Cross-border Regionalization and the Finnish-Swedish Border

Abstract

In the modern system of nation-states, border regions represent peripheral and often problematic regions. European integration and increased border permeability have changed state-centric and differentiative development in many border regions, and there has been a shift toward cross-border networking and collaboration. The aim of this paper is to examine the changes that this ‘cross-border regionalization’ has brought on the Finnish-Swedish border landscape in the Tornio Valley region, and the motives for the development of cross-border enterprise.