Aspatial Peripherality in Europe

Abstract

"Aspatial Peripherality, Innovation and the Rural Economy" (AsPIRE) was a European research project funded by the EU Fifth Framework Programme concerned with the changing nature of peripheral regions. Recent advances in transport and communication technology have created the potential for fundamental changes in relationships between highly accessible "core" and less accessible "peripheral" regions. Some peripheral regions have taken advantage of these new opportunities, while others perhaps more accessible regions lag behind. The AsPIRE project aimed at explaining these differences in response. 'Aspatial peripherality' is a term devised by the project team to describe a range of processes to compensate for the handicaps associated with remote locations. The report presented here was a contribution of the Institute of Spatial Planning, University of Dortmund to AsPIRE. It developed cartographic patterns of aspatial peripherality and a quantitative analysis of the linkages between different "soft" and "hard" factors of aspatial peripherality and key economic indicators.