The establishment of inter-municipal cooperation: the case of a polycentric post-socialist region

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with the process of establishing inter-municipal cooperation among towns, particularly among towns in a polycentric settlement system. Emphasis is on the specific temporal context of transition from a central administration to a decentralized form. For a more detailed analysis, the territory of the eastern part of Pardubice region, Czech Republic was chosen as the study area. Our research question therefore aims at the mechanisms of cooperation experimented with by the representatives of individual towns and it reads: “Which forms of inter-municipal cooperation can capitalize on a polycentric settlement system following the dismantling of the socialist centralized governance system?” To answer this question, semi-structured interviews were conducted with authorities of towns of the area. Based on the analysis of interviews, we show four distinct stages in establishing mutual cooperation were determined: stakes, emerging border areas, connecting projects and joint territory management. They are not stages in terms of discrete periods of time, but phases in a process of getting new experience with cooperation among municipalities. Findings are that a new strategic action field needs to be established in order to achieve a form of inter-municipal cooperation that would enable to gain the benefits of a polycentric post-socialist region.

KEYWORDS:

• Polycentricity
• municipality
• self-government
• inter-municipal cooperation
• strategic action field
• post-socialist space

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. On the European level, polycentrism is perceived as supporting alternative centres lying outside Europe’s core of the so called “Blue Banana” identified as the dynamic centre of integrating Europe (Davoudi, 2003; Faludi, 2004). In contrast, national or regional dimension of polycentric development is framed by discussions about spatial equity, sustainable relationship between the city and the rural area (Growe, 2012) or about the transformation of hierarchical settlement relations (Meijers, 2007).

2. The reciprocal component is the sum of a number of mutual commuters and its share in the total number of commuters: e.g. for 160 commuters going from municipality X to municipality Y and 100 commuters from municipality Y to municipality X, the total number of commuters is 260. The reciprocal component includes 100 commuters from X to Y and analogically 100 commuters in the opposite direction. The hierarchical component comprises 60 commuters. The sum of reciprocal commuters is then 200 and the share in the total number of commuters is 77%. (CRR MU, 2009; Malý, 2016).

3. The term “Peklák” was originally a local place-name. Nowadays it refers to a ski resort built in the cadastre of Česká Třebová and co-financed by the EU structural funds (EU SROP), Pardubice Region and the Town of Česká Třebová.

4. The need to cooperate can be sometimes a “forced” consequence of the project managed by nation-wide authorities, as it might be the case of the new planned road infrastructure connecting eastern Bohemia with northern Moravia and affecting the region concerned. Although territorial benefits of the planned infrastructure are expected (Maier & Franke, 2019), cooperation of towns at municipal level can be crucial factor in controlling the risks and implementing anticipated benefits.

5. The municipal board represents the executive body of the municipality within the scope of its autonomous power and the board is responsible for its actions to the municipal council.

6. They are Česká Třebová, Lanškroun, Litomyšl, Svitavy, Ústí nad Orlicí, Vysoké Mýto and Žamberk.

7. Voluntary alliances of cities and municipalities (sometimes called associations of cities and municipalities or micro-regions) are associations comprising several municipalities and towns in order to achieve a common goal. They typically arise on their own initiative, not on the order of a superior authority or by law.

8. A destination company is an organization that is charged with coordination and cooperation of tourist service providers within the territory (destination) for more efficient management of tourism in the area.

9. Local Action Group (LAG for short) is a community of citizens, NGOs, private sector businesses and public authorities. LAGs are legal entities built on the principles of local partnerships and for the promotion and development of the rural region.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant numbers 17-26934S Geography of recycling urban space) and by the Grant Agency of Masaryk University (grant numbers MUNI/A/1576/2018 Complex research of the geographical environment of the planet Earth).