Ideology and geopolitics in the cross-Pyrenean transport system configuration (1982-2011)

Abstract

With the conviction that the transport system is a powerful tool in organising the space, designed according ideological and geopolitical approaches, we seek to analyse the communication routes at the Pyrenean isthmus, on the border between Spain and France. Over the focused period (1982-2011), apart from nation-building, two further geopolitical factors are added as a driving force to configure cross-Pyrenean links: the integration of Iberian States within European institutions and the rise of territorial substate actors. As such, the paradigms guiding transport policies are evolving from infrastructural expansionism towards sustainability. The shift in cross-border project planning,
as a consequence of contradictory geopolitical interests and gaps in the adoption of new paradigms, exemplifies the difficulties in the governance of the cross-Pyrenean transport system. The concept of permeability is associated to the construction of a
cross-border functional space, but does not resolve the dichotomy between local-regional or continental scale.

Keywords: cross-border cooperation, geopolitics, governance, transport policy, Pyrenees.