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The United Nations explicitly recognise the central role of urbanization processes in global development trajectories in the Agenda 2030, mainly through one of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, i.e. SDG11. This goal emphasises making human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The progress achieved towards the targets that articulate this goal is constantly monitored through a system of indicators. However, this process is complex, especially for those targets that concern the quality of the policies intended to guide development phenomena. This is the case with SDG11.a, which aims to «Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning» and therefore regards territorial governance activities. In a recent contribution, the authors explored the contents and implications of SDG11.a and developed a system of procedural, instrumental, and financial indicators aimed at evaluating the quality of territorial governance. This paper operationalises some of these indicators concerning a real territorial context - the Metropolitan City of Turin - to reflect on their practicability and the added value they can provide in decision-making and monitoring. The work results show how any measurement of the quality of territorial governance remains inherently linked to the institutional characteristics of the context and the actual availability of data and information. This undoubtedly complicates the use of the indicators proposed in a comparative perspective; however, their application can promote critical reflections by public authorities and the development of more effective policies.

The COMPASS project compares territorial governance and spatial planning in 32 European countries (the 28 EU member states plus four ESPON partner countries). COMPASS differs from previous studies in that the accent is not on a snapshot comparison of national systems, but on identifying trends in reforms from 2000 to 2016. It also seeks to give reasons for these changes with particular reference to EU directives and policies, and to identify good practices for the cross-fertilisation of spatial development policies with EU Cohesion Policy. The objective of the COMPASS project is to provide an authoritative comparative report on changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems in Europe since 2000. It substantially improves the knowledge base on territorial governance and spatial planning, and in particular, their relationship with EU Cohesion Policy.

The objective of the COMPASS project was to provide an authoritative comparative report on changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems in Europe from 2000 to 2016. This Final Report presents the main findings, conclusions and policy recommendations. The COMPASS project compares territorial governance and spatial planning in 32 European countries (the 28 EU member states plus four ESPON partner countries). COMPASS differs from previous studies in that the accent is not on a snapshot comparison of national systems, but on identifying trends in reforms from 2000 to 2016. It also seeks to give reasons for these changes with particular reference to EU directives and policies, and to identify good practices for the cross-fertilisation of spatial development policies with EU Cohesion Policy. The research is based on expert knowledge with reference wherever possible to authoritative sources. Experts with in-depth experience of each national system were appointed to contribute to the study. The research design involved primarily collection of data from the 32 countries through questionnaires and five in-depth case studies of the interaction of EU Cohesion Policy and other sectoral policies with spatial planning and territorial governance. ESPON COMPASS Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe