Divergent City-Regional Perspectives? Comparing How Core Cities and Surrounding Municipalities Frame Urban-Rural Linkages in Local Planning Policy

Cities increasingly extend beyond their administrative boundaries, forming interconnected economic, social, and ecological spaces with surrounding suburban and rural municipalities within their commuting zones. As these urban-rural linkages transcend municipal borders, local administrations face intensified governance challenges. They must provide infrastructure that facilitates mutual connectivity within densely populated urban regions while also managing externalities such as sprawl, pollution, and socio-spatial segregation. Such challenges call for cross-jurisdictional policy responses that plan and coordinate local development across municipal boundaries at the inter-municipal spatial scale of the city-region. This study investigates how municipalities articulate these interdependencies in their local planning policies. Focusing on roughly 120 municipalities in two medium-sized European city-regions, Brescia in Italy and Kassel in Germany, it compares how core cities and their suburban and rural neighbors frame urban-rural linkages, territorial externalities, and the need for inter-municipal cooperation. Both city-regions are comparable in size and local territorial context; yet, they operate under different planning frameworks, providing insights into how urban-rural linkages are addressed in different institutional contexts. Methodologically, the study combines a computer-based quantitative text analysis of local planning documents with semi-structured interviews with mayors and planning officials. This mixed-methods approach allows for a systematic examination of both the discursive priorities embedded in municipal planning and the attitudes of local actors toward cross-boundary interdependencies and cooperation. By mapping how different types of municipalities (urban, suburban, and rural) engage with urban-rural linkages, the study aims to reveal both similarities and differences in the policy priorities across city-regions. To what extent are urban-rural linkages recognized as a shared policy challenge? How do these perspectives reflect differences in institutional capacities and territorial identities of larger and smaller, more and less urbanized municipalities in broader city-regions? In doing so, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of city-regional planning governance that moves beyond a city-centered perspective that often dominates city-region research.