ATLANTIC SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE CONFERENCE OF PERIPHERAL MARITIME REGIONS OF EUROPE Forward Studies Unit for the Maritime Peripheries CO-FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION UNDER THE INTERREG IIIB ATLANTIC AREA PROGRAMME Union Européenne Fonde Européen de Développement Régional PARTICIPATING REGIONS ALENTEJO ANDALUCÍA AQUITAINE ARGYLL AND BUTE ASTURIAS BASSE-NORMANDIE BRETAGNE CASTILLA Y LEÓN CENTRE CENTRO CORNWALL GALICIA GOBIERNO DE NAVARRA LIMOUSIN LISBOA E VALE DO TEJO MID-WEST NORTE PAYS DE LA LOIRE POITOU-CHARENTES WALES COORDINATION RUI AZEVEDO (General Coordination) – CPMR/FSU JEAN-PAUL CARRIERE (Scientific Coordination and French Team) – EPU – DA (University of Tours – CESA) PATRICK ANVROIN (Administrative Coordination) – CPMR JULIE GOURDEN (Administrative Coordination) – CPMR TEAM OF EXPERTS ADRIAN CADENAS – CECODET – ES ANNE BROSSARD - IAAT (MAPPING) ARTUR COSTA (Coordinator of the Portuguese team) QUATERNAIRE PORTUGAL - PT AUDE PEYRALBES – CPMR TRAINEE CAROLINE BROWN- NAPIER UNIVERSITY, EDINBURGH – UK & IRL DOMINIQUE LOUIS - IAAT (MAPPING) ELISABETH RAKOTOFIRINGA - UMR CNRS CITERES and EPU- DA (University of Tours- CESA) – FR EMILIE BOCK – UMR CNRS CITERES and EPU- DA (University of Tours-CESA) – FR FERMIN RODRIGUEZ (Coordinator of the Spanish team) - CECODET - ES FREDERICO FERREIRA – CPMR / FSU INÊS LOPES - QUATERNAIRE PORTUGAL - PT JACOBO BLANCO FERNÁNDEZ - CECODET - ES JAN MAJOR - UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, BRISTOL– UK & IRL JULIE KING - UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, BRISTOL– UK & IRL LUIS CARVALHO – QUATERNAIRE PORTUGAL - PT MICHAEL HORSWELL - UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, BRISTOL– UK & IRL RAFAEL MENENDEZ - CECODET - ES STUART FARTHING (Coordinator of the British and Irish team)- UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND – UK & IRL SECRETARIAT CARLA GUIMARÃES (Secretariat and collect of information) – CPMR/FSU SYLVIA LANGLAIS – CPMR JUNE 2005 CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................. 1 SYNTHESIS English............................................................................................................................................. 2 Français ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Português....................................................................................................................................... 12 Español.......................................................................................................................................... 17 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 23 2. Territorial and urban Atlantic systems................................................................................. 25 3. Strategic evaluation of the territorial and urban Atlantic systems .................................... 42 3.1 General characteristics of the Atlantic Area ....................................................................... 42 3.2 Human ressources and their dynamics ................................................................................ 47 3.3 The productive structures of the Atlantic regions ............................................................... 53 3.4 The economic dynamism of the regions seen from the point of view of their levels of production, productivity, and employment. .............................................................................. 73 3.5 Transport networks and the accessibility of territories: a lack of intra Atlantic connections ................................................................................................................................................... 81 3.6. The environment and the maritime dimension................................................................... 90 3.7. Evaluation of territorial disparities and potential in the regional environment of metropolitan and intermediate urban systems using a general index: the Relative Development Index (RDI) ............................................................................................................................. 106 3.8. Summary of the results of the strategic evaluation of the Atlantic Area ........................ 111 3.8.1 Motor sub-areas.......................................................................................................... 115 3.8.2 Integration sub-areas .................................................................................................. 117 4. Atlantic inter-regional co-operation.................................................................................... 119 5. Strategic guidelines for the development of the Atlantic Area ......................................... 124 5.1. Reinforcing Atlantic inter-regional co-operation............................................................. 124 5.1.1 Maritime dimension ................................................................................................... 125 5.1.2 Promote the sustainable development of rural Atlantic Areas................................... 129 5.1.3 Strengthen the exchange of experience and co-operation networks .......................... 131 5.2. Future projects and development areas inside the Atlantic Area ..................................... 135 5.2.1 The British Atlantic Area ........................................................................................... 138 5.2.2 The French North-West Area..................................................................................... 138 5.2.3 The French-Spanish Area........................................................................................... 138 5.2.4 The Western Iberian Area .......................................................................................... 139 5.2.5 The Southern Iberian Area ......................................................................................... 139 5.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 140 Glossary.................................................................................................................................... 147 MAP INDEX Map 1 : Location of the different territorial and urban systems in the Atlantic Area Map 2 : Typology of systems Map 3 : Population density Map 4 : Average annual population growth between 1991 and 2002 Map 5 : Activity rate of the population in 2003 Map 6 : Unemployment rate (NUTS 3) Map 7 : Spread of employment Map 8 : Employment concentration Map 9 : Location of dominant sectoral specialisations Map 10 : Highest sectoral specialisation coefficient (NUTS 3) Map 11 : GDP per capita in 2002 Map 12 : Variation of the GDP per capita (in PPP) between 1991 and 2002 Map 13 : Employment growth in Atlantic Area regions Map 14 : Number of towns and (pop. > 50,000) located less than 50 Km away by road Map 15 : Road connectivity of urban ares (niveau 1 et 2) Map 16 : Rail connectivity within the Atlantic Area Map 17 : Short sea shipping route serving Atlantic ports (April 2005) Map 18 : Number of scheduled flights between the Atlantic Area airports Map 19 : Protected areas: situations in the Atlantic Area Map 20 : Relative economic Development Index of Atlantic NUTS 3 area Map 21 : Spatial organisation of the Atlantic Area Map 22 : Spatial vision of the Atlantic Area FOREWORD In the light of cooperation experiences under the Interreg II C programme and in the run-up to the Interreg III B “Atlantic Area” programme, the Atlantic Arc Commission decided to take a closer look at the Atlantic Area’s place and role in the way the European territory is organised. With the firm belief that that the development of the Atlantic regions needs to be considered within a European perspective, the Atlantic Arc Commission decided to put spatial planning in the Atlantic Area at the top of its agenda. This gave rise to the idea to develop an Atlantic Spatial Development Perspective (ASDP) with the participation of three quarters of the Atlantic Arc Commission’s members, under the coordination of the CPMR as project leader. Eighteen months on, we are pleased to present the findings of the work led by the 20 partner regions in the project. The study was written by a team of experts from the UK, France, Spain and Portugal, who regularly discussed their findings and recommendations with the regions. The work that is presented here is quite remarkable in that it presents a highly detailed diagnosis of the relative strengths and weaknesses among our Atlantic regions and with regard to the rest of Europe. This makes it a rather unique work providing a valuable aid for our regions in their territorial development strategies. Drawing on the guidelines identified by the experts and described in the second volume of the report, the regions now need to adopt these proposals as their own as part of their spatial planning policies, since the actual implementation of these guidelines depends on political will and decision-making capabilities. It is important to step up or indeed develop certain partnerships between local authorities (regions, counties, cities) as part of an integration process extending in some cases beyond national borders. This gives the regions a reference that allows them to look at and consider their social, economic, cultural and territorial development in the