Border Cities

Abstract

The scholarly fascination with border cities often proliferates with geopolitical events that transform the security and economic and social landscapes of the state’s border areas. The early scholarly interest in border cities arose in the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century when new infrastructure initiatives and industrialization policies, the Maquiladora Program in particular, boosted industrial development and activities in northern Mexican border cities and across the US-Mexico border. The US-Mexico border cities have served as paradigmatic examples of how international economic agreements transform border cities and towns. The turn toward open borders and the new international trade agreements in the late 1980s and the 1990s boosted the growth and significance of border cities and towns. Since the turn of the millennium, the study of border cities has become increasingly diverse both geographically and thematically. Research on the regional economic development of Asian and African border cities and towns has mushroomed, reflecting their central position in regional trade systems as well as the rapid growth of border settlements. Another key area of research is the European integration process and the ways in which cross-border governance and collaboration transform European border towns, cities, and metropolises. In this area of interest, the problematic issues around border cities are often approached by combining governance, planning, and innovation studies with border studies. Some new research directions have been more popular in specific geopolitical contexts, but many questions regarding border cities are persistent and worldwide. Similarly, there is a persistent fascination with the imaginaries and myths of border cities, including recent attention to the development of cross-border brands as well as their possible mismatch with the perceptions and identity of border inhabitants. The increasing refugee and migration influxes have highlighted the gateway roles of border cities as well as the agency and strategies adopted in border cities to cope with resettlement, including the utilization of resources and knowledge from both sides. Many studies approach borders in terms of a resource, yet the barrier and even violent effects of borders are also of continuing relevance and interest. In this area, divided border cities with persistent conflict and political violence are of specific interest, but they are also examined in relation to the above-mentioned themes, such as cooperation and planning. The recent trend of border fencing and protectionism has similarly highlighted the need for border city research.