Transport for Regional Integration in Border Regions (TRIBORDER)

The TRIBORDER project aims to analyze the potential challenges of planning and developing transport connections across the borders in the Nordic region. The project activities will contribute to the work of the Nordic Thematic Group for Sustainable Cities and Urban Development, 2017-2020.

Nordregio tasks within the TRIBORDER project consist of three main activities that all have a shared focus on public transport projects, planning in the context of cross-border regions and urban-rural relations.

The first activity will investigate the local reception of the fast rail connection between Oslo and Stockholm. Nordregio researchers will look at the existing literature on consequences of new high-speed rail stations in small and medium sized cities and will conduct interviews with local actors in the regions of Värmland in Sweden and Østfold in Norway.

The second activity will analyze effects of the ferry connection between Umeå and Vaasa on their surrounding urban regions. The study will include different factors such as commuting, labor market and cross border integration.

The third activity will focus on the public transport system in the cross-border region of Greater Copenhagen. It will analyze connectivity and urban planning in relation to public transport.

The examples of public transport projects in the three case study regions of Värmland-Østfold, Kvarken and Greater Copenhagen are chosen in order to illustrate the potential challenges of planning and development across national borders in the Nordic context. The border committees in these three areas are active partners in the projects along with Nordregio and members of the Thematic Group for Sustainable Cities and Urban Development.

The project will contribute to a better understanding of the urban-rural relations at play in small and medium sized Nordic cities, and thereby contribute to the fulfilment of one of the overarching goals of the Thematic Group for Sustainable Cities and Urban Development.