Natural disasters are usually regarded as damage factors causing high private and social costs. Notwithstanding the incontestable validity of this premise, natural disasters do not necessarily lead to a structural deprivation of the area affected. Recent studies have clearly shown that in the long run one may even observe positive socio-economic effects (‘blessings in disguise’).This paper investigates this challenging proposition by developing a risk-disaster-opportunity framework for a territorial system, and by analysing the socio-economic impacts of natural shocks from a resilience perspective. This is inter alia done by designing a typology of natural disasters, and by presenting a systematic classification of long-range impacts.An empirical test of the above proposition of positive recovery effects of natural disasters is carried out by using, in particular, long-term data from the worldwide EM-DAT database. The attention is then focussed on positive feedback loops in spatial systems that are affected by a natural perturbation. Various case studies (USA, China, Haiti, Chile, Japan) are undertaken in order to test the existence of long-term ‘blessings in disguise’ effects, using in particular the HDI-index. In various cases, such positive effects appear to exist, depending on the effectiveness of public management of natural disaster phenomena.

When relating to hazards such as earthquakes, a primary task of a resilience approach is to evaluate vulnerability in an integrative manner by taking into account the most relevant indicators. Focused on Iasi, one of the major Romanian cities which are exposed to the earthquakes originating in Vrancea area, this study aims to assess seismic vulnerability using a multi-criteria analysis of buildings infrastructure and social vulnerability. Several indicators are taken into account, such as physical (related to the characteristics of buildings and terrain) and social indicators (related to population and economic income), as well as the accessibility from/to emergency services/hospitals. The indicators were processed by standardization (Z score), processed and correlated using the principal components analysis (PCA) and integrated within an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). By summing the weighted values of the standardized indicators, a (integrated) seismic vulnerability index was obtained. It is a pre-assessment of the seismic vulnerability in Iasi City and also a prerequisite for the identification of the necessary prevention measures to be taken in compliance with the identified spatial patterns of vulnerability as a part of a resilient approach.

In the context of deindustrialization and desurbanization, Romanian cities are confronted with issues related to natural demographic decline and out-migration, inducing apparently opposite, but complementary phenomena: slow-burn shrinkage and urban sprawl, which create peripheralisation processes both inside and outside the cities. The current approach acknowledges urban shrinkage within the context of post-communist transformations, but also as a “natural” process in the (adaptive) life cycle of cities. In this context, the study aims to explore the interdependencies between the causes and effects of shrinkage, on the one hand, and the operating feedback mechanisms which might lead to adaptation, on the other. It highlights the changes incurred by the territorial (un)balance combining the spatial analysis of urban shrinkage in relation to the diffused structures imposed by sub-urbanization or metropolisation processes. Using multi-criteria and time series analysis methods, the aim of the assessment is to determine and analyse the significant correlations and trends taking into account relevant demographic, social–economic as well as infrastructural and environmental indicators, in order to describe typologies of urban shrinkage in Romania and their adaptation potential. The results are interpreted in correlation with the need for sustainable strategies and planning, in order to tackle the issue of urban shrinkage in Romania.

Using a regional evolutionary perspective and a cross-regional data panel for 278 European Union regions, this study investigates the relationship between regional digital development and labour market resilience. To address a fundamental concern of regional studies, it proposes an analytical framework that assesses digital disparities in the spatial context and provides a nuanced understanding of digital dimensions impacting labour market resilience. The primary labour market outcome, the employment rate, was evaluated to investigate the regional resilience in the Great Recession. A gradient boosting method was used to identify the digital predictors in different resilience stages and to articulate policy-relevant conclusions.

This paper assesses the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) of EU member states and regions to uncover commonalities and differences between green and digital transitions, focusing on the role of institutions, among additional socio‐economic drivers, in modeling them. To that end, relevant indicators have been assembled, and several econometric models have been developed and tested to evaluate institutional performance in relation to green and digital transformations. The study reveals discrepancies in the two explored transition fields and highlights the power of institutional factors in boosting them. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that the green transition in EU regions is positively associated with variables such as life expectancy, institutional quality, tertiary education attainment, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with innovative activities, while the fruits of digitalization are mainly allied to population with higher studies, core creative class employment, accountability of institutions, and innovative SMEs. These insights offer valuable guidance for decision‐makers to draw lessons from high‐performing or successful regions and strategically assign resources. This includes paying attention to regional financial allocations and their alignment with territorial planning and long‐term policies.