1. Palace of the Parliament
17th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial Planning (CEMAT) Overview of European Functional Areas: Definition and Typologies (Items extracted from the Questionnaire launched on the theme of Functional Areas)
Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds
Bucharest
3 – 4 November 2017
Palace of the Parliament

2. MAIN POINTS Presentation structure
Definition, typologies and delineation - Types of functional areas - Main interrelations that help structure functional areas
- Delineation criteria
Characteristics
Geographic scale
Degree of formalization
Stability in time and space
Development purposes
Functional areas vs potential functional areas

3. Definition, typologies and delineation
Methodology
- As part of the preparation for the 17th CEMAT session, organized, according to the decision of CoE’s Committee of Ministers, by the Romanian Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds, a questionnaire was sent to the 47 CoE Member States.
- The countries (24) that filled the questionnaire include: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Romania, The Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey.

4. Definition, typologies and delineation
Types of functional areas
- Functional areas represent either those territories that aggregate around urban centers and concentrate systemic relationships, or types of areas delineated according to geographic specificities or in relation to economic activities.
Country
Type of area
Functional area (based on ESPON classification)
Planning documents
Albania
• Regions -
General National Plan (GNP)
Austria
• Local Action Groups
Functional urban regions
Austrian Programme for Rural Development
• City Regions
• Macro-regional Strategies: Alpine Region and Danube Region
Transnational / macro-regions
Bulgaria
• Urban agglomerations
National Concept for Spatial Development of the Republic of Bulgaria for the period (NCSD)
• Territories with specific characteristics
Functional natural regions (national/cross-border/ transnational)
Cyprus
• Spatial Planning Areas
Functional rural regions
Policy Statement for the Countryside (PSC)
- Functional areas indicated in the filled questionnaires were reclassified in based on the ESPON typology (Bohme & all, 2017), to which we added natural regions and administrative territories.

5. Definition, typologies and delineation
Types of functional areas
Functional urban regions
Functional rural regions
Functional urban-rural partnerships
Cross-border regions
Transnational / macro-regions
Functional natural regions (national /cross-border/transnational)
Administrative territories assimilated to functional regions

6. Definition, typologies and delineation
Main interrelations that help structure functional areas
Migration / commuting flows
Cooperation
Economic relationships
Capitalization / protection of environmental amenities

7. Definition, typologies and delineation
Delineation criteria
- Council of Europe Member States have established a wide range of functional areas that can be identified under different terms, in various national strategic documents, and at diverse territorial scales, in correlation with their functional purpose.
Country
Type of area
Delineation criteria
Sweden
• Labour market areas
Commuting flows (analytical functional regions)
• Functional analysis regions
Commuting flows
• Metropolitan areas
Commuting flows and policy implementation
• Local level cooperation
Voluntary association
Turkey
• Metropolitan Areas
Policy implementation (planning document)
• Centres of Growth
• Regional Poles of Growth
• Structural Transformation Provinces -
• Priority Development Provinces
• Rural Areas
Policy implementation
• Specialized regions
• Metropolitan cities

8. Characteristics Geographic scale
Functional areas cover a broad spectrum of scales, from vast transnational and cross-border functional areas down to local action groups.
Degree of formalization
Functional areas can be organized organically or as a result of specific policies
Stability in time and space
They are context-sensitive
Development purposes
Functional areas are perceived as multi-level cooperation structures that should focus on a number of common, achievable targets
Functional spatial planning act in line with improved multi-level collaboration

9. Functional areas vs potential functional areas
Types of factors that differentiate a cohesive territory from an actual functional area:
Cooperation relationships or interconnections between different territories that were established by identifying solutions for common problems or targets;
Formalized management/governance structures;
Mobility of people, goods and information.

10. Thank you for your attention
Ministry of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds
Overview of European Functional Areas: Definition and Typologies (Items extracted from the Questionnaire launched on the theme of Functional Areas)