Metropolitan Governance in the Peri-Urban Landscape: The Tower of Babel?
The Case of the Vienna–Bratislava Metropolitan Region

The discrepancy between the de facto city and the de iure city has brought to the attention the pressing issue of metropolitan governance, which has often strengthened the cooperation among existing institutions but without including other relevant stakeholders in the discussion. This contribution explores the limitations of institutional governance within the case of the Vienna–Bratislava metropolitan region, particularly challenging because of its cross-border condition, its fragmented management of the territory and its rapidly changing landscape. The argument brought forward is that even though institutional cooperation is essential, effective metropolitan governance also requires the involvement of non-institutional stakeholders in order to carry out meaningful spatial planning on the territory.