A new publication has been published by Balázs Páger and Simon Baumgartinger-Seiringera.
This paper adopts a dynamic perspective on regional contexts to examine how structurally challenged regions simultaneously pursue green and inclusive socio-economic development.
The authors propose a simple typology of problem types that differentiates challenged regions by the direction of change in socio-economic and environmental dynamics: Prosperity on eroding foundations, Catching up towards unsustainability, and In an unsustainability trap.
Using mixed methods across 11 case study regions in the Danube macro area, they compare these regions along five lines of inquiry: existing assets and points of departure, framing and prioritization of goals, actor constellations and networks, modes of implementation, and lessons on shifting trajectories.
A core finding is the recurrence of zero-sum and trade-off thinking in challenged regions: environmental gains are often counterbalanced against (perceived or actual) socio-economic losses, albeit in ways that vary across contexts.
The article is available in European Planning Studies: https://lnkd.in/dEg4b_fG
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