Understanding Territorial Organization: Key Concepts
Here’s a breakdown of key concepts related to territorial organization and regional development:
- Nation: A historic community where people feel united by common issues such as race, language, culture, and history.
- Autonomous Community (CCAA): A territorial entity formed by island territories or provinces bordering provinces with historical regional legislation, endowed with autonomy and self-government capacity on matters within its jurisdiction.
- Province: A local territorial entity formed by a grouping of municipalities. Its function is to promote provincial interests at the provincial level, to provide services, to coordinate services, and cooperate with municipalities.
- Municipality: The basic territorial entity. Its function is to serve the residents, but varies the greater its population. The municipal government and administration relate to City Hall.
- Parishes: Smaller administrative divisions of a municipality made up of several villages.
- Funds Territories: A historical character and local authorities in Navarre and the Basque country in line with the territorial delimitation of the respective provinces, but its government is in charge of Provincial Councils besides the ordinary powers exercised by the county.
- Region: A territorial grouping of several municipalities.
- Statute of Autonomy: Contains the denomination of the community, its territorial delimitation, organization names and home to its autonomous agencies, the powers assumed, and the basis for the transfer of others.
Competition Regions
Functions in various matters set out in the Constitution. These powers are transferred to the community and the state and can be exercised exclusively, shared economic infrastructure, national planning policy, social, cultural, health…
Economic Indicators and Development
- GDP (Gross Domestic Product): Total monetary value of the production flow of goods and services a country for a period of 1 year is usually.
- Areas of Development: A set of specific actions for each of the economic sectors.
- Regions of Convergence: A category of regions set by EU regional policy which includes the territorial divisions whose per capita GDP is below 75% on average. In Spain: Andalusia, Extremadura, Galicia, Castilla La Mancha…
EU Funding Instruments
- ERDF (European Regional Development Fund): Financial instrument aimed at helping to develop the depressed regions of the EU, fostering infrastructure and the development of endogenous potential.
- ESF (European Social Fund): The main EU financial instrument to promote employment in member states and to promote greater economic and social cohesion.
- Cohesion Fund: Its aim was to help countries in northern Europe to develop, which benefits all countries of the community.
Spanish Regional Policy
- Compensation Fund Interterritorial: Instrument of Spanish regional policy to finance public investment and capital transfers to autonomous communities.
- Regional Incentives: Financial aids given by the state in accordance with the requirements limited by the EU.
Management of Territory
A discipline influenced by a multitude of scientific, technical, and administrative disciplines, especially human geography, physical geography, and environmental sciences, aiming for a rational land occupation by the application of rules allowing or prohibiting particular land uses.