Over the last decades new patterns of regional disparities and polarisation have developed in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries, drawing the attention of both researchers and policy-makers. Cohesion Policy responded to this challenge by focusing on balanced spatial development of the European regions. However, although achieving significant progress in developing towards the EU-average, CEE still faces serious internal spatial imbalances between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, between core regions and peripheries.

The increasing social and economic disparities at regional level within CEE have led to the need to develop new strategies with a strong spatial focus, in order to deal with and respond to the challenges. This conference seeks to explore questions such as: how can we deal with polarisation and peripheralisation? What are the challenges for future place-based policies? What new approaches should be developed to deal with growing regional imbalances?

The RSA CEE Conference in Cluj-Napoca will feature inputs from researchers, policy-makers and practitioners working in all areas of regional development.