TERRA – AN EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY IN 69

Project acronym: GROOTSTAD Cross-border development and organisation plan for the French-Belgian northern region

Short summary The five partners regularly co-operated in the COPIT or GPCI, a Crossborder Permanent Interurban Conference, GROOTSTAD was a Belgian-French cross-border project, to promote the development of a joint metropolis. which aimed to develop a global vision and strategy for the development of a cross-border metropolis. In 1991 Under this organisation cross-border projects were five French, Flemish and Wallonian interurban structures realised in the areas of public transport, economic devel- came together to create COPIT (Cross-border Permanent opment, water management and planning. Following Interurban Conference) to promote the development initial successes in co-operation the partners jointly of a Belgian-French metropolis. The TERRA project moved to deepen the co-operation, moving from a co- GROOTSTAD represented a next stage to institute a ordination and information-sharing partnership to joint decision-making process for a cross-border development decision-making. and organisation plan. The project also operated in the context of existing strategic city or regional plans from This was supported both in and by the both regions. general shift of a number of important powers to the local and regional authorities. The interurban structures and the “Agence de développement et d’urbanisme de Lille métropole”, (the body contracted by the interurban structures to super- Spatial characteristics of the regions vise the project) had a decisive role to play in the involved preparation of the majority of these plans. The partners chose a number of themes on which to focus, including The region is composed of a complex urban system, water, competition and economic complementarity, which forms a triangle from the French city of Lille, the “metropolisation”, mobility and accessibility, local Flemish city of Kortrijk and the Walloon city of Tournai. planning coherence, metropolitan landscape, culture, universities, information and communication technology, The border between France and Belgium and the languages. linguistic barriers in the region influenced the shape and nature of the urban settlements on both sides. Technical information Total budget 2,500,000 Euro ERDF contribution 1,042,375 Euro Time frame 42 months

International partnership Co-ordinator: Lille Métropole, Communauté urbaine (F)

Partners: IDETA (B) Intercommunale de Dévelopment Economique et d’Aménagement du Territoire;

IEG: Intercommunale d’Etude et de Gestion;

LEIEDAL: Intercommunale voor streekontwikkeling van het arrondissement Kortrijk, region;

WEIR: Westvlaamse intercommunale voor economische expansie en reconversie, Flanders Region. 70 ANNEX II

The border has also meant infrastructure and facilities The ultimate objective was to foster and achieve inte- were duplicated in France and Belgium despite the close gration in a number of critical areas, thus overcoming physical proximity. problems of duplication and unnecessary competition but creating co-operation. Dramatic changes in the 1990s including construction of the Channel Tunnel, entry into service of the TGV and Each identified theme were subject to consultation, opening of internal borders of Europe brought changes study and discussion before they were united into a to the region and gave rise to discussion on the idea of global vision and strategy, including actions the subject a metropolis. Related to this was an ongoing crisis in the of contractual agreements between the partners. traditional industries, including textiles, adding impetus for a new vision for the region. An innovative process: The region is significant to Europe as a corridor linking building up local partnership and the United Kingdom to continental Europe, potentially benefiting the region substantially economically. citizens’ involvement The project evolved to a new level an already existing Key objectives and activities consultative framework created in the early 1990s. It ele- vated consultation and information-sharing to a level The main objective was further evolution of a decision- where joint decisionmaking could be entered into and making structure for the development and management where commitments could be exchanged. of a european cross border metropolis. Development of a structure to deal with the numerous Crossborder workshops were conducted on commonly facets identified in the project in meaningful detail and agreed themes. Additional to this a political and techni- at the same time to develop a regional strategy in a con- cal steering committee was established with each part- text whereby political support from each of the regions ner represented. could be achieved was a major challenge.

The existing structures of COPIT and the decision- The project involved examination of structures that could making traditions of the five partners were built into the support ongoing and formal co-operation. National leg- joint planning to give a multi-layered network of consul- islation particularly in France was unable to provide sup- tation and decision-making. port for these objectives. The project also sought

GROOTSTAD TERRA – AN EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY IN SPATIAL PLANNING 71

high-level technical support by inviting specialists as the co-operation will continue with joint actions under advisors at workshop and committee meetings. the INTERREG frame. The creation of a legally consoli- dated transfrontier urban structure, following examples Private and public organisations, chambers of commerce from the SaarLorLux experience or the Rijn-Schelde-Delta and industry, universities were also consulted in an advi- is planned. This will further be developed under the sory committee, the technical workshops or at confer- INTERREG 2C frame. ences and debates.

Assessment Outputs The project was professionally organised and managed. The projected focused on working towards the develop- The complexities of consultation and decision-making ment of a global vision or strategy document, as a form and gaining of political support were the most substan- of a charter signed by the partners. The aim of this doc- tial challenges. A substantial step toward a joint vision ument being to provide a future vision for the territory for the territory was achieved. Closer co-operation in and outline how this could be achieved, focussing on the legal terms is dependent on the overall acceptance of identified main topics. these structures involving France and its seven neigh- bouring countries. A further problem could be the dis- The document aimed at identifying projects to be con- crepancy between the regional autonomy of the Belgian tracted by the partners. Studies and recommendations regions and the difficulty for the French government to produced by specialists under contract or by the various find its counterpart for the signature of future treaties of specialised workshops provided a basis for this process. transborder co-operation.

Future plans It is proposed to continue co-operation after the conclu- sion of TERRA, which is viewed as a step toward closer co-operation. A study of the institutional arrangements of the area suggested a number of options for ongoing co-operation.

The steady integration of technicians and politicians from all regions created a highly dynamic process towards a functioning joint metropolitan region. First studies on a common future identification of the popu- lation were undertaken, serious discussions about the name of such a future metropolis were started with active engagement of politicians. It is anticipated that

Contact information Project co-ordinator:

Name Jef Van Staeyen Organisation Agence de développement et d’urbanisme de Lille Métropole Address 2, Place du Concert F-59043 Lille Cedex Tel. + 33 320633365 Fax + 33 320633399 E-mail jvanstaeyen@lille-metropole- 2015.org

GROOTSTAD