IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ipt/iptwpa/jrc145104.html

Living spaces, flows and structures across the EU internal borders

Author

Listed:

Abstract

Knowing where, how, and for what purposes people frequently cross borders has significant policy implications. However, limited data availability often hinders effective decision-making. This contribution highlights key issues related to cross-border flows in EU border regions and their spatial implications. The lack of granular, reliable, and comparable data frequently leads to an underestimation of the true scale of cross-border movements within the EU. Additionally, the assessment of the socioeconomic potential of border regions typically does not consider the hypothetical elimination of obstacles, be they legal, administrative, infrastructural, or linguistic. This study addresses two research questions: can methodological innovations help accurately quantify existing and potential cross-border interactions, thereby overcoming current limitations in data availability and accessibility? And how can a data-driven approach support the definition and delimitation of cross-border functional areas? The contribution begins by defining cross-border areas as living spaces. It then examines conventional data sources such as administrative records, surveys, and transport data to enhance understanding of existing cross-border interactions. Following this, the study explores non-conventional data sources and methods, including mobile big data, web scraping and geospatial artificial intelligence. Lastly, new methodologies for defining cross-border functional areas are presented, along with interoperability challenges to enhance the integration of global data.

Suggested Citation

  • Berzi Matteo & Herrmann Benedikt & Albertini Mattia & Attardo Carmelo & Auteri Davide & Barranco Ricardo & Brunet-jailly Emmanuel & Chilla Tobias & Dijkstra Lewis & Duvernet Claire & Finnsdottir Maria, 2026. "Living spaces, flows and structures across the EU internal borders," JRC Research Reports JRC145104, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc145104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC145104
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dani Rodrik, 2000. "How Far Will International Economic Integration Go?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 177-186, Winter.
    2. Jasso Chávez, José Arturo & Manaugh, Kevin, 2025. "How does the spatial scale impact accessibility analysis and equity? The case of accessibility to supermarkets in Montreal," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    3. Andreas Beerli & Jan Ruffner & Michael Siegenthaler & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The Abolition of Immigration Restrictions and the Performance of Firms and Workers: Evidence from Switzerland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 976-1012, March.
    4. Carlson, Jacob & Incerti, Trevor & Aronow, P. M., 2024. "Dyadic Clustering in International Relations," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(2), pages 186-198, April.
    5. Mert Kompil & Hande Demirel & Panayotis Christidis, 2016. "Accessibility and territorial cohesion: ex post analysis of Cohesion Fund infrastructure projects," Chapters, in: Karst T. Geurs & Roberto Patuelli & Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (ed.), Accessibility, Equity and Efficiency, chapter 11, pages 210-242, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Jacobs-Crisioni, Chris & Koomen, Eric, 2017. "Population growth, accessibility spillovers and persistent borders: Historical growth in West-European municipalities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 80-91.
    7. Henri L.F. Groot & Jacques Poot & Martijn J. Smit, 2016. "Which Agglomeration Externalities Matter Most And Why?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 756-782, September.
    8. Martin Micheli & Jan Rouwendal & Jasper Dekkers, 2019. "Border Effects in House Prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 47(3), pages 757-783, September.
    9. Fang, Bin & Ye, Qiang & Kucukusta, Deniz & Law, Rob, 2016. "Analysis of the perceived value of online tourism reviews: Influence of readability and reviewer characteristics," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 498-506.
    10. Olle Järv & Håvard W. Aagesen & Tuomas Väisänen & Samuli Massinen, 2023. "Revealing mobilities of people to understand cross-border regions: insights from Luxembourg using social media data," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(8), pages 1754-1775, August.
    11. Braga, Carlos Kaue V. & Loureiro, Carlos Felipe Grangeiro & Pereira, Rafael H.M., 2023. "Evaluating the impact of public transport travel time inaccuracy and variability on socio-spatial inequalities in accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Soo Beom Choi & Insung Ahn, 2020. "Forecasting imported COVID-19 cases in South Korea using mobile roaming data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-10, November.
    13. Pasquale Del Vecchio & Gioconda Mele & Valentina Ndou & Giustina Secundo, 2018. "Open Innovation and Social Big Data for Sustainability: Evidence from the Tourism Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    14. Siiri Silm & Jussi S. Jauhiainen & Janika Raun & Margus Tiru, 2021. "Temporary population mobilities between Estonia and Finland based on mobile phone data and the emergence of a cross-border region," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 699-719, April.
    15. Piera Bello, 2020. "Exchange rate effects on cross-border commuting: evidence from the Swiss–Italian border [Migration with endogenous moving costs]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 969-1001.
    16. Rosik, Piotr & Stępniak, Marcin & Komornicki, Tomasz, 2015. "The decade of the big push to roads in Poland: Impact on improvement in accessibility and territorial cohesion from a policy perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 134-146.
    17. Elifcan Karacan, 2025. "Mobility injustice and agency: confronting border asymmetries in cross-border commuting under COVID-19 re-bordering policies," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 1272-1287, November.
    18. repec:plo:pone00:0129202 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Eduardo Medeiros, 2020. "Delimiting cross-border areas for policy implementation: a multi-factor proposal," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 125-145, January.
    20. Carlo Ratti & Stanislav Sobolevsky & Francesco Calabrese & Clio Andris & Jonathan Reades & Mauro Martino & Rob Claxton & Steven H Strogatz, 2010. "Redrawing the Map of Great Britain from a Network of Human Interactions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(12), pages 1-6, December.
    21. Roberta Capello & Andrea Caragliu & Ugo Fratesi, 2018. "Measuring border effects in European cross-border regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(7), pages 986-996, July.
    22. Guillaume Drevon & Philippe Gerber & Olivier Klein & Christophe Enaux, 2018. "Measuring Functional Integration by Identifying the Trip Chains and the Profiles of Cross-Border Workers: Empirical Evidences from Luxembourg," Journal of Borderlands Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 549-568, October.
    23. Chris Jacobs‐Crisioni & Mert Kompil & Lewis Dijkstra, 2023. "Big in the neighbourhood: Identifying local and regional centres through their network position," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(2), pages 421-457, April.
    24. Eduardo Medeiros & Martín Guillermo Ramírez & Giulia Brustia & Anna Cinzia Dellagiacoma & Caitriona A. Mullan, 2023. "Reducing border barriers for cross-border commuters in Europe via the EU b-solutions initiative," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 822-841, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chris Jacobs‐Crisioni & Mert Kompil & Lewis Dijkstra, 2023. "Big in the neighbourhood: Identifying local and regional centres through their network position," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(2), pages 421-457, April.
    2. Jason Poulos & Andrea Albanese & Andrea Mercatanti & Fan Li, 2021. "Retrospective causal inference via matrix completion, with an evaluation of the effect of European integration on cross-border employment," Papers 2106.00788, arXiv.org.
    3. Christina Katsikari & Leonidas Hatzithomas & Thomas Fotiadis & Dimitrios Folinas, 2020. "Push and Pull Travel Motivation: Segmentation of the Greek Market for Social Media Marketing in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Aris Christodoulou & Panayotis Christidis, 2019. "Cross-border transport infrastructure in the EU," JRC Research Reports JRC113364, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Maryna Tverdostup & Tiiu Paas & Mariia Chebotareva, 2022. "What Can Support Cross-Border Cooperation in the Blue Economy? Lessons from Blue Sector Performance Analysis in Estonia and Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Christodoulou, Aris & Christidis, Panayotis, 2020. "Bridges across borders: A clustering approach to support EU regional policy," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Prateek Kalia & Dušan Mladenović & à ngel Acevedo-Duque, 2022. "Decoding the Trends and the Emerging Research Directions of Digital Tourism in the Last Three Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.
    8. Rosik, Piotr & Pomianowski, Wojciech & Komornicki, Tomasz & Goliszek, Sławomir & Szejgiec-Kolenda, Barbara & Duma, Patryk, 2020. "Regional dispersion of potential accessibility quotient at the intra-European and intranational level. Core-periphery pattern, discontinuity belts and distance decay tornado effect," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Dicarlo, Emanuele, 2022. "How Do Firms Adjust to Negative Labor Supply Shocks? Evidence from Migration Outflows," IZA Discussion Papers 14994, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Rosik, Piotr & Komornicki, Tomasz & Duma, Patryk & Goliszek, Sławomir, 2022. "The effect of border closure on road potential accessibility in the regions of the EU-27. The case of the COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 188-198.
    11. Emanuele Dicarlo, 2022. "How do firms adjust to a negative labor supply shock? Evidence form migration outflows," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1361, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    12. Jacobs-Crisioni, Chris & Koomen, Eric, 2017. "Population growth, accessibility spillovers and persistent borders: Historical growth in West-European municipalities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 80-91.
    13. Pyle, William, 2006. "Resolutions, recoveries and relationships: The evolution of payment disputes in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 317-337, June.
    14. Conny Wunsch & Felix Rochlitz & Patrick Arni, 2025. "Jobseekers’ skills and job search behaviour," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 161(1), pages 1-31, December.
    15. Huy Quang Doan, 2019. "Trade, Institutional Quality and Income: Empirical Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, May.
    16. Zhang, Yuhao & Li, Qianru & Yan, Jinzhe, 2025. "Exploring multimodal factors in online reviews: A machine learning approach to evaluating content effectiveness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Matevž (Matt) Rašković & Katalin Takacs Haynes & Anastas Vangeli, 2024. "The emergence of populism as an institution and its recursive mechanisms: A socio-cognitive theory perspective," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 19-40, March.
    18. Boris Podobnik & Marko Jusup & Dejan Kovac & H. E. Stanley, 2017. "Predicting the Rise of EU Right-Wing Populism in Response to Unbalanced Immigration," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2017, pages 1-12, August.
    19. Peter A.G. van Bergeijk, 2013. "Earth Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14673.
    20. Pathak, Jalaj, 2025. "Impact of judgment readability on financial crimes," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc145104. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Publication Officer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipjrces.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.