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Unequal Territories in a Global Society

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems

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Abstract

Combining several strands of literature including economic geography and human development economics, this chapter aims at providing a multidimensional overview of a complex issue such as inequality. Focusing on the local level of analysis while keeping it within the global economic network, it deals with the importance of considering the space dimension in the analysis of inequality. Despite the current framework of a global society characterized by a hyper-connected network of international flows, physical dynamics of geographic proximity like the agglomeration of firms still matter and can shape the future of territories in different ways. Industrial clusters have been proven to spur economic growth and sustain societal prosperity, for which reason they have been put at the core of many regional planning strategies. However, their relative effect in terms of uplifting not-specialized and lagging regions can be inadequate – as the risk is for agglomeration dynamics to happen in already specialized and richer areas, so reinforcing the existing territorial divides. Understanding the relationship between these different domains and layers of analysis may therefore be crucial to help design more holistic policies, with the aim to promote regional progress as well as to reduce the unequal development of places worldwide and so equitably enhance the opportunities for people living in different environments.

ISTAT*

*The output presented in this chapter is the result of a work mostly developed in the context of the Socioeconomic and Statistical Studies Euro PhD conducted at the Sapienza University of Rome.

The views expressed in this chapter are those of the author only and by no means they imply or reflect any official opinion or policy position endorsed by ISTAT.

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  1. LUISS School of European Political Economy, Rome, Italy

    Francesca Parente

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  1. Francesca Parente
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Parente, F. (2023). Unequal Territories in a Global Society. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_227-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_227-1

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