Publication details
Territorial Cohesion - An ambiguous concept
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Citation | |
| Description | The concept of territorial cohesion has become a widely used term in discussions on European spatial planning, especially after the integration of the concept in the Reform Treaty. However, the ambiguity and complicated definability of the concept contribute to its incomprehensibility. The primary purpose of this paper is to examine and compare different approaches to the concept of territorial cohesion, pointing to its multidimensionality. An essential aspect is uncertainty and generality of the most definitions. Since the territorial cohesion is a place based approach, the paper also poses the scale-dependency issue. The literature search dealing with the territorial cohesion as a normative concept is principally and critically confronted with analytical geographical approach. This comparison reveals the complexity of territorial cohesion and raises the question of connections of territorial cohesion with other concepts of spatial and regional planning such as polycentric development. Moreover, each scale requires a specific approach with regard to larger context and hence it is important to apply the ideas of territorial cohesion carefully. All these crucial issues are taken into consideration and discussed in this paper. |