17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of

Ministers responsible for Spatial Planning

(CEMAT)

Overview of European Functional Areas: Definition and Typologies(Items extracted from the Questionnaire launched on the theme of Functional Areas)

Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds

Bucharest

3 – 4 November 2017

Palace of the Parliament

MAIN POINTS

Presentation structure

Definition, typologies and delineation

- Types of functional areas

- Main interrelations that help structure functional areas

- Delineation criteria

Characteristics

- Geographic scale

- Degree of formalization

- Stability in time and space

- Development purposes

Functional areas vs potential functional areas

Definition, typologies and delineation

Methodology

- As part of the preparation for the 17th CEMAT session, organized, according to the

decision of CoE’s Committee of Ministers, by the Romanian Ministry of Regional

Development, Public Administration and European Funds, a questionnaire was sent

to the 47 CoE Member States.

- The countries (24) that filled the

questionnaire include: Albania, Austria,

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic,

Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,

Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,

Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal,

Romania, The Russian Federation, Slovakia,

Sweden and Turkey.

Definition, typologies and delineation

Types of functional areas

- Functional areas represent either those territories that aggregate around urban

centers and concentrate systemic relationships, or types of areas delineated

according to geographic specificities or in relation to economic activities.

Country Type of area Functional area (based on

ESPON classification)

Planning documents

Albania • Regions - General National Plan

(GNP)

Austria • Local Action Groups Functional urban regions Austrian Programme for

Rural Development 2014-

2020

• City Regions Functional urban regions -

• Macro-regional Strategies:

Alpine Region and Danube

Region

Transnational / macro-regions -

Bulgaria • Urban agglomerations Functional urban regions National Concept for

Spatial Development of

the Republic of Bulgaria

for the period 2013- 2025

(NCSD)

• Territories with specific

characteristics

Functional natural regions

(national/cross-border/

transnational)

Cyprus • Urban agglomerations Functional urban regions -

• Spatial Planning Areas Functional rural regions Policy Statement for the

Countryside (PSC)

- Functional areas indicated

in the filled questionnaires

were reclassified in based on

the ESPON typology (Bohme

& all, 2017), to which we

added natural regions and

administrative territories.

Definition, typologies and delineation

Types of functional areas

• Functional urban regions

• Functional rural regions

• Functional urban-rural partnerships

• Cross-border regions

• Transnational / macro-regions

• Functional natural regions (national /cross-border/transnational)

• Administrative territories assimilated to functional regions

Definition, typologies and delineation

Main interrelations that help structure functional areas

• Migration / commuting flows

• Cooperation

• Economic relationships

• Capitalization / protection of environmental amenities

Definition, typologies and delineation

Delineation criteria

- Council of Europe Member States have established a wide range of functional areas

that can be identified under different terms, in various national strategic documents,

and at diverse territorial scales, in correlation with their functional purpose.

Country Type of area Delineation criteriaSweden • Labour market areas Commuting flows (analytical functional regions)

• Functional analysis regions Commuting flows

• Metropolitan areas Commuting flows and policy implementation

• Local level cooperation Voluntary association

Turkey • Metropolitan Areas Policy implementation (planning document)

• Centres of Growth Commuting flows

• Regional Poles of Growth Commuting flows

• Structural Transformation Provinces

-

• Priority Development Provinces -

• Rural Areas Policy implementation

• Specialized regions -

• Metropolitan cities Commuting flows

Characteristics

Geographic scale

- Functional areas cover a broad spectrum of scales, from vast transnational and

cross-border functional areas down to local action groups.

Degree of formalization

- Functional areas can be organized organically or as a result of specific policies

Stability in time and space

- They are context-sensitive

Development purposes

- Functional areas are perceived as multi-level cooperation structures that should

focus on a number of common, achievable targets

- Functional spatial planning act in line with improved multi-level collaboration

Functional areas vs potential functional areas

Types of factors that differentiate a cohesive territory from an actual functional area:

• Cooperation relationships or interconnections between different territories

that were established by identifying solutions for common problems or

targets;

• Formalized management/governance structures;

• Mobility of people, goods and information.

Thank you for your attention

Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Fundswww.mdrap.ro

Overview of European Functional Areas: Definition and Typologies(Items extracted from the Questionnaire launched on the theme of Functional Areas)