Urban areas and EU territorial cohesion objective: present strategies and future challenges in Italian spatial policies

Territorial policy across Europe, and related EU initiatives, is a controversial theme. The associated debate concerning the objectives of territorial cohesion brings together a range of divergent national interpretations and political approaches that every nation and every administrative level. One of the main foci of this chapter is the potential impacts of urban policy within this European framework can be investigated by considering the ongoing process that defines the political aspects of the aims of territorial cohesion. Furthermore, the chapter aims to reconsider the possible relationship between urban policy and territorial cohesion in the Italian context.

ISBN:978-90-8594-022-7

Publication year:2008