Development Opportunities vs Development Outcomes. Towards a Typology of Peripheral Local Communities

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Authors: Mihail Eva, Alexandra Cehan, Ionel Muntele
Presenter: Mihail Eva

Abstract
This presentation delivers a set of preliminary results from a research project aiming at assessing local development from a novel perspective, that integrates both the World Bank view highly focused on connectivity and growth, and the United Nations’ view inspired by Sen’s capability theory. The research first builds a new multi-dimensional and multi-scalar methodological approach and then employs it for the assessment and mapping of local development for 3181 communities from Romania. Secondly, it statistically explores the interplay between territorial opportunities for development and development outcomes, and then delivers a typology of peripheral local communities that compares development outcomes to development opportunities. Results highlight not only the degree of association between contextual drivers of local development and development outcomes, but also unveil those communities where other factors (including agency and local governance networks) managed to overcome territorial constraints and historical legacy or, on the contrary, failed to take advantage of their location in opportunity-rich territories.

Change vs. reproductive agency in local path development of post-socialist small towns

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Authors: Ema Corodescu-Roșca, Alexandra Cehan, Mihail Eva
Presenter: Ema Corodescu-Roșca

Abstract
Globalization and metropolization confronted small towns to shrinking population, economic decline and shortage of opportunities, therefore challenging the emergence of new development paths. The present paper focuses on multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms involved in the development paths of two post-socialist small towns in Romania. We follow a qualitative case study methodology, based on the triangulation of sources (official documents, newspaper articles, micro-data, interviews with stakeholders, etc.), in order to trace each local development path. The agency in the two cases is compared based on the “trinity of change agency” framework of Grillitsch & Sotarauta (2020), including the distinction between change and reproductive agency introduced by Baekkelund (2021). We hypothesize that small towns which benefit from a higher accessibility or other structural advantages are more prone to display change agency, but the mix of change and reproductive agency remain highly dependent upon the unique constellation of local stakeholders’ strategies and actions.

TEPS Research Project

Development Opportunities vs Development Outcomes. Towards a Typology of Peripheral Local Communities

Change vs. reproductive agency in local path development of post-socialist small towns