This article examines the implementation and effectiveness of the European structural and investment funds with regard to regional governance. The study uses the example of development processes in two border regions in Bavaria, the district of Cham on the Bavarian-Czech border and the district...

The present study aims to highlight the main models for evaluating territorial competitiveness used at international and European level starting from the following premise: despite the difficulties encountered in the process of defining and understanding the competitiveness term and of numerous...

The inclusion of territorial cohesion in the Lisbon Treaty triggered a discussion on how to implement territorial cohesion at the EU level, but without clear results. One of the main short-comings in this discussion is the lack of awareness about the main reasoning and core objectives of...

This paper describes an initial theoretical and conceptual approach relating crossborder cooperation to European spatial development and the associated theories, based on approaches from political science. This is discussed as a field of application for European spatial development, which is...

In recent decades the challenges of globalisation, European integration and strengthened regionalisation have led to a reassessment of metropolitan regions. In Germany, the guiding principles issued by the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning in 2006 provided an occasion on which to...

This chapter describes the process by which a cross-border metropolitan region develops, using the example of the Greater Region. Between 2008 and 2010 the idea of a cross-border, polycentric metropolitan region in the Greater Region was investigated and further developed within the ESPON...

In 2015/2016 the Federal Republic of Germany and Bavaria were greatly challenged by the refugee wave from the Middle East, Afghanistan and various African states, and its management. The south-east Bavarian border areas were particularly affected due to their location at the end of the Balkan...