First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report

New Evidence on Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Territories

Results by summer 2010

Cover whiteOctober 2010 - This ESPON Report presents a synthesis of results from the major Applied Research projects undertaken by the ESPON 2013 Programme. It is also garnished with examples from Targeted Analyses delivered to stakeholders supporting the use of results by Member States, regions and cities.

The first research themes have focused on the functionality of major urban agglomeratons, the diversity of development options for rural regions, demography and migratory flows, the risks for regional economies of energy price fluctuations, territorial impacts of climate change and progress in techniques in support of territorial impact assessment of EU sector policies.

The ambition has been to contribute with territorial dimensions of the Europe 2020 Strategy and provide evidence that can support policy development at all levels, from European to regional/local.

The report does not only make efforts in presenting comparable facts at regional and local level. It also contains new evidence on the European territory seen in a worldwide perspective, which nowadays is increasingly necessary for the competitiveness of the EU.

At the launch event of the Report on 27 October 2010 in Brussels, in the presence of Dirk Ahner Director General European Commission - DG Regio, representatives of the Permanent Representations and Missions of Member and Partner States to the EU, the following headline findings were presented:

  • Europe’s position in the world is changing: there is not only the economic challenge from Asia and the Americas; other challenges with a global dimension include an aging labour force and demographic change, energy supply and demand, and the possible impacts of climate change.
  • Europe’s competitiveness depends greatly on its global cities and metropolitan regions, where enterprises can benefit from agglomeration economies and networks linking global market places.
  • Connectivity is important. Liveable and smart places have good connections and an attractive environment. Metropolitan regions need good accessibility to each other and to global markets. The number and quality of connections to hubs and urban centres are important preconditions for efficient functional integration of all parts of all parts of the EU.
  • Europe has many smart rural regions that are well connected to the global economy, accessible to urban centres and have turned local assets into development opportunities.
  • Accessibility of regions and cities is increasing through infrastructure investments which benefit the economic competitiveness of these places. Europe’s high-speed rail network could play a greater role in the development of a polycentric Europe: still too often national networks do not look sufficiently ambitious beyond borders.
  • Vulnerability to climate change impacts is a concern especially in regions where adaptation and mitigation strategies are not sufficiently in place or effectively enforced.
  • Good governance and territorial co-operation are vital at every geographical scale, including partnerships at the level of city-regions and larger macro-regions, as well as across policy sectors.

The report is the first in a series of three ESPON Synthesis Reports which all aim to communicate major ESPON results on numerous ongoing research themes relevant for integrated, place-based policy considerations.

Please find below the First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report, the programme of the launch event on 27 October 2010 and the presentation made on the day. A collection of Maps is available in the next pages.

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 1(I)

Illustrating the Multi-Level Approach: The example of population growth, 2001-2006

MAP_1(I)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 1(II)

Illustrating the Multi-Level Approach: The example of population growth, 2001-2006

MAP_1(II)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 2

Unemployment in Europe, March 2010

MAP_2

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 3

Typologies of countries’ profiles for trade exports, 1967-2006

MAP_3(I) MAP_3(II)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 4

Networks of multinational firms by Metropolitan Area, 1986-2006

MAP_4

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 5

Balance of internal and external subsidiaries by Functional Urban Area, 1986-2006

MAP_5

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 6

World City Network, 2008

The map shows global cities with regard to the number of people living in the urban area and integration into global business networks.

Within Europe, London, Paris, and the Rhine-Ruhr area stand out as large and highly integrated metropolitan areas.

In the direct neighbourhood, Istanbul and Moscow are notable metropolitan areas which are not only of considerable size but also well integrated into the global business networks.

 

MAP_6

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 7

Centrality within NBIC networks, 1986-2006

 

MAP_7

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 8

City network for one-day business trips, 2009

 

MAP_8

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 9

GDP per capita versus potential multimodal accessibility, 2006

 

MAP_9

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 10

Disparity levels between Metropolises and the surrounding region, 1995-2004

 

MAP_10

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 11 (I)

Transport policy options and their implications for emissions, 2005

MAP_11(I)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 11 (II)

Transport policy options and their implications for emissions, 2005

MAP_11(II)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 11(III)

Transport policy options and their implications for emissions, 2005

MAP_11(III)

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 12

Discontinuities of GDP per capita, 2008

 

MAP_12

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 13

Typology of the demographic status, 2005

MAP_13

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 14

Migration flows, 2006-2007

MAP_14

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 15

Impact of migration on population in 2050

MAP_15

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 16

Proportion of employment in industries with high energy purchases, 2005

Map_16

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 17

Access to urban nodes - Case Study on areas with geographical challenges

MAP_17

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 18

Structural types of rural areas, 2006

MAP_18

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 19

Change in labour force 2005-2050

MAP_19

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 20

Change in Working Age Population, 2000-2007

MAP_20

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 21

Ecological footprint, 2006

MAP_21

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 22

Human Development Index, 2007

MAP_22

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 23

Climate change in Europe, 1961-2100

MAP_23

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 24

Workers commuting to another NUTS 2 region, 2005

MAP_24

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 25

Solar Energy Output

MAP_25

First ESPON 2013 Synthesis Report - Map 26

Wind Power Potential, 2005

MAP_26

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documents

First ESPON Synthesis Report

  • Acrobat Document | 41.33MB

Press Release "ESPON New Evidence on Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Territories"

  • Acrobat Document | 233KB

Executive summary

  • Acrobat Document | 0KB

1-Europe in a challenging world

  • Acrobat Document | 15.99MB

2-Polycentric Europe: smart, connected places

  • Acrobat Document | 13.15MB

3-Diverse Europe: cohesion challenges

  • Acrobat Document | 8.26MB

4-Sustainable Europe

  • Acrobat Document | 3.71MB

5-Use and debate ESPON results

  • Acrobat Document | 379KB

Launch Event Brussels

  • Acrobat Document | 348KB

Launch Event Brussels

  • Zip archive | 17.60MB