Social Investment and Territorial Inequalities: Mapping Policies and Services in the Baltic States by Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė (ed.)

Part I Revising territories and social 
investment policy in Europe: Concepts, 
ideas and challenges

Panagiotis Artelaris and George Mavrommatis
Chapter 1 Territorial cohesion, spatial justice 
and the social investment approach
Abstract: With a focus on economic, social and territorial policy, European Cohesion Policy 
is increasing in importance as a result of the recent rise in territorial inequalities in the 
European Union (EU). This paper attempts to reveal connections between the policy con-

cept of territorial cohesion, the normative idea of spatial justice and the social investment 
approach. It is argued that territorial cohesion and spatial justice are intrinsically linked 
to the social investment approach. The common ground between territorial cohesion and 
spatial justice is the goal of delivering an improvement in people’s lives regardless of where 
they live. For its part, the social investment approach is also about expanding people’s life 
opportunities by investing in them and thus increasing their capabilities to participate fully 
in economic and social life. It is true that social investment policies so far have mostly ne-

glected the spatial dimension as they have not been place-sensitive. However, a place-based 
social investment approach, working in a coherent way with territorial cohesion policy, has 
the potential to lead to effective solutions ameliorating some of the EU’s current spatial ills 
and the political reactions they generate.
Keywords: European Cohesion Policy, territorial inequality, spatial justice, capabilities 
approach, place-based, social investment approach.
Introduction
With a focus on economic, social and territorial policy, European Cohesion Policy 
is increasing in importance as a result of the recent rise in territorial inequality 
across the European Union (EU) (Capello et al., 2015; Iammarino et al., 2019). 
This rise has been extensively documented in many official reports, such as 
the Territorial Agenda 2030 (Ministers Responsible for Spatial Planning and 
Territorial Development and/or Territorial Cohesion, 2020). The emphasis on 
territorial inequalities stems from the possibility that growing spatial disparities 
could endanger EU economic, social and territorial cohesion and even threaten 
what is perceived as the European Model of Society (Faludi, 2007b, c; Zaucha & 
Böhme, 2020).
This chapter attempts to reveal connections between the policy concept of ter-

ritorial cohesion, the normative idea of spatial justice and the social investment 
approach. More specifically, it is argued in this study that territorial cohesion and 
spatial justice are intrinsically linked to the social investment approach. If the 

Social Investment and Territorial Inequalities: Mapping Policies and Services in the Baltic States by Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė (ed.)