Place-based development and spatial justice

Abstract

Within EU cohesion policy, a place-based approach is expected to promote a strategic shift towards more place-sensitive, crosssectoral 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 developmentthis 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.

Implementation Risk Factors of Collaborative Housing in Poland: The Case of ‘Nowe Żerniki’ in Wrocław

“…According to (Barca 2009, p. 4), the place-based policy is 'a long-term strategy aimed at tackling persistent underutilisation of potential and reducing persistent social exclusion in specific places through external interventions and multilevel governance'. This policy is based on the locality enabling the development of its strategic potential with the use of its territorial capital and local knowledge (Weck et al 2021;Piras et al 2021;Borén and Schmitt 2021). The connection to the place (Wrocław as the city and 'Nowe Żerniki' as a district) and the local capital (especially innovative architectural ideas) were crucial factors for all the key actors of the collaborative housing process in 'Nowe Żerniki'.…”

EU Rural Policy’s Capacity to Facilitate a Just Sustainability Transition of the Rural Areas

“…This serves their particular political purposes and leaves the perception target of EU support unachieved. Some national and local politicians for the sake of their political rankings in the polls, present EU support as their personal/ their parties' sole achievement and being a part of their own policy agenda [51,108].…”

“…There are also voices stating that the origin of rural development policy in the EU is its cohesion policy [24]. The EU cohesion policy is supposed to increase the cohesion of the EU territory and its placebased approach, should support place-sensitivity in cross-sectoral development ensuring social inclusion [51]. Yet, some scholars question the emphasis on the competitiveness of the regions that appeared in the cohesion policy with the Agenda 2000 and continued with strategy Europe 2020, stating that increasing competitiveness does not translate into increasing cohesion [52].…”

North–South Dialogue on Territorial Policies and Discourses: Insights for the Future of Nature Conservation

“…41). In other words, the idea of a diversity of territories-including biodiversityas a potential for development is maintained, thus stressing the concept of place-based development [71] whilst at the same time emphasising the anthropocentric focus of nature's ecosystemic services and highlighting the role that the environmental quality of territories has on their inhabitants' living conditions and health: 'Ecosystems, including agricultural, forest, grassland, fresh water and marine ecosystems, are fundamental to human existence and important for long-term sustainable development. It is a joint responsibility to ensure that they are sustainably accessible to the wider public, well-functioning, resilient, enhanced and healthy, and that they generate income for local populations and businesses.…”

“…In relation to conservation, the Latin American-and particularly feminist thinking-premises identified in the documents were clear: re-evaluating the roles of care and bottom-up initiatives visible on small scales is a priority, as is respecting bodies-territories and freeing them from violence (WCN 2019). Meanwhile, in Europe, Agenda 2030 incorporates and highlights the idea of place-based management 'which is considered to take better account of place-specific conditions and problems by drawing on local assets and capacities' [71] (p. 2). Boosting the feeling of cohesion and community is relevant on the local scale, whereas matters such as biodiversity loss and climate change motivate large-scale strategies that, while necessary, can lose sight of the political, social and cultural meaning that these processes acquire on medium and small scales, where policies effectively materialise and make an impact [134][135][136].…”