Regional Development Along Corridors and Nodes

Currently the border regions of Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia are experiencing changes regarding their economic and spatial development. A cross-border strategic information system for regional planning purposes is necessary to harmonise and adjust regional development strategies and to overcome deficits in data provision and to intensify cooperation. REDECON will develop and implement an innovative tool database and geographic information system for regional planning to support public authorities and private firms. At the centre of this tool is a grid-based database with a GIS interface. It merges socio-economic, environmental and spatial data with accessibility data. On the one hand, this tool will enable public planning departments to analyse and simulate different kinds of policy measures and their regional impacts. On the other hand, the tool should help private companies to find optimal locations for their businesses. The REDECON project will provide an in-depth analysis of the spatial structure of the involved regional economic systems. This will enable a transnational and regional ranking of locations according to a suitable set of quality indicators to be obtained. Using the grid-based database will also deliver detailed information on whether locations are suited for the development of industrial and commercial areas, and thus will support future decisions concerning land use. Pilot actions will show results of concrete applications of the tool in three different thematic areas: advanced service localisation, freight flows management and public transport rationalisation. These topics highlight problems and solutions which are likely to be faced in the implementation phase of the tool. After this, the involved public administrations will be able to make use of an advanced computer-based tool for spatial planning. As the tool is applied transnationally, it strengthens the co-operation and integration within the European region in the field of spatial planning. REDECON is expected to provide a strong transfer of know-how concerning strategic planning from old EU Member States to New Members and to new incomers of the EU.