Layering Spatial Identities: The Identity Discourses of New Regions

Abstract

The number and importance of regions are increasing at the same time as traditional regional identities are undermined through processes like globalisation and individualisation. Local and other administrations increasingly cooperate and create new regions which are too changeable for a distinct collective identity to develop. Nevertheless, a clear identity discourse helps administrators to justify their policies; to mobilise local stakeholders; to attract outside resources; and to get attention and funding from the central government. This paper studies how the identity discourses of these new regions are constructed by administrators and other stakeholders by using elements linked to the identity of more established spatial entities. Especially important are the selective downloading of characteristics from the nations and regions to which they belong and the uploading of specific qualities from the cities and areas within their boundaries. We analyse how in two areas in the Netherlands the identity discourses of new regions have been constructed through selective association with the complex layers of more established spatial identities nearby. This paper studies how stakeholders create identity discourses for new regions through the uploading and downloading of characteristics of more established spatial identities at different scales. We focus on the identity discourses communicated by new regions to legitimise themselves and not on the identification of individuals with 'their' region (Paasi, 2009;2012). We view regional identity not as a set of characterisfics of a well-defined spafial entity 'out there', but as social constructs that are created and reproduced through stakeholder discourses that become materialised in, for example, planning documents or official websites. New regions are based on the cooperation between local administrations and often include administrations from other scale levels and other stakeholders. After discussing the proliferation of partially overlapping new regions in recent decades and how these new regions can be legitimised, we focus on the identity paradox: the increasing importance of regional identity to justify regional policies coincides with the decreasing possibilities for new regions to communicate a distinct identity. We investigate how stakeholders of these new regions can resolve this paradox by using elements ofthe identity of more established spatial entities in their vicinity in their political discourses. We demonstrate these processes by analysing how in two areas in the Netherlands the identity discourses of new regions have been constructed through interaction with the complex layers of spatial identities around them.The rise of new regions The proliferation of new regions is linked to the transformation of the nation-state in Europe and the growing importance of global competition. Economic geographers focus on the growing importance of regions in providing companies with the specific conditions

Making News: Newspapers and the Institutionalisation of New Regions

“…The regional newspapers proved to be a valuable source – they are an active agent in the construction of knowledge about the region. The clues the regional newspapers offered about the ongoing institutionalisation of BrabantStad and Het Groene Woud, moreover, correspond to findings from prior analysis (Terlouw & Van Gorp ).…”

“…Nonetheless, developing some sort of regional identity is crucial for the legitimation of policy choices of such new regions and the mobilisation of support for these policies (Cox ; Bell & York ; Harrison ; Paasi ). New regions do not develop the thick identities that are often found in traditional regions – identities based on a shared culture and heritage of a regional community, which were established during a long process of regional institutionalisation (Terlouw & Van Gorp ). Instead, the identities of new regions tend to be much ‘thinner’ and more forward‐looking than the ‘thick’, backward‐looking identities of traditional regions.…”

“…These ‘thin regional identities’ revolve around one specific issue or project in the region and are “more network based, fluid and future oriented” (Terlouw , p. 462). However, in the process of creating identities for new regions, stakeholders will often link up with identity discourses of the more established regions to which they are spatially connected (Terlouw & Van Gorp ).…”

Contingent self-definition and amorphous regions

“…The selective layering of spatial identities (Terlouw and van Gorp, 2014) underpins the place brand architecture constructions of regions as they configure and re-configure the scalar spectrum of place brands available to them. The spectrum of place brands reflecting different spatial identities potentially includes city, region and nation brands which may be configured flexibly as a dynamic capability.…”

Transforming identity discourses to promote local interests during municipal amalgamations

“…The construction of a regional identity discourse linking traditional rural elements with the future oriented agribusiness sector was instrumental in averting this threat for the whole region (Terlouw 2009;Terlouw and van Gorp 2014). Later a new threat emerged.…”