Mobilités et développement transfrontalier

In this issue of “Géo-Regards,” the authors look at borders as a facilitating element of relationships and flows between neighboring countries. Four main topics of Border Studies are addressed: daily mobility (purchasing and labor mobility), directing commuter flow and public transport, cross-border housing migration and the consequences of border enhancement or creation. In the first chapter, which deals with daily cross-border mobility, Rachid BELKACEM and Isabelle PIGERON-PIROTH examine the “border work and cross-border development in the Greater Region.” The authors show the impact of border work on the development of neighboring regions of Luxembourg. Philippe HAMMAN deals with the “collective adoption of cross-border labor relationships.” He points out that the information structures of cross-border commuters are both service providers (guidebooks, etc.) and trade unions. In his article “The (Im)mobile Borders of the Horological Heritage in the Jura Arc,” Hervé MUNZ shows that cross-border mobility strongly determines the horological knowledge in the Jura arc. He notes that the different modes of acquiring horological heritage are more rooted in Switzerland, and that the cross-border dimension that structures and organizes the activities associated with this industry becomes “invisible.” In the article “Komárom and Komárno: shared city – cross-border retail trade,” Tamás T. SIKOS addresses the specific environment created by the proximity to the border. The author describes the development of two types of competition: horizontal competition (between similar retailers) and vertical competition (between cooperatives, small retailers and the major retailers, including but not limited to those from Western Europe).

The second part deals with the “directing of commuter flows.” Antoine BEYER and Bernard REITEL begin this section with an article on “directing public transit as a measure for cross-border integration in Western Europe, based on the example of the three Eurodistricts Saarbrücken, Strasbourg and Basel.” The authors create a typology to make clear that there is a great variety of arrangements between territorial institutions and they also deal with the obstacles. In “Transport, Border and Territorial Development of the Regio Insubrica” Aurelio VIGANI presents an analysis of the border development (role as a barrier, filter, contact zone) and its effects.

The third chapter, “Cross-Border Housing Mobility,” begins with an article by Rafael COSTA and Thierry EGGERICKX on the “demographic diversity and migration profiles of the Belgian border areas.” The authors note that demographic change is putting pressure on the prices of property and housing in certain Belgian border areas. Samuel CARPENTIER, Claude GENGLER and Philippe GERBER show in “Cross-Border Housing Mobility Between Luxembourg and its Neighboring Regions” that this form of mobility is growing, but that some people are already retreating back to Luxembourg. Patrick RERAT, Alexandre MOINE, Kevin GERTSCH and Philippe SIGNORET present a complex migration system with bi-directional flows in the French-Swiss Jura arc in the article “Cross-Border Mobility in the French-Swiss Jura Arc.” In their article “Education or Migration Strategy? Students in Vojvodina in Hungary” Ágnes EROS, Béla FILEP, Patrik TATRAI, Monika Mária VARADI and Doris WASTL-WALTER focus on student migration and find that this form of mobility often extends beyond the period of study.

In the section “Strengthening or Creating a Border,” Koffi Nutefé TSIGBE shows in “Borders and Cross-Border Mobility in Togo Under Colonial Rule (1884-1960)” that the Togolese territory is a result of negotiations between Germany, France, Great Britain – the old colonial powers. He notes that although the colonial powers have always prevented attempts to “cross the border,” the population has never given up and has appropriated the borders.

Marta BYRSKA-SKALARCZYK’s analysis deals with “The border of violence. The ‘ants’ of the border crossing Medyka as a border-experienced society.” She observes that smugglers crossing the border daily between Poland and Ukraine have developed certain forms of resistance to (state) power.