Speakers
Description
Stretching from the Mediterranean Sea in the south-west to the Danube plains in the north-east, the Alpine region is one of the most complex and heterogeneous territories in Europe. While there are numerous contributions dealing with the development dynamics of the peri-Alpine lowlands and the inner-Alpine highlands, so far hardly any attention has been given to these territories in between. We argue that these interface territories constitute a specific spatial category, which is generally perceived either as peripheral from a mountain perspective or as suburban from a core city perspective. Putting them at the centre of territorial development and policy analysis can help to address spatial development challenges.
Alpine interface territories connect mountainous and inner-Alpine areas with pre-Alpine lowlands. They are characterised by highly dynamic flows and interdependencies as well as by controversial stakeholder claims that meet in a rather limited spatial framework (Chilla & Streifeneder 2018). Organising sustainable spatial development in this geographical context requires rethinking spatial governance and planning from a functional, soft perspective (Allmendinger et al., 2015; Faludi, 2018; Cotella, 2023) that goes beyond traditional administrative and sectoral boundaries and employs multilevel, integrated strategies and actions.
The proposed contribution draws on the results of the ESPON InTerAlp project (Chilla et al., 2024) to explore the functional and governance interlinkages, at first through a pan-Alpine overview and then through selected case studies. The analysis shows that, on the one hand, the spatial governance and planning systems of the Alpine countries do not dedicate particular attention to Alpine interface territories. On the other hand, the empirical evidence collected in the cases of the Alpine Rhine Valley, the Turin Metromountain area, and the Munich-Tyrol area shows that there are promising episodes of dedicated functional governance exist that could inspire more decisive progress and, overall, a more integrated sustainable and inclusive development of the Alpine region.
References
Allmendinger, P., Haughton, G., Knieling, J., & Othengrafen, F. (2015). Soft spaces in Europe (pp. 3-22). Abingdon: Routledge.
Chilla et al., (2024) ESPON InTerAlp [Interface territories across the Alpine region] - Final report. Luxembourg: ESPON. [Available at: https://www.espon.eu/sites/default/files/2025-01/interalp_final-report.pdf]
Chilla, T., & Streifeneder, T. (2018). Interrelational space? The spatial logic of the macro-regional strategy for the Alps and its potentials. European Planning Studies, 26(12), 2470-2489. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2018.1532493
Cotella, G. (2023). Breaking out of the box–towards functional spatial planning. disP-The Planning Review, 59(3), 4-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/02513625.2023.2288444
Faludi, A. (2018). The poverty of territorialism: A neo-medieval view of Europe and European planning. Edward Elgar Publishing.
| Keywords | Interface territories; Alpine space; functional areas; territorial governance; soft spaces; |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
