Towards a multidimensional approach to the study of territorial attractiveness[Vers une approche multidimensionnelle de l'étude de l'attractivité territoriale]

The attractiveness of regions for firms, investments, tourists, students, workers, talented people, and other categories is a very relevant issue for regional economic development. Its importance is on the increase, due to the increasing relevance of the relationships and flows of investments, people, etc. between countries and regions on the global scale. The growing concern about this question therefore requires a new comprehensive approach to its study that goes beyond partial analytical approaches. The construction of a synthetic indicator that measures the territorial attractiveness multidimensionally is the methodological strategy presented in this work in order to approach this issue from a new point of view (i.e. not only the attractiveness of territories for specific types of flows). This paper discusses these new concerns about territorial attractiveness, presents the methodology chosen for the construction of a synthetic indicator, and presents the results on the basis of the Italian NUTS2 regions. The findings and thematic maps made with this synthetic indicator reveal not only usual, but also new, rather surprising, spatial patterns.