An Agenda for a Reformed Cohesion Policy: a place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges and expectations

By: Barca, F (2011)

Cohesion policy is by far the largest development policy of the EU. The present paper examines the debates regarding place-neutral versus place-based policies for economic development. Many of the previously accepted arguments have been called into question by the impacts of globalization and a new response to these issues has emerged, a response both to these global changes and also to non-spatial development approaches. The study unveils that the serious limitations in the availability of evidence on cohesion policy results have certainly played a relevant role in discouraging public debate, as have the limitations of the reporting system.