Territorial Cooperation and Development: a look from the transregional scale and the metropolitan, rural and tourist areas

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of territorial cooperation as a necessary principle and requisite for a better local and regional development. It is argued that as important as the design of policies with the objective of sustainable territorial development is the way in which these are decided, designed and implemented. As important as ‘What’ is ‘How’. The text is divided into three large blocks. The first one deals with cooperation as a transversal category that applies from three approaches: government and State administration, theories of regional and local economic development, and from the point of view of spatial planning and territorial cohesion; at several scales, therefore with multilevel nature and diverse geographical coverage (international, European, Spanish and Valencian). In the following two sections, examples of cooperation experiences and results obtained (at different scales and between different subjects) are presented as a tool for territorial development in rural areas, first, and tourism, afterwards. The text closes with a brief final synthesis.