Cross-border Metropolitan Regions Research Articles

Green and Low-Carbon Commuting Evaluation and Optimization of a Cross-Border Metropolitan Region by the Subway Network: The Case of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China

In the context of the One Country–Two Systems policy, Shenzhen and Hong Kong have rapidly grown into a dual-core international metropolis. However, a huge barrier is the commuting cost incurred by the tariff policy, which blocks the road to the high-quality development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Based on traffic accessibility and kernel density analysis of the subway network and points of interest (POIs) of urban functional areas with ArcGIS, this study analyzed the commute time and convenience level of the functional areas in the two separate tariff zones. The traffic (commute) time in 75 min was taken as the turning point of the efficiency of the Shenzhen–Hong Kong connection, and it was found that both the customs clearance time and the accessible areas show the shape of a parabolic function with an upward opening. It was also found that, in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the commute time in most of the business, commercial, residential, and industrial areas is 60–75 min. In particular, the comfortable range within 45 min was not achieved. It is necessary to further promote the effectiveness of the Shenzhen–Hong Kong customs clearance system and continuously reduce the customs clearance cost so as to promote the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong in order to implement the national strategy of “dual circulation” and innovation-driven development and efficiently drive the coordinated construction of the GBA.

Analysing cultural networks in cross-border metropolitan regions. The case of the Upper Rhine region (Germany–Switzerland–France)

In the last few decades, cross-border metropolitan regions (CBMRs) have been examined through the lens of binary prevailing network analysis, with substantial focus being placed on economy, innovations, and governance. However, the analysis of cultural networks is underrepresented in these contexts, although several voices have enquired about new concepts and practices for measuring spatial cultural networks and social proximities. This study was concerned with measuring cultural networks, as one step towards obtaining a deeper understanding of CBMRs. When focusing on cultural networks in border studies, it is necessary to understand: 1) how spatio-cultural networks can be conceptualised and measured from an interdisciplinary perspective; and 2) how cultural networks influence cross-border relations. Some of the literature has identified culture as the complex interrelation of values, artefacts, and behaviours, which presents multiple difficulties for analysing culture, per se. To analyse the influence of cultural networks in cross-border areas, this work took the Upper Rhine (UR), between the nation states of Germany, France, and Switzerland, as a case study. In the literature, this region is mainly referred to as being one coherent, integrated CBMR that shares similar dominant values. However, with regard to border cultural networks and national identities, this is empirically questionable. The UR region was analysed using two datasets, one quantitative and one qualitative. The analytical framework was based on the interlocking network model (INM) developed by Taylor (2001), which measures network and city centralities. Some adaptations were made to the INM to specifically analyse cultural networks in cross-border regions, giving rise to an ‘extended’ INM (EINM). Firstly, it was found that, although well-established cultural interrelations were identifiable in the UR cross-border region, a negative national border effect exists, leading to an uneven integration of German, Swiss and French cities into the cultural networks. Secondly, there was a significant difference between the INM and EINM, in terms of the number of relations and network centralities that could be captured, which led to different conclusions.

Mobility planning in cross-border metropolitan regions: the European and North American experiences

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the cooperation logics within European and North American cross-border metropolitan regions to explain how institutional actors respond to the challenges of globalization. The focus is on analysing the relationship between concepts of space and planning to provide insights into the way cross-border metropolitan regions are produced, and on how the border is conceived. The hypothesis is that mobility galvanizes stakeholders on both sides of the border in order to undertake collective actions to overcome obstacles posed by an international border, even in situations where the border is conceived as a hard barrier. The study employs a comparative approach of two cross-border regions: Basel (Switzerland/France/Germany) and San Diego–Tijuana (United States/Mexico), according to three dimensions of mobility (airport and pedestrian infrastructures, and daily mobility management). The main conclusion is that although these two border contexts are completely different, similarities exist regarding the planning of mobility, and the space conception. States are willing to relinquish sovereignty allowing a foreign government, cross-border structure or a private company to perform planning operations that normally belong to the nation-states. Furthermore, local authorities do whatever is needed to facilitate the flow of workers and people across borders when economic costs due to border barriers are too high.

Współrządzenie w transgranicznych regionach metropolitalnych na przykładzie Wielkiej Kopenhagi

Współrządzenie w transgranicznych regionach metropolitalnych na przykładzie Wielkiej Kopenhagi

Spatial Integration in European Cross-Border Metropolitan Regions: A Comparative Approach

This article analyses the process of spatial integration in ten European cross-border metropolitan regions. On the basis of three indicators, relating to flows of cross-border commuters, gross domestic product and the housing market, it suggests that spatial integration can be viewed as a process of convergence between distinct territories, resulting from the intensification of interaction between social, political and economic actors. Our results allow, firstly, confirmation of the hypothesis that the greater the economic disparities, the greater the level of interactions measured by cross-border commuting. Our work also shows that strong economic interactions have an impact on the cross-border integration of communities, measured by the proportion of residents based on the other side of the border. Finally, this article leads to three models of cross-border integration being proposed: by specialisation, by polarisation and by osmosis.

Exploring Subbordia – the impact of suburbanisation in cross-border metropolitan regions. The case study of Szczecin and its German hinterland

Abstract This paper focuses on the largely unexamined phenomenon of the developing trans-national suburban area west of Szczecin. Sadly the local communities in this functionally connected area struggle with national planning policies that are unsuitable for the region. The paper examines the impact of those processes on the border region in general and on the localities in particular. The paper investigates the consequences for local narratives and the cohesive development of the Euroregion and what position Polish and German communities took to develop the region, even without the necessary planning support. The region has succeeded in establishing grass-roots planning mechanisms which have helped to create a metropolitan-region working from the bottom up.

Everything All Right at the Internal EU Borders? The Ambivalent Effects of Cross-Border Integration and the Rise of Euroscepticism

ABSTRACT The policy of the European Union, which promotes a vision of Europe without borders and has fostered the development of cooperation across borders over 25 years, has led, in some parts of Europe, to the emergence of so-called integrated cross-border regions. Thus far, the increase of cross-border flows and interactions has always been a normative and almost unquestioned policy paradigm. However, tendencies of re-bordering and signs of growing Euroscepticism can also be observed nowadays in these border regions, which show the importance of investigating the negative externalities that can be generated by cross-border integration. This article attempts to do this by focusing on three case studies usually considered as among the most integrated ones in Europe because of cross-border flows related to work: the cross-border metropolitan regions of Basel, Geneva and Luxembourg. Our findings show that if several decades of cross-border integration have led to the reinforcement of the functional linkages between the border regions, some effects of the cross-border integration process have also created a functional specialisation of space that relies on social and economic inequalities. Such a situation contradicts the ideal of cross-border territorial cohesion and helps to better understand the rise of Euroscepticism in some of the border areas.

Building a cross-border territorial strategy between four countries: wishful thinking?

ABSTRACTSince 2010 and the launch of the METROBORDER project, funded by ESPON, Luxembourg and the neighbouring regions in Belgium, France and Germany have pursued the objective of creating a cross-border polycentric metropolitan region. In order to achieve this goal, the political actors have decided to elaborate a cross-border territorial strategy to bring more coherence and cohesion to a cross-border region characterized by its strong functional integration, due to the very high number of cross-border commuters. This paper reflects the approach that we have followed, as external advisors, to animate the debate between the stakeholders and to provide evidence for the decision-making process. Its objective is to examine the content of this cross-border territorial strategy and to question whether such a strategy between four countries is at all possible, efficient and able to answer to challenges of cross-border integration. An analytical framework has been designed, taking into consideration different approaches of cross-border integration, in order to examine, in a critical way, the content of the cross-border strategy.

Transnational Metropolitan Development Strategies and Governance in a Post-Socialist Setting: The Case of Szczecin

Abstract The integration of cities and their regions into transnational networks has become a key municipal strategy, with the creation of a metropolitan governance structure being seen in this context as a fundamental element. The Szczecin Metropolitan Area constitutes an example of meagre results in intercommunal cooperation in post-socialist East-Central Europe. This has its repercussions on the task of creating cross-border metropolitan governance structures including adjacent German counties, a task which, in turn, may help to overcome development barriers. This becomes apparent particularly in the process of defining joint development objectives as well as an image for the cross-border metropolitan region

Cross-border metropolitan governance: the multi-faceted state power

Metropolitan regions have become one of the most appropriate scales to define efficient governance networks for economic and territorial development. The state still is the key actor of these partnerships. Yet the question remains whether cross-border metropolitan regions represent a new point of reference that puts state power in question or whether they only reorganize it. The centrality of state power will be examined by looking at two networks of actors (public transport and territorial marketing) working at the Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai. The results reveal that a triple-faceted state power has emerged to define and organize cross-border metropolitan management.

Spatial Governance across Borders Revisited: Organizational Forms and Spatial Planning in Metropolitan Cross-border Regions

In Europe, cross-border cooperation in spatial planning has intensified in recent years. Organizations with varying institutional characteristics have emerged in urban areas that cross a national border. They deal with problems stemming from the cross-border situation. The institutional and spatial aspects of organizations on the sub-national level in nine European cross-border metropolitan regions are compared in this article. The analytical concept of metropolitan governance applied here takes into account the simultaneous existence of different cross-border organizations as well as their spatial and functional relationships. Subsequently, this article assesses the impact of governance on spatial planning in two cases, Basel and Lille, where institutional changes occurred on the sub-national level between 2000 and 2010. The way organizational and spatial attributes of new forms of cross-border metropolitan governance influence the coordination of spatial policies is discussed here. The comparison of organizational characteristics and capacity to coordinate reveals important differences. Furthermore, comparing spatial scales shows how new cross-border perimeters are drawn along existing national territories. Organizations' competences and interests are decisive for the coordination and implementation of spatial policies.

When Regions Collide: In What Sense a New ‘Regional Problem’?

Going beyond the territorial/relational divide in regional studies requires researchers to do more than examine the extent to which territoriality and relationality are complementary alternatives. The variety of networked regional spaces means it is intellectually unsustainable to simply relate a single networked regional space to territory–scale without first considering how networked regional spaces interact. Illustrated through the experience of Germany, our paper demonstrates that interaction between different networked regional spaces (eg, city-regions and cross-border regions) is resulting in new networked regional imaginaries (eg, cross-border metropolitan regions). Its overall aim is to show that the production of entirely new networked spaces can assist in overcoming the contradictions present in one configuration of regions, but this only serves to create a new ‘regional problem’ requiring ever more complex configurations of regions.

The role of national states in the construction of cross-border metropolitan regions in Europe: A scalar approach

This article is concerned with the role of national governments in the rescaling of cross-border metropolitan governance structures in Europe. In the context of emergent cross-border metropolitan regions, the objective is to highlight the structuring effects of support policies to metropolitan areas at national level, in the context of their politics of scales, on the scalar configurations developed by local and regional actors. Using a comparative approach, the cases of Basel, Geneva and Luxembourg are singled out. The confrontation between German, Swiss and French state policies, and the modalities of the rescaling of levels of governance within the three cross-border metropolitan regions, allows us to underline the considerable influence of national guidelines on scalar reconfigurations. The structuring role of governments in this ‘new cross-border regionalism’ needs to be relativized, however, in functions of the specific characteristics of each context as well as factors relating to the actors involved.

Cross-border Policy Networks in the Basel Region: The Effect of National Borders and Brokerage Roles

This paper provides evidence of how national borders affect the structure of policy networks. Our analysis of the Basel cross-border metropolitan region located across Switzerland, France and Germany considers the case of public transportation in border regions. Using a social network analysis of the relationships between 44 actors, we show that national borders play a diminishing role in the formation of policy networks for both information exchange and decision making. Local actors develop different brokerage roles according to their country of origin: Swiss actors function as coordinator and representative brokers vis-à-vis actors located in France and Germany.

Comparing Cross-border Metropolitan Integration in Europe: Towards a Functional Typology

This article analyses the process of spatial integration in ten European cross-border metropolitan regions by comparing three indicators, relating to flows of cross-border commuters, differentials of gross domestic product per capita and residents’ citizenship. Our results allow, firstly, confirmation of the hypothesis that the greater the economic disparities, the greater the level of interactions measured by cross-border commuting. Our work also allows confirmation of the hypothesis that strong economic interactions have an impact on the cross-border integration of communities, measured by the proportion of residents based on the other side of the border. Finally, this article leads to a typology based on three models of cross-border integration being proposed: by specialization, by polarization and by osmosis.

Governance and transportation policy networks in the cross-border metropolitan region of Luxembourg: A social network analysis

Two major processes have increased the need for cross-border public transportation policies in European metropolitan regions in the recent past: the imperative of a region’s accessibility within the inter-urban competition and the aspired EU-wide regional harmonization and de-bordering process. Governing such multifaceted issues in cross-border regions requires the implementation of suitable and efficient organizational solutions. In the example of the cross-border metropolitan region of Luxembourg, we discuss the contradicting ‘border effects’ of a complex cross-border governance network. Such flexible policy networks are supposed to make the proclaimed economic, socio-cultural, and spatial European integration work on the very local level. We suggest that the governance typology of Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks offers a useful guiding heuristics for function-specific governance arrangements in cross-border regional contexts. We utilize a method mix of a quantitative social network analysis and a complementary qualitative survey to illuminate structural notions of the policy network relations to relate our empirical results to the conceptual debate on governance structures in the politically proclaimed de-bordering regions within the EU.

Political rescaling and metropolitan governance in cross-border regions: comparing the cross-border metropolitan areas of Lille and Luxembourg

In the last 20 years, the number of cross-border cooperation structures in Europe has exploded owing to political and financial support by the European Union aimed at encouraging cohesion and developing peripheral regions. These policies are part of processes of de-bordering and political rescaling that have profoundly affected cross-border areas by creating new institutional territories and political structures. The purpose of this paper is to study the institutional history of cross-border metropolitan governance in Europe through the comparison of two of the most advanced cross-border metropolitan regions: Lille and Luxembourg. This paper asks how these cross-border structures have developed and changed. What can their patterns of institutional evolution contribute to understanding governance in other cross-border regions? Are these new spaces evidence of political rescaling? This paper presents and redefines cross-border governance as a cyclical and a long-term process and also explores the challenges that these partnerships face in becoming functionally effective and autonomous policy actors. Ultimately, we find that there is no replicable ideal of cross-border governance and that even long-standing partnerships are in a period of exploration and reinvention. Establishing a competitive and coherent cross-border metropolitan region is ambitious and complex, and it necessitates the coordination of policies at multiple scales and across institutionally diverse territories. This project requires the modification and/or construction of new institutional and legal frameworks. This reorientation of political attention has resulted in a reconceptualization of political space but not the empowerment of new political actors, indicating that the process of rescaling may be a work in progress.

Großräumige grenzüberschreitende Verflechtungsräume

A federal pilot project will explore the role played by economically strong border regions in interaction with European metropolitan and urban regions. Jointly with partners from the Maas-Rhine Euroregion, (SaarLorLux+) Euroregion, Trinational Upper Rhine metropolitan area and Lake Constance region, the regional policy of the federal government is aimed at establishing the particular importance of cross-border metropolitan areas for growth and innovation, as well as for the European target of territorial cohesion, within regional policy discussions in Germany and Europe. Testing the strategic approach of “supra-regional partnerships” in a cross-border context, is one significant aspect. The interests of the partners involved in the project are furthermore focussed on the regions themselves. This means, the project is dedicated to promote a coherent regional development, as well as effective cooperation structures across national borders. The project finally pursues the creation of an initiative in the form of an open alliance of cross-border metropolitan regions, in order to more effectively represent the interests of border regions on a national and European level. The article explores the genesis, objectives and approach of this pilot project against the background provided by current debates on sustainable spatial development in Germany and Europe.