Spatial imaginaries of the Dutch–German–Belgian borderlands: A multidimensional analysis of cross-border regional governance

Abstract

Parallel to the proliferation of cross-border regional cooperation initiatives in the European Union, increasing scholarly attention has been given to conceptualizing cross-border governance in recent decades. In line with the recognition that cross-border regions have not undermined the significance of nation-state spaces but have added to their complexity, conceptual frameworks of analysis have become more and more refined. However, studies still tend to be framed in one spatial grammar, that of territory, scale or network, and fail to consider the ways in which these different dimensions become interlocked. The aim of this article is to address this lack by developing a multidimensional perspective, in order to finally circumvent state-centric thinking on cross-border regions and to offer a more nuanced account of whether and how new imaginaries of spatial governance institutionalize. These arguments are demonstrated by means of a case study of cross-border regional governance in the Dutch– German–Belgian borderlands.