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- Sustainable planning of cross-border cooperation: a strategy for alliances in border citiesPublication . Kurowska-Pysz, Joanna; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Loures, LuisIn recent years, cooperation among nations has become a critical issue towards sustainable development of neighbor cities in border areas. In this regard, sustainable common planning approaches and policies are an increasing reality, particularly in European territories. Considering the significant amount of cross-border cooperation (CBC) projects and strategies within Europe, it is crucial to promote research approaches that are able to identify the most positive approaches towards the establishment of alliances in border territories, serving as pivotal methodologies for achieving success. Contextually, the present study considered direct and indirect research methods and tools, literature reviews, data collection, computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and computer-assisted web interview (CAWI), all applied over two European border cities: Cieszyn (Poland) and Cesky Tesin (Czech Republic). These methods enabled the assembly of perspectives of local authorities, public and private institutions, non-governmental organizations, and entrepreneurs from the cities under study. Through the analysis of the collected data, five conditions have been identified for the success of strategic alliances in CBC projects: (i) well defining the alliance goals; (ii) ensuring participation in the alliance of various groups of stakeholders; (iii) involvement of both partners with extensive experience in CBC; (iv) ensuring the coherence of the key objective; and (v) guaranteeing the alliance benefits both sides. These conditions might effectively contribute to achieve more successful outputs in CBC projects, highlighting the relevance of previously developed strategies on the definition of future approaches.
- Cross-border cooperation (CBC) in Southern Europe-An iberian case study. The eurocity Elvas-BadajozPublication . Alexandre Castanho, Rui; Loures, Luis; Cabezas, Jose; Fernandez-Pozo, LuisThe experiences of cross-border cooperation (CBC), undertaken not only in Europe but throughout the world, have enabled areas to gain greater importance in recent decades at an international level, showing potential for integrative functions and joint development as exemplified by several CBC projects. The present paper assesses the impact of CBC projects by analyzing a protocol established in 2013 between the cities of Elvas and Badajoz, which induced the creation of the Eurocity Elvas-Badajoz. The paper kicks off with a critical review on territorial factors for success in CBC areas, considering the analysis of several case studies throughout Europe. The lessons learned, taken from the analyzed case studies, and the identified territorial success factors were used as assessment points for the investigation of the target study area, the Eurocity Elvas-Badajoz. The investigation explores public participation perceptions towards the identification of what changes with respect to standards of life with the CBC project, providing the current state of affairs and identifying where to place efforts in order to reach sustainable development for the region. While being a transition area, it presents several opportunities for growth. These opportunities have not yet been object of analysis and debate with respect to lasting, sustainable successful growth. The present research enables the identification of several territorial factors for success in the study area, such as the connectivity/movement between cities and strong political commitment. From the identified critical factors, it was possible to highlight the importance of public transportation as a priority for achieving success in this CBC project.
- Accessibility and connectivity - Movement between cities, as a critical factor to achieve success on cross-border cooperation (CBC) projects. A European analysisPublication . Alexandre Castanho, Rui; Vulevic, Ana; Cabezas Fernandez, Jose; Fernandez-Pozo, Luis; Naranjo Gomez, Jose Manuel; Loures, LuisNowadays, cross-border cooperation (CBC) is an undeniable reality in the space encompassed between European borders. This contributes to economical and social sustainable development, as well as to cohesion for trans boundary areas, which include administrative and territorial units from neighboring countries. A correct conceptual basis for the methodological approach to connectivity lies in the fact that the development of transportation systems, as integrated networks at different scales, is deeply changing their operation and the way they induce urban and regional development patterns. Overloaded transport corridors in the context of changing transportation flows are becoming an important issue for accessibility, impacting CBC indirectly, but harshly. Different modes of transport create different patterns of accessibility, with different influence in CBC accordingly. Throughout the present research, CBC European case studies, where connectivity-movement between cities, has been identified as a key factor for their territorial success, were assessed, described and analyzed. In the period of 2001-2006, improvements and further imbalances have occurred in accessibility development across regions and modes. Some signs indicate that the core-periphery pattern is slowly changing which leads towards an upgrade on the accessibility of places, regions and cities.