Cross-border integration patterns in the context of domestic economic development : a case study of the Upper Rhine

Abstract

Cross-border integration is assumed to promote European cohesion. Yet the relationships between different forms of integration and the social and political outcomes they supposedly promote vary. In this paper, we investigate forms of cross-border integration in the Upper Rhine, comparing patterns of functional integration (socioeconomic indicators) with patterns of organizational integration (network ties between economic development organizations). Using network analysis techniques and qualitative interview data, we find that both forms of integration are driven by the presence of economic differentials between countries, but that spatial patterns of functional integration differ from those of organizational integration. We propose a typology of potential relationships between regions that explains these differing patterns of integration, and highlights how economic development actors respond to the effects of economic differentials on their regional economies. In addition, we highlight complex relationships between organizational and functional integration, institutional integration, and structural contexts.

Polish-Lithuanian Tourist Cross-Border Functional Area – a new concept for the development of a cross-border tourist destination

“…Nowadays, "functional areas form places of many shapes and sizes" (Faludi 2016, p. 308), often cross-cutting the boundaries of administrative units, including state borders. As such, cross-border functional areas result from the cross-border functional integration, which is reflected in socioeconomic interaction in the form of flows or exchanges, essentially of people and goods (Turner et al 2022), often driven by the existing cross-border differentials and asymmetries (Decoville et al 2013). In legal regulations and strategic documents at the EU, national or regional level, there are numerous references to EU regional policy, perceived as an important determinant of supporting the development of functional areas (Kociuba 2015, Rosenkiewicz 2012.…”

“…Crossborder functional area is also characterized by the existence of a system of cross-border cooperation between various stakeholders and the existence of a co-management mechanism allowing for better use of the potential of a given area and solving common problems. Cross-border functional areas understood this way go beyond the dichotomous view in which functional and institutional integration are not always related (Turner et al 2022).…”