Borders, planning and policy transfer: historical transformation of development discourses in the Finnish Torne Valley

Abstract

European Union spatial policies have become a key institutional context in which to study policy transfer processes in European border areas. These policies are, however, only the most recent part of these transformation processes which raises a need for more historically sensitive approaches. An historical perspective is important, since border regions are historical processes with particular path-dependent development trajectories and power structures. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion concerning the transformation of European border regions by looking at the policy transfer of regional development discourses in the Finnish Torne Valley. The study material consists of strategic development documents produced by the Finnish border municipalities and the municipal-based co-operation organizations from the 1930s to 2013. The examination, based on critical discourse analysis, shows that the transformation process is driven by national trends and the dominant planning discourse. Nevertheless, the particular border setting and local discourse on 'united Torne Valley' have also intertwined with political and economic processes during different time periods. ARTICLE HISTORY

Obstacles to achieving cross-border tourism governance: A multi-scalar approach focusing on the German-Czech borderlands

“…These findings reflect the absence of EU influences in within-country borderland tourism cooperation, not just because of the absence of project co-financing with INTERREG but also by lacking adoption of larger EU-inspired development rhetoric among institutional brokers (Jakola, 2016). Tourism governance practices in both the transnational Germany-Czech Republic and the within-country Bavaria-Saxony/Thuringia borderlands are thus remarkably similar despite different underlying causes.…”

“…The focus on tourism for cross-border regional development by administrativegovernmental actors can, in this framework, also be seen as a tool for gaining socio-economic and political power through adhering to larger European-level development rhetoric (Jakola, 2016). Conversely, territorial delimitations and borders may also function as additional hindrances to sustainability.…”

“…The lack of integrated cross-border practices results in "the collection of, largely ad hoc and unrelated, activities by professionals and organizations within local government, which together produce a specific pattern of cross-border cooperation" (Princen et al, 2016, p. 502). Cross-border development plans from EU regional policy can become locally internalized, yet with contextualized path-dependency in adopting these perspectives (Jakola, 2016). Johnson (2009) adds that local and regional actors do not simply abide by top-down regionalization strategies, but have appropriated the power to use existing European-level cross-border development frameworks to pursue their own strategies.…”

“…Since the 1970s, EU regional policy has gradually increased emphasis on cross-border cooperation to promote the functioning of Europe as a single economic market, improve regional competitiveness, and foster social cohesion (Jakola, 2016;Johnson, 2009).…”

Zwischenstadt as a travelling concept: towards a critical discussion of mobile ideas in transnational planning discourses on urban sprawl

“…The first is to contribute to an exploration of conceptual and methodological tools to advance the critical analysis of transnational flows of planning ideas (tying in with studies by e.g. Healey, 2011Healey, , 2013Jakola, 2016;McCann & Ward, 2011;Peck & Theodore, 2010;Wood, 2016). To this end, we discuss the drawbacks of comparative studies that are central to successful 'learning from abroad' (Dolowitz & Marsh, 2000) and, in an attempt to avoid these drawbacks, turn to Edward Said's essay Traveling theory (1983).…”