The aim of this book is to tackle the question of what the European
territory will look like over the next fifteen years by providing
quali-quantitative territorial scenarios for the enlarged Europe, under
different assumptions on future globalisation strategies of BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India and China) and East and West European countries.
The approach is as neutral as possible vis-à-vis the results, leaving to
a new forecasting model, the MASST model, built by the authors, to
produce the tendencies and behavioural paths of regional GDP and
population growth in each individual European region under alternative
assumptions on the competitiveness strategies of different blocks of
countries. The results are accompanied by strong policy messages
intended to encourage long-term strategic thinking among a wide range of
actors, scientists and policy makers in response to the risks and
opportunities that the European territory will face.