Place-Based Approach: A US-EU Comparison

Abstract

A basic requirement to achieve economic development within a State or a union of states is to reduce spatial inequalities between the different regions and cities. Both in the European Union and in the United States, development budget funds are assigned to local development strategies. In this perspective, the place-based approach furthers regional development by tailoring policies to the specific economic and social contexts. American and European case studies reveal strengths and weaknesses of policies involved in the local development process while pursuing the spatial equity distribution principle. American case studies such as Dudley Street, Boston MA and Washington Gateway Main Street, Boston MA, reveal a consolidate recourse to corporations, organizations and institutions in order to implement the place-based initiatives. On the other side, European case studies such as Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany and West Midlands, United Kingdom and others, denote an ad-hoc practice but at the same time a wider scope of application. Final observations enable to implement the theoretical knowledge on the places-based approach as a driver to thrive local development.