Regions and the search for spatial justice: a question of capacity?

This paper examines scholarly and policy debates concerning the notion of spatial justice through reference to the idea of capacity. Our empirical material, drawn from a Horizon 2020 project, highlights a concern with three different yet overlapping aspects of capacity in relation to spatial justice, namely the capacity of regional actors: to make decisions concerning the distribution of resources and services; to create or enact appropriate formal and informal institutional structures to realise policy goals; and to develop spatially just policies in ways that recognise the geographical contexts in which they operate. Our study illustrates the need for additional clarity when viewing spatial justice as a matter of capacity. It also highlights the fact that enhanced capacity, alone, while an important precursor of spatial justice, does not guarantee spatial justice within specific regional settings.