ABSTRACT
Despite the differences that set them apart from one another, the three archetypes of spatial governance share a common thread: they all exert control over space through the tracing out of borders. Borders are a tool for appropriating space; they sketch out spatial organisation in the concrete reality of a territory. Using borders to circumscribe things in space or on a map identifies and names objects, places, and regions. Borders mark off and name space. They organise it and, in doing so, organise social relations, represent roles and hierarchies, and define individual and collective identities.
