ESPON HyperAtlas (MA-led project)

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Thematic scope: The ESPON HyperAtlas was initially elaborated in the ESPON 2006 programme and it has proved to be a useful tool for studying European territorial development. This is why the tool is being further developed in this project and new functionalities are incorporated. Any representation, directly linked to a specific objective, is the result of a combination of different choices relative to the territories and geographical scales as well as the statistical indicators. In order to evaluate a situation of a given territorial unit it is necessary to take into account its relative situation and location. The ESPON HyperAtlas uses a methodology, Multiscalar Territorial Analysis, which allows deriving several indicators on the basis of the ratio of two initial geographical indices according to different spatial contexts. It also allows the analysis and visualisation of a spatial phenomenon taking into account its multiple possible representations. Scientific support to policy development: The following tasks are envisaged to be implemented in the update of the ESPON HyperAtlas: • Web version of the HyperAtlas. • Integration of a time dimension next to the already available spatial and thematic dimension. • New study areas and new elementary zoning. • An update including the contexts of deviation based on ‘distance-time by road’ to NUTS2006 regions. • Introducing two new ‘visualisation windows’ to visualise results in the fields of more advanced spatial economic analysis methods. • A data integration tool for the HyperAtlas. • New and updated .HYP-files. • An adjusted user-friendly interface. • Survey on future improvements.

Medium