Heikki Eskelinen

Competitive European peripheries

Competitive European Peripheries? An Introduction.- 1 Competitive European Peripheries? An Introduction.- I European Scene.- 2 The European Network Economy: Opportunities and Impediments.- 3 Regional Development, Federalism and Interregional Co-operation.- 4 Remaking Scale: Competition and Cooperation in Prenational and Postnational Europe.- 5 Cross-border Co-operation and European Regional Policy.- II Northern Lights.- 6 Europe of Regions - A Nordic View.- 7 Peripherality and European Integration: the Challenge Facing the Nordic Countries.- 8 Regional Development in the Nordic Periphery.- 9 The Fall and Revival of the Swedish Welfare Model: Spatial Implications.- 10 Are Leaping Frogs Freezing? Rural Peripheries in Competition.- 11 Internationalization from the European Fringe: the Experience of SMEs.- 12 The Social Construction of Peripherally: the Case of Finland and the Finnish-Russian Border Area.- Author Index.- Contributors.

A vision of a Twin City: Exploring the only case of adjacent urban settlements at the Finnish‐Russian Border

Abstract The article aims to illustrate through a case study the contingencies, complexities and paradoxes which characterize the external borders of the European Union. The study focuses on the only cross‐border urban area along the Finnish‐Russian border region, that of Imatra and Svetogorsk. Firstly, the peculiarities of this region are described by comparing it to other cooperating border communities in the EU. Next, the twin‐town initiative by the local governments is analyzed, the development potential of the cross‐border region is evaluated, and the motives for and obstacles to cooperation are examined for assessing the prospects of cooperation in a wider European context. It is concluded that the distinctive features of this highly asymmetric case have been taken into account by the local actors when they have defined the aim and scope of their cooperation strategy. Due to these contextual factors, it is also understandable that the concrete results of the twin city initiative have remained limited thus far. Although integrated cross‐border structures are nearly nonexistent, the local cooperation activities provide an interesting laboratory for observing and assessing the objectives and practices of a “Wider Europe” at a local scale.

Urban Patterns of Growth : The Geography of Suppliers of High-Tech Companies in the Nordic Countries

Urban Patterns of Growth was carried out for the preparation of the Nordic regional policy co-operation programme 2013-2016 and national regional policies in the Nordic countries. A key issue is the concentration of economic growth in the largest cities. This is favored by urbanization economies but also by the forming of specialized international networks of innovation and production established far beyond regional and national borders. Much research has focused upon these new global networks, leaving behind the question of the national spreading effects of the production that has not been outsourced. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to elucidate, via case studies, the extent to which the purchases of supplies and services from knowledge firms are located in proximity of the company or whether these purchases have spread to the remaining part of the country.

New Crossings at Different Borders: Finland

Abstract Finland is surrounded by a 2,413‐mile (3,892‐kilometer) land border and 775 miles (1,250 kilometers) of territorial waters. A basic distinction can be made between: (1) the western and northern (Finnish‐Swedish and Finnish‐Norwegian) borders, and (2) its eastern (Finnish‐Russian) border. The southern sea border with Estonia is currently an intermediate case, but it is developing rapidly to be an internal European Union (EU) border. The Finnish‐Swedish/Norwegian border has been peaceful throughout most of its history and currently displays characteristics common to many internal EU borders. Even though this border is neither a technical nor an institutional barrier to interaction, its existence is significant due to the infrastructural power of the states concerned. In the European High North, this setting is accentuated by the fact that the border regions are very thinly populated and thus human resources are limited. The legacy of the Finnish‐Russian border is quite different. Over the past centuries it was constructed as part of the East‐West dividing line in Europe, with its most extreme form developing during the Soviet era. As a result of political changes in the 1990s, the role of the border has been redefined in several important respects. Although it is still strictly and effectively controlled, the whole cooperation regime has turned upside down in a decade, and “room for regionality” has been created in the political landscape. Cross‐border cooperation initiatives at various spatial levels have been launched to promote interaction and reduce border‐related disparities, especially after Finland joined the European Union in 1995.

Influences from and Influences on Europe: the Evolution of Spatial Planning and Territorial Governance in Finland

Abstract Simultaneous processes of accelerated socio-economic transformation, geopolitical repositioning and rapid integration into the EU make Finland an interesting case and testbed for the analysis of processes of Europeanization of territorial governance and spatial planning. Focusing on institutional preconditions and underlying debates, this paper explores the ways in which “Europe” (in its manifold forms) has shaped and influenced Finnish territorial governance and how Finland has attempted to upload domestic interests to the European agenda. EU regional governance requirements, the spread of European planning concepts, and a Nordic epistemic community are identified as important catalysts for Europeanization. Overall, the findings cannot be taken as an indication of significant process of convergence of spatial planning and territorial governance in a European context. Instead, they represent a case of a countrys specific engagement with the EU dimension in territorial governance.

Competitive European Peripheries? An Introduction

Peripherality generally connotes distance, difference and dependency. A typical periphery is geographically remote, economically lagging, dependent upon external political and industrial decision-making, and culturally obsolete. In this vein, the paired antinomy “centre versus periphery” is often used to loosely characterise asymmetrical relationships and the disparities of regional systems.

Planning Strategically or by the Book?—Contentious Land Use Planning in South-eastern Finland

ABSTRACT The debate on strategic spatial planning highlights the limitations of statutory land use planning in weighing up future options for spatial development, particularly in instances of rapid change. This paper draws on this debate in order to analyse planning institutions and practices in Finland. The case in point is the south-eastern border region where interdependencies with Russia, particularly shopping tourism, have created pressures on land use and led to contentious planning processes between regional and central levels of government. It is argued that, in the absence of cross-border spatial co-ordination, there is a need to establish links between regional land use planning and visions of spatial scenarios in the national context.