Cohesion Policies in Italian Metropolitan Cities. Evaluation and Challenges

The 2014–2020 European programming is coming to an end withnumerous critical issues that will have to be resolved by 2023, both with reference to spending power and with reference to performance evaluation. TheEuropean institutions are currently in the process of drafting the new CohesionPolicy 2021–2027, which will respond to the difficulties encountered in theprevious programming through three key rules: simplicity, flexibility, efficiencyand transparent administrative processes. The ambition of the new programmingis to make the countries of the European Union smart, sustainable andincreasingly inclusive economies. Three priorities that mutually reinforce eachother to help achieve high levels of employment, productivity and socialcohesion in the Member States. In this context, the present study intends toevaluate the “smart specialization” (S3 strategy) deriving from the 11 thematicobjectives (or sectors of intervention), in particular that of the “environment”, inthe 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 periods, through the Local Indicators of SpatialAssociation (LISA), thus identifying areas of intelligent specialization.