Typology of peripheral sub-regions in the European Union

A common phenomenon of development is the big difference in its levels, especially between metropolitan areas and other areas, called peripheries. There are also big differences in opportunities for development, including the location of new investment. Peripheral areas are characterized by features such as: high unemployment, relatively impoverished populations, and low territorial accessibility. A lack of development factors is the cause of low productivity. These realities become barriers to development. To overcome these barriers external policy interventions are needed as a part of the regional policy. This policy should be tailored to the areas' specific needs. Peripheral areas are also very different. The typology has been applied by the author to recognize this diversity. It is a preparation for a wider research project on the development of policies supporting peripheral areas. European Union's NUTS 3 level regions are the subject of research, which meet the following criteria at the same time: gross domestic product (GDP) per capita below 75% of the EU average and the lack of metropolitan areas and large cities. The first stage of the research is to establish a list of attributes and variables. There are following variables: ­ - gross domestic product per capita, ­ - employment structure by sector (agriculture and fishing, industry, market services and non-market services), ­ - number of tourist bed-places per a thousand of inhabitants (for measuring the level of tourism development), ­ - unemployment rate, ­ - population of the biggest settlement node. The second stage of research is performing a statistical analysis, including multivariate calculations to check the correlations between the data, and to select the final set of indicators which will be used for the typology. The third stage of research is preparing a typology of sub-regions, using the k-means algorithm. The last part of the article is the interpretation of the results, the characteristics of each type and formulation of preliminary proposals for regional policy, and research concerning them.