Feeling Left Behind? Territorial Disadvantage, Well-Being and Cohesion across European Regions

Left-behind places are usually identified using economic, demographic and accessibility indicators, but these may not align with well-being and social cohesion. We combine ten years of territorial indicators with subjective measures derived from georeferenced social-media data for over 1,200 NUTS-3 regions in 28 European countries (2013-2023). Regional profiles and within-between panel models reveal uneven relationships: disadvantaged regions can display contrasting levels of well-being and cohesion, national context alters cross-country associations, and between-region differences diverge from within-region change. The findings show that aggregate measures conceal distinct forms and trajectories of territorial disadvantage.