The term territorial cohesion has evolved as a new buzz-word among policy-makers and academics dealing with European spatial development. After it was officially introduced in the Amsterdam Treaty establishing the European Community1, the notion soon gained increasing attention in policy discourse. For instance, informal ministerial meetings on territorial cohesion were organised at the EU level in 2004 and 2005. In 2005 a special issue of the British scientific journal Town Planning Review as well as a track of the annual congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning were also dedicated to this theme.