Ciência-IUL
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Publication Detailed Description
Journal Title
Sustainability
Year (definitive publication)
2022
Language
English
Country
Switzerland
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Abstract
This article proposes an alternative policy development approach for territories encompassing rural areas with small urban settlements or ‘small places’, which normally suffer from lagging territorial development trends. The proposed ‘Development Clusters for Small Places’ approach draws on the potential of all places to further their development via municipal clustering, based on four analytic dimensions: (i) existing functional areas; (ii) similarities in economic circularity and specialisation; (iii) presence of ongoing territorial and governance cooperation processes; and (iv) spatial physical connectivity and accessibility. Besides a theoretical overview of this policy approach, the article analyses concrete examples of its potential implementation in two case studies: Alentejo in Portugal and Innlandet in Norway. The findings highlight the potential advantages of municipal clustering over current mainstream regional development rationales to implement endogenous rural development in a supra-municipal scale, thus increasing institutional thickness and policy influence towards a more territorial cohesive region.
Acknowledgements
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Keywords
Small places,Rural development,EU rural development policies,Territorial agenda 2030,Territorial cohesion
Fields of Science and Technology Classification
- Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference | Funding Entity |
---|---|
UIDB/03127/2020 | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia |
Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
With the objective to increase the research activity directed towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the possibility of associating scientific publications with the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in Ciência-IUL. These are the Sustainable Development Goals identified by the author(s) for this publication. For more detailed information on the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.