The development of the Øresund region thanks to the bridge linking Copenhagen and Eastern Denmark to Southern Sweden has been considered as a model for the construction of a European region. Based on a multidisciplinary project, this article takes the Øresund case as its starting point, and provides a few contradictory examples from Scandinavia. The objective is to discuss regions strive to make themselves visible and attractive to investor and visitors, but above all to determine to what extent they produce regional players who actively create integration through different activities and contacts at the borders. The emphasis is placed on the cultural dimensions that we find in everyday practices and the symbolic manifestations of these transnational processes.
This study is an opportunity to analyse the consequences (for the citizen) of the setting up of space that is a genuine cross-border space as regards access to maternity care. It also underscores the importance of health cooperation in the Greater Region in order to avoid having areas of vulnerability. The examples studied in this regional space provide useful information for decision-makers in terms of territorial development. The analysis underscores the importance health cooperation based on collaboration at different levels: administrative, economic and technical, but also cultural in order to determine whether such an approach is feasible.
This article aims at evaluating the democratic status and prospects of the strategic, institutional and cooperative level within CBRs, based on a case study of the Øresund Region, situated on the border between Denmark and Sweden, and complemented with secondary evidences from other CBRs. The following questions are asked:
Do the strategies promoted have a democratic scope?
Are institutions reasonably accountable, in a traditional sense, to citizen within the region?
Is the concrete cooperation inclusive of broad categories of citizens?
The aim of the book is to show what means exist to soften borders and avoid the discrimination and marginalisation that separation can generate. To extend the debate, the book draws on the theoretical framework of social ecology. Social ecology is concerned with the complex relations between nature and society and seeks to provide perspectives by showing how environmental issues are dependent on the social context.
The cross-border coalfields led to the development of towns along the border throughout the SaarLorLux area. The industry fell into crisis. The urban spaces now need to counter the demographic and economic degradation. More and more borders disappear as well. New organisational strategies are now being introduced. This article presents two of them: The strategies of conurbations and the cross-border city networks. The article discusses strengths and weaknesses of these strategies.
The article presents the development strategy that was introduced in the late 1990s by the conurbations in Lorraine near the French Luxembourgian border. These cities, developing during the heyday of the mining and steel industries, had to face difficult economic and social situations in the years after the economic miracle. They found new paths for development thanks to the regional policy of the EU, which was targeted at cross-border cooperation. The presented research work dealt with the contribution of this new strategy to improve the living situation of the people near the borders and their development perspectives.
The Euroregions can be defined as European cross-border structures that play an influential role at the borders between European countries. Les Euroregions have an important role to play in increasing territorial cooperation. It is therefore important to provide support for the development of these structures. This book is a catalogue of good practices for the Euroregions intended to provide solutions liable to inspire a higher level of cross-border cohesion and positive progress in the process of European integration.
Based on a wide-ranging survey carried out in 2010 and 2011 with a representative sample of cross-border workers in Luxembourg, the CEPS/INSTEAD has published, in conjunction with Forum EUROPA, the University of Strasbourg and the CNRS, a collection of articles devoted to the everyday lives of cross-border workers. It contains 13 sections on a range of complementary topics, which together form a synthesis of the main findings on the mobility of cross-border workers. One of the main findings of the survey is the significant increase in the use of public transport as a main means of commuting, even though car use continues to dominate. The quality of the public transport offer (journey time, services, reliability, comfort, etc.) plays a decisive role in cross-border workers' choice of transport mode, as do parking facilities at the place of work. Cross-border workers live an average of 44 km from their place of work and take 53 minutes to get to work. This distance from the place of work means that half of cross-border workers leave home before 7 am. 60% of car drivers say that they are satisfied or very satisfied with their commuting arrangements. Cross-border workers who take the train are generally more satisfied, with 74% saying they are satisfied or very satisfied. Furthermore, it is among those who take the train that fatigue makes itself felt the least compared to everyday perceptions in the different modes of transport. If 73% of cross-border households have at least two cars, generally opinions about cars are quite contrasted. But cross-border workers' mobility is not only limited to commuting for work, since one person in five crossing the border goes to Luxembourg for a non-work-related activity, mainly to eat out or to go shopping. On average, people crossing the border spend 2 hours a day and cover 100 km for all their movements.
The Central European Service for Cross-border Initiatives was founded in 2009 according to the model of the French association Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière. The centre would like to make implementation of cross-border projects possible. It is supported on a national level and summarises the actors of the border areas. This way, it can promote a structured dialogue between the (national and European) authorities and between the local and regional actors.
