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New institutional geographies of higher education: The rise of transregional university alliances

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  • John Harrison
  • Darren P Smith
  • Chloe Kinton

Abstract

This article opens up debates about the deepening uneven geographies of higher education through a critical analysis of transregional university alliances. Focusing on the formation of research consortia and Doctoral Training Centres, we reveal the emergence of over 50 transregional alliances between United Kingdom universities. Despite each consortium operating at a variously defined regional scale there has been no explicit attempt to account for their geographical basis. Providing the first-ever analysis of this unfolding phenomenon, we demonstrate how the rise of transregional alliances is indicative of, and a response to, universities operating in an intensely neoliberalised political economy. Bringing together emergent theories of regionalism with emerging worlds of (neoliberal) higher education, our article reveals how, why and where universities are engaging in more intensively targeted, exclusive approaches to regional development. We argue that higher education is conducive to the weakening of fixed regional territories, and propose the metaphor of ‘regional constellations’ for interpreting transregional geographies. Finally, our analysis suggests that while high-performing research institutions may compete better by forming consortia, transregional alliances lead to a more unequal and divided university sector.

Suggested Citation

  • John Harrison & Darren P Smith & Chloe Kinton, 2016. "New institutional geographies of higher education: The rise of transregional university alliances," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(5), pages 910-936, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:48:y:2016:i:5:p:910-936
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X15619175
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Harrison, 2007. "From competitive regions to competitive city-regions: a new orthodoxy, but some old mistakes," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 311-332, May.
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    3. Fumi Kitagawa, 2009. "Creating Critical Mass of Research Excellence in the Region: The Case of Scottish Research Pooling Initiatives," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 487-495, March.
    4. John Allen & Allan Cochrane, 2007. "Beyond the Territorial Fix: Regional Assemblages, Politics and Power," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(9), pages 1161-1175.
    5. Gordon Macleod & Martin Jones, 2007. "Territorial, Scalar, Networked, Connected: In What Sense a 'Regional World'?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(9), pages 1177-1191.
    6. Christophe Sohn & Bernard Reitel & Olivier Walther, 2009. "Cross-Border Metropolitan Integration in Europe: The Case of Luxembourg, Basel, and Geneva," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 27(5), pages 922-939, October.
    7. Jesse Heley, 2013. "Soft Spaces, Fuzzy Boundaries and Spatial Governance in Post-devolution Wales," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1325-1348, July.
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