Corporations and Regions: Capturing Multiple Vicinity Spaces in European Regions

Abstract

While researching intersections of regional cultures and corporations the question arises which spaces are relevant for corporations? Instead of researching regions as fixed and bordered administrative or political entities, regions need to be deconstructed as varying and overlapping spaces. After a discussion of space in theory, three European regions are researched in this paper. Thinking in different space-layers is not only an academic exercise, but also has relevance for regional policy at different policy levels. It is of interest to understand companies' transaction spaces and the spaces perceived as relevant, to capture spaces for which companies are willing to take responsibility and to understand identity spaces. The sums of these spaces build the territory, which in contrast to the region as an administrative entity; comprises the social, cultural and historical spheres. In order to understand and govern territories, however, “Multispace-Governance” research in vertical structure is needed.

Notes

However, it should be noted that he strictly distinguished space from territory, insofar, that his definition of territory is made explicitly in contrast to space, which is not “dependent on time and human beings” (182).

Terms like virtual space, homepage or domain demonstrate that spaces could also exist beyond geography in the world wide web. This space thinking can for instance be deducted from the statement of Venezuela's President Chavez, who invited Evo Morales and Fidel Castro to get messages out on the Internet: “We are going to fight in all spaces, revolution in all spaces”. (http://itn.co.uk/0a536a5b99618b064a09c3f87f 883756.html, retrieved May 3rd 2010) he said.

The idea is rather like the “Banana Pancake Trail”, a synonym for routes which connect backpackers’ hubs and nodes (places). Due to backpacking tourists looking for cheap and easily accessible services, whole leisure industries plus bars and restaurants have been established which cater to the travellers’ needs while displacing local cultures and associated offers. In Southeast Asia for instance, sweets are not common, but because Western tourists frequently asked for, Banana Pancakes, as a substitute are now available as a sweet along the whole trail.