Territorial capital in the European Union: Measuring the territorial endowments of the EU-28 NUTS 2 regions over the 2010s.

Territorial capital encompasses all tangible and intangible assets that represent the growth potential of a place. This study reviews the concept of territorial capital and highlights its components. A database of territorial capital indicators for 270 regions of the European Union at the NUTS 2 level is employed, and a classification of regions based on the material and non-material assets of territorial capital is presented. Mapping differences across regions provides insight into the key dimensions of territorial capital, namely the material resource endowment, non-material resource endowment, and material-non-material asset relations. The results reveal that European regions have been differently endowed with territorial capital during the 2010s; a sharp divide is visible between the Western and Eastern European regions, according to the degree of urbanisation and according to the relative development of regions. The findings of this study have the potential to contribute significantly to the ongoing discussion and evolving research on territorial capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]