According to the approved terms of reference, this study should address the following topics:
- “Comparative analysis of concepts, information systems and indicators, good practices and policy instruments recently developed in this domain by the Member States of the European Union and possibly in other OECD countries;
- Current situation of the debate on functional regions, urban-rural relations and regional governance in the context of the preparation for the new post-2013 cohesion policy;
- Identification of concepts and criteria of delimitation and characterisation of functional regions; its implementation in mainland Portugal using the 2011 Census information, and presentation of a typology of urban-rural relations;
- Proposal of policy instruments within the perspective of territorial regional development and governance to be made operational in the context of urban, regional, rural and cooperation policies under the new cohesion policy.”
This is the final report of the study and is designed to meet both the generic objectives of the own-initiative opinion and the specific objectives (topics) enshrined in the aforementioned terms of reference.
