In the context of European integration, the relative opening of state borders offers new opportunities for border cities and regions no longer necessarily confined to the boundaries of national territories. The development of cross-border relations at the local and regional levels brings to the fore the emergence of cross-border metropolitan regions as privileged sites of territorial restructuring.
Drawing on the results of the METROLUX research project, this book examines the establishment of a cross-border metropolitan region in Luxembourg and its surrounding area. In the first section, the primary focus is on the economic and symbolic attributes that characterize the process of metropolisation and their potential advantages and limits. The second part of the volume investigates the cross-border interdependencies at work, principally in terms of home-work mobility. Finally, the third part analyses the governance initiatives undertaken and the power issues at stake in the political construction of a cross-border metropolitan region.
Primarily derived from research by geographers, this work combines conceptual reflection with empirical analysis and is a new contribution to the understanding of an atypical area of scholarship emerging from the geographic margins and the academic backstage.

Christophe Sohn is a senior researcher at the CEPS/INSTEAD public research centre in Luxembourg and head of the research unit «Cross-border Metropolitan Integration». He holds a doctorate in urban geography from the University of Strasbourg.

Contents: Christophe Sohn: The Concept of the Cross-border Metropolitan Region and its Relevance to Luxembourg - Olivier Walther: Regional Growth of the Knowledge Economy in Luxembourg - Olivier Walther/Christian Schulz: Financial Services Clustering in Luxembourg City - Ralf Bläser/Michaela Gensheimer/Christian Schulz: «Not always as sexy as New York...». International Perceptions and Representations of Luxembourg City - Antoine Decoville/Christophe Sohn: Mapping the Structuring of a Cross-border Metropolis. The Functional Urban Region of Luxembourg - Philippe Gerber/Olivier Klein/Samuel Carpentier: Local Mobility and Cross-border Peri-urbanisation - Sébastien Lord/Philippe Gerber: Residential and Cross-border Mobility. A Catalyst of Social Polarisation? - Olivier Walther: Metropolitan Regions and Cross-border Demographic Integration - Christian Lamour/Franz Clément: Governance of the Greater Region and Cross-border Metropolitan Management - Eric Auburtin: The Role of City Networks in Cross-border Metropolitan Governance - Antoine Decoville: The Challenges of the Spatial Development Policy in Luxembourg - Christophe Sohn/Olivier Walther: Building a Cross-border Metropolitan Region. The Political Stakes of Scalar Restructuring - Bernard Reitel: Conclusion. Luxembourg, the Emergence of a Paradoxical Metropolis.