In the European context (France, Germany, Luxembourg, etc.), national borders are less and less hermetic. People adopt new trans-bording behaviors that lead to new possibilities of residential and commercial development (land use) on the both parts of the border. How can we measure this differential ?
A fascinating topic, Jean-Philippe
As intro; I reside on one site of a border (D) and work at the other (NL) commuting by rail or bicycle depending on the weather; I am also a Remote Sensing specialist and look regularly at satellite images and aerial photography both sides of the border. From that experience, I would like share my observations.
The border of NL & D (and similary NL & B) appears prominently on any satellite image or photo-mosaic also in landscapes with the same soil, dialect/language and family names both sides of the border and that were the same political unit in the Middle Ages. In other words, borders have created differences over the centuries. Among the differentiating features are field size, hedgerows, grass/cropland ratio, forest pattern, dominant forest plantation tree (beech in D; not in NL), man-made drainage pattern and infrastructure, pattern of urban expansion and so on. Although the boom at border has disappeared, very little else has changed. Especially laws, regulations and institutions are different at both side of the border; in effect emigration to another EU country is proved to be not easier than to my current country of residence in Africa. History has created a divergent pattern over centuries that seems unlikely to converge over decades. Further divergence continues today; for example on the D side I see wind-turbines, solar panels on every farm-shed and bio-gas production transform the rural landscape; none of it at the NL-side (different subsidies); intervention and appearance in cross-border nature reserves show even to the untrained eye where the (not demarcated) border is. The only convergence I have observed is in housing; locally, the Dutch style and pattern can now be found on the German side (for Dutch immigrants).
Once you established your Research narrative and questions, we may discuss your Methods; land cover change detection methods, could be a start.
Hope it stimulates
Hi Jean-Philippe,
This is a topical discussion within border studies literature. There are a couple of recent companions (published by Ashgate and Blackwell) on border studies that might be helpful in this respect for you. With regard to the concept of "mobile borders", we have referred to it at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263574602_The_Oldest_Boundary_in_Europe_A_Critical_Approach_to_the_Spanish-Portuguese_Border_The_Raia_Between_Galicia_and_Portugal
Regards,
V.
Article The Oldest Boundary in Europe? A Critical Approach to the Sp...
Dear Jean-Philippe, one of the most interesting historic examples of country border effect on land use and regional planning is the European Green Belt which has arisen on the site of the famous Iron Curtain (some further reading in the attached publication). Another interesting experience is the border between Slovakia and Austria which was part of the former Iron Curtain and since it has opened, several effects on the land use and planning issues have arisen. There have been projects reacting on this phenomenon, such as COBRA (Co-operation Bratislava) or more recently the spatial development concept BAUM (Bratislava Umland / Bratislava and surroundings) dealing with the pressure of metropolitan urban development of Bratislava on the border municipalities on the Austrian side, similarly as it happened in case of Vienna several decades ago. I am sure, you will find some interesting references in the attached publication or the mentioned projects.
Best regards from Vienna,
Attila
Conference Paper Greenways: A Landscape Planning Tool for Restoration of Link...
It may be interesting to measure the impact of a border, but the more important question, I think, is how to transcend borders when they impede good planning. In the U.S. we have a number of examples of land use institutions that cross municipal/county borders (e.g. regional sharing of revenues from shopping centers in Minneapolis area; regional planning by Regional Plan Assn. in New York and regional/state regulation of very large projects in Maine and Florida). State borders are transcended by the California-Tahoe Regional Planning Commission, which has land use regulatory authority. For national borders, one might look at the Great Lakes Regional Commission (water quality, invasive species) and city/state transborder collaborations in Tijuana (U.S./Mexico) and Vancouver (U.S./Canada). There are also more than 100 transboundary parks throughout the world. Dorothy Zbicz has inventoried and evaluated them in several publications.
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