Tag: territorial cohesion

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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POPULATION ACCESSIBILITY TO RAIL SERVICES. INSIGHTS THROUGH THE LENS OF TERRITORIAL COHESION

Daniela- Luminița CONSTANTIN

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

danielaconstantin_2005@yahoo.com

Corina- Cristiana NASTACĂ

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

cnastaca@gmail.com

Emilia GEAMBASU

MSc – Administration and Public Management,Faculty of Administration and Public Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest; Romania

geambasuemilia@gmail.com

Abstract

Territorial cohesion is a concept that has played an important role in the European authorities’ agenda since the 1990s, being linked to some of the main objectives defined in various EU Treaties (i.e. those envisaging flows, connectivity, spatial nodes, etc.). In this respect, the present research aims to explore territorial cohesion in relation to accessibility so as to provide a comprehensive picture of this subject, employing for the empirical study the Romanian railway system. The main objective is to examine how the Romanian railway infrastructure influences territorial cohesion through regions’ accessibility to infrastructure and rail transport services. The research methodology consists of an exploratory study conducted using secondary data analysis. The collected data have been used to compute a set of indicators (the Engel ratio, the Goltz ratio, and the Hansen accessibility coefficient) that allows the analysis of the degree of population accessibility to railway transport, based on the characteristics of the rail transport service (distance, duration, and cost of travel). The study has revealed that the Romanian railway infrastructure does not have a positive contribution to reducing disparities and strengthening territorial cohesion. Although it is sufficiently extensive, it has uneven growth and low accessibility due to low travel speeds and long travel times. Regarding accessibility, the presence of at least two types of disparities – inter- and intra-regional, has been revealed, due to the fact that disparities in accessibility firstly manifest at the regional level and increase in intensity at the county level.

Keywords: territorial cohesion, population accessibility, railway network, inter- and intra-regional disparities, Romania

JEL classification: R1, R4, R42

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