The document provides an overview of the 17th session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial Planning (CEMAT), focused on defining and categorizing European functional areas based on a questionnaire distributed to 47 member states. It outlines various types of functional areas, such as urban, rural, and cross-border regions, and discusses their delineation criteria, interrelations, and characteristics. The report emphasizes the importance of cooperation and formalized structures in establishing cohesive functional territories.

1. 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 2014-
2020
• City Regions Functional urban regions -
• Macro-regional Strategies:
Alpine Region and Danube
Region
Transnational / macro-regions -
Bulgaria • Urban agglomerations Functional urban regions National Concept for
Spatial Development of
the Republic of Bulgaria
for the period 2013- 2025
(NCSD)
• Territories with specific
characteristics
Functional natural regions
(national/cross-border/
transnational)
Cyprus • Urban agglomerations Functional urban regions -
• 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 Commuting flows
• Regional Poles of Growth Commuting flows
• Structural Transformation
Provinces
-
• Priority Development Provinces -
• Rural Areas Policy implementation
• Specialized regions -
• Metropolitan cities Commuting flows

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
www.mdrap.ro
Overview of European Functional Areas: Definition and Typologies
(Items extracted from the Questionnaire launched on the theme of Functional Areas)