ABSTRACT
The “Sillon lorrain” involves a coalition of four cities gathering together 633,000 inhibitants and 440,000 jobs. They are located in Lorraine (eastern France), a region hit by de-industrialization. The Sillon lorrain claims to develop common strategies for the benefit of its constituent cities and their larger hinterland. Largely driven by local governments, the Sillon lorrain is addressing ongoing issues, such as higher education and public health, and to some extent spatial planning. Also, the relation between hard and soft spaces is strong, and institutionalization is never far away. In parallel, it offers an arena for negotiations that help in overcoming the fragmentation of French administrative units and the gap between public and private sectors, in other words:
an interesting process that may solve contradictions
(Planner A, Transfrontier Operational Mission (MOT), Interview, 2012)