Cross-border Territorial Development – Challenges and Opportunities

Border Region

Europe

Type

Note on a scientific paper, a conference paper, etc.

Main Category

Regional Development – Sustainability

Governance – Power – Cooperation

Theories – Concepts – Terms

Introduction

This thematic document pertains to cross-border spatial development as well as the associated challenges and potential.

Summary

The thematic document highlights various aspects of cross-border spatial development based on the following central themes: spatial planning instruments, promotion of cross-border cooperation, health care, transport infrastructures and services, territorial integration through the combination of transport modes and creation of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation. The contributions pertain to different cross-border spaces in Europe.

Content

The thematic document was drawn up and supported as part of the INTERREG project by the Uni-GR Center for Border Studies (Uni-GR CBS). It is the first edition of the new “Borders in Perspective” series by the Uni-GR CBS. It is published by Technische Universität in Kaiserslautern. Contributions were submitted and drawn up following a call for contributions by scientists of the Greater Region and of three universities, Politecnico di Torino, Erlangen-Nürnberg and European University Viadrina.

The territorial development of places is influenced by trends which do not stop at national administrative borders such as climate change, demographic and structural change but shape the development of larger territories. Additionally, often functional and thematic interrelations exist across national borders that lead to frequent exchanges and interdependencies of territories and its citizens. However, the territorial development is steered by spatial planners whose competences are restricted to the domestic administrative boundaries. Therefore, in recent times it is often called for a coordination of domestic planning strategies and cooperation across borders. As spatial planning has been traditionally bound to domestic administrations, also the spatial planning approaches and understandings vary, including planning processes and instruments. Scientists even talk about the existence of different planning cultures (Knieling and Othengrafen 2009). All these differences - combined with general difficulties such as language barriers - challenge the coordination of the territorial development across national borders. However, the coordination and stronger integration of bordering territories – by preventing contradicting developments and by offering infrastructural linkages - open up new opportunities such as complements in the provision of services of general interest. Potential cooperation topics are manifold, i.e. the development of natural parks or commercial zones across borders. Different cross-border planning instruments have been designed so far to steer the territorial development across borders such as the Common Vision Paper 2030 Germany-Poland (Original name: Gemeinsames Zukunftskonzept 2030 Deutschland-Polen). Besides that, the European Union has offered a legal instrument to simplify a coordinated cooperation of entities from different European countries: the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. Furthermore, the proposal of the Luxemburgish EU Council Presidency to introduce a European Cross-border Convention (ECBC) might ease the provision of cross-border services.

Content list :

Foreword
Marie-Josée Vidal (MDDI Luxembourg)

Editorial
Karina Pallagst and Beate Caesar

Spatial Development Concepts – A cross-border planning instrument with a future ?! Experiences from the German borderlands
Beate Caesar and Karina Pallagst

Cross-border territorial cooperation in non-EU member countries - Evidence from Albania and Switzerland
Alys Solly, Erblin Berisha and Giancarlo Cotella

Safeguarding services in health provision and health care in rural border areas - An investigation using the example of the Greater Region
Kirsten Mangels and Robert Riethmüller

Steering the cross-border transport development in the cross-border region between Brandenburg and Lubuskie
Beate Caesar

Spatial integration of cross-border mobility structures - The ‘space-time-line’ analysis in the Greater Region and the Czech-Bavarian cross-border region
Tobias Chilla and Anna Heugel

The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities for the German-Polish cooperation
The case of the TransOderana EGTC (under construction)
Peter Ulrich

Conclusions

Cross-border regions have increased in importance within the European Union. The four fundamental freedoms allow for stronger networking beyond national borders and offer new potential in terms of spatial development. The EU furthermore supports exchanges with non-EU countries, and therefore influences spatial planning in these countries. The various countries’ availability to invest in the development of cross-border networks largely depends on the pressure they are subject to in the various relevant fields. Moreover, national systems and cultures diverge and the shortage in financial means hinders cross-border coordination. In order to reduce these barriers, the EU strongly promotes cross-border exchange possibilities and provides legal instruments. There are also ambitions to coordinate spatial development on bilateral and multilateral levels. Measuring the success of cross-border spatial integration is not easy, which is why it is so important to take the new methods into account.

Key Messages

The design process of cross-border development concepts, which are essential planning instruments for spatial planning in cross-border spaces, bring significant added value and contribute to mutual learning, personal exchanges and spatial development coordination.

European territorial cooperation between EU members and third-party States influences the spatial development of the third-party States involved, for example through the integration of EU objectives in the spatial strategies of these countries or through the adaptation of governance structures in terms of parties involved, procedures and principles.

Cross-border cooperation in terms of health care has great potential, particularly for rural regions, however to this day there are hardly any cross-border initiatives in this field in the French-German cross-border space within the Greater Region. Differences in terms of skills, understanding and language barriers tend to complicate the cooperation. It is suggested that the EU should further support projects in this field.

In the field of transport, German national policy documents, namely the binding policy documents in the cross-border space between Germany and Poland, rarely define concrete investments for cross-border transport. However, this theme appears more often in policy documents on a lower cross-border cooperation level, which are more familiar with local and regional needs despite reduced steering skills. Furthermore, cross-border projects are rarely supported due to lack of funding. Cross-border policy documents however bring significant “abstract” added value as they allow for exchanges regarding the respective systems and planning coordination. In the long run, they can also contribute to transforming cross-border objectives into tangible projects. The EU’s financial contributions should continue to be used to promote cross-border exchanges and carry out concrete investments in cross-border transport.

Space-time-line analyses can be used as accessibility assessment instruments and territorial integration. They are based on data analyses which are freely accessible on the web and are quite easy to carry out from a methodical point of view. Moreover, it is easily possible to integrate their results in political discussions in order to constitute an encouragement for better cross-border territorial integration.

European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) are meant to facilitate cross-border cooperation. However, the implementation process of an EGTC in the German-Polish cross-border space shows that there is heavy reliance on the political will of member States and of the respective competent institutions. Furthermore, differences in terms of skills, the lack of financial resources for EGTC members and the lack of knowledge regarding the way an EGTC works are factors which complicate its creation.

Lead

Beate Caesar & Karina Pallagst (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (Hrsg.)), Universität Trier (Koordinator der Themenhefte insgesamt)Bea

Author of the entry

Beate

CAESAR

Links

https://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/opus45-ubtr/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/1068/file/UniGR-CBS_Borders+in+Perspective_thematic+issue+Vol.1.pdf

Keywords

Cross-border territory development

Border studies

cross-border cooperation

spatial planning