Economic Crisis and the Resilience of Regions

coverto12October 2014 - The economic crisis has witnessed the most severe economic downturn in the history of the European Union and has reversed a long trend of converging GDP and employment rates. Yet not all regions experienced economic decline and rates of recovery have varied greatly. These different experiences raise important questions as to why some regions prove to be more resilient to the economic crisis than others, and what influences the ability to withstand, and respond to, external shocks?

This Territorial Observation draws on ESPON research undertaken by a transnational project group of researchers from across Europe working on the Applied Research project “ECR2 – Economic Crisis: Resilience of Regions”.

It gives a snapshot of the unfolding territorial impact of the economic crisis and, using selected case studies, the observed findings of the economic resilience of Europe’s regions. It provides some tools and principles to assess the economic vulnerability of territories and to prepare for the potential impact of future crises.

ESPON Territorial Observation No. 12 on Economic Crisis and the Resilience of Regions is available below.

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Contact the ESPON Coordination Unit at [email protected]

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