The Financial – Economic Factors in the Strategic Planning of
European Borderlands: Envisioning the So-Desired Sustainable
Development
RUI ALEXANDRE CASTANHO
Faculty of Applied Sciences, WSB University
41-300 Dabrowa Górnicza
POLAND
and
College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg
PO Box 524, Auckland Park
SOUTH AFRICA
JACINTO GARRIDO VELARDE
Department of Social Sciences, Languages and Literatures, University of Extremadura, 06071
Badajoz, SPAIN
University Research Institute for Sustainable Territorial Development (INTERRA),
University of Extremadura, SPAIN
Key-Words: Cross-Border Cooperation, Planning, Peripheral Regions, Sustainable Development, Territorial
governance and Management.
Received: April 19, 2021. Revised: November 21, 2021. Accepted: December 31, 2021. Published: January 3, 2022.
1 Introduction
Among the several barriers, obstacles, and
opportunities our today´s societies and territories are
dealing with, these challenges are even more evident
in peripheral areas as borderlands [1–6].
Consequently, the perception of the most relevant
factors and processes that are possibly involved in the
success or collapse of Cross‐Border Cooperation
(CBC) projects is crucial to attempt long‐lasting
regional sustainability. Therefore, we believe there is
a gap on the perception and implementation of some
of the critical factors for territorial success in
borderlands by the regional main actors.
Thus, twenty-one European cities were chosen, and
accordingly, the public and experts  opinions were
interpreted. Thereby, the research intends to solve the
following research question: Which factors and
processes affected the long
‐
term regional
sustainability of Cross
‐
Border Cooperation (CBC)
projects and City
‐
to
‐
City Cooperation (C2C) from
a financial-economic prospect?
Hence, this investigation concedes more information
for the interested main-actors of how border cities
cooperate and which methods are used to accomplish
success in their common projects. So, this study is
based on testing tools and methods. These
methodologies enable us to obtain the involved main-
actors' perceptions and opinions in the CBC projects
under study. The study used the population and
experts  of the selected cities as a sample - once, these
are the ones who know better the reality of these
border regions.
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Abstract: In Europe, there are a considerable number of borderlands involving various Cross-Border
Cooperation (CBC) projects, plans, and strategies. It is a well-known fact that these border synergies are
perceived as very intricate processes. Consequently, research projects that focus on different variables, factors,
and perspectives that could affect the success or failure of the common border projects are essential to achieve
consistent regional sustainability. In fact, we believe there is a gap on the perception and implementation of
some of the critical factors for territorial success in borderlands by the regional main actors. Thereby, this study
through the use of exploratory tools as top-to-bottom questionnaires examines the border cooperation of eleven
CBC projects (twenty-one European cities) focusing on the financial-economic theme. Besides, the research
permits us to recognize and isolate the two main decisive factors to consider from a financial-economic: (i)
Strong territorial strategy; (ii) Access to European funds. Moreover, this study shows that the CBC could be
used as a catalyst for creating job opportunities in these regions.
3 Materials and Methods
To carry out this investigation, the use of different
methods was required, as indirect and direct research
methodologies. The methodological framework
consisted into four principal stages, ending with
identifying the factors and processes that could affect
the long‐term regional sustainability of Cross‐
Border Cooperation (CBC) projects and also the
City‐to‐City Cooperation (C2C) from a financial-
economic prospect. The stages were as follows:
literature review, case study selection, case studies
analysis, and, finally, the processes and factors
identification.
Consequently, the research data was obtained by
preliminary analysis of the picked sites by analyzing
the planning and designing of every case study and
discussions and informal interviews with technicians,
experts, main actors, and stakeholders of the border
cooperation process.
Figure 1: Location map of the selected European
case studies.
The literature review was able to cover a range of
issues, considering the state-of-the-art about
sustainable development and border interactions at
regional and local scales.
3.1 The selected case studies
For this research, eleven case studies were chosen
(Figure 1). Contextually, by assessing prior analysis
of the picked case studies, as is the case of the several
pieces of research carried out by Castanho et al. [7],
and Castanho [8-10] it was feasible to identify the
case studies that fit the most to this specific study
intention.
4 Study Results
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Through the case study assessment, it was possible to
gather more information. Thus, it was possible to
obtain a more coherent comprehension of the most
meaningful variables that could influence the CBC
projects' success (Table I). Thereby, general settings
were analyzed as the number of inhabitants in these
cities; data about the distance between cities; the
strategies for regional common planning; the border
typology; the pre-owned dialects and monetary
forms; and, the GDP.
Table 1: General analyzed variables.
CASE
STUDY
Population
Distance
between
cities (Km)
Border
typology
Language
s
Curren
cy
GDP/capita
(million
euros)
Newry
Dundal
k
26 800
20
Outside
Schenge
n
Area
Irish
EUR
GBP
58 000
31 100
English
53 300
Venlo
Düssel
dorf
100 300
45
Schenge
n Area
Dutch
EUR
46 022
593 700
German
88 017
Aache
n
Liege
241 000
40
Schenge
n Area
German
EUR
24 400
197 000
French
22 100
Copen
hagen
Malmo
569 500
30
Schenge
n Area
Danish
DDK
SEK
36 600
315 000
Swedish
27 100
Valga
Valka
12 200
5
Schenge
n Area
Estonian,
Russian,
Latvian
EUR
12 000
6000
10 000
Ruse
Giurgi
u
150 000
10
Outside
Schenge
n
Area
Bulgarian
BGN
RON
34 00
55 000
Romanian
78 000
Orade
a
Debrec
en
200 000
60
Outside
Schenge
n
Area
Romanian
RON
HUF
10 100
205 500
Hungaria
n
12 500
Cieszin
Cesky
Tesín
36 100
1
Schenge
n Area
Polish
PLN
CZK
16 000
25 100
Czech
17 800
Vienna
Bratisl
ava
1 740 000
55
Schenge
n Area
Austrian,
German,
Slovakian
EUR
337 161
415 500
78 070
Nice
Monac
o
345 000
15
Schenge
n Area
French
EUR
28 000
37 000
51 500
Bayon
ne
San
Sebasti
an
44 500
45
Schenge
n Area
French,
Spanish,
Basque
EUR
33 500
186 500
24 000
Eight questions, through a Likert scale assessment
method, were asked to analyze the respondents'
opinions. The participants were asked to address their
agreement level with four sentences, where: 1- totally
disagree; and 5- totally agree (Table 2). In most of the
sentences (B, D, E, F, G, and H), the chosen answer
was 3 in 5 points Likert agreement scale. Regrading
sentences A and C, the higher values were found in
2, agreement levels - so, these sentences tend to
disagree.
Table 2: Agreement levels – sentences*.
Sentences
Agreement levels (%)
1
2
3
4
5
A
0.0
40.0
30.0
30.0
0.0
B
0.0
30.0
40.0
20.0
10.0
C
30.0
40.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
D
30.0
20.0
30.0
20.0
0.0
E
30.0
30.0
30.0
10.0
0.0
F
20.0
20.0
30.0
20.0
1
G
10.0
0.0
40.0
20.0
30.0
H
20.0
20.0
50.0
10.0
0.0
*A - There is generally a duplication of equipment in the area of cooperation of both cities; B - Even if
there is an increasing cooperation between cities, regarding services and infrastructures, I still feel the
need to seek services outside their influence area; C - There is a high quality of data sharing and
cooperation between both cities at the planning level. D - There is a high quality of data sharing and
cooperation between both cities at the infrastructure level; E - There is a high quality of data sharing and
cooperation between both cities at the services level; F - There is an increasing acces to information/data
from both citeis by local citizens; G - The implementation of the cross-border cooperation strategy
enabled an increase in job opportunities for both cities; H - The transport network connecting both cities
is sufficient and adequate.
Additionally, through a multiple-choice question, the
respondents were also asked to identify the most
significant factors that should be considered on CBC
projects to achieve economic, social, and territorial
cohesion – based on the fourteen critical factors
previously identified by Castanho et al. [7] (Table
3).
Table 3: Critical factors identified by Castanho et
al. [7] – adopted as the possible options for the
multiple-choice question.
P1
Connectivity - Movement between cities
P2
Strong territorial strategy
P3
Avoid duplication of infrastructure
P4
Increase the sense of belonging
P5
Diverse infrastructural offer - Euro Citizenship
P6
Access to European funds
P7
Stronger economy
P8
Better life's quality standards
P9
Young and talented people magnet
P10
Common objectives and master plans
P11
Stronger political commitment
P12
Citizen involvement
P13
Political transparency and commitment
P14
Euro-city Marketing and advertisement
Consequently, the multiple-choice question choices
were required to point the most critical factors that
should be considered on CBC projects to reach
economic, social, and territorial cohesion – from a
financial-economic perspective; the results lay over
two main factors (Table 4).
Table 4: The most relevant factors to be consider
from a political perspective, by the respondents.
Number
Factors - description
% of choices
P6
Access to European funds
40 %
P7
Strong territorial strategy
60%
5 Discussion and Conclusions
By analyzing Table 1, it is possible to quickly
understand the transboundary cities' main
characteristics within the CBC context Throughout
this CBC project, some major characteristics contrast
between cities should be emphasized as the
demographic dynamics among Venlo and
Düsseldorf, Copenhagen and Malmo, Vienna and
Bratislava, Nice and Monaco, or Bayonne and San
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Sebastian – where is a gap of over 100.000
inhabitants between the two border cities.
If we consider the distance between cities, we have
both limits within the defined selection criteria by
Castanho et al., [7], the significant distance between
Oradea and Debrecen (60 Km), and just a couple of
meters between the cities of Cieszyn and Cesky
Tesín. However, as documented in previous
researches (see: [7, 10]), sometimes the distance has
no much significance; as is the example of the CBC
within the city of La Línea de la Concepción and
Gibraltar, where there is no common development
strategy; or even in the studied cities of Monaco and
Nice - where the common cooperation strategies also
seem not to be so successful as expected (consider
they proximity). In fact, these failures in the CBC
strategy could be explained by political-strategic
factors more than financial-economic factors [see:
10,11]. Nevertheless, the financial-economic theme
factors should not be underestimated in the not so
successful outcomes in those CBC case studies.
Moreover, the CBC projects of Newry-Dundalk,
Ruse-Giurgiu, and Oradea- Debrecen are outside of
Schengen Area - considering the border typology.
Also, in Ruse-Giurgiu and Oradea- Debrecen, Euro
is not used as currency; perhaps it shows a tendency
to move away from EU standards from a financial-
economic point of view. Still, this variable per se
does not explain in full some of the not outstanding
results shown by these case studies, as is the example
of low GDP per capita. If we consider the case of
Newry-Dundalk, we should monitor how the Brexit
process and how this move away from the EU will
impact issues as the GDP and the common strategies
development.
Solely focus on the GDP per capita, it is possible to
verify that the most favorable results are related to
Copenhagen, Vienna, Dusseldorf, Newry, Dundalk,
or Monaco. In the opposite way are the cities of
Valga, Valka, Oradea, or Debrecen.
Considering the exposed, and bearing in mind several
other similar studies (see: [12-20]), remarkable issues
are raised, - i.e., (i) Are the cities with leading
demographic flows (bigger cities) and higher GDP
values, so excited in the CBC project as the small
ones? (ii) Do these major cities have the same
advantage as the CBC projects exhibit in the smaller
ones?
Through the analysis of Table 2, where the
respondents were asked to direct their agreement
with the eight sentences, it is conceivable to verify
that six of the sentences confer a clear position to a
medium agreement level (level 3) - sentences B, D,
E, F, G, and H. However, all these medium ranked
sentences (with exception for G), showed a tendency
for disagreement. In sentences A and C, the highest
values were found on the disagreement side. So, the
participants seem to be disappointed with many of the
CBC results.
Despite all the not-so-good results regarding the CBC
project found in the agreement level with these
sentences, in sentence G, "The implementation of the
cross-border cooperation strategy enabled an
increase in job opportunities for both cities," there is
an interesting agreement tendency. Therefore, in
these case studies, we believe that the CBC could be
used as a catalyst for creating job opportunities in
these regions. In fact, these results are corroborated
by previous research (see: [18,19]).
Analyzing tables 3 and 4, it is possible to isolate the
most fundamental factors experts consider to be
decisive, by a financial-economic prospect – being in
a first position (with 60%), the strong territorial
strategy; and second (with 40%) access to European
funds.
Based on the acquired outcomes, there are some
results we should consider across the actual scenario;
in fact, they should be seen as even more relevant in
the actual SARS-COV-2 pandemic and post-
pandemic.
Throughout the current study, the importance of
proper territorial strategy development and easier
access to European funds for CBC projects and
strategies has been demonstrated as necessary
conditions.
Furthermore, and based on the various characteristics
and peculiarities of each one of the investigated case
studies, it seems these factor does not have the same
influence across all European cooperation Projects.
Hence in other EU regions inserted in CBC scenarios,
more research should be conducted to further
comprehend this problem. Besides, related studies
should be developed over time to produce a
monitoring method of this pertinent issue.
As final thoughts, the present study expects to be
useful for the main-actors at various scales to identify
regional interventions and design regional
sustainable development strategies.
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Contribution of individual authors to
the creation of a scientific article
(ghostwriting policy)
Author Contributions: All the authors contributed
equally to the development of the present paper. All
phases of the paper development have been proper
discussed and worked on by the authors. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the
manuscript.
Sources of funding for research
presented in a scientific article or
scientific article itself
The project is funded under the program of the
Minister of Science and Higher Education titled
“Regional Initiative of Excellence” in 2019–2022,
project number 018/RID/2018/19, the amount of
funding PLN 10 788 423,16. Also, the authors wish
to acknowledge funding for this research work from
the VI Regional Research Plan and the Regional
Government of Extremadura and the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF), associated
with financing the research group Sustainable
Development and Territorial Planning (GR18052)
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License 4.0 (Attribution 4.0
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