Abstract : The 1988 reform of the structural funds (SF) set the
foundations for European Union (EU) cohesion policy
(CP), arguably one of the most innovative and
large-scale, if controversial and often criticised, policies
addressing uneven economic development and
territorial disparities. The reform reflected the shift
towards new regionalism (Amin and Thrift, 1995;
Cooke and Morgan, 1998; Storper, 1995, 1997), an
approach considering the regional scale as key for
economic development underpinned by robust
regional networks and site-specific ‘relational assets’
such as trust and social capital...