Spatial justice and data: “IMAJINE” a different future

On the 23rd of March, a Policy Workshop on Territorial Inequalities, Cohesion Policy and Spatial Justice has been held in Brussels. Amid many of the IMAJINE Project themes, a special session has been devoted to data problems and regional inequalities. In this session, different members from Project WP2 and WP3 have discussed the theme with other experts and attendants.

The session has been chaired by Ana Vinuela (University of Oviedo), and joined by, Esteban Fernandez Vazquez (University of Oviedo), Paolo Postiglione (G. d’Annunzio University of Chieti – Pescara), and Nicolas Rossignol (ESPON). The discussion has pointed as in the future a deeper integration of Big Data with official data could represent a pivotal solution to go more deeply into the empirical evidence on inequality. Further, the territorial element, which helps policy makers to consider spatial differences and interdependencies between local communities, is something to be considered as a continuing challenge to tackle disparities very locally.

Lastly, the development of new databases and the use of local techniques that have been accounted in the IMAJINE Project can be applied in future studies to complement the information from current development indicators (as Gross Domestic Product) with other dimensions. This would allow us to gain broader local indicators at different periods, support policy makers in more consistent dashboards, and engage different stakeholders in monitoring regional inequalities.

Alfredo Cartone & Paolo Postiglione (“G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara)