Three perspectives on the spatial orientations of regional councils in the 1990s and early 2000s

Abstract

This research examined how the features that foster territoriality and relationality are associated with each other in the spatial orientations of regional councils, that is, in the way they define their positions vis-á-vis other regional spaces and the way they carried out spatial planning in Finland in the 1990s and early 2000s. The cases of interest were the regional councils of Kymenlaakso, South Karelia and North Karelia, which represent provinces located near the Finnish–Russian border. The spatial orientations espoused by the regional councils were studied through three interrelated approaches: geohistorical, possibilistic and interactive. Through these perspectives, the research aimed to show (1) how the spatial orientation adopted by each regional council had its own historical roots, (2) how the spatial orientations, despite prevailing structural conditions, did not adhere to any predetermined path but were defined through open and tense processes and (3) how the spatial orientations of the regional councils were connected to those of national and supranational actors in a mutually constructive manner. This study argues that rather than an inquiry into spatial orientation per se, one should make an inquiry into how spatial orientation is expressed—and questioned or opposed—in a particular temporal and regional context.