Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning

Editorial

Olivier Sykes, Chia-Lin Chen — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

The causes and impacts of new and enduring regional inequalities have been much debated in many regions and countries around the globe over the past decade. This has been reflected in public and political discourse with references to and imaginaries of so-called ‘forgotten’ or ‘left behind’ regions and peripheral territories. Discourses and movements of political discontent have sparked off renewed debates on uneven development and the experience of left-behind places, which struggle with persistent social and economic challenges and might appear to be seen as ‘places that don’t matter’ (Rodríguez-Pose, 2018).

'Levelling Up' Post-Industrial City-Regions in England

Tom Arnold, James Hickson — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

The UK government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda represents the latest attempt to address long-standing inter-regional socio-economic disparities in England. This paper assesses how the Levelling Up The UK White Paper, published in early 2022, frames the problem of interregional inequality and the potential of the proposed solutions contained within the paper to address the problem. We argue that the Levelling Up agenda as currently framed is likely to be too spatially vague to achieve meaningful reductions in the level of interregional inequality in England, and suggest that any attempts to improve the economic performance of regions outside of London and the South East should focus on the fortunes of England’s ‘second-tier’ city-regions. Using Liverpool City Region as a case study area, we discuss three key themes included in the white paper and identify some areas where additional policy focus will be required to meet the UK government’s aspirations.

Developing Companionship with the Left-Behinds

Hsiutzu Betty Chang — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

The subject of regional inequality has been garnering the attention of scholars over the past decade and has generated debates on territories forgotten by mainstream economic activities. Left-behind places are a global phenomenon yet with various situated conditions in different development contexts that required customized, place-based solutions. This paper discusses a possible approach to work with the left-behinds: using the university as an institutional resource to engage people and places in regional regeneration. Using the [anonymised] project as an example, we describe the learning journey of developing the ground solutions and companionship between a research university and left-behind communities in the rural badlands region. Adopting a hybrid of an asset-based approach to community development and collaborative planning for regional development, this case demonstrates a potential level-up strategy for sustainable development for the lagging region.

Forgotten territories in Europe : lessons from Italy, Spain, and Poland.

Xavier Desjardins, Philippe Estèbe — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

This paper presents the results of a comparative research on place-based policies towards “left-behind territories” in Europe. It shows the variety of trajectories of putting the territorial question on the agenda and of defining the 'forgotten' territories in Italy, Spain and Poland. This variety reveals specific processes linked to short- and long-term debates on the Nation. The tools used to help these territories tend to converge, under the influence of methods coming from the European Union. However, the functions of these territories are still unclear in national planning strategies, particularly because their possible contributions to ecological transition and the economic models of this transition are only imperfectly defined.

Forgotten Italy

Agim Kercuku — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

The forgotten Italian territories have almost always been understood as compact physical and conceptual spaces. While changing its terms, borders, and issues from time to time, the forgotten regions have been described through a homogeneous image: Mezzogiorno, peripheries and Inner Areas. Such a representation has effects both in conceptualization and efforts taken to recompose the gaps between the forgotten territories and the most active parts. Yet, in recent years, the numerous crises of the 21st century have shattered this compact representation and brought out new geography of forgotten Italy, the Italia di mezzo. The new geography is no longer linked only to the North-South dichotomy and does not concern only the metropolitan suburbs or inland areas. The new geography highlights how to be forgotten now is also a piece on the margins of public policies, underestimated by scientific research but at the center of the twentieth-century urbanization process and the recent crisis.

How can challenges in left behind places be addressed? Learning from Greater Lille, Nantes, the Ruhr region, San Antonio and Estonia.

Abigail Taylor — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0100

Addressing issues of regional inequalities and supporting ‘left behind’ regions is a global issue, but analysis of international regions that have successfully levelled up is limited. Developing and implementing effective place-based policies is critical for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic but remains an under-explored issue. This paper provides insight into different policies and tools used to support left-behind places. Comparing experiences of addressing socio-economic challenges in Greater Lille, Nantes, the Ruhr region, San Antonio and Estonia, it discusses what ingredients for successfully addressing inequalities are, what has worked well, and future challenges. It identifies seven “foundations” for levelling up and stresses the importance of levelling up “within” regions and not just levelling up “of” regions given how despite economic growth in the case study places, clear socio-economic disparities continue to exist. In particular, it debates opportunities to support levelling up through financial management and governance tools.