ABSTRACT
Intermunicipal cooperation presents an opportunity for metropolitan governance, development, and empowerment. It is a flexible process, through which cityregions can be defined and shaped from below through municipal agency and innovation. In the realm of regional governance literature, voluntary interlocal cooperation is either overlooked in favour of formal institutional reforms or considered in a narrow range of issues and generally in the context of single case studies. This book explores the prospects for intermunicipal cooperation and the dynamics that determine the intensity of regional partnerships across a variety of issues (regional marketing, culture, and transportation) and metropolitan regions. By taking a broader approach, it can begin to draw some conclusions about the nature of cooperation across issue areas, as well as variations across cityregions.
