DETECTING CITY-DIPOLES IN GREECE BASED ON INTERCITY COMMUTING

Dimitrios TSIOTAS

Assistant Professor, Department of Regional and Economic Development, School of Applied Economic and Social Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Amfissa 33100, Greece

tsiotas@aua.gr

Nikolaos AXELIS

Airport Infrastructure Engineer, HAF, – Researcher, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, 38334, Greece

nik.axelis@gmail.com

Serafeim POLYZOS

Professor, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, 38334, Greece

spolyzos@uth.gr

Abstract

According to growth poles theory, the areas lacking critical sizes to develop polycentric structures are restricted to the development of structures of special configuration. In Greece, the development of growth poles is restricted to the emergence of “urban dipoles” and “tripoles”, which are often used in the literature within a not well defined context. Based on a recently introduced method, this paper quantitatively detects functional dipoles in Greece by discriminating zones in the distribution of commuting, the number of daily movements for occupational purposes outside the city of residence. The analysis is implemented at three different levels of geographical scale, the intercity, an adjusted intercity (without the metropolitan regions), and the interregional scale. The analysis detects the functional dipoles per geographical scale and reveals the distance levels where polycentric structures emerge in the setting of commuting in Greece. Overall, this examines the applicability of a new dipoles detection method and paper provides insights into the conceptualization of hierarchy in urban structures, into the context of regional science and regional economics.

Keywords: Growth poles, urban structures, city networks, urban hierarchy, city distribution

JEL classification: R12, R40, R58

pp. 11-30

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MEASURING REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT DISPARITIES: SOME METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND EVIDENCE FROM ARMENIA AND SERBIA

Tigran MNATSAKANYAN

Ph.D. in Economics, Armenian State University of Economics

tigran.mnatsakanyan.am@gmail.com

Ruben HAYRAPETYAN

Doctor of Sciences in Economics, Professor, Armenian State University of Economics, City Councilor at Yerevan City Council

ruben_hayrapetyan@yahoo.com

Dejan MOLNAR

Ph.D. in Economics, Associate Professor, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Economics

dejan.molnar@ekof.bg.ac.rs

Abstract

There are manifestations of regional development disparities in almost every country, but this phenomenon is especially dangerous in those countries that have only one “center of gravity”. Significantly more developed capital can transform itself from “center of gravity” to a “black hole” by emptying the potential of the regions. To prevent such a destructive scenario, it is firstly necessary to disclose the roots of regional development disparity, and the reasons for its subjective perception. Without these steps, any intervention, policy, or measure taken or implemented by the state can aggravate further disproportion or at least be ineffective. Only after discovering the above-mentioned roots, it will become possible to develop a comprehensive strategy for overcoming regional disproportionate development and derive from it a complex of effective measures. All these goals are intended to be achieved within the framework of the research funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia within the support program for young researchers (project code: 19YR-5B038). This paper focuses mainly on discussion of regional disparity measurement tools and development of a tool appropriate not only for accurate measurements, but also for serving as a motivational tool for authorities. Calculations have been made for Armenia and Serbia, taking into consideration several key similarities of economic, social, and cultural nature, which have significantly influenced the perception of local governance and role of communities, as well as the mindset toward socioeconomic processes in general.

Keywords: regional development, regional disparity, measurement, development indicator, governance

JEL classification: H700, H770, H830, R500, R580

 pp. 327-348

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ADDRESSING SPATIAL JUSTICE AT LOWER TERRITORIAL LEVELS. SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES’ PERSPECTIVE

Daniela- Luminița CONSTANTIN

Professor at the Department of Administration and Public Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest; Romania

danielaconstantin_2005@yahoo.com

Abstract

The current approaches of territorial inequalities from the perspective of territorial cohesion in relation to the European Social Model bring into discussion the concept of spatial justice, which combines place-based with people-based prosperity and points to adequate social and spatial integration models.  It has been supported by the “Europe 2020” strategy and will get even stronger emphasis in the new programme period, 2021-2027. In this context, the analysis of territorial inequalities at deeper level of spatial disaggregation gets a special significance for the design of the future regional policies, which will incorporate an important spatial justice component. It will entail a growing need for data at NUTS3 and LAU levels as well as for microdata (usually obtained on the occasion of population censuses). At international level there is already a growing interest in doing research at these levels by both institutions that support cohesion policy and individual authors. Starting from these overall considerations this paper proposes an overarching review of selected relevant studies undertaken in Central and Eastern Europe in order to highlight significant aspects of deeper territorial inequalities, as useful hints for the prioritisation of the EU funds allocation to less developed areas and for laying good foundations for the regional policies in these countries. The paper brings about a twofold contribution, namely a discussion of the difficulties that have to be faced for the construction of appropriate databases and proper methodologies as well as the emphasis on those territorial inequalities that are better captured at deeper disaggregation levels.

Keywords: territorial cohesion, spatial justice, overarching review, territorial inequalities, disaggregation level,

JEL classification: R11, R12, R19

 pp. 315-326

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