The book analyses the evolution of the European Commission/European Union policies and documents on local and territorial development, starting from the "European Spatial Development Perspective-EDSP 1999", within the ongoing juxtaposition between the neoliberal and the solidaristic economy models. Despite the strong focus on competitiveness and catching-up strategies in recent EU policies, promising directions of technological innovation and local development, inspired to the ESDP, are identified and analysed as good practices of local development.