In this anthology, the authors examine how cross-border regions emerge and what characterizes them. The practices of institutional participants and border area residents in the fields of the labor market, economy, political cooperation, media, everyday life and culture will be analyzed and discussed.
This book summarizes the articles presented in the cross-border research workshops of 2008-2009 organized by the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme of the University of Lorraine in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg. The researchers from different disciplines, such as political science, information or communication studies, history, geography and sociology, came together to exchange ideas about the different approaches to the research object of the border. The questions that form the basis of the empirical investigations deal with the stability, persistence, and traces of the border; representations of territories and borders as well as the dynamics of transcultural and cross-border exchanges.
The three main subjects of study are (1) the border areas visited (political dispositives and social perceptions), (2) media construction and information practices at the level of the Greater Region and (3) the impact of cultural events on transnational representations. The sources used are biographies, questionnaires, surveys and discourse analyses.
The three cross-border metropolises Pôle Européen de Développement de Longwy (PED), the French-Vaud-Geneva metropolitan area and the French-Belgian cross-border platform Flanders – Dunkirk – Opal Coast were analyzed in a national comparative study to show the specific challenges of these areas. Thematic maps were analyzed on three major topics, which were then used to filter out relevant indicators: cross-border dynamics, differences and complementarities, as well as the metropolitan dimension.
This thesis inquires into the implementation of cross-border spatial planning strategies. Based on the study of cases such as Attert (Belgium), Backerich (Luxembourg), Montmédy (France), and Gaume (Belgium), as well as of the Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, the author develops a typology of the different phases of the construction of a cross-border territory project.
The Association for Borderlands Studies brings together scholars, institutions and experts from various disciplines and regional backgrounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America as contributory members who deal with the topic of “borders.” Joint conferences are organized and a scientific journal (Journal of Borderlands Studies) and a newsletter are published.
The anthology “European Borderlands,” edited by Elisabeth Boesen and Gregor Schnuer, contains an introduction and 11 chapters of content. It deals with everyday practices in European border regions that support social development and cultural identity. Changes in border regions are considered from a historical, sociological, economic, geographical, literary, anthropological or political perspective. The selected case studies are mainly located in border regions between Germany and its neighbouring countries, but also between Belgium and France, Estonia and Finland or Hungary and Slovakia. They show the diversity of border demarcations, which contradict a “borderless Europe” through border narratives.
This study aims to better understand the cross-border consumer’s “out-shopping” behaviors. The research focusses on the particular border space extending from the Arlon region of Belgium, through Longwy in France, to the south of Luxembourg. Based on an analytical construct of psychological characteristics drawn from the literature, a number of consumer profiles are derived from a series of semi-directed interviews with a set of 15 consumers from 3 different countries. Preliminary results point to 3 distinct types of border area consumers, namely, the rather local consumer, the rather global consumer, and a third glocal consumer who buys as much in their own territories as in more distant ones.
GR-Atlas is an interactive, interdisciplinary, thematic atlas of the “Greater Region SaarLorLux.” The atlas is the central result of a research project funded first by the Fonds National de Recherche (FNR = The Luxembourg National Research Fund) and then by the University of Luxembourg. The bilingual (German/French) atlas, which is constantly being added to, presents about 50 different thematic maps, which are based on an internet geographical information system (WebGIS) and have been created across borders for as much of the Greater Region as possible. Four maps show a diachronic view of a phenomenon by means of an interactive timeline. The objects displayed on the maps are linked to a database that can be accessed interactively. The map section is supplemented by a text section with explanations and illustrations of the individual maps.
At the very heart of the Greater Region, Luxembourg is an important hub of international finance that could well be considered a financial “cluster.” The activity of the financial sector, indeed, contributes directly and indirectly to the economic growth of Luxembourg itself and its neighboring territories. Building on Porter’s approach, this article bears witness to the link between cross-border commuting and the attraction of key competencies, from the perspective of the competitive advantage of Luxembourg’s financial sector. Such a conclusion is backed up by a detailed descriptive analysis of both the cross-border workers themselves and the particularities of the job-market and of the economy in Luxembourg. Testifying to what we might call “procyclic” relationships, these interrelations appear to be impacted by both structural reforms in the catalyst country and by fluctuations in the economy.
