Border Effects and the Cultural Landscape: The Changing Impact of Boundaries on Regional Development in Switzerland

Abstract

Boundaries mark the edges or the periphery of all kinds of territories. Restricted to the political perspective, they represent the end of a state’s or a government’s sphere of direct influence: all public efforts take place within the state’s territory, but in some cases, the border is the place where specific measures become effective towards the neighbouring countries (e.g. immigration control). In such cases, boundaries are a means of defence and segregation, the centripetal role prevailing over the centrifugal one. In this way, politics can be distinguished from the economy (Figure 10.1).