Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation
National borders constitute barriers to social, economic and political processes and, thus, tend to contribute to the peripheralisation of border regions. The paper compares the evolution of two euroregions in peripheral central European border regions, whose objective is to overcome such negative b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lodz University Press
2017-12-01
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| Series: | European Spatial Research and Policy |
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| Online Access: | https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/esrap/article/view/2654 |
| _version_ | 1817997757073326080 |
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| author | Stefan Telle |
| author_facet | Stefan Telle |
| author_sort | Stefan Telle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | National borders constitute barriers to social, economic and political processes and, thus, tend to contribute to the peripheralisation of border regions. The paper compares the evolution of two euroregions in peripheral central European border regions, whose objective is to overcome such negative border effects by promoting cross-border cooperation at the regional level. On a theoretical level, the paper argues for an understanding of euroregions as soft spaces. Rather than viewing them primarily as instances of state rescaling, the paper emphasizes their role as adaptive service providers for local constituencies. It is suggested that their long-term stability depends on their relation to, and the internal dynamics of, politico-administrative hard spaces at the regional, national, and supranational level. While hard spaces are associated with the notion of the Weberian bureaucratic state, soft spaces combine many of the ideas of the New Public Management literature. Building on an organizational ecology perspective, the paper forwards the argument that stable, resourceful, and accessible hard spaces constitute a predictable and engaging environment within which softer arrangements may compete for the delivery of services. However, the interplay between soft and hard spaces tends to have an impact on the euroregions’ agendas. While EU cohesion policy provides incentives to strengthen horizontal cross-border coordination, the organizational integration of the two euroregions remained rather loose, testifying to the continued importance of domestic prerogatives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:43:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-07f0f0ccf5c14f5a9505c4287d090e43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1231-1952 1896-1525 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:43:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Lodz University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Spatial Research and Policy |
| spelling | doaj.art-07f0f0ccf5c14f5a9505c4287d090e432022-12-22T02:16:39ZengLodz University PressEuropean Spatial Research and Policy1231-19521896-15252017-12-0124210.1515/esrp-2017-00111924Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and TransformationStefan Telle0Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Institute of Management, Vazovova 5, 812 43 Bratislava 1, Slovak RepublicNational borders constitute barriers to social, economic and political processes and, thus, tend to contribute to the peripheralisation of border regions. The paper compares the evolution of two euroregions in peripheral central European border regions, whose objective is to overcome such negative border effects by promoting cross-border cooperation at the regional level. On a theoretical level, the paper argues for an understanding of euroregions as soft spaces. Rather than viewing them primarily as instances of state rescaling, the paper emphasizes their role as adaptive service providers for local constituencies. It is suggested that their long-term stability depends on their relation to, and the internal dynamics of, politico-administrative hard spaces at the regional, national, and supranational level. While hard spaces are associated with the notion of the Weberian bureaucratic state, soft spaces combine many of the ideas of the New Public Management literature. Building on an organizational ecology perspective, the paper forwards the argument that stable, resourceful, and accessible hard spaces constitute a predictable and engaging environment within which softer arrangements may compete for the delivery of services. However, the interplay between soft and hard spaces tends to have an impact on the euroregions’ agendas. While EU cohesion policy provides incentives to strengthen horizontal cross-border coordination, the organizational integration of the two euroregions remained rather loose, testifying to the continued importance of domestic prerogatives.https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/esrap/article/view/2654cohesion policysoft spacescross-border cooperationgovernanceterritory |
| spellingShingle | Stefan Telle Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation European Spatial Research and Policy cohesion policy soft spaces cross-border cooperation governance territory |
| title | Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation |
| title_full | Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation |
| title_fullStr | Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation |
| title_short | Euroregions as Soft Spaces: Between Consolidation and Transformation |
| title_sort | euroregions as soft spaces between consolidation and transformation |
| topic | cohesion policy soft spaces cross-border cooperation governance territory |
| url | https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/esrap/article/view/2654 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stefantelle euroregionsassoftspacesbetweenconsolidationandtransformation |