Polycentricity: An Issue in Local Development Strategies? Findings from the Baltic Sea Region

Abstract

Since its introduction in the mid-1990s, the concept of polycentricity has had a fashionable status in the EU countries. Polycentricity is seen as a means to create a more balanced development and increase the competitiveness for more peripheral cities and regions based on increases in mass and exploitation of complementary assets. However, this “belief” in polycentricity may be problematic as the geography of strategic relevance for many cities is in essence trans-local. The paper presents evidence on the geography of strategic networking assembled from three case cities from the Baltic Sea Region. The strategic networking of cities as they aim to re-develop their economies after decline in manufacturing, rarely rely on polycentric relations within the regions. Cities act as entrepreneurs and cooperate with the most relevant and competent “players” in the market. Strategic partnerships are matched with policies generally neglecting distance and regional associations. The weaknesses of polycentricity as a development concept, and its links to networks of innovation are discussed. Regionally based polycentricity should be seen as a special case of the more general conditions of a new relational geography, where polycentricity may be of relevance to cities depending on regional location and capacity for re-structuring.

Notes

The composition of the interviews. Nakskov: 17: Officials: 6, public institutions: 5, local business co-operation: 2, private enterprises: 4; Herning: 11: Officials: 2, local business cooperation: 3, municipal cooperation: 2, private enterprises: 4; Nyköping: 12: Politician: 1, officials: 6, local business cooperation: 1, private enterprises: 4, NGO: 1.

After an administrative reform, Nakskov merged on January 2007 with neighbouring municipalities into the municipality called “Lolland”.

The networks include three networks on local development (BASS, West Lolland Municipalities, Lolland-Falster municipalities), one joint municipal network on site development (Nakskov Industry and Environment Park) and three networks on experimental development of local infrastructure (harbour sludge cleaning, district heating, hydrogen community).

The networks include two networks on local development (Landsdelscenter Midt-Vest and Det Midtjyske Bysamarbejde), the joint municipal business cooperation (Herning-Ikast-Aaskov Erhvervsråd) and five instutional networks on knowledge infrastructure (Herning Ingeniør og Handelshøjskole (HIH), HIH-vind, Center for Underleverandører, TEKO, CEU—Herning and Videncenter for Industriel Production).

The networks include one network on local development (Mälardalsrådet), one network on local business development (ONYX AB), two networks on infrastructure (Nyköping-Ôstlänken AB and Europakorridoren/Europakorridoren AB) and one institutional network on local knowledge infrastructure (Högskolecentrum). For cartographic reasons, the European network of Ryan Air cities is not included.