Project Details
Projekt
Triple Helix and Regional Governance: A Comparative Longitudinal Analysis of German Metropolitan Regions
Subject Area
City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
Term
since 2026
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 576062808
The aim of this research project is to conduct a longitudinal comparative analysis of the emergence, development, and impact of governance structures in German metropolitan regions. The focus lies on the institutional, functional, and actor-related dimensions of metropolitan governance within the framework of the Triple Helix model, which conceptualizes the interaction between state, business, and science. The project is based on the observation that metropolitan regions, as a strategic and political spatial concept in Germany, are often associated with high expectations—such as serving as engines of economic development or laboratories for cooperative governance—but that these promises have so far not been systematically validated. The project combines regional economic and political science perspectives: on the one hand, it addresses functional boundaries and economic interdependencies; on the other hand, it examines the institutional design and governance capacities of regional governance arrangements. It analyzes whether institutional arrangements and patterns of cooperation align with the functional requirements of regional development—or whether there is a mismatch between spatial structures and steering capacities. Special attention is given to the role of economic actors in regional governance processes. While political programs emphasize the importance of their involvement, empirical findings often reveal only weak or symbolic connections between business actors and public institutions. The project investigates whether governance structures are truly geared toward international competitiveness or whether they rely on traditional, path-dependent governance patterns—a concern discussed in the literature under terms such as “motionless movement” or “unfulfilled image promises.” Using qualitative content analysis, semantic network analysis, and longitudinal comparison, the project examines governance developments in several German metropolitan regions. Both formal institutional changes and informal cooperation structures are placed at the center of the analysis. The project contributes to evaluating the governance performance of German metropolitan regions and to further developing theoretical approaches to metropolitan governance and the Triple Helix in regional and political science discourse.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
