Corporations and Regions: Capturing Multiple Vicinity Spaces in European Regions

Abstract

While researching intersections of regional cultures and corporations the question arises which spaces are relevant for corporations? Instead of researching regions as fixed and bordered administrative or political entities, regions need to be deconstructed as varying and overlapping spaces. After a discussion of space in theory, three European regions are researched in this paper. Thinking in different space-layers is not only an academic exercise, but also has relevance for regional policy at different policy levels. It is of interest to understand companies' transaction spaces and the spaces perceived as relevant, to capture spaces for which companies are willing to take responsibility and to understand identity spaces. The sums of these spaces build the territory, which in contrast to the region as an administrative entity; comprises the social, cultural and historical spheres. In order to understand and govern territories, however, “Multispace-Governance” research in vertical structure is needed.