Tag: spatial development

EVOLVING REGIONS IN EUROPE: APPLICATION OF SPATIAL MODELS TO THE VARIOUS FORMS OF THE EUROPEAN SPATIAL CONCENTRATIONS

Luigi CAPOANI

Adjunct professor at the Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

luigi.capoani@unive.it

Csaba LAKÓCAI

Research fellow at ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of World Economics

lakocai.csaba@krtk.elte.hu

Abstract

The “Blue Banana”, spanning from the United Kingdom to Italy, has been symbolizing economic vitality in Europe. This paper reassesses its contemporary relevance by analyzing economic indicators and regional dynamics, particularly in Eastern and Mediterranean Europe, within the NUTS 2 framework. Leveraging Stewart’s concept of demographic energy and Moran’s spatial statistics, it introduces a robust methodology interweaving territorial and economic dynamics. By examining data layers, this study provides novel insights into the Blue Banana’s significance and its economic impact on Europe during the late 2010s and early 2020s. Furthermore, it illuminates the core area’s interconnections with adjacent economic zones and the emergence of prospective alternative spatial paradigms. The findings indicate that the majority of the Blue Banana regions have remained part of the prominent core area of Europe in terms of the most conventional regional economic indicators. However, emerging alternative spatial concentrations and a partial eastward shift are also visible.

Keywords: Blue Banana, Mediterranean Europe, Eastern Europe, spatial development, productivity

JEL classification: C1, N1, N9, R1, Y1

pp. 63-78

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SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN EUROPEAN NORTH IN THE POST-SOVIET PERIOD

Sergey KOZHEVNIKOV

Candidate of Sciences in Economics, Leading Researcher, Deputy Head of Department, Vologda Research Center of the RAS, Russia

kozhevnikov_sa@bk.ru

Abstract

The article explores the features of the spatial development of the European North of Russia in the post-Soviet period. It is shown that there are processes of polarization and disintegration of the region’s space, which is manifested primarily in the concentration of both the population and economic activity in the “nodal” points, which, as a rule, are large cities, administrative and industrial centers, as well as an increase in the area of the economic periphery. The prospects for the development of resettlement systems are substantiated, and an assessment of the connectivity of the northern territories based on an analysis of the level of development of their transport and logistics infrastructure is given. The necessity of forming several reference points in the economic space of the European North of Russia is substantiated, which, in our opinion, should become a kind of “counterbalance” to the large cities of the central regions of the country and will allow to overcome the negative trends associated with the compression of the region’s economic space.

Keywords: spatial development, economic space, space connectivity, urban agglomerations, small and medium-sized cities, transport and logistics infrastructure, European North of Russia.

JEL classification: R12

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PATTERNS OF SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM RUSSIA

Veronika MASLIKHINA

Ph.D. in Economics, Associate Professor of  Department of Management and Law, Volga State University of Technology, Yoshkar-Ola, Russia

Maslikhina_nika@mail.ru

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyze the trends of spatial inequality in Russia in 1994-2015 based on the convergence concepts. Russia faced the problem of inter-regional inequality as well as most countries. The situation is aggravated by the external economic and domestic factors in recent years. The fall in energy prices and Western sanctions had a negative impact on the country’s economic development. Russia is compelled to take into account geopolitical interests in the implementation regional policies in some regions (the Far East, the Crimea, the Kaliningrad region, the republics of the North Caucasus, the Arctic). Many regional budgets have budget deficit, highly debt load. They optimize spending on the social sphere and reduce investments in the real economy. Russia is emerging from the crisis despite the difficult situation. A review of the theoretical positions of the four types of convergence concepts (σ-, β-, γ-, ρ-convergence) was made. The spatial inequality evaluation was carried out on the basis of σ-convergence and absolute β-convergence concepts. The Williamson coefficient, the Hoover index, the Theil index and the Atkinson index were used to analyze spatial inequality based on the σ-concept. Differentiation has increased over the analyzed period, but gap decreased after 2005. The  convergence speed  is 1.79% in Russia. Regions with a low initial level of development have higher growth rates than regions with a higher initial level of development

Keywords: spatial inequality, spatial development, β-convergence, σ-convergence, Russia

JEL classification: D63, O52, R1, R58
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