Projects, chronologically:
ESPON Maritime Accessibility (2016-2017)ESPON Future Accessibility (2016-2017)
ESPON Possible European Territorial Futures (2016-2017)
ESPON Modelling "Less Efficient Regulation" (2016)
ESPON Matrices – Update of Accessibility Indicators (2014)
ESPON ATLAS: Atlas on European Territorial Structures and Dynamics (2012-2014)
ESPON ET2050: Territorial Scenarios and Visions for Europe (2011-2014)
ESPON GREECO: Territorial Potentials for a Greener Economy (2011-2014)
Dissemination of ESPON Results in Germany (2011-2015)
ESPON TRACC: Transport Accessibility at Regional/Local Scale and Patterns in Europe (2010-2014)
ESPON Update of Air and Multimodal Accessibility Maps (2008-2009)
Ex-ante Evaluation of the TEN-T Multi-Annual Programme 2007-2013 (2007)
ESPON Update of Selected Potential Accessibility Maps (2006-2007)
ESPON 1.4.4: Preparatory Study on Feasibility of Flows Analysis (2006-2007)
SETI: Strategic Evaluation on Transport Investment Priorities 2007-2013 (2005-2006)
STEPS: Scenarios for the Transport System and Energy Supply (2004-2006)
ESPON 1.1.3: Enlargement (2003-2006)
ESPON 2.1.1: Territorial Impacts of EU Transport and TEN Policies (2002-2005)
ESPON 1.1.1: Polycentric Development (2002-2005)
ESPON 1.2.1: Transport Services and Networks (2002-2005)
European Accessibility and Peripherality: Concepts, Models and Indicators (2002-2004)
Maritime Accessibility (2016-2017)
In the ESPON project "Accessibility by the Sea Indicators" S&W determines the maritime accessibilizy of
European sea ports. For tis various transport data are porcessed, in particular cartographically. These include
traffic columes and interconnections of the ports as well as their cartographic representation of ferry connections
in different European seas. In addition the land-side accessibilities of the ports are determined as indicators
of their connectedness within their countries.
Zukünftige Errreichbarkeit (2016-2017)
In the ESPON project "Scenarios for Accessibility by the Sea, Road, Rail, Air and Multimodal" S&W determines
accessibility patterns to be expected in the future for the regions of Europe. Based on the plans for the
trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) road, rail, air and multimodal accessibility potentials for the years 2030
and 2050 are calculated using the aaccessibility model of S&W. In addition it is analysed how by this the land-side
accessibility of European sea ports changes.
Possible European Territorial Futures (2016-2017)
In the ESPON project "Possible European Territorial Futures" the present situation and expected spatial development
of Europe are to be analysed in particular with respect to cohesion aspects. For this the spatial impacts of different
developments in the fields of economy, energy and land markets are to be studied in three scenarios. In particular
three questions are to be answered, what would happen in the EU differently from current trends if a spatially
concentrated circular economy would be implemented, if energy would be provided entirely from renewable sources.
and if crises on national land and housing markets would occur. In all three cases the present situation is
to be analysed, the foreseeable trend development is to be assessed and the possible consquences of the indicated
different developments are to be explored with qualitative methods. Project partners are Spatial Foresight (Luxembourg) as
lead partner, Mcrit (Barcelona) and ISINNOVA (Rom) supported by a wide network of thematic experts.
Modelling "Less Efficient Regulation" (2016)
As the basis of an ESPON Policy Brief on the spatial consequences of better regulation following the
Institutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of the European Commission, S&W combined the
scenarios of the spatial development of Europe they had developed in the ESPON project ET2050 with
assumptions about the efficiency of the implementation of EU subsidy policies in order to examine the impacts
of less efficient regulation. Two framework assumptions, that EU transport policies or all EU policies were
implemented with less efficiency, were combined with three spatial scenarios: promotion of metropolitan
areas, promotion of small and medium-sized cities and promotion of peripheral and rural regions.
The Report on the project and the resulting
Policy Brief are available for download.
ESPON Matrices – Update of Accessibility Indicators (2014)
S&W conducts an update of indicators of potential accessibility for the ESPON project Matrices. The update
consists on the one hand in the new calculation of accessibility indicators fpr the updated European NUTS regions (2010)
and on the other other hand in the calculation of the same accessibility indicators for the year 2014. The project was
conducted in co-operation with RRG – Büro für Raumforschung, Raumplanung und Geoinformation.
ESPON ATLAS: Atlas on European Territorial Structures and Dynamics (2012-2014)
The ESPON Atlas 2014 is to present a comprehensive overview of key findings of ESPON 2013
projects about European territorial structures, trends and perspectives and policy impacts. The
ESPON ATLAS project supports the mission of ESPON of supporting policy development by compiling
an "ESPON Atlas on European Territorial Structures and Dynamics". The Atlas is to cover the
multitude of ESPON themes, enable comparisons between regions and cities and contribute to
the better understanding of European territorial diversity of potentials and challenges. The
project group of ESPON ATLAS consists of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs
and Regional Development (BBSR), S&W and VÁTI Regional Development and Town Planning,
Budapest, Hungary. S&W contributes to the Atlas concept, will develop selected chapters
and is responsible for the interactive Internet-based version of the Atlas. The ESPON Atlas 2014
can be downloaded from ESPON Atlas 2014.
ESPON ET2050: Territorial Scenarios and Visions for Europe (2011-2014)
The aim of this project was to develop a vision of the European territory supported by sound
scientific knowledge. In a participatory process different groups of stakeholders were involved
in developing the vision to widen thematic, temporal and territorial horizons by imagining a
future that transcends sector-based, short-term and domestic policy considerations. The following
key questions were to be answered: (1) What is the current state of the European territorial
structure? (2) What will be the future European territorial structure if development trends and
policies remain unchanged? (3) What are feasible future European territorial structures in
three exploratory scenarios? (4) What is the room for politically steering the future territorial
development in Europe? (5) What could be midterm targets in order to steer territorial
development towards the desired long-term vision, and what policy actions are required
to meet these midterm targets? The task of S&W in the project was to model the spatial
development of the European continent until the year 2050 subject to different assumptions
about the future structural and cohesion policy of the European Union and the further
improvement of the European transport networks. Project partners were, under the project
leadership of Mcrit S.L. (Spain), twelve research institutions from Belgium, France, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. More information about the project is
available on the project page of S&W, the central
project website and the
ESPON website
ESPON GREECO: Territorial Potentials for a Greener Economy (2011-2014)
The main objective of this project is to identify European regions with a particular potential for
developing a green economy through spatial planning and cohesion policies. The project is to
contribute to better understanding the territorial dimension of the green economy based on the
natural characteristics of regions throughout Europe, to assess the current state and future
perspectives of the green economy in European regions based on relevant indicators of regions
that share common development opportunities and challenges and to identify efficient policy
actions to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of European regions. Project
partners are, under the project leadership of the Fundacion Tecnalia Research and Innovation
(Spain), Nordregio (Sweden), the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern
Europe (Hungary) and the Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change of
Roskilde University (Denmark). The results of the project are be available on the
ESPON website.
Dissemination of ESPON Results in Germany (2011-2015)
Selected results of the ESPON Programme on spatial development in Europe are summarised in
German language and from a German perspective in a dissemination project for the Federal Institute
for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR). The aim is to link ESPON
results to the national debate on spatial development and thus to strengthen the knowledge about
European spatial development in the scientific community, different political levels and also in
schools and universities. The results are published in six thematic information booklets.
Each of them is devoted to one thematic topic and based on the results of one or
several ESPON projects on that topic. The themes of the six booklets are:
(1) Energy and Climate,
(2)
Metropolitan Areas and Rural Regions,
(3)
Growth and Innovation,
(4)
Demographic Transition and Services of General Interest,
(5)
Accessibility and Spatial Development and
(6)
Spatial Scenarios for Europe 2050.
ESPON TRACC: Transport Accessibility at Regional/Local Scale and Patterns in Europe
(2010-2014)
The ESPON project TRACC (Transport Accessibility at Regional/Local Scale and Patterns
in Europe) aimed at taking up and updating the results of existing studies on accessibility
at the European scale, to extend the range of accessibility indicators by further indicators
responding to new policy questions, to extend the spatial resolution of accessibility
indicators and to explore the likely impacts of policies at the European and national
scale to improve global, European and regional accessibility in the light of new challenges,
such as globalisation, energy scarcity and climate change. Project partners were the
Charles University of Prague, Czech Republic, RRG Spatial Planning and Geoinformation,
Oldenburg, Germany, Mcrit, Barcelona, Spain, the University of Oulu, Finland, TRT Trasporti
e Territorio, Milan, Italy and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the
Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. More information on the page
ESPON TRACC.
ESPON Update of Air and Multimodal Accessibility Maps (2008-2009)
With the start of the new ESPON 2013 Programme a couple of key indicators of the previous
programming period were updated. Potential accessibility indicators belong to this group of
important indicators for European regions. Since S&W had provided already the update of road and
rail accessibility indicators, this study calculated air and multimodal potential accessibility
based on network data for the year 2006. The objective was not only to provide an updated
database for potential accessibility but also to analyse the spatial dynamics that happened
since the beginning of this decade. One result of this update of air and multimodal potential
accessibility was published as
Map of the Month on the ESPON website.
Ex-ante Evaluation of the TEN-T Multi-Annual Programme 2007-2013 (2007)
The project for General Directorate Transport and Energy (TREN) of the European Commission aimed at an ex-ante evaluation of several alternative combinations of Eureopen transport projects proposed to be financed in the Programming Period 2007-2013 of the EU multi-annual transport investment programme. In the project S&W applied the SASI model for forecasting the impacts of the alternatives on accessibility and economic development of NUTS-3 regions and indicators of spatial cohesion and sustainability for the member states and the EU as a whole. The Final Report of the project can be downloaded from DG TREN's TEN-T Studies website.
ESPON Update of Selected Potential Accessibility Maps (2006-2007)
In ESPON 1.2.1, S&W had developed potential accessibility indicators for road, rail
and air for NUTS-3 regions for the year 2001. These accessibility indicators were used in several ESPON projects
and EU documents, among them the Third Cohesion Report of the European Commission. In 2006 ESPON commissioned
a study to update the potential accessibility indicators for road and rail with 2006 network data. The work was
carried out in in co-operation with RRG Spatial Planning and Geoinformation, Oldenburg i. H., Germany.
The
Final Report of the study can be downloaded from the
ESPON website.
ESPON 1.4.4: Preparatory Study on Feasibility of Flows Analysis (2006-2007)
The ESPON project 1.4.4 "Preparatory Study on Feasibility of Flows Analysis" was a feasibility and pilot
study preparing for more in-depth research on spatial interactions ("flows") in ESPON 2013. Its main objectives were,
building on existing work in ESPON, to give an overview on existing research, analytical concepts, indicators and data
relevant for flows analysis in ESPON, to demonstrate suitable research methods and to elaborate a proposal for
future research projects on flows in ESPON. Partners in ESPON 1.4.4 were S&W as Lead Partner, the Institute of
Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IGiPZ PAN), Warszawa, Poland and
TRT Trasporti e Territorio, Milano, Italy. The
Final Report of ESPON 1.4.4 can be downladed from the
ESPON website.
SETI: Strategic Evaluation on Transport Investment Priorities 2007-2013 (2005-2006)
This study for the General Directorate for Regional Policy (REGIO) of the European Commission undertook a strategic evaluation of European transport investment priorities under the Structural and Coehsion Funds in the 15 Cohesion countries of the European Union for the Programming Period 2007-2013. The study was led by ECORYS Nederland BV in collaboration with national evaluator teams in all countries. S&W contributed to the study by applying the SASI model to simulate the impacts of different investment scenarios on accessibility, regional economic development and spatial cohesion. The Final Report of the study can be downloaded from the DG REGIO website .
STEPS: Scenarios for the Transport System and Energy Supply (2004-2006)
The aim of the project STEPs (Scenarios for the Transport System and Energy Supply and their
Potential Effects) was to develop, compare and assess possible scenarios for the transport system
and energy supply of the future taking into account the autonomy and security of energy supply, effects
on the environment, the economy and technological development and the impacts of measures to
internalise external costs and the interactions between transport and spatial development. More
information on the page STEPs.
ESPON 1.1.3: EU Enlargement (2003-2006)
The project ESPON 1.1.3 "Enlargement of the European Union and the Wider European Perspective
as regards its Polycentric Spatial Structure" looked at the territory of the European Union with
special attention to the discontinuities and potentials of the integration of the twelve new member
states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 and the associated multiple goal conflicts between the
goals of competitiveness and spatial cohesion. The project applied different methods to analyse
the growing competitiveness of the new member states and the degree of cohesion and
polycentricity within them. The project suggested a phase strategy of spatial development applying
different spatial policies to the EU member states according to their phase of economic development.
The
Final Report of ESPON 1.1.3 can be downloaded from the
ESPON website.
ESPON 2.1.1: Territorial Impacts of EU Transport and TEN Policies (2002-2005)
The project ESPON 2.1.1 was to assess the territorial impacts of EU Transport and TEN policies with
respect to how much they contribute to the objectives of the European Spatial Development Perspective
(ESDP) competitiveness, spatial cohesion and polycentricity. For this the project assessed several retrospective and
prospective scenarios of European transport and telecommunications infrastructure and related policies with respect to
their impacts on traffic congestion, regional economic performance, spatial cohesion and polycentricity of
urban systems using state-of-the-art regional economic models. In addition, the project looked into institutional
and implementation issues of European transport and telecommunications policy and made suggestions for how to
overcome national interests in favour of a common European perdspective. More information on the page
ESPON 2.1.1.
ESPON 1.1.1: Polycentric Development (2002-2005)
The objective of ESPON 1.1.1 was to provide the background for a more informed discussion of polycentric
development in Europe. For this the project provided an overview of the European urban system with regards
to functional specialisations and current degrees of polycentricity as well as a prospective analysis of possible
effects of regional polycentric integration in different parts of Europe. Existing partnerships at the inter-municipal,
inter-regional and transnational scales were analysed and differents applications of polycentricity in national
policies were reviewed. ESPON 1.1.1 proposed a definition of functional urban areas (FUA) and metropolitan
European growth areas (MEGA). S&W contributed to the project accessibility indicators for FUA and MEGA and a
proposal for an Index of Polycentricity taking into account size, location and connectivity aspects. The
Final Report of ESPON 1.1.1 can be downloaded from the
ESPON website.
ESPON 1.2.1: Transport Services and Networks (2002-2005)
ESPON 1.2.1 "Transport Services and Networks: Territorial Trends and Basic Supply of Infrastructure for
Territorial Cohesion" was to provide an overview of the state and development of the European transport
networks of all modes by integrating transport and socio-economic indicators to investigate how transport
networks constitute a key factor of a balanced, polycentric and sustainable spatial development
and how they provide the accessibility to basic services and to knowledge and so contribute to spatial cohesion.
The study was based on data and results of other studies and on existing methods of the project
partners and so blended state-of-the-art and newly developed methods to describe different aspects of
transport infrastructure and transport supply in Europe and its regions. S&W's main contribution to the
project were different kinds of modal and multimodal accessibility indicators. The
Final Report of ESPON 1.2.1 can be downladed from the
ESPON website.
European Accessibility and Peripherality: Concepts, Models and Indicators (2002-2004)
In the project for the Nordic Centre for Spatial Development (Nordregio) a review of accessibility concepts, models and indicators was undertaken. The project concluded the work done in a number of studies applying a European perspective to accessibility and peripherality of the Nordic countries. By using new travel cost data and relating accessibility to population development, drawbacks of the peripheral location of the Nordic regions were pointed out. The Final Report of the study can be downloaded from the Nordregio website.
