The Power to Collaborate: How judicious use of power accelerates the strategic capacity of regions in the Netherlands

Urban regions, increasingly seen as the engines of the global economy, pose a daunting challenge for government and urban planners. Coordinating spatial economic development that would exploit regional synergies and overcome rigid administrative structures remains the subject of ongoing debate and experiment around the world. This study analyses collaborative practices in three urban regions in the Netherlands and offers new insights regarding conditions that stimulate the strategic capacities of regional cooperation. It reveals the crucial impact power has on regional collaborative processes and the decisive role powerful actors as central government and central cities may play in promoting coherent strategic development. It concludes that prudent use of existing power relations may offer an alternative to thorny attempts to promote coherent development through statutory amendments of existing administrative structures. The Power to Collaborate offers concepts and detailed case studies of interest to academics and graduates involved in public administrations and spatial planning. Politicians and practitioners of regional strategic planning will find the research useful for detecting and exploiting different modes of enabling power that would enhance coherent strategic development in their regions.