Smart growth and inner areas for the territorial cohesion of the italian regions

In the post-economic recession phase following the 2007-08 global financial crisis, there is a growing divergence between European regions and, within them, between the more dynamic metropolitan regions and a growing number of peripheral areas in decline, so that territorial cohesion returns to being a main objective of European regional planning (EU, 2014). In particular, the last Europe 2020 Strategy places the convergence of lagging areas as the foundations to any strategy and precondition for the Union’s competitiveness (European Commission, 2010).