HANDBOOK ON TERRITORIAL COHESION • Application of territorial approaches in developments supported by the public sector The preparation of this Handbook was financed by theState Secretariat of Regional Development and Construction of the Ministry for National Development and Economy (MNDE) The compilation of the Handbook and the coordination of tasks related to its publication were carried out by the Spatial Planning and Assessment Directorate of VÁTI Hungarian Public Nonprofit Company for Regional Development and Town Planning (VÁTI). Project coordinator of MNDE: Mónika Botka, with contributions from Álmos Virág, Dóra Hajek Edited by: Márton Péti (VÁTI), with contributions from VÁTI: Györgyi Szilágyi, Géza Salamin, Nándor Horkay Authors: NFGM: Mónika Botka; VÁTI: Márton Péti, Györgyi Szilágyi, Géza Salamin, Ádám Radvánszki; with contributions by (MNDE): Dóra Hajek, Álmos Virág with contributions by (VÁTI): Nándor Horkay, Attila Sütő, Réka Prokai, Balázs Szabó, Bence Mészáros, Krisztina Magócs, Szabina Körtélyesi, Anett Madarász, Judit Ricz, Zsolt Czene, Tamás Czira Professional proofreaders: Bálint Csatári, Iván Illés, Károly Jávor Translator: Avalon Consulting Bt. Language proofreader: Sarolta Németh Press work: Delounge Creativ Studio Cover design: Mátyás Sain Cover photos: Dániel Somogyi-Tóth (www.legifotok.hu) ISBN: 978-963-7380-16-7 Ministry for National Development and Economy VÁTI Hungarian Public Nonprofit Company for Regional development and Town Planning © NFGM, VÁTI Nonprofit Ltd., 2009 2 Handbook on territorial cohesion Table of content Preface 5 I Introduction 6 II The meaning of territorial cohesion 10 II.1 The interpretation of territorial cohesion in Europe 10 II.2 Hungarian interpretation of territoriality and territorial cohesion 14 II.2.1 Territorial cohesion in the national development concepts 14 II.2.2 Territorial cohesion in national strategies and programmes 15 II.2.3 Four main areas of territorial cohesion 17 III Opportunities for the implementation of territorial cohesion 32 III.1 Territorial approach in the development of strategies 32 III.2 The territorial approach in project development 49 III.2.1 Development projects with positive territorial impact 50 III.2.2 Development projects with positive territorial synergy 60 III.2.3 Projects implementing the principles of sustainable land use 67 III.2.4 The contribution of development projects to achieving national territorial objectives 82 III.2.5 The relevance of territorial cohesion in the individual phases of the lifecycle of project development 90 III.3 The enforcement of territorial cohesion in the implementation of programmes and in the management of funding 95 III.3.1 Territorial approach for programme managers and subsidy managers 97 III.3.2 Appearance of the territorial approach in tenders and projects 100 III.4 Territorial approach in the monitoring and evaluation processes 109 III.4.1 Monitoring and evaluation of spatial processes 109 III.4.2 Targeted territorial cohesion tests, review of the enforcement of territorial objectives 111 III.4.3 Territorial impact analyses 113 III.4.4 Impact evaluations in certain key areas 115 III.4.5 Monitoring of policies, strategies, programmes from territorial aspects 118 IV Effective best practices in development projects – development schemes enforcing territorial approach 120 V Appendices 148 V.1 List of abbreviations 148 V.2 List of definitions 149 V.3 Bibliography 161 V.4 Main data of projects included in the Handbook as examples 162 Márton Péti: I, II.2.1, II.2.3, III.1, III.2.3-5; III.3-4; co-author: III.2.1-2, IV / Györgyi Szilágyi: III.2.2, III.3-4, IV.; co-author: I, II.2.2-3, III.2.1, III.2.3-5 / Géza Salamin: III.2.1, III.4, IV.1.; co-author: II.1, II.2.1, II.2.3, III.2.4 / Mónika Botka: II.2.2; co-author: I, II.1, II.2.1, II.2.3, III.2.2, III.2.4-5, III.3-4./ Nándor Horkay co-author: II.2.3, III.2.2, III.3 / Ádám Radvánszki: II.1; co-author: II.2.1, III.4 / Attila Sütő co-author: III.2.4, III.2.3 / Balázs Szabó co-author: IV / Réka Prokai co-author: IV / Dóra Hajek co-author: IV 3 Preface 4 Handbook on territorial cohesion Preface Nowadays, the term “territorial cohesion” has been increasingly used in Hungary and in the European Union. However, due to the lack of a standard definition, its application in practice raises many questions. That is why this Handbook aims to provide a Hungarian interpretation of cohesion, taking the potential areas and methods of application into ac- count. Furthermore, the importance of territorial cohesion and the benefits of the applica- tion thereof are supported by the presentation of successfully implemented projects. Our intention is to encourage the use of a territorial approach in development programmes and projects, thus increasing their efficiency and efficacy. The increased application of territorial thinking is supported by the fact that Hungary is comprised of areas with very diverse geographic, economic and social characteristics; and there are strong socio-economic development disparities between the various areas, which are unfortunately further increasing, rather than decreasing. The successful handling of this disadvantageous trend requires differentiated spatial policy and development policy. The National Spatial Development Concept, laying down the foundations for Hungarian spatial development policy, follows this principle; in its vision, it aims at sustainable development without significant territorial disparities. The medium-term and long-term basic principles and objectives of spatial development are defined to achieve this overall objective. With Hungary’s accession to the European Union, financial resources were made available that created opportunities to encourage the renewal, development and competitiveness of our country as never before. In order to be able to utilise these funds efficiently, it is important to enforce our territorial policy goals. It is essential that the developments can correspond and harmonise with territorial characteristics. Furthermore, the role of the regions, micro-regions, regions of national importance and towns has to be strengthened. Balanced, harmonious and sustainable territorial development is served by the fact that territorial cohesion was defined as a horizontal policy to be enforced in every planning document and development in the course of using the structural and cohesion funds in the period between 2007 and 2013. Hungarian spatial development faces an important task during the EU presidency in the first half of 2011; the revision, renewal and submission of the „Territorial State and Perspective of the European Union” and the „Territorial Agenda”, which form the future of the Com- munity. A system of territorial cohesion approaches and practical application of its aspects was elaborated, which is new and unique in Hungary and in other EU member states. With the publication and distribution of this Handbook to as many people as possible, our intention was the dissemination of our knowledge and experience, which helps the reader to prepare and implement well-considered, territorially-integrated, programmes and developments. I wish you great success in making use of this Handbook and its information! Dr. Péter Szaló State Secretary for Regional Development 5 Introduction I Introduction The aim of this Handbook In order to promote territorial cohesion, the public sector has to apply a territorial approach in the organisation and development of its activities. A well-known territorial cohesion objective is to support regions lagging behind, but this is in fact, a much broader term that also includes other interesting and beneficial ambitions for communities. The aim of this Handbook is to provide an insight into the interpretation of territorial cohesion for experts working in the field ofpublic sector development. The goal is to promote territorial cohesion in various development activities and to enable experts to carry out their activities based on a territorial approach. In the interdisciplinary area of development policy, the co-operation between various professions and the application of a geographic approach are preconditions for a success- ful enforcement of territorial cohesion. This rather complex task assumes diverse expertise and teamwork, which, in practice, is not always available in the planning-development work. Hence, this Handbook tries to present the basic ideas and explain them with the help of many examples. The content can be understood and applied even without a deep knowledge of geography, economics, sociology, landscape and environmental studies or engineering. The main target groups of the Handbook are: – Sectoral policy and development policy-makers (e.g.: experts in ministries or govern- mental bodies involved in strategic planning and development policy, as well as advi- sory organisations supporting their work) – Municipalities as well as regional and spatial management organisations formulat- ing sectoral developments for a region or an area (e.g.: planning experts in regional devel- opment agencies and micro-regional associations, the planners of Regional Associa- tions (such as the Balaton or Lake Tisza Development Council), planning experts in municipalities, as well as advisory organisations supporting their work) – Developers, project owners implementing public or private investments, competing for funds (e.g.: people working at the development or operation departments of mu- nicipalities, enterprises, and advisors supporting project applications and project