutive scenarios – the 'metaverse shaped by reality view' and the 'metaverse shaping reality view' – and factors affecting them, deriving implications for public policy planning. The first scenario presents relatively traditional core policy challenges: ensuring homogeneous availability of network infrastructures as well as the skills indispensable to catch the new technological opportunities at the local level, accompanying the reallocation of factors of production associated to disruption and addressing inequalities. In the second, the main challenge is more radical: to ensure that desirable features are incorporated in the emerging virtual worlds from the start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Europe, economic development is increasingly focused on large city regions intensifying processes of metropolitanization. However, the trajectories and experience of these processes are context dependent, shaped by the broad political–economic context and public policy frameworks. Drawing on case studies of Warsaw (Poland) and Dublin (Ireland), this paper examines the relationship between the transformation of the metropolitan spatial structure (through a focus on secondary business districts) and public policy at the metropolitan scale. Unlike the majority of Secondary Business Districts across Europe, the two selected cases (Sluzewiec and Sandyford) have evolved organically over time. Based on desk research and interviews with local stakeholders, the paper explores the evolution of these districts in the context of public policy choices within multi-level governance and public–private frameworks. The paper concludes by highlighting the role of public policy within secondary business district formation and evolution, and the implications for the broader metropolitan area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology to assess the internal and external coherence, and the robustness to future uncertainty, of place-based interventions addressing spatial (in)justice. The methodology merges elements of Theory of Change (ToC) and mechanism mapping with scenario planning. It was designed based on analysis of a range of European interventions (public policies and bottom-up initiatives), selected to highlight the ways spatial injustices have been tackled across different scales. The first phase of the methodology uses a ToC mechanism map to illustrate the logic of the intervention, including its baseline assumptions (internal) and contextual conditions (external). In the second phase, scenarios for the locality are developed based on potential states of global and local macro-trends, revealing how the contextual conditions are expected to change, and whether the intervention's baseline assumptions are likely to hold. This then allows the elaboration of spatial justice trajectories, and for the ToC mechanism map to be updated. To effectively illustrate the methodology, we show how it has been applied using a case study intervention implemented in a territorially disadvantaged area. We present the methodology as a flexible tool allowing detection of more general stylised facts, and spatial comparisons between a broad range of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within EU cohesion policy, a place-based approach is expected to promote a strategic shift towards more place-sensitive, cross-sectoral and socially inclusive development. These expectations are underlined in the new Territorial Agenda 2030, which highlights that a place-based approach is key to territorial cohesion and to overall efforts towards a just Europe. Drawing on findings from the Horizon 2020 project RELOCAL – Resituating the local in cohesion and territorial development – this special issue explores the relations between place-based development and spatial justice. It addresses the complex challenges of place-based interventions, such as the critical role of the national policy environment in explaining variegated outcomes, enabling place-based agency in peripheralised regions, and assessing impacts. In this editorial, we provide an introductory discussion of the relations between place-based development and spatial justice, as well as brief introductions to the nine papers. We argue that there are a number of distinctive locally and nationally anchored mechanisms and inhibitors at play, which academics, and particularly planning professionals and policy-makers, need to be aware of in working towards a just Europe. Hence, place-based interventions are a valuable contribution to the territorial cohesion approach of the EU, but in the quest for spatial justice they cannot replace a redistributive territorial cohesion policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a novel theoretical framework to analyse the emergence and growth of industrial clusters. The framework focuses on the role of change agency for the modification of assets that initiate cluster development, which may also impact regional industrial restructuring. The authors distinguish between agency and assets at firm level and regional level, and argue that alignment of assets at the two levels may influence cluster development. The theoretical approach is illustrated and further advanced through a study of agency and asset modification in three recent cluster initiatives in western Norway. While the results of the empirical studies confirm the relevance of the theoretical approach, they also highlight the importance of specific regional and extra-regional contextual factors, as well as national policies and regulations, for clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban sprawl and the process of peri-urbanization have been important challenges for cities all around the world, generating car dependency. Public policies have taken up this issue with the aim of managing peri-urban mobilities by considering the opportunity of rail services through a sustainable approach. Indeed, the enhancement of the railway system has been at the heart of concerns of land use public stakeholders since the early 2000s. This paper suggests a specific approach to assess how rail may contribute to a sustainable management in peri-urban areas. It aims to analyse if railway enhancement is really a topic taken into account by all the stakeholders, whether they are inhabitants, elected representatives or representatives of economic societies. It relies on analysing the representations they have for peri-urban areas. Based on a specific methodological approach, it shows a certain convergence of interests in living near peri-urban railway stations, which could contribute to strengthen 'urbanity' in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the time of the Millennium, Nottingham, a former manufacturing city in the English Midlands, faced serious challenges as a consequence of de-industrialisation. This was the context from which a new development path based on life sciences emerged. This paper explores the role of policy interventions and the agency of local actors in this path creation process. Kingdon's [1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy. 2nd ed. New York: Longman] multiple streams framework (MSF) is used as an analytical framework through which to assess the interaction and local implementation of three related strands of national policy: regional policy, industrial policy (with an emphasis on clusters) and innovation policy and their role in the emergence of a life science cluster in the city. The case is explored with reference to the experience of other European cities that have faced similar structural challenges and sought to respond with development strategies based on life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration is one of the most contentious fields in policy-making, not only on the European and national, but also on the local level. Due to the declining and ageing populations, European cities today increasingly need immigration. On the other side, rightwing populist parties are increasing, who are following an antimigrant agenda. This paper examines the opportunities that cities have to more effectively attract migrants at the municipal level. The literature indicates that cities cannot pursue their own migration policies given their dependence on states' migration regimes. Cities face a dilemma. They are responsible for integrating migrants but not for recruiting them. Urban growth policies and urban planning approaches often aim to attract highly skilled workers, creative classes and students. But cities have no control over the inflow of refugees, however, as they are allocated by the state. Against this backdrop, this article examines and compares the cities of Bremen and Leipzig to assess which immigration strategies German cities are developing and whether a shift from reactive integration plans to proactive immigration policies is occurring. In the conclusion, the paper reflects on factors that encourage and hinder the formulation of immigration strategies and explain the 'strategy gap' at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doling (2006, A European Housing Policy? European Journal of Housing Policy, 6(3), 335–349. doi:10.1080/14616710600973169) characterized the intervention of the EU in the field of housing as a 'stealth policy', arguing that while the EU has no formal competence in this policy area, it has de facto conditioned national housing policies. This suggests that housing policy is a particularly interesting case for the study of formal and informal modes of multilevel governance. However, European comparative studies about housing policy have almost exclusively focused either on the national or local characteristics of housing systems. In this paper we explore the connections between the development of Portuguese housing policies in the last four decades, on the one side, and EU programmes and documents on the other. We will show how the dynamics of Portuguese housing policy reflected the fluctuations of EU agenda. In doing so, we aim at (i) exploring the history of EU 'stealth housing policy' in a moment of re-emergence of housing as a defining theme of EU agenda; and (ii) providing a more accurate characterization of domestic recent general trends and processes through a multi-scalar gaze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retaining the global mobile creative class has been considered a crucial strategy for driving creative economic development in inner cities. However, implementing the global creative city strategy overemphasizes the significance of amenity-based creative economic landscapes over institutional collaborations in contributing to the situated governance dynamics of creative clusters. Drawing on insights from an evolutionary perspective, this paper scrutinizes the extent to which creative city strategies foster the situated development of creative clusters based on a case study of Taipei. The paper argues that developing the urban creative economy requires a context-specific understanding of the urbanization process, and should involve an institutional collaboration to articulate the socio-spatial co-evolution between the diversified dynamics of creative clusters and urban form. This paper advocates reflexive thinking on neoliberal city strategies to develop a conjunctive, diverse and substantial creative policy to support alternative paths of creative city development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Today, major planning agendas in Europe steer the future of territorial organization towards an urban polycentric perspective. The accessibility to services of general interest (SGI), a significant source of spatial inequality in Europe, is one of the key challenges to address. However, instruments needed to support the implementation and monitoring of territorial policy measures regarding the distribution of, and accessibility to SGI are still under-developed. Studies generally relate to the (intra)regional and not the national scale. When they do so, they lose local specificity as they often consider the existence/availability of services at a given scale and not the actual capacity to reach their (often just estimated) location through the transport network. In the context of the revision of Portugal's National Plan for Territorial Planning Policies, this paper presents a comprehensive multi-criteria location-based approach for measuring the factual accessibility to a representative range of SGI at the national Portuguese scale. Results are evaluated considering the dichotomy between centrality and periphery, high and low density, and the regional disparities found. High accessibility values do not necessarily mean greater territorial cohesion. Contributions to the development of national planning policies that respond to cohesion challenges are also debated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a sustainable society requires the development of visions paving the way for socio-technical changes. In recent years, the literature on sustainable transitions and urban planning has highlighted the intermediation role of municipalities to implement international and national goals and visions at a local level. Yet, empirical research studying municipalities from the lens of the intermediation theory are sparse. This paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of what strategies municipalities use when intermediating between and within different scales of governance (i.e. local, national and international), and what factors influence the choice of strategies. Through semi-structured interviews and document studies, three Swedish municipalities are studied. Results show that these municipalities translate the visions through local experiments, task delegation and coalitions. Additionally, the analysis indicates that the local circumstances, rather than the relations between the local level and the higher levels of governance or the guidance of national policies, influence the choice of intermediation strategy. Particularly, whether the management approach is centralized or decentralized, result- or process-oriented, participative or exclusive, is determinant. Results also indicate that municipalities perform both top-down and bottom-up intermediation, i.e. closing the loop from the local to the national and/or international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effective formulation and implementation of ‘Pangyo Techno Valley’ (PTV), a regional innovation cluster led by Gyeonggi province in Korea. It emphasizes the historical, institutional and regional contexts to understand the concept of regional innovation cluster by using the framework of indicators of regional innovation. Especially this paper investigatesPTVin terms of open innovation in supply chains. The development ofPTVis theoretically interesting since the local government played an active role in providing with various incentives including physical space next to Seoul. This paper investigates the success factors for establishingPTVin the context of RIS and how a local government-led RIS can overcome the existing limits shown in other development policies the Korean government had pursued so far. This paper argues that the strategic investment and administrative support by Gyeonggi province and the location ofPTVhave played a critical role for the success ofPTVby attracting abundant numbers of IT companies and competent talents. The finding is expected to provide an ample policy reference for other developing countries as they are eager to emulate the success of ‘Silicon Valley’ but have kept failing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to the study of the role of public policies in the origins and evolution of clusters. Building on the existing literature, we set up a taxonomy of nine public policies that may have an impact on the emergence and evolution of clusters. Based on in-depth case studies of six clusters of the Basque Country, particularly representative of the industrial history of the region, we analyse the relevance of the different types of policies both in the emergence and evolution of clusters over time. In agreement with cluster literature, the paper concludes that public policies seem to have played only an indirect role across clusters and over their life cycles. Moreover, it points to the necessity of taking history and context into account, as most of the important policy measures highlighted by cluster literature today do not fit well with the previous policy and economic context. Finally, it also concludes that for cluster policies to be effective, the stages of the life cycle should be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides a theoretical contribution to the multi-level governance debate, discussing the role of the policy instruments in tailoring polities for local development strategies. To this purpose, it examines the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD), a policy tool of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020, which has generated more than 3000 local initiatives across the EU. An institutionalist perspective enables a reflection on the multi-level normative dimensions of these local initiatives. A combination of the post-functionalist governance theory, the soft space debate, state-theory and strategic-relational approach provides an interpretative framework to be deployed for a dedicated research agenda. The interpretative challenge is about whether the CLLD enables spatial-temporal fixes in which a deliberative polity pursues a spatial imaginary for an ad-hoc territory. The consequent analytical dimensions can be found in (a) the relationship between attendant ad-hoc polity, policy agenda, territorial design and societal processes; and (b) the meta-governance dimensions that locate the bottom-up constituency of this institutional technology in the shadow of state's hierarchy. An overview of the CLLD implementation across the EU provides evidence on the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the European Union's 2014-2020 cohesion policy's new aims is to promote integrated urban development strategies that enhance sustainable urban development. Following the emergence of the integrated urban development policy, city policies in EU show a trend in that direction but overall changes towards a sustainable integrated urban development are limited. One of the major problems for planners and implementing actors seems to be the management of complexity, which originates in three sources: the policy, the planning and implementation processes as well as the implementation place. The paper elaborates on the question: what is triple complexity and how can planning and implementing actors of the EU integrated sustainable urban development policy manage it? The paper suggests the use of a place-oriented theory and proposes a theory-guided ex-durante (ongoing) evaluation called Place Scan. I assume that the method can support planners and implementing actors to manage complexity and to improve quality of exdurante evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on differences and similarities between two types of intentional private residential communities: cohousing and gated communities. The academic debate is dominated by the view that cohousing and gated communities are completely different phenomena in terms of aims, goals, nature and characteristics. However, I do not find these opinions entirely convincing: hence, in this paper, I shall discuss some of their weaknesses with regard to the (alleged) differences between cohousing and gated communities in terms of the reasons guiding the choice of the community, openness of communal spaces and the speculative nature of the projects. Some critical perspectives in terms of public policy are introduced in the last part of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on universities’ contributions to regional development is broad and diverse. A precise understanding of how regions may draw advantages from various university activities and the role of public policy institutions in promoting such activities is still missing. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework for analysing universities’ contributions to regional economic and societal development in differing national contexts and the policy institutions that underpin them. To do this, we review four conceptual models: the entrepreneurial university model, the regional innovation system (RIS) model, the mode 2 university model and the engaged university model. The paper demonstrates that these four models emphasize very different activities and outputs by which universities are seen to benefit regional economy and society. It is also shown that these models differ markedly with respect to the policy implications and practice. Analysing some of the public policy imperatives and incentives in the UK, Austria and Sweden, the paper highlights that in the UK, policies encourage all four university models. In contrast, in Sweden and Austria, policy institutions tend to privilege the RIS university model, whilst at the same time, there is some evidence for increasing support of the entrepreneurial university model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a structural analysis of the governance arrangements established between Vienna and Bratislava close to the Austrian–Slovak border. We unravel the metropolitan governance relationships built in the context of territorial debordering and critically assess the policy relevance of cross-border cooperation (CBC). We particularly focus on cross-border economic positioning as a policy domain of strategic importance in a neoliberal era marked by urban and regional entrepreneurialism. In order not to embed the analysis in a predefined territorial configuration or geographic scale, this paper argues for an approach based on policy networks. The key point is that those private and public actors involved in building cross-border regions are developing a diffuse form of governance that relies on a set of flexible and tangled connections that do not necessarily conform to the territorial boundaries of the states concerned. Based on original fieldwork and data on the exchange of information between the stakeholders involved in cross-border economic positioning, we use a social network analysis to describe the relational patterns of the policy network and complement the analysis with a qualitative assessment of actors’ interests and strategies. The roles and positions of the actors reflect the sharp imbalances in interest and resources, highlighting the persistence of border-related barrier effects that hamper CBC initiatives between Vienna and Bratislava. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the underlying factors explaining a firm’s use of public financial support and possible misalignments between policy goals and the characteristics of firms holding a public grant. Using firm-level data for a sample of Portuguese manufacturing firms over the 2006–2013 period, we investigate how public financial support at the firm level is related to observable firm’s characteristics. Our findings suggest that firms lacking resources, capabilities and international involvement seem to be those with great barriers to use public financial support. Therefore, it cast doubts on the efficiency of public financial support programmes aiming to mitigate market failures, by assisting constrained firms. In turn, public financial support seems to boost market selection mechanisms by favouring ‘good’ firms and pushing less-endowed firms outside the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business angels (BAs) are recognized as playing a significant role in stimulating entrepreneurial activity. With the decline in both bank lending and venture capital investment since the onset of the global economic crisis, government efforts to stimulate BA activity have become a more significant component in strategies to increase the level of entrepreneurial activity. This paper examines the responsiveness of angels to such initiatives in so-called austerity economies – countries that were hardest hit by the financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent global recession and, as a consequence, had to take extreme economic and fiscal measures to reduce their budget deficits. We examine this question in Portugal which experienced one of the deepest recessions in the European Union following the implementation of severe austerity measures. This study confirms that government intervention to support angel investing can have a positive impact. However, the different types of intervention have varied in take-up rates. Other countries can learn from the Portuguese experience in three ways: the types of interventions that have the highest and lowest levels of take-up, the link between the design and the take-up of incentives, and types of intervention that should be considered but have not been implemented in Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, the term urban shrinkage has come to be accepted as a valid concept in international academic circles, and has gradually gained importance, with its causes the subject of well-documented discussion. While previous discussions of urban shrinkage have directed attention to cities shrinking as a whole, recent research started to recognize the case of shrinkage in growing cities and regions. As such, recent discussions of urban shrinkage indicate that patterns of shrinkage vary considerably from city to city, and from sub-region to sub-region, with the importance of local dynamics in responding to changing economic pressures given much consideration. Recent studies have tended to disregard the role of government policies and strategies put in place to facilitate the adaptation of the urban economies to the new conditions. Taking Izmir as an example, being a fast-growing metropolitan region in Turkey, this paper presents evidence of government policies and strategies aimed at enhancing the development of peripheral areas that have led to shrinkage of the metropolitan core. This paper focuses on this experience and discusses its implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this paper are to reflect on policy evolution observed in the EURODITE study regions, to identify the most innovative policy trajectories for delivering growth opportunities to regional firms and to explain this in terms of key theoretical findings about the virtuous policy cycles that arise from geographical proximity, co-evolution, path inter-dependence, relatedness and transversality. Accordingly, the paper involves, first, assessing the role of varieties of “proximity” in the formation of spatial distinctiveness. Second it investigates the appropriateness or otherwise of notions of “path dependence” to understanding spatial co-evolution. This leads to insights about “relatedness” in the interaction of path dependences, or more accurately path inter-dependence in evolving spatial processes, notably interactions between regional innovation paradigms and regimes in explaining regional variety. This allows eventual conjecture regarding the evidence for “regional regime variety” based on appropriately selected EURODITE regions (Bavaria, Midi-Pyrénées, Skåne, Styria) both as an advanced “platform” model of regional evolution and as a fundamental process that blocks regional homogenization. This would explain how regional culture influences policy to maintain regional specificities under forces like globalization and “digital culture” that are purported to be erosive of regional distinctiveness. Strong empirical evidence is adduced for co-evolutionary and multi-level spatial distinctiveness in paradigms and regimes that condition contemporary innovation knowledge flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of territorial knowledge dynamics (TKDs) has been introduced as an update to existing territorial innovation models (TIMs), questioning the focus of TIMs on technological innovation, as well as the traditional distinction between production and consumption. This paper considers whether the TKD concept can “make a difference” compared to traditional TIMs, in general, and, in particular, in relation to public policy played out at the regional level. This paper identifies three elements highlighted in the TKD concept, which have been introduced as additions to the literature on TIMs. These involve the necessity of acquiring a combination of different types of knowledge in innovation processes, establishing external relations and taking into consideration the complexity of producer and consumer relations. This paper analyses the role which has been assigned to the administrative region within the framework of three selected TIMs, the regional innovation system, clusters and the learning region, and the way in which policy has been implemented in regions in ways that relate to the three elements highlighted in the TKD concept. This paper suggests that the main way in which the TKD concept adds to existing TIMs is with its focus on active regional outreach, in establishing external relations and supporting producer–consumer relations. The TKD approach could be seen as a new “intermediate synthesis” in the ongoing process of the TIM concept development, much like the learning regions a decade earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential contribution of UK regions for developing and deploying renewable energy technologies to achieve the government target of obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The paper argues for a multi-scalar approach to energy transition theory and policy. National-scale processes and policies need to be complemented by regional and local policies in order to discover and incorporate meso-level sources of renewable energy, recognize that niche or path creation is a geographically localized process and mobilize heterogeneous, local actors around common “regional energy visions” to improve implementation of renewable energy projects. After critically reviewing the main theoretical approach to energy transitions, the multi-level perspective, the paper employs patent data to describe the comparative position of UK regions in the renewable energy sector and examines the success of Danish, German and Spanish regions resulting from strong government intervention at the national level supplemented by region-specific strategies. A number of policy strengths and shortcomings are identified in the evolutionary trajectory of the UK energy system including weak technology push and policy pull factors. Finally, the paper reviews existing regional renewable energy policy and speculates on the potential impact of recent changes in spatial and energy policies on the ability to deploy and develop renewable energy sources in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the majority of the European housing stock falls towards the bottom of the energy efficiency rating scale on the EU Energy Performance Certificate. If governments and businesses are to successfully address ambitious CO2 reduction targets, then it will be imperative that energy-efficient measures and policies focus on existing housing. In order to understand what kind of retrofit is needed to achieve an “A” energy performance rating in social housing, the paper reports the findings of an on-going research project in the UK. The paper draws on a case study from the Technology Strategy Board's “Retrofit for the Future” competition entry in Cambridge. The upgrade strategy improved the home's energy performance rating to A, aimed to radically reduce carbon dioxide emissions (17 kg m−2 year−1) and provided affordable warmth for the tenants. In order to get an impression of the actual energy consumption in the case study, energy use behaviour of the household was observed. Based on the barriers identified in the case study, the feasibility of the current UK policy strategies (e.g. Smart Meters and Feed-in-Tariffs) to facilitate the acceptance of energy measures in social housing is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable debate has taken place in England around the concept of the city-region. While there is contestation over the terminologies and interpretations of city-regionalism, this paper considers the extent to which it can offer a more integrative set of arrangements for community planning practices in England. Community planning is concerned with securing institutional efficiencies and sustainable development gains in the context of local service provision and integration. Attention is drawn to the extent to which the convergence of these two parallel processes may either exacerbate or ameliorate the institutional barriers to securing efficient and effective community planning. The paper argues that the effective translation of city-regionalism into practice is influenced by (i) variance in the territorial imaginaries/operational boundaries of local institutions and the impact on city-regional governance structures; (ii) the consistency of approach to city-regionalism that is evident within central government and the impact of national policy guidance on the establishment of functional city-regions and (iii) a lack of vertical integration between community planning and city-regional working. These impinge on the extent to which an effective 'spatial fix' can be secured locally and the ability of community planning to act as a 'decongestant' within an increasingly congested state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of updating a research agenda about territorial innovation models (TIMs) such as innovative milieus, industrial districts, regional innovation systems, etc. The theoretical shift from innovation studies to the knowledge economy is taken into account by the suggested concept of territorial knowledge dynamics (TKDs). Observable major changes within society are also integrated, especially the huge increase in the mobility of production factors. The thesis developed is that the learning processes in TIMs were mainly cumulative knowledge dynamics that varies according to the scale of the region (the traditional local/global framework), whereas today's combinatorial knowledge dynamics develop in multi-location and multi-scalar ways. Knowledge circulates to a greater extent and is continuously mobilized and combined within interacting firms and regions. In this paper, ideal typical forms of TKDs are formulated from three research perspectives: a relational approach, a circulatory approach and a structuralist approach. This paper presents the theoretical background used by the European research project “EURODITE” on these specific issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse the appropriateness of monitoring approaches for the observation of inner-city reurbanization processes. Reurbanization is conceptualized here as a process of long-term stabilization of inner-city areas by both a readiness of present residents to stay and an influx of new residents. It has been recently re-set on the top of the European urban research agenda since non-growth has proved to be a major path of future development for many European cities. Recent research evidence across Europe underscores the fact that reurbanization depends much on local settings of institutional, socio-economic and infrastructural factors. To foster a clearer understanding of the nature and dynamics of local reurbanization, to assess its extent and progress and, what is more, to help practitioners to shape sustainable policy initiatives appropriate to the respective context, reurbanization needs to be observed over the long term. The complex character of reurbanization sets new challenges for monitoring approaches and indicator-based tools. Due to the genuine relation of the present debate on reurbanization to the phenomenon of non-growth or the return of the compact city, the focus in this paper is set on demographic development trends and their impact on inner-city change. In this vein, our paper presents a monitoring design and a respective newly developed indicator set for reurbanization which focuses more on the initial recognition of reurbanization than on its long-term stability. Methodically, chances and limits of the integration of household-related indicators and qualitative knowledge on reurbanization into monitoring tools are highlighted. Empirical and statistical evidence is taken from a recently completed EU FP 5 research project and from municipal surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a five-phase innovation and technology policy (ITP) profile based on the Israeli experience of the last four decades. This paper adds two additional phases to a previous paper. This ITP profile refers only to one specific start-up-oriented plan of action out of a multi-pronged strategy for innovation-based economic development. The goal of the ITP profile is promotion of a significant segment of start-ups within the high-tech cluster and to create a sub-segment of fast growing start-ups that eventually will became large companies with very high impact on the economic growth and development. A significant part of the ITP profile is triggering a venture capital (VC) industry, which has been recognized as a vehicle for latching into the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution. We suggest that the Israeli phase ITP profile presented here is a systematic and attractive approach to ITP design in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public sector relocation from capital cities to reduce costs and ameliorate regional disparities has been a high profile but little researched government policy. The paper outlines the reasons for the growth of interest in public sector relocation in Europe, and then compares UK and Irish relocation policies. It argues there appears to be a good case for public sector relocation, but there is less agreement on the precise means whereby dispersal should be achieved. The paper highlights successful aspects of public sector relocation policies in the UK and Ireland and indicates areas for further research. Successful public sector dispersal depends on a willingness on the part of government to take a long-term view, and historical evidence suggests it is difficult to move senior posts from the capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) represents one of the most advanced pieces of water policy developed during the last decades. Since its introduction in 2000, several technical and political issues arose regarding this Directive and its implementation, and have to be managed by European Member States at the national level, but in strict collaboration with local authorities and stakeholders. Whilst several studies have analysed the WFD from a technical point of view, a few are available that assess and compare the quality of public participation processes in river basin management at the European level. The present paper shows the outcomes of an own-developed questionnaire sent to European water and environmental authorities during 2015, which highlights the variable situation in terms of stakeholders' involvement and methods adopted to interact with them, and also points out the scarce results that the consultation has obtained in terms of innovative measures to fulfil the requirements of the WFD. In light of the present situation, a better consideration of public consultation and associated methodologies is necessary for future management cycles, as well as a better coordination between Member States sharing river basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European spatial planning arguments advocate a blend of strategic thinking, coordination and related initiatives to promote and secure territorial cohesion. These ambitions embrace a set of normative agendas around economic, social and environmental convergence, competitiveness, policy coordination and efficient infrastructure provision across space. In practice, territorial management then involves devising interventions across inter-connecting scales of governance which comprise complex agency relations, differentiated places and defined communities. In transnational contexts, attempts to foster appropriate spatial governance arrangements and relations across sovereign borders necessitate re-crafting planning and development cultures and service delivery practices to advance territorial cohesion. Transnational working necessarily involves cooperation across an extended range of institutions, interests, influences and potential actors. This paper examines attempts to secure bi-lateral commitment to a joint planning framework for the two distinct territories on the island of Ireland. Specifically, it traces the formal and informal activities involved in the development of the 2013 Framework for Cooperation between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Informed by ideas of cross-border regionalism, it discusses the necessary spatial public diplomacy involved in the social reconstruction of strategic spatial planning to improve policy coordination and cross-border working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a tendency in policy to reduce the complexity of planning and decision-making by simplifying both the process and the scope of projects. However, by framing a planning project's scope or process in a narrow way at an early stage, the possibility of adapting to changes in the context, and thus dealing with unexpected challenges, is limited. This paper explores the mechanisms that enhance or limit the adaptive capacity within the process of decision-making and planning. We develop the concept of adaptive capacity using organizational learning theory and use empirical data from a mega project in The Netherlands to identify the moments of adaptation and to discern these mechanisms. Mega projects are especially useful objects of analysis as the complexity of their planning and decision-making is extreme, with characteristically very long and controversial processes dotted by recurring deadlocks. In this empirical research we find that incremental adaptations such as mitigation measures are the initial response to deadlocks, but that for deadlocks caused by strong opposition, radical adaptations are needed. A more proactive approach to enhancing adaptive capacity is desirable and might paradoxically even lead to cheaper and more relevant projects and faster planning and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the Netherlands, the formation of governance arrangements around planning issues that cross administrative boundaries has been assisted frequently by a design approach that is often referred to as “regional design”. This is a distinctive method of policy argumentation that makes use of spatial representations of the plausible future of regions. Such representations are intended not only to indicate physical changes, but also to stimulate debate on sharing responsibilities and resources for planning tasks among planning actors. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the performance of regional design in the context of fragmented regional governance through a case study in the southern part of the Randstad in the Netherlands. We argue that regional design has contributed to institutional capacity in a complex polycentric and, looking at the governance structure, pluricentric region like the Randstad South Wing, largely by allowing for multiple interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Revisiting the theoretical roots of the key concepts of "emheddedness" and "networks" that underpin many recent regional innovation polices, this paper strives to achieve a more systematic understanding of the overall network structure of geographic agglomerations, which helps to form a more convincing model of regional development based on learning. This also helps to establish an analytical framework with indicators to assess the overall network structure in regional innovation policies. Employing the framework, the examination of cluster policy in the West Midlands highlights its weakness in addressing the overall cluster network structure and the contingent factors influencing the structure. The analysis suggests that there may be similar weaknesses in other regional innovation policies and the theories underpinning them as they share a common weakness in addressing the structural characteristics of overall networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use policies have long been recognized as important driving forces of urbanization, but little research has been conducted on the interrelationship of actors, policy decision processes and changes in the built environment. In this paper, we use the advocacy coalition framework to analyse policy decisions that affected the development of the built environment in three Swiss municipalities between 1970 and 2007. We found that all three municipalities experienced the same major policy changes, namely a new definition of the role of urban management (1970s); the adoption of an environment- and problem-oriented approach in land-use planning (1980s) as well as an increased emphasis on public participation and intra-municipal coordination (1990s). Although national laws and actors have shaped the crucial driving forces of urban change, local actors, their coalitions and the local distribution of resources crucially determined these decisions in the study period. Our findings suggest that a stronger focus on local actors, their coalitions and resources could greatly improve our understanding of spatial development processes in Switzerland. For instance, as land ownership turned out to be a crucial resource, Swiss municipalities could benefit from engaging more actively in the land market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which regional culture informs the organizational culture of incumbent firms in specific regions and vice versa. To achieve this, we draw on a repertoire of conceptual and theoretical instruments, few of which have featured in the analysis of regional evolution hitherto. For example, the ideas of innovation systems of paradigm and regime are deployed as regional paradigms and regimes to access the dynamics of regional evolution. The concept of “spacing” is used to reveal the ways actors shape given places by meanings or symbols. Subsequently, the methodology of “cultural framing” is used to position key regional narratives and their meaning for regional evolution. This approach is then tested in a stylized manner against the main focal regions of the CURE project before being used in more detail to compare and contrast two of the more distinctive regional and corporate settings, Westphalia and Wales. In conclusion, we show the path inter-dependences and new path creations of both cast a new light on regional evolution in general and that of these regions in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the interaction between corporate cultures and regional cultures in seven different regions. First, we develop the hypothesis that under certain conditions, the interaction between corporate cultures and regional cultures becomes a virtuous circle, in which corporate performance and regional performance reinforce each other. Based on the literature on corporate and regional (innovation) cultures, nine different fields are identified in which the interaction between corporate culture and regional culture takes place and potentially contributes to the “virtuous circle”. The interaction of regional and corporate actors in the seven regions is then analysed for each of these fields of potential tension and synergy, resulting in a comparative overview of the regions, detailing where virtuous circles appear to be present and where the interaction appears to be absent or even counterproductive. Subsequently, the analysis zooms in on the cases where interaction between corporate and regional actors resulted in virtuous consequences, in order to identify actions of companies and regional actors that contributed to the “virtuous circle”. It is concluded that successful regions are regions that are handling the potential tensions in a balanced way. This requires mutual orientation in the actions of companies and regional actors and the development of change competencies on both sides. The results underline that the circle of interaction between corporate and regional cultures must be an open circle, so that external events can be used as an opportunity to trigger change and to set the “virtuous circle” in motion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increasing globalization, if properly exploited, can provide interesting opportunities for regional economies. Nevertheless, when they are not managed with a far-sighted approach, regions, and particularly those at an intermediate level of development, can lose their comparative advantages compared with regions of developing countries. Innovation is the main instrument for improving and ensuring competitiveness to enterprises and growth opportunities to local economies. The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of public policies in reinforcing regional innovation systems and the role of regional innovation agencies. With this in mind, we describe the policies implemented by the “Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation” of Apulia, a region in Southern Italy, highlighting its main strengths and weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial aerospace is a key sector in the Welsh economy, engaged in complex overlapping activities from aircraft manufacture (AM), through maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), to research, development and training (RDT). Defining and operationalizing a framework for analysis using both qualitative and quantitative data, this paper examines the actual and potential roles of the relationships in Wales between commercial aerospace firms, industry, government and institutional stakeholders, at both local and non-local levels. Concentrations of manufacturing in North Wales, and MRO in South Wales along with RDT operate as distinct constituent parts of aerospace clusters in neighbouring regions of England and beyond. The results, however, highlight links between the location of AM, MRO and RDT in Wales, emphasizing their (partially) geographically symbiotic relationships. Moreover, there are key inter-linkages that need consideration if the long-term health of Welsh aerospace is to be secured. Simultaneously, all three sub-sectors in Wales exhibit weaknesses which could render them vulnerable to greater external competition, particularly from developing countries. This emphasizes a need to alter the current governance arrangements and utilize different clustering characteristics that currently exist, with government, as a major sponsor of the industry, having a strong (but changing) role to play in encouraging these more balanced industry structures and decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to investigate: (i) whether, why and how diversity affects the creative capacity of cities and regions, (ii) under which conditions diversity can be the source of urban and regional competitive advantage in knowledge-intensive activities and (iii) which are the key assets, infrastructures and policy tools required to foster the development of creative, competitive and cohesive places. Diversity and creativity are complex and multi-faceted issues, and to understand their roles and effects, contributions from various social sciences are required. Therefore, the study examines the dynamics of diversity and creativity at different levels from individual to group and society, at different scales from team or organization to cities and regions and from different perspectives including the disciplines of psychology, sociology and economics. While underlying the interconnection between diversity and creativity, the study specifically focuses on the direct economic, social and spatial implications of diversity and creativity in cities and regions. Why some places (cities and regions) are more attractive than some others for diverse and creative people and innovative and creative activities? The paper aims to put current debates about diversity and creative cities in context and perspective. The discussion considers the policy roadmap to the creative city and challenges for governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, both environmental policy and research have emphasized the importance of involving the public in decision-making. This push for more participation is driven by considerable optimism about its ability to improve the quality of decisions and developments. There is, however, a lack of empirical research to support this assumption. The few studies that have attempted to measure the effect of public participation are of limited validity, as they were based on ex-post data mainly gained from expert assessments or document analysis. This paper reports on a recent study to measure and compare the effect of two consensus-building processes in a systematic and reliable way. This involved developing a new evaluation method based on the methodology of intervention research in environmental psychology. It was tested and applied in this study with two similarly designed consensus-building processes conducted in two neighbouring valleys of the Eastern Swiss Alps. These evaluation experiments showed that (a) the new evaluation method can measure and compare the effects of consensus-building processes in a differentiated and reliable way; and (b) consensus-building processes have systematic and partly statistically significant effects (at least in the short term) on several aspects of regional consensus. The initial results suggest that this new evaluation method is a promising way of obtaining reliable evidence about the societal effects of participatory processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the relation between firms' innovation behaviour and the industrial innovation policy promoted by the Guangdong Province Government in the framework of its “Specialized Towns Program”. In this context there are very few academic studies, and non-Chinese scholars are not involved in this debate; moreover, the attempt of self-evaluation of government institutions appears weak (or at least not accessible). In other words, little evidence is offered to check the real response of firms to the government policy apart from that diffused by the government itself. With the support of specific town and firm-level data, we investigate firms' responses to the local governments' innovation policy. In doing so, we suggest a set of relevant variables that should be considered as well as possible ways to measure them. We then run an empirical econometric analysis. The main findings suggest that among the most relevant determinants of a positive attitude towards government policies are the ownership structure, the background of the entrepreneurs in terms of their engagement in government activities and, to a lesser extent, the strength of the policy. We believe that, although these issues find in Guangdong a unique institutional setting, they are relevant not only for Guangdong, but can shed light on more general dynamics of contemporary industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand how recent social, economic and institutional developments have affected the land use planning tools and instruments that German planners have at their disposal. Although traditional planning practice was focused on the equitable distribution of services and infrastructure and managing growth within a highly structured plan approval process, planning tools at both the local and regional level have become increasingly concerned with enhancing local or regional competitiveness, primarily through the inclusion of a greater number of actors in formulating land use decisions. I argue, however, that despite these changes, the overall institutional framework, which revolves around legal and procedural concerns such as the plan approval process or the granting of building permission, has generally remained unaffected, and a significant gap exists, particularly at the regional level, between the strategic goals of regional governance and actual land use planning tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to discuss democratic potentials and pitfalls inherent in the use of Foresight methodologies, especially on the regional level. Foresight is used on the regional level as a tool for developing common visions about the future, strengthening the cohesion between regional actors and enabling coordinated action towards common goals. Based on broad participation, foresight represents a departure from expert-based scenario building and planning. The emphasis on building common goals and achieving coordinated action makes it feasible to conceptualize foresight processes as instances of governance. Based on a discussion on generalized modes of governance, a contention is made to the effect that foresight processes most closely resemble network governance as a general mode. With this point of departure, the paper uses arguments from the debate on democratic network governance to substantiate the discussion on the democratic aspects of foresight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy is often implemented through formal laws. In contrast to the typically optimistic ex-ante analyses of the impact of a set of laws, in retrospect it may be hard to determine what the laws concretely produced. Particularly complicated to measure are the unintended and indirect effects on actors or values that were not the prime focus of the law. Despite the literature on these matters in other fields of research, among planners the theory of law implementation receives relatively little attention. This attitude may stem from the means-ends rationality that has been common to planning for so many years. This paper makes a plea for focusing on the interaction between people and laws so as to understand the outcomes. We do this by drawing insights from sociological perspectives on laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current European policy on water resources use in cities is undergoing radical reform in an attempt to confront the water quality problems and the dramatically intensified water scarcity. Among the most elaborate documents concerning current water policy is the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which spells out the targets of water policy at the European level. The confrontation of water scarcity, deterioration in quality, and the reduction in costs of the water supply industry emerge as decisive principles of the new European policy on water use in cities. These targets are currently assimilated in the agendas of national water policies in almost all European countries. To achieve these objectives several policy instruments have been applied in Europe. The more prevailing instruments are: demand management, privatization of water companies and efficient/full cost pricing of water use. The present article aims at systematically evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the current water policy for urban systems, by examining the coherence of its instruments as well as their appropriateness for achieving the policy's targets. To start with, the paper presents an elementary economic analysis of the current water policy. The effects of the most common policy instruments are systematically traced in the framework of economic analysis. Next, three indicative case cities are presented and examined. As it turns out, however, the results of the implementation of the main instruments are contradictory. This drastically reduces the effectiveness of the water policy. We indicate that these contradictory effects are inherent in the water policy and originate in the lack of appropriate social processes and institutions for the management of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]