ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines why boundaries must be understood as complex spatial and social phenomena that construct and structure space and to what extent their definition is linked up with the idea of creating 'ideal' spatial entities. It looks at the role boundaries play in defining spatial entities, dwelling on the different discourses – and spatial ideals – that underpin how space has been constructed. 'Natural' or 'rational' techniques for defining boundaries, for instance, implicitly and uncritically seek to base choices on supposedly uncontroversial pre-existing geographical objects, while negotiated processes follow a different overtly political approach, reflecting the scientific traditions of their proponents. The boundaries of spatial entities are linked to power and identity: boundaries are the focus of power relations, inscribing social projects into space. The chapter explores the historically constructed nature of created and recreated spatialized categories. Boundaries are necessarily hybrid, transcending dualisms, reflecting the constructed nature of the entities they bound.
