Matti Fritsch is a Senior Researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland.

Petri Kahila is an Adjunct Professor of Economic Geography and the Director of the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland.

Sarolta Németh is Project Researcher at the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland.

James W. Scott is a Researcher in Regional and Border Studies at the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland.

1. Introduction to the book: the role of place-based action in improving spatial justice and cohesion. Part 1 Cohesion and the Role of Localities: Research and Policy Debates. 2. The localities approach: (European) cohesion, spatial justice and the development role of place. 3. Spatial justice and locality: The conceptual framework and application. Part 2 Spatial Justice in Local Development. 4. Approaching spatial justice in local actions: a European comparative perspective on promoters, inhibitors, and achievements. 5. Stigmatization and cultural foundations of spatial injustice. 6. Drivers of place-based community development: perceptions of spatial injustice and the role of institutionally embedded responses. 7. Towards spatial justice across Europe through place-based interventions: lessons learned from considering medium-horizon future scenarios. 8. The RELOCAL case studies approach. Part 3 Urban Case Studies. 9. Innovation and governance to halt urban fragmentation: the case of the commission for a socially sustainable Stockholm. 10. PLACE/Ladywell housing project, London: a temporary local project with metropolitan impacts. 11. Incomplete justice is no justice: l earning from the neoliberal and elitist planning experiences of Euralens and EPA Alzette-Belval. Part 4 Rural Case Studies. 12. Polarization, centralization, and place-based policies in Greece. 13. The struggle against territorial disadvantage in a peripheral Finnish town: balancing effectiveness and accountability in local government. 14. Autonomy and LEADER: a comparative study of three local action groups. Part 5 Conclusions and Policy Considerations. 15. Conclusions and policy considerations - what does local experience tell us?