Regional development in sparsely populated areas was discussed during the last European Week of Regions and Cities, held online in October 2020. Depopulation and demography issues were discussed in the context of the new programming period and just a few months after the publication by the European Commission of its Report on the Impact of Demographic Change.
3.2 million people in the European Union currently live in sparsely populated areas. Some mountain areas in Europe are also sparsely populated ones, like in Spain, France and Greece. In the next decades, various mountain territories are also at risk of becoming sparsely populated. This article highlights the latest analyses on sparsely populated areas and the political opportunities to respond to these challenges in the post-2020 period. Some revitalisation initiatives from the EU Regions Week are also presented.
Read the article (for members only).
28 October 2020
