1999 - Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway, July 3-7th

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Browsing 1999 - Finse, Depertment of Geography Univeristy of Bergen, Norway, July 3-7th by Author "Peters, Deike"

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    The Political Economy of Transport Policy and Planning in the Baltic Sea Region: Evidence from Four Trans-European Network Projects
    (AESOP, 1999) Peters, Deike
    In the 1990s, the advent of the European Union and the breakup of the Soviet Union have brought profound new challenges to all levels of planning and policy making across the European continent. A new, increasingly border-free «Europe of Regions» is emerging, constituting a new, supra – national geography. Within the context of European cohesion, integration, and enlargement, the expansion and optimization of transport infrastructures is one of the most hotly debated issues. Twentieth century transport innovations have caused dramatic increases in the accessibility and mobility of goods and people, arguably even providing the original, spatial foundation for European integration long before the political idea of the European Union was born. Today, transport infrastructures are now no longer simplistically assumed to be guarantors for accelerated economic growth. The inter-regional effects of highways and high-speed railways are particularly complex, generally disproportionally benefiting areas with existing agglomeration economies (Hey et al. 1996, SACTRA 1998, T&E 1995). But this has not deterred the European Union from declaring that the completion of a Trans-European Transport Network (TEN) is a prime prerequisite for the successful economic integration of Europe. Since 1992, the European Investment Bank, the «house bank» of the EU, has allocated 42 billion Euro towards infrastructure projects related to European integration.