Regionalization and Transregional Policies

The focus of this chapter is the regional dimension of the provision of public goods. It is argued that next to states, regions at the sub- and supranational levels are increasingly playing a role in the provision of public goods. This in turn opens up spaces for transregional policies and for networks of actors that operate at the intersection of different spaces. First, the phenomenon of regionalization as multi-level governance will be introduced. Second, the rise of regions as providers of public goods will be discussed. Third, an overview of theoretical approaches to regionalism. will be presented And fourth, some empirical examples of transregional public policies will be provided. The main conclusion of the chapter is that there is a growing governance space for public goods at the transregional level. That space is increasingly occupied by networks of actors, rather than by single actors, who compete to set the terms of public goods provision.