This engaging and topical book comprehensively explores the complexities surrounding the EU Cohesion Policy, which has been addressing regional and urban development across Europe since the 1980s. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, it considers the goals of this long-term investment policy, which is to reduce territorial disparities between Member States and their regions, and its role in the European integration process. Bringing together contributions from an interdisciplinary team of eminent scholars and policy practitioners, chapters offer expert analysis of the disciplinary genealogies of the EU Cohesion Policy, its contemporary issues, and perceptive reflections on its future. The book provides keen insights into current academic-policy debates, and a deeper understanding of the EU Cohesion Policy’s achievements. The expert’s insights contribute to the debate that this policy must face to address the most pressing European challenges. Each chapter includes different perspectives ranging from political, economic and legal to the urban and social dimensions and investigates ways to boost research-policy dialogue on Cohesion Policy. Offering a forward-thinking account of the topic, this timely book will be welcomed by students, academics, researchers, and policymakers alike in disciplines including human geography and geopolitics, European politics and policy, economics, public policy, and urban and regional studies.

This book provides theories, experiences, reflections and future directions for social scientists who wish to engage with policy-oriented research in, and for, cities and regions. The '?policy learning?' perspective is comprehensively discussed, focusing on actors promoting '?policy knowledge?' and interaction among different stakeholders. Theoretical frameworks and practical experiences of policy-orientated research for European regions and cities are comprehensively explored in this timely book. The authors review current theories and present novel case studies of policy-orientated research. By combining policy analysis with urban and regional studies, the book highlights how researchers can be agents of policy learning, helping policymakers to learn how to learn. This book will provide unique, real world insights for researchers, practitioners and stakeholders interested in research-based approaches to cities and regions. Contributors include: I. Bakker, S. Bandera, P. Benneworth, M.C. Cattaneo, P. Coletti, A. Colombino, A. Colombo, J.L. De las Rivas Sanz, N. Francesco Dotti, F. Eckardt, A. Gerritsen, S. Giest, D. Greenwood, A. Healy, T. Herrschel, T. Metze-Burghouts, S. Moyson, M. Paris, S. Pazos-Vidal, D. Pojani, P. Scholten, D. Stead, M. Stuiver, C. Termeer, G. Urso, J. Vaesen, W.-J. Velderman, B. Wayens