(Re)Connecting Borders

Abstract

The Euregio Maas-Rijn can be considered a Polycentric Urban Region (PUR), a region that consists mostly of medium and small-sized cities. The region is divided by three national borders, but the opening of European borders has enabled the region to cooperate more. PUR’s have access to the same level of agglomeration benefits as a single, large city, when cultural, functional and institutional integration in the region increases. In this thesis the focus is on functional and institutional integration and their relationship. Within functional integration the focus is on the public transport network, in line with the increase in congestion in the car network and the raising awareness of climate change. Within the Euregio Maas-Rijn (EMR), its dispersed polycentric urban pattern, and lack of cross-border public transport connections show a disconnected and underdeveloped regional public transport network that does not relate to the urban pattern. The exclusion of power-actors in public transport in the main governance structure on the euroregional scale, obstructs cross-border projects to be realised.
The design shows how functional and institutional integration can be increased, and in this create a stronger region. Design principles form the foundation of the design strategies and create the link between literature and spatial design, in particular the literature on the increase of integration in rural urban regions. The principles focus on the integration of public transport and the urbanisation pattern, the integration of the euroregional, regional and local scale, and the integration of governance structures.