Development Planning and Territorial Integration Prospects in South Eastern Europe: A Foresight Exercise in the Region of Central Macedonia

Abstract

This chapter emphasizes the need for the territorial integration of South Eastern Europe, as the trajectory followed by the individual countries and regions and the relations between them de facto affects their development prospects. It presents the debate on development, with an emphasis on the importance of the spatial dimension in the global context in view of creating competitive advantages in the domains of technology and innovation. The chapter explains a number of aspects of the socio-economic situation prevailing in the Balkans, with the corresponding data on the region of Central Macedonia. It also examines regional policy in Greece in the 1990s with particular reference to Central Macedonia, from the viewpoint of its development priorities. The chapter elaborates on the results of a regional foresight exercise in Central Macedonia in relation to the economic space of South Eastern Europe, over a time-span of fifteen-year, with particular attention paid to emerging regional policy priorities. © Panayiotis Getimis and Grigoris Kafkalas 2007.