Accession to the EU in May 2004 was a historic milestone for the spatial and urban development of the new member states. Meanwhile, the social and economic transition during the pre-accession phase already brought about radical changes in national urban systems and new challenges for regional development. In this edited volume, a carefully selected and specially commissioned set of articles, written by experts from both the new and the old EU member states, presents a comprehensive assessment of emerging political and planning solutions at local, regional, national and EU levels. Topics include brownfield redevelopment in the Czech Republic, urban sprawl in Hungary, the upgrading and integration of marginalized Roma settlements in Eastern Slovakia and sustainable coastal management in Cyprus.

Bringing together comparative case studies from Central Europe and South America, this book focuses on 'new' regions – regions created as political projects of modernization and 're-scaling'. Through this approach it de-codes 'New Regionalism' in terms of its contributions to institutional change, while acknowledging its contested nature and contradictions. It questions whether these regions are merely a strategy of neo-liberal adjustment to changing political and economic conditions, or whether they are indicative of true reform, greater citizen participation and empowerment. It assesses whether these regions are really representing something new or whether they are a reconfiguration of traditional power relationships. It provides a timely critical analysis of 'region-building' and the extent to which national processes of decentralization and sub-national processes of regionalism can enhance the effectiveness and responsiveness of governance.

This book addresses the making and transforming of regions and territorial organisation, which are significant activities for policy makers and planners. It focuses on the regional, intermediate scale and gathers contributions by researchers from various European universities, especially at a time when there is a renewed interest for regions, regionalisation and regional planning. The different chapters in this edited volume deliver insightful theoretical approaches and documented empirical case studies. The recent reform that redrew and reorganized regions in France is of particular interest. Other contributions enrich the reflection about territorial reforms and changes by analysing situations in Italy, Poland, United Kingdom – notably the issue of planning city-regions or metropolitan areas. This volume provides a comparative view of the impact of territorial reforms on planning policies and explores the evolution of regional settings in Europe. It also confirms region as a fundamental scale and an essential instrument to organise and develop societies and territories. The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal European Planning Studies.

This informative new book analyses the extent and major determinants of the east and west European industrial networks in reinforcing the competitive advantages of the EU and CEECs.

The Routledge Handbook of Small Towns addresses the theoretical, methodical, and practical issues related to the development of small towns and neighbouring countryside. Small towns play a very important role in spatial structure by performing numerous significant developmental functions for rural areas. At the local scale, they act as engines for economic growth of rural regions and as a link in the system of connections between large urban centres and the countryside. The book addresses the role of small towns in the local development of regions in countries with different levels of development and economic systems, including those in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia. Chapters address the functional structure of small towns, relations between small towns and rural areas, and the challenges of spatial planning in the context of shaping the development of small towns. Students and scholars of urban planning, urban geography, rural geography, political geography, historical geography, and population geography will learn about the role of small towns in the local development of countries representing different economic systems and developmental conditions.

This book examines some of the evolving challenges faced by EU regional policy in light of enlargement and to assess some of the approaches and trends in terms of territorial development policy and practice that are emerging out of this process. Focusing on the experiences on Central and Eastern Europe, these chapters reflect on the diversity of approaches to spatial planning and the the politics of policy formation and multi-level governance operations – from local to trans-national agendas. Promoting increased awareness and understanding of these issues is the main purpose of the book, as well as harnessing the extensive capacity and ‘knowledge’ within these countries that can greatly enrich the discourse within an enlarged ‘epistemic community’ of European spatial planning academics, practitioners and policy-makers. The recently acquired CEE dimension provides a unique opportunity to examine the evolution of existing ‘epistemic communities’ as well as to explore the potential emergence of new ones..