Territorial changes and changing identities: how spatial identities are used in the up-scaling of local government in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article analyses the use of local identities by local communities in two Dutch municipalities. This research was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior to better understand the role of local identities in municipal amalgamations. This article develops a conceptual framework based on the distinction between a primary identity based on the widely recognised dominant characteristics of the local community, and a secondary identity based on how communities within a municipality have learned over time to deal with these different primary local identities. During an amalgamation, this secondary identity disappears with the old municipality.

Regional identity and the renewal of spatial administrative structures: The case of Podolia, Ukraine

“…In some studied cases, regional administrations implemented selective downloading of characteristics from the nations and regions to which they belong ("thick" elements) and the uploading of specific qualities from the cities and areas within their boundaries ("thin" elements) (Terlouw and van Gorp, 2014). In other cases, however, the secondary identity of a municipality is too weak and indistinct to support the primary local identities (Terlouw, 2016). Thus, the formation of hybrid identities, which is more or less typical for this case study region, opens up new opportunities for effective territorial governance, when successful branding of administrative regions and the consolidation of stakeholders do not need a strong correlation with historical identities.…”

Local responses to state-led municipal reform in the Finnish-Swedish border region: conflicting development discourses, culture and institutions

“…It is a common argument that creating larger administrative units and merging administrative structures results in economic savings. This, however, is a controversial argument as there is no scientific agreement about the timeframe concerning when such savings would be realised (Harbo 2015;Terlouw 2016). Moreover, a recent study from Finland concludes that the PARAS project did not result in economic savings for the merged municipalities (Harjunen et al 2017).…”

“…On the contrary, welfare and social inclusion were mentioned in a few opposing arguments concerning accessibility to public services. The fear that services would move too far from the people has been widely acknowledged to be one of the main hindering issues in the municipal amalgamation processes (see Terlouw 2016). Instead of prioritizing economic saving, actors see the social aspect as being more important.…”

“…To fill this gap, this paper examines how these three scalar dimensions of development and the discourses they promote have come together in Northern Finland's border municipalities in the political context of the state-led municipal reform process. Although municipal reforms and amalgamations have gained a relatively large amount of academic interest during recent decades in Finland (Halme & Kuukasjärvi 2010;Zimmerbauer & Paasi 2013;Harjunen et al 2017), and elsewhere in Europe (Vetter & Kersting 2003;Harbo 2015;Terlouw 2016;Askim et al 2017), the particular contextual environment of border regions has not been taken into account.…”

“…The main argument behind reforming the municipal territorial structure was the economic efficiency of local governments, which, according to state government, needed to be improved to respond to endogenous demographic challenges and the more exogenous challenges resulting from changes in the global economic environment. Amalgamations were seen as a suitable way to increase the average population of municipalities, which in turn would produce economies of scale (Zimmerbauer & Paasi 2013;Terlouw 2016). However, being one of the most decentralised OECD countries, Finland has a strong tradition of municipal self-autonomy (André & García 2014) and with certain exceptions local governments have decision-making power over possible amalgamations.…”