RePUS (2007) |
Strategy for Regional Polycentric Urban System in Central-Eastern Europe Economic Integrating Zone |
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RePUS is a project running under the framework of the European Union Community Initiative INTERREG III B of the Central Adriatic Danubian South Eastern European Space (CADSES). The project addresses the problem of a more balanced and sustainable urban development, with the wide objective of building a Regional Polycentric Urban System (RePUS) that could contribute to strengthening an emerging Potential Economic Integrating Zone (PEIZ) in Central and Eastern Europe. Focus is given to the role of medium and small cities, and how to create a critical mass to sustain their regional development and competitiveness. The project covers the following objectives:
- Identifying the potentials of the regional urban systems including the functional roles and the urban hierarchy in the European spatial context.
- Identifying the dynamic medium-small Cities that could play as potential regional capitals for developing new functional integrating areas.
- Promoting the linkages between urban centres and rural areas, focusing on the role of the small towns.
- Promoting urban policy effectiveness and improving the institutional policy capacity within the ongoing decentralisation process.
RRG contributes to RePUS by identifying and analyzing the service areas of Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) based on the calculation of 45-minutes car travel time isochrones. In this, the analytical approach developed in ESPON project 1.1.1 was adapted to the RePUS countries. Particular attention was paid on overlapping and cross-border service areas, which offer specific potentials for regional development, but which also deserves particular attention due to specific challenges. Municipalities located in such areas were identified, and their population masses estimated. Based on overlapping service areas, Potential Integration Areas (PIAs) were identified which offer specific advantages for regional cooperations. The results of this analysis then represent one building block of an overall spatial vision for the RePUS countries – forming broader development axes, cooperation and development areas.
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