ABSTRACT
Regions’ structural strengths and deficits survive crises. Economic and political investments can promote or mitigate these; however, a complete qualitative transformation is hard to achieve. This introductory chapter outlines the primary historical development paths, political economies, and societal impacts of regional disparities in the European Union. Uneven developments between core and periphery regions rest upon the market economic paradigm, constituting a revolving interregional competition in which peripheral regions can barely keep pace. Innovation and diffusion strategies of, for example, communication technologies or the allocation of resources (e.g., energy) often follow a core-periphery trajectory. This urban-centric view amplifies an imagination of peripheries as marginalized and cores as progressive. Concerning inner peripheries, this chapter illustrates the need to revise this imagination and understanding to some degree.
