The changing significance of agglomerations in light of state spatial organisation and regional governance

Abstract

As hubs of social and economic activity, agglomerations have played a significant role from the point of view of the regulatory state since the end of the 19th century. The present study investigates the process, underlying causes and objectives of the institutionalisation of metropolitan areas during three distinct historical periods. The method of institutionalisation necessarily correlates with the state model characteristic of the given period (welfare or post-Fordist state) as well as with the evolution of territorial power structures. Initially, the idea of city-suburban cooperation emerged in the domains of public administration and spatial planning, yet the past two decades have demonstrated that the qualification of such spaces as city regions constitutes a key factor of national economic competitiveness in the framework of globalisation and new regionalism. In metropolitan governance, we can witness the emergence of partnership networks besides the traditional hierarchical control of society, which on the one hand, are integrated into multilevel governance systems, and on the other hand, in horizontal terms serve as subnational units (areas) of action relying on the advantages locality and selfgoverning structures offer.