Julien van Ostaaijen

Chapter eight Good Multi-Level Governance: Brainport Eindhoven

Local authorities in many countries enter into cooperation with other local authorities. Such cooperation (voluntary or mandatory) is meant to improve service delivery efficiency, to enhance economic development, or to formulate joint strategies for international competition. In some cases, local authorities expand cooperation to private actors. That is what this Chapter is about. “Brainport Eindhoven” is an example of such public-private cooperation. The name refers to cooperation in the South-East of the Netherlands, where local governments, businesses, and knowledge institutes work together to transform the traditional industrial region into a high-tech region: a “brainport.

Chapter 8 Regimes and vital coalitions in rural–urban regions in the Netherlands

Purpose – The chapter answers the question if urban regime theory (URT) can provide a useful framework to understand and solve problems of cooperation in regional processes in rural–urban areas. Methodology/approach – The chapter is a theoretical discussion on problems found in contemporary rural spatial governance. Findings – URT can provide a framework for understanding the obstacles encountered in regional development and is a promising perspective for the analysis of regional processes. A solution for problems in regional cooperation can be found in so-called ‘vital coalitions’, forms of vital interaction between regional actors, based on energy and productivity, that can create a ‘capacity to act’ in regions that have become ‘gridlocked’ by current procedures and regulations. Research limitations/implications – A modern URT, applied in a regional context:(1)Can point out ‘how power is organised to act’;(2)Analyses informal networks between actors as bases for cooperation and vitality, and as a possible starting point for new (cultural) counter-regimes and(3)Offers insight into regional complexity and cooperation and into emergent regimes. Practical implications – Vital coalitions are forms of self-governance, that introduce new agendas and function as forms of niche-innovation in regions. This can lead to the forming of new ‘cultural regimes’ in which the motives and values of civilians are a key element. Originality/value of the chapter – The value of the chapter lies in the use of concepts in regions from a fresh new perspective, by translating the URT from a local, urban context to a regional rural–urban perspective.