Governance of national spatial data infrastructures in Europe

The effective development and implementation of spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) requires governance in order to avoid gaps, duplications, contradictions and missed opportunities in the implementation of different SDI components. Appropriate governance instruments should be established to coordinate the activities and contributions of...

Beyond Polycentricity: Does Stronger Integration Between Cities in Polycentric Urban Regions Improve Performance?

A quarter of the European population lives in 'polycentric urban regions' (PURs): clusters of historically and administratively distinct but proximate and well-connected cities of relatively similar size. This paper explores whether tighter integration can increase agglomeration benefits at the PUR-level. We provide the first comprehensive...

Measuring the evolution of online handling of building permits in Europe

Electronic customer related services of governments have expanded enormously. In many regulatory domains the use of ICT services has become common property. This applies also to the field of building regulations. Main theme of this paper is the possibility to apply online for a building permit. The developments in 18 European countries are being...