Services of general interest and critical infrastructures

Interdependencies and implications for resilience and territorial cohesion

Bibliographic Data

ID21601604
AuthorsStefan Greiving (0000-0002-6245-752X, TU Dortmund University, corresponding author), Thomas Terfrüchte (0000-0001-8378-8099, TU Dortmund University), Mark Fleischhauer (0009-0008-9174-342X, TU Dortmund University), Andrea Hartz (agl Hartz Saad Wendl), Matthias Furkert (Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), Division RS 8 Spatial Planning, Policies with Spatial Impacts, Bonn, Germany)
Year2025
Volume33
Issue3
Pages329-351
Publication date2025-03-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Planning Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0965-4313 • E-ISSN: 1469-5944
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09654313.2025.2461790
OpenAlexW4407556168
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited39

Recent times have shown that external conditions and climatic developments require more intensive consideration of the resilience of our infrastructures. This article presents the methodology and empirical results of a German spatial planning pilot project that systematically analysed the strategic options for maintaining the functionality of Services of General Interest (SGI) and Critical Infrastructures (CI) covering all of Germany’s federal states. Added value is created through a better understanding of the various infrastructures and their specific criticality and by answering how the infrastructures can be made more resilient and thus contribute to equal living conditions and territorial cohesion. The article also emphasises the connection between spatial resilience approaches and European cohesion and climate policy and makes recommendations for adaptation in European structural and funding policy. The authors recommend a systematic territorial consideration of SGI and CI to prevent negative effects on balanced and stable spatial development. To achieve this goal, interdependencies between infrastructures and cascading effects should be considered in the future. Infrastructures are usually bundled in central places. Therefore, the article also provides conceptual and practice-orientated proposals for planning strategies on which central places can be made more resilient

Business · Computer security · Critical infrastructure · Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Interdependence · Political science · Regional science · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis · Regional resilience and development

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Open DOIOpen Access