The European Green Deal outlines the European Union's strategy to achieve a carbon-neutral society, aligning with the UN Agenda 2030. The Just Transition Mechanism extends the Green Deal to the social dimension of sustainability. Together, they compose the Just Green Transition (JGT) framework, conceived to go beyond the Sustainable Development Goals by introducing a value-driven approach supported by specific resources and governance models. Yet, its implementation is uneven due to Europe's institutional and territorial heterogeneity. Drawing on evidence from the ESPON NoStaGeo project, the contribution explores how JGT is governed across 40 European institutional contexts, with particular attention to institutional instruments and spatial arrangements. On this basis, the authors propose a preliminary typology of JGT governance, suggesting that, while no one-size-fits-all model exists, effective JGT governance requires combining strong multi-level and multisector coordination with territorial flexibility and stakeholder inclusion.

In July 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2028–2034 period. Alongside the MFF proposal, the draft regulation was also released, initiating a two-year consultation and negotiation process that will culminate in its final adoption by the Council and the European Parliament. This new proposal arrives at a critical juncture for the European Union, as it seeks to redefine its long-term budgetary priorities in a context marked by growing geopolitical instability, the green and digital transitions, and increasing pressures on cohesion and solidarity mechanisms. This paper offers an overview of the evolving debate surrounding the proposed MFF, highlighting both its continuity with and departure from previous frameworks. It focuses in particular on the paradigmatic shift underpinning the Commission’s approach, suggesting that the new MFF marks a definitive transition. from a “Europe of regions” to a “Europe of nations.” In doing so, it critically examines how the proposed financial architecture redistributes political and economic influence across and regions, identifying the apparent winners and losers in this emerging configuration of European integration.

Abstract This chapter examines the political dimension of the Western Balkans’ transition to a carbon-free economy, emphasising the EU’s Green Agenda for the Western Balkans as both a framework for environmental reform and a geopolitical tool. Introduced in 2020 as part of the EU Green Deal, the Agenda aligns the region with EU standards, strengthening political and institutional convergence despite ongoing accession challenges. It highlights the interplay between domestic political dynamics, governance deficiencies, and EU conditionality in shaping progress on renewable energy, climate adaptation, and regulatory alignment. While the Agenda enhances EU influence in a geopolitically contested region, significant obstacles remain. These include coal dependency, weak governance structures, and resistance from entrenched interests. Furthermore, societal transition fatigue complicates the implementation of reforms, risking public disillusionment with the EU accession process. To address these challenges, the chapter calls for a more inclusive governance model, more substantial political commitment, and enhanced transparency to counteract resistance and ensure accountability. By examining the Green Agenda’s dual role as a sustainability framework and political instrument, the chapter concludes with policy recommendations to strengthen its impact, ensuring the region’s transition aligns with EU integration goals while addressing local political complexities.

In contemporary spatial planning, territorial resilience is rapidly gaining relevance, referring to a territory’s capacity to withstand, adapt to, recover from, and transform in response to environmental, social, and economic pressures. However, several constraints limit its operationalisation in planning. A key element to addressing this gap is to investigate where and which interventions are most urgently needed to tackle the impact of hazards on territories. This can be achieved by understanding and localising the vulnerabilities of territorial systems, thereby enabling the definition of appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures. This paper presents the application of R3C-GeoResilience, an open-source GIS tool and its methodological framework, which allows mapping territorial vulnerabilities across different geographical contexts and spatial scales. The methodology is applied to the Italian case of the Union of Bassa Romagna (UBR), aiming to build capacity for local practitioners to implement resilience thinking in decision-making processes. Findings underscore the potential of R3C-GeoResilience to enhance evidence-based planning and policymaking, supporting adaptive and transformative strategies to address territorial vulnerabilities. The application of the research demonstrates the replicability and adaptability of the methodological framework for integrating participatory vulnerability mapping into local governance and urban planning strategies, thereby enhancing the resilience of territories.

Abstract This chapter examines the Just Transition frameworks of Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands within the context of the European Green Deal. With the EU aiming for climate neutrality by 2050, the Just Green Transitions seek to ensure a balanced, socially equitable shift to sustainability, particularly in regions reliant on high-carbon industries. The comparative analysis presented in this chapter highlights how each country’s unique socioeconomic and environmental priorities shape its approach to the Just Green Transitions approach, underscoring the importance of flexibility and inclusivity. It shows how Italy and Poland prioritise economic resilience and workforce retraining in coal-dependent regions, while Sweden emphasises ecological connectivity and biodiversity. The Netherlands, focusing on regional flexibility and stakeholder engagement, supports industrial innovation through integrated funding and adaptable Territorial Just Transition Plans. The selected case studies offer insights into the EU’s collective path to a sustainable future, stressing the need for tailored solutions that address local challenges while achieving EU-wide climate goals.

The Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (GAWB) aims to build transnational cooperation in the Western Balkan (WB) region under key green agenda policy themes. This article explores whether the GAWB development and implementation process reflects an exercise in experimentalist macro-regional governance in the WBs. The GAWB process is examined through the lens of experimentalist governance and its four core dimensions. The assessment indicates that an experimentalist macroregional governance logic is driving GAWB processes, which promote coherence between WB countries under green agenda policies. The GAWB, therefore, lays the foundations for future macro-regional strategy building within the WB region.

Whereas the Europeanisation of spatial planning in the Member States is extensively researched, few studies have focused on non-Member countries. To shed some light on the matter, this contribution analyses how the European Union (EU) has influenced spatial planning organisation and practices in Albania and Switzerland. Starting from a conceptualisation of Europeanisation as an iterative cycle of uploading and downloading influences that link EU-level territorial governance with domestic spatial planning systems, the authors explore the differential impact that various drivers of change - rules, resources and discourses - have produced in the two countries at the national, subnational and local levels.

Since the dissolution of the centralized economic systems, the Western Balkans have embarked on a gradual integration into the European Union. This entailed the introduction of new legislation, the assimilation of novel concepts and ideas, and the adoption of instruments and operational methods. This adaptation has permeated several sectors. While the EU's jurisdiction does not explicitly extend to spatial planning, it has cast its shadow on this field. This paper undertakes a twofold mission. First, it traverses the cultural, institutional, and territorial spheres to unearth the tangible evidence of the Europeanisation of spatial planning in the region. Secondly, it delves into the subtle resistance mechanisms to external pressures that have also contributed to shaping spatial planning and land use. The confluence of evidence showcases that, despite being exposed to pervasive European influences, the evolution of spatial planning in the Western Balkans remains intrinsically tethered to historical paths.

Al governo del territorio è richiesto di essere future- oriented, non tanto per prevedere le traiettorie delle trasformazioni, quanto per indirizzarle e accompagnarle. Gli strumenti di pianificazione hanno il compito di ‘territorializzare' gli investimenti derivanti dalle programmazioni sovralocali. In questo senso si inserisce l'esperienza del Piano territoriale di area vasta (ptav) della Provincia di Ravenna che, in qualità di strumento strategico non cogente, offre un quadro di possibilità d'azione alle amministrazioni locali. Nel rendere conto di tale esperienza, il contributo presenta un'analisi di compatibilità delle sue linee strategiche con quelle prefissate dai principali strumenti della programmazione sovralocale creando le condizioni per un uso sinergico dei fondi a disposizione.

Planning researchers often engage in international comparative research oriented to improving domestic planning practices. However, policy transfer is seldom sucsessful because the identified 'best practices' are insufficiently applicable or transferable. To address this, we employed a reflexive action-oriented methodology valorise the results of an ESPON project on sustainable urbanisation in two specific contexts: Lithuania's national strategic plan and Croatia's post-earthquake reconstruction. In collaboration with stakeholders, we assessed the local context and then used the European knowledge as a means for reflection. The results are encouraging, suggesting that this method could improve the impact of planning research.

This paper shows that, in principle, better public control in planning tends to contain land consumption in the medium-long term, thus confirming the reliability of the typology of spatial governance and planning systems in Europe recently proposed in this journal. That typology, covering 39 countries classified into five types of system by decreasing capacity for public control, is here related to the variation of land consumption in the respective countries over approximately 20 years. The result of the quantitative comparison is interpreted and refined through a qualitative analysis aimed at explaining the apparent anomalies. The results of the analysis generally verify the investigated correlation. Ultimately, to give substance to the declared commitment to curb or reduce land consumption, political attention should also be paid to the quality of the institutional technologies that can work to this end.

Nel corso degli ultimi anni, lo sviluppo integrato è diventato elemento imprescindibile della programmazione europea e di conseguenza della politica di coesione. In questo senso, i territori hanno occasione di sperimentare nuove forme di governance e meccanismi di attuazione superando la rigidità dei confini amministrativi e adottando strategie in grado di rispecchiare le interdipendenze funzionali. Varie sono le iniziative attualmente in corso in Italia, sebbene ancora non coordinate. Questo servizio discute alcuni casi e pone l'accetto sulla necessità di sviluppare una maggiore riflessione su fenomeni che stanno lentamente trasformando il quadro di programmazione territoriale e istituzionale.

L'urbanizzazione in aumento sottolinea la complessità delle politiche territoriali nelle aree metropolitane, con s?de di governance e competizione. Le Città metropolitane italiane, operative a seguito della ‘riforma Delrio', hanno ?n da subito dovuto affrontare numerose s?de. In relazione alla dimensione sovralocale, non hanno ancora svolto un ruolo rilevante nella programmazione della politica di coesione europea. Un'importante opportunità si è venuta a creare con il Recovery and Resilience Facility. In particolare, le Città metropolitane italiane sono state chiamate a svolgere un ruolo più centrale nelle s?de de?nite dal PNRR. Questa raccolta di contributi descrive l'evoluzione dell'ente metropolitano italiano tra la politica di coesione e il PNRR.

La co-produzione urbana, attraverso cui i cittadini contribuiscono alla piani?cazione e al governo delle città con le istituzioni pubbliche, è pratica diffusa in tutta Europa. Il modello ricorrente è quello spontaneo della ‘co-city', mentre solo pochi paesi hanno adottato politiche nazionali di co-produzione urbana. Un confronto con i sistemi europei di governo del territorio rivela, a ben vedere, almeno tre livelli di possibile correlazione. A parte i casi spontanei di co-city, le politiche nazionali di co-produzione urbana sembrano presenti soltanto se i sistemi sono capaci di garantire una migliore capacità di controllo pubblico. Inoltre, solo i sistemi che assegnano caso per caso i diritti d'uso del suolo consentono alla coproduzione di fare parte del sistema stesso.

Urban co-production, through which citizens contribute with the public institutions to the planning or governance of the city, is a growing practice throughout Europe. However, apart from the more widespread and spontaneous 'co-city' model, only a few countries have adopted state policies of urban co-production. A comparative inquiry of the European spatial governance and planning systems (SGPSs) highlights at least three possible types of correlation between systems and urban co-production. Urban co-production as a state policy appears to take shape only in countries with SGPSs characterized by a greater capacity for public control over spatial development. Moreover, only SGPSs that allocate land rights on a case-by-case basis seem able to ensure that co-production operates within (and not outside) the system itself.

The peculiar spatial features of metropolitan areas—sprawled urbanisation, integrated economic and transport systems, large commuting dynamics, etc.—have contributed to accelerate and maximise the diffusion of COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic spread outside the core municipalities following fluid functional patterns, in turn calling for actions that do not respond to traditional administrative units but should be tailored to softer functional geographies. Drawing on the results of the ESPON METRO research project and other studies, this chapter argues that wide-area metropolitan governance arrangements are well positioned to mitigate the impact of pandemic events and, more importantly, to plan resilient territorial development futures in their aftermath. In this light, the authors discuss to what extent the pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for this to happen. The results of the analysis show that the scope and magnitude of metropolitan activity triggered by the pandemic in its early phase have been rather limited and mostly of a reactive nature. At the same time, there is evidence of a growing metropolitan engagement, especially in the framework of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility initiative. A situation that, in the long run, may contribute to enhance the resilience of the European regions and their social, economic and territorial cohesion.

L'adozione dei meccanismi di trasferimento dei diritti edi?catori nel territorio lombardo ha portato i comuni al loro recepimento nella strumentazione urbanistica per garantire l'equo trattamento dei proprietari e assicurare la dotazione di aree per servizi e attrezzature pubbliche. In alcune amministrazioni comunali, l'adattamento di questi meccanismi ai contesti locali ha generato speci?ci ‘modelli applicativi'. Tra questi casi Milano rappresenta un esempio emblematico rispetto a obiettivi ricercati, concetti introdotti, ?essibilità applicativa e ruoli del ‘mercato'. Il contributo si confronta con questa complessa realtà attraverso differenti interviste a esperti allo scopo di riconoscere i caratteri dell'esperienza milanese e sottolineare le criticità ravvisabili in questo modello.

Since the end of the 1980s, several studies have been conducted aiming at understanding the heterogeneity of spatial planning traditions across Europe. Over the years, such studies became more comprehensive and included many European (and not only the European Union) countries. Nevertheless, some parts of Europe (e.g., the Western Balkans or the post-Soviet countries) usually remained excluded from the mentioned studies. To mitigate this gap, the paper focuses on the case of Russia. Using a twofold methodological approach, the paper firstly examines the attributes of Russian spatial planning (through a multi-layered analysis of the socio-economic and institutional settings, the evolution of spatial planning over a century, and contemporary planning instruments and procedures of plan-making), to then compare the attributes of the Russian spatial planning system to the core features of the European planning styles. As a result, the elements of multiple distinct spatial planning styles can be traced in Russian spatial planning: land use management and regional economic planning seem to prevail, whilst comprehensive integrated and urbanism traditions are less represented but not absent. Bearing in mind the complexity of the exercise, this contribution should be considered a preliminary attempt to enlarge the existing comparative studies beyond European countries.