Territorial cohesion in Europe, the role of transport corridors

Abstract

The ‘territorial cohesion’; is in the latest focus of spatial science, after its incorporation into the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon together with economic and social cohesion. CTP and TENs policies with their clear territorial character have the objective of a more efficient and environmentally friendly transport, while reinforcing economic, social and territorial cohesion across the European territory. However, these goals are partly in conflict with each other. In some cases transportation policy initiatives cannot favour all those goals at the same time. Phenomena such as ‘tunnel’ and ‘absorption effects’ are particularly expressed territorially, and are considered to be the polar opposite to territorial cohesion. So, the purpose of this Thesis is to investigate both developmental and spatial impacts of the TEN-T in the light of territorial cohesion. Conclusions given by this thesis may provide a benchmark for TENs and their developmental role. At last, a series of solutions are given for the cases where transport improvements cause territorial imbalances.