Borders, visions and regions. The cross-border governance capacity of the Øresund Region. How to improve influence of cross-border regions

Abstract: In recent years, cross-border regions have been challenged by multiple levels governance creating barriers rather than solutions to support cross-border spaces. This study aims at inquiring how the role of cross-border regions is changing in relation to their governance capacity. Governance capacity relates to actions, practices and visions of such regions. Through investigating a case study in the Øresund Region, the study analyses how the reorganisation of a cross-border institution leads to a new type of governance capacity. The empirical insights of the thesis were collected through stakeholder interviews and desktop research. In this case study, I challenge traditional state-centred views of space, and instead suggest that there is a need to change the national political discourse in order to benefit from cross-border regions.