ESPON BRIDGES (“Balanced regional
development in areas with geographical specificities”) marks the start of a new
phase in the analysis of territories with geographical specificities (TGS):
mountain regions, islands, sparsely populated areas and coastal areas. The
focus in not on whether TGS are lagging or not, but rather how they may develop
in an increasingly integrated Single Market, and more generally in a context of
economic globalisation. This implies enhanced exposure to international
competition, deregulation and fiscal competition between countries, leading to
limited public budgets. ESPON BRIDGES focuses on how ‘spatially blind’
policies, different types of market failures and path dependencies lead to a
sub-optimal use of human and natural resources in TGS.
As part of an international team, led by
Spatial Foresight, Luxembourg, TCP International is analyzing the impacts of
transport policies and transport projects, and the role of accessibility and
the lack thereof, i.e. peripherality.
