Territorial inequalities are an issue of increasing relevance in the international scientific debate across different disciplinary fields, and their mitigation is a key challenge on the political agenda in many countries at the European and international level. An ongoing research project developed by the authors is investigating the phenomenon and possible strategies for rebalancing territorial development. In this framework, the present study provides an extensive review of the literature on the topic with the purpose of grasping the multiplicity of terms referring to areas affected by conditions of territorial inequalities. This paper describes the methodology adopted for developing a stand-alone Systematic Literature Review (SLR) protocol able to navigate both quantitative and qualitative insights on this complex topic. The SLR includes 347 records assessed for quantitative eligibility, 50 of which were included in the qualitative phase and studied through four categories of analysis (terms and phenomena, causes, models, and drivers) corresponding to the research questions. By tracing the evolution of the debate and the increasing scientific interest in the topic over time, the findings highlight the cross-disciplinary nature of the territorial inequalities that can be examined as complex and dynamic results of many spatial and aspatial issues at different territorial scales of investigation. Development models are benefiting from the evolution of the proximity concept from spatial to aspatial features—organizational, cognitive, and technological ones—changing the dependency between geography and innovation, especially with reference to entrepreneurship.

The main aim of the study was reflecting on performative implications of the urban commons and their relational ability (i.e., inter- and/or intra-actioning) within an inclusive governance model and policy design context through two interpretative keys: Ostrom’s idea of sustainability and the recent hybrid neo-materialist urban and organizational theoretical path grounded within the Metzger–Barad–Latour analyses. Firstly, we focused on defining the theoretical setting, background and selected codes. The resulting scheme was tested with a mixed methodology within the case study of the Lido Pola Commons in Naples, Southern Italy. Empirical analysis benefits from long-lasting research experience on the area and an action-research processes aimed at codesigning a living civic lab. The discussion illustrates the main pivots of the internal/external validation of the case study results, thus contributing to enhancing a participatory policy design by raising awareness regarding social intra/interactions.

Urban Landscape constitutes a social, cultural and economic asset defined by a historical overlapping of values produced by cultures, tradition and experiences recognizable in their diversity and that have occurred overtime. It represents a key resource for economic development, social cohesion, and liveability in urban areas – and it is an element that can counter unchecked development that critically affects community values and can negatively affect urban quality of life. The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Approach “identifies, assesses, protects and manages” urban areas, considering the mutual relation among their physical shapes, spatial organisation, links, natural characters, social, economic and cultural values, variety of stakeholders and different levels of action ( UNESCO, 2011 ). In order to respond to chapter IV of the UNESCO recommendation – asking for tools to make operative this approach – this paper identifies and analyses tools for investigating the social and economic dimensions, dealing with themes such as urban governance and new models of innovative entrepreneurship that encourage and support the protection of the urban landscape and its sustainable development. The methodological approach developed starting from a definition of objectives and indicators derived from the UNESCO recommendation, represents a comparative analysis of some socio-economic tools by means of a performance matrix. The first result of this on-going work is the identification of the social enterprise as an effective socio-economic tool in support of the regeneration of the urban landscape, capable of responding in a satisfactory way to the requests of UNESCO within the wider framework of sustainable development, principally thanks to its capacity to construct new relationships among people as well as between people and the urban landscape.

Within the framework of the EU Strategies of Territorial Cohesion, a relevant role is played by policy design focused on a more balanced and equal development of regions pursued by regenerating and improving endogenous resources. A place-sensitive instead of place-neutral approach can be useful to overcome weaknesses, innovation gaps and social-economic issues related to asymmetric and unequal development between and within regions. This paper deals with the complexity of territorial imbalances and spatial inequalities by focusing on lacking, declining and marginal areas. By developing a Systematic Literature Review, a first mapping of terms, practices and issues related to those areas has been developed in order to investigate scenarios in different geo-political contexts and at various spatial scales. The Systematic Literature Review approach has permitted the systematization of a multitude of terms referring to gaps between core areas and areas suffering from territorial imbalances, as well as the exploration of disciplinary sectors, geographical contexts, document typologies, frequency of terms, and to develop a preliminary geo-localization of practices. The findings of this first step are relevant to providing a systematic knowledge base within a complex field in which a clarification of meanings, scales and processes is needed.