Functional organisational strategies and practices in sparsely populated areas (SPA). A place-based proximity-oriented approach

The proximity approach has typically been applied at the neighbourhood or district level as a model for increasing accessibility to opportunities and resources that ensure a better quality of life, while its potential in spatial planning has received less attention in both research and practice. The proximity approach used at regional scale presents challenges and issues. Reconsidering the concept of proximity at regional level means rethinking the conditions of accessibility. It requires considering the interrelations and interdependencies between different polarities and, consequently, the economic and social links and ties, according to a network of complementary communities. This paper contributes to the debate initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on peripheral regions. It focuses on the concept of functional urban area referring to sparsely populated peripheral areas (SPAs), whose institutional paucity calls for the need for multilevel governance to align programs and strategies. In an inter-service compensation perspective, including rebalancing between compact and less densely populated urban systems, the authors provide a comprehensive and interconnected place-based proximity-oriented approach aimed at 1. identifying the parameters and factors to identify functional proximity areas (FPUAs) in SPAs and 2. strategizing the organisational connectivity for different functional proximity areas. To accomplish this, the authors focus on a case study in SPA with latent tourism potential in Southwestern Sardinia (Italy).