The autonomy of administrative regions has increased and new forms of regional cooperation have emerged. The regional level has become more important over the last decades. Hybrid regional identities combining a locally specific mix of thick and thin elements of regional identity, and which link up with regional identities at other relevant scales, appear to be the most effective regional identities for regional administrations facing the challenges of both globalisation and the decline in collective identities. These concepts are used to analyse the regional identity of regional administrations in Northwest Germany and the Netherlands. It uses the contrast between ‘thick’ traditional and historical rooted well-established regional identities, and ‘thin’ regional identities which are more transitory and focus more on economic competitiveness. This article analyses the shifts in types of regional identities used by regional administrations in an increasingly competitive environment. Globalisation and the decline of collective identities through individualisation transform both this regional reality and how regions are conceptualised. At the same time regions have become less discernable as distinct historically rooted spatial entities. Regions and regional identity have become more important over the last decades.
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