The regional and urban policy of the European Union : cohesion results orientation and smart specialisation Professor Philip McCann has contributed to a revival of regional and urban economics. His ideas and research have stimulated views about how regions and cities grow and also how they can be better governed. He offers here another major contribution to improved regional policy design. By its scale and scope EU regional policy reform merits a thorough and enlightening analysis such as this. This is an important book by one of the finest scholars in the field. (Joaquim Oliveira Martins Head of OECD Regional Policy Division France.) Geographical economics has come a long way in the past two decades. It has generated new ways of thinking about how to improve development in less favoured cities and regions in the context of a commitment to enjoying the advantages of trade and the mobility of people and knowledge. Philip McCanns magisterial analysis of one of the most ambitious efforts ever undertaken in this area the EU Cohesion Policy argues powerfully for a new way forward based on respecting the different starting points of cities and regions and mobilizing their potential and yet doing so with rigorous respect for efficiency and openness. (Michael Storper London School of Economics UK). The regional and urban development policy of the European Union or more precisely EU Cohesion Policy is undergoing change. This development is driven by the enormous transformations in European regions and by shifts in thinking and analysis. The issues raised by the changes to regional and urban development policy in Europe span many academic disciplines and build on different research methodologies. A broad approach is required in order to address these issues and this book explicitly incorporates insights from a range of different disciplines. After examining the major regional and urban features of the European economy and discussing the analytical underpinnings of the current re design to EU Cohesion Policy the book also aims to provide a road map of the various EU regional and urban data sources which are available to researchers and policy makers. This volume is aimed at all economists geographers regional scientists spatial planners transportation scientists sociologists urban studies researchers environmental scholars political scientists and policy analysts who are interested in regional and urban issues.