Los sistemas urbanos que convergen en el frente norte de Basilea (Weil am Rhein, Saint-Louis y Huningue) comparten con aquella y entre sí relativa continuidad espacial y dinámicas funcionales, a pesar de pertenecer a países distintos. La tendencia hacia una mayor permeabilidad fronteriza derivada de su contexto posibilita nuevas formas de cooperación entre estas áreas vecinas, que adquieren nuevos roles como soporte y como escenario clave en la activación de operaciones que encuentran continuidad a uno y otro lado de la frontera.El presente trabajo profundiza en esta cuestión a través del estudio de casos en las ciudades mencionadas. Tras una introducción que permite exponer la singularidad y el papel del sistema urbano de frontera en un marco de creciente permeabilidad, y presentar el contexto del área objeto de análisis, se evalúan prácticas espaciales transfronterizas en el periodo 1985-2010, haciendo especial hincapié en el caso de Basilea. El estudio permite atisbar la capacidad de esta última para construir estrategias que posibilitan armonizar procesos transfronterizos y proyectos locales, a la par que ratifica la importancia de las ciudades, en tanto que ámbitos de relación, para impulsar la imbricación espacial entre áreas vecinas separadas por fronteras.AbstractThe urban systems that converge in the northern border of Basel (Weil am Rhein, Saint-Louis and Huningue) share certain spatial continuity and functional dynamics with the former, despite being located in different countries. The tendency towards an increasing border permeability derived from their context is opening new possibilities for cooperation among these areas, which acquire new roles as a basis and as a key arena for operations that find continuity across the border. Our research delves into these issues through the analysis of specific cases in the above-mentioned areas. It starts with an introduction where both the singularity and the functions of border urban systems in a background of growing permeability are exposed, and where the context of the case under analysis is defined. Then, cross-border spatial practices in the period 1985-2010 are studied. Particular emphasis is placed on the case of Basel. The study reveals the capacity of this latter to build strategies that make it possible to harmonize cross-border processes and local projects. It also confirms the importance of urban systems, as areas of relationship, to promote spatial imbrication between neighbouring areas.

Purpose The geographic space of the old Trinational Agglomeration Basel is a complex area where municipalities (and urban systems) belonging to three different countries meet, and part of a paradigmatic scenario where former and recent cross-border cooperation structures and practices are opening opportunities for joint development. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how organisation and spatial relations are being transformed in this context and if there exist barriers, focusing on Weil am Rhein (Germany), Basel (Switzerland) and Saint-Louis and Huningue (France), which converge in the heart of the Agglomeration. Design/methodology/approach The paper is structured in two parts. The first one is a theoretical exploration of the evolution and extent of cross-border cooperation structures and practices affecting the area. The second one focuses on urban transformation and intertwining resulting from this environment, exploring it through analytical work and cartographies for the 1985–2010 period. In this study, three categories are considered: transport networks, morphology and land use. Findings Results suggest that cooperation structures are bringing opportunities for the interweaving of neighbouring border urban spaces. However, significant limitations due to regulatory and spatial inheritances and economic constraints, among others, persist. The analysed space continued evidencing barriers and over-simplified areas at the end of the period studied. Originality/value The research offers a not-so-frequent, but necessary, perspective of border urban systems as complex scenarios: not only nodes of interaction but also inhabited spaces. It provides insights into border urban development and original cross-border cartography, giving clues on planning in singular environments.

Cross-border urban areas are spaces of singular richness. They are inhabited encounter places, where differences but also complementarity exist and where the presence of the frontier can be regarded as a source of opportunity. This research delves into the evolution of a particular case of such scenarios: the border urban systems that converge in the heart of the Basel metropolitan area (Weil am Rhein in Germany, Huningue and Saint-Louis in France, and Basel itself in Switzerland). ix The research highlights the decisive role of emerging instruments and methods of interaction for the activation of new cross-border spatial practices, but also their operational limitations, the asymmetrical power relations and other multiple interests at stake. This results in a significantly cohesive space -considering its nature-, but with underlying weaknesses. The border condition is harnessed as a resource.Beyond the constraints, multiple projects stand out which, by focusing on connectivity, act as a lever for change, modelling certain dynamics on borders (functional, social, economic, etc.) even though they do not have an influence on the permanence of checkpoints. They show the importance of communication structures as a support for cross-border development. Also, they reveal the capacity of local areas to reinforce certain processes of permeabilization, becoming spaces where the management of creative difference and the confluence among diverse actors can support the positioning in supralocal networks, the emergence of collective anticipation strategies and the attention and search for solutions to urban problems and needs, adopting an integral approach. In this respect, the Basel north front adaptation model stands out. Thus, cross-border urban areas have proven to provide insights for planning in a context of uncertainty. Given their specificity, the debate on their future requires not only considering local integration, but also urban complexity.

La ciudad frente a la incertidumbre: Planificación urbana y organización en un escenario de probabilidad. Le Havre, 1935-1970 The city faced with uncertainty: Urban planning and organization in a scenario of probability. Le Havre, 1935Havre, -1970 Silvia Fernández Marín ♠ Fecha de superación del Tribunal Fin de Máster: 16.07.2015 Tutor: Javier Ruíz Sánchez Resumen 1Los sistemas urbanos están permanentemente sometidos a fenómenos potencialmente alteradores, a transformación; se enfrentan en definitiva a la incertidumbre. Considerando lo difícil de aspirar a conocerlos en profundidad en razón de su complejidad y ante el carácter a menudo altamente inflexible de las regulaciones normativas que sobre ellos se establecen, se hace necesario explorar las pautas por las que se organizan a fin de favorecer su capacidad de recuperarse en contextos delicados como lo son un desastre y sus consecuencias; especialmente a tenor del marco político económico en que aquellos se inscriben. El presente estudio analiza las mencionadas cuestiones a través del caso de Le Havre (la segunda ciudad más bombardeada de Francia durante la segunda guerra mundial) indagando sobre las implicaciones de su reconstrucción. Se aborda desde una perspectiva relacional porque las acciones en ella emprendidas no sólo conllevaban introducción de orden estricto sobre las áreas destruidas, sino también la alteración de probabilidades comunicativas del resto del conjunto, estando muchos de los cambios entonces introducidos en el origen de importantes desarrollos posteriores no contemplados al inicio. La estricta intervención emprendida conllevaba la limitación de la capacidad de adaptación y evolución futura de diversas áreas de la ciudad. Palabras claveComplejidad urbana, sistema de comunicaciones, incertidumbre, topología, grafos. AbstractUrban systems are constantly subjected to a number of phenomena liable to lead to significant changes and, ultimately, faced with uncertanty. Taking into account the difficulties to fully comprehend them due to their complexity and the rigid nature of urban planning regulations imposed over them, it becomes essential to explore their organizational paths, so as to improve their ability to recover after a disaster and to deal with its effects, specially considering the economic and political frame they are in.Our research analizes the above-menthioned issues through the case-study of Le havre (The second most affected city by the WWII bombings in France), digging into the outcome of the rebuilding process from a relational perspective. Actions undertaken in this latter were not only a way to impose an order over the affected areas; they also entailed the alteration of the probabilities of communication in the non-destroyed ones, to the extent that most of those changes were in the origin of later developments.The rigid intervention carried out led to significant restrictions in later adaptive and evolving capacities in several areas of the city. artículo es parte de un estudio más pormenorizado elaborado en el marco del...