territorial capital

The adoption of the policy objective of territorial cohesion at the EU-level has also sparked interest in “territorial capital” which, according the Camagni and Capello (2013:1398) encompasses “a wide variety of territorial assets, both tangible and intangible, of a private, public or mixed nature.” Furthermore, to emphasise locale means to take seriously the idea that all territorial assets and services of general interest are both shaped by place as well as themselves place-shaping factors. On this view Cohesion Policy would need to focus more attention, for example, on the role of social services (child care, health care, education), social entrepreneurship, housing and group-specific services which, perhaps in contradiction to certain categorisations, have important spatial components as anchors of local community and locale-building. RELOCAL will therefore also develop a specific focus on the role of civil society, public sector actors and potentials for social entrepreneurship. Indeed, it is also important to understand the role of local participation in actions that construct spatial (in)justice, such as access to or exclusion from decisions and actions.