– Approaches from the Baltic Sea Region
This report is the final report of the INTERREG IVB project NEW BRIDGES 'Strengthening the Quality of Life through the Improved Management of Urban Rural Interaction'. Nordregio Report 2012:3.
The report applies the concepts of quality of life and urban-rural interaction to regional development processes in the Baltic Sea Region. As thematic focus quality of life was operationalized through three key elements: residential preferences, mobility & accessibility and the provision of services. The report shows how these key elements were reflected and addressed within the geographic scope of seven city-regions. While tracing the project activities from challenges to pilot actions, the report provides an insight into the stakeholder involvement approaches including its evaluation. Finally the report puts forward potentials and challenges that occur when applying two complex concepts to regional development.
In addition to this report, 'Planning Together for Better Quality of Life - Guide for Integrated Management of Urban Rural Interaction', which included policy recommendations to the EU, national and macro-regional levels, as well as the complimentary methodological package 'NEW BRIDGES Online Toolkit', was published and can be downloaded from www.urbanrural.net.