Regional varieties of ‘left-behindness’ in the EU15
通过对欧盟15国NUTS-3区域的聚类分析，识别出六种区域类型，其中三种因经济、人口和社会指标表现不佳而被视为‘被遗弃’区域，并强调它们之间的差异，支持因地制宜的政策应对。
Recent debates about ‘left behind’ places have opened up new opportunities to understand the interconnected challenges faced by many regions in the Global North. At the same time, the application of this label to a wide variety of places with different characteristics has been accused of obscuring as much as it reveals. In this paper, we shed light on the variegated nature of ‘left behind’ regions through a cluster analysis of NUTS-3 regions in the EU15. We identify six types of areas, of which three are characterised as ‘left behind’ based on their performance on a range of economic, demographic and social variables. There are important differences between these three types of regions, strengthening the argument for policy responses adapted to local circumstances.