Rethinking Spatial Policy in an Era of Multiple Crises

After the thirty years of post-war relative regional convergence, since the 1980s geographical inequalities in economic prosperity and social conditions have widened again in most capitalist countries. In this paper we argue that such a resumption of spatial inequalities is in part explained by the significant changes observed in the role of the state and in public intervention in the shift from the Keynesian to the Neoliberal regime. We maintain that most public policies enacted in the last decades have actually exacerbated socioeconomic – and spatial – polarization, favouring few metropolitan areas and regions at the expense of what are now commonly referred to as ‘left behind places’. We contend that we are now at a new juncture in the evolution of capitalism: in the space of little more than decade the global system has been destabilized by a major financial crisis (2008) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), both with enduring socio-economic aftershocks, while the climate emergency is reaching existential proportions. In the paper we call for a bold ‘rethinking’ of public action to face these recurring crises and we contribute some pointers for more effective and inclusive policies.