Dynamic Proximities – Changing Relations by Creating and Bridging Distances

The analysis of qualitative regional change requires an approach that is able to cope with these changes from a relational perspective. While the proximity concept explains the spatiality of relations at a particular point in time and describes them in terms of proximity and distance, a dynamic proximity concept must explain how these distances are both bridged and created. Three different dynamics are elaborated: a cognitive dynamic that changes through learning, a network dynamic that changes when connections are made and a spatial dynamic that changes whenever actors move in space. Proximity dimensions are constructed using these three dynamics. It is argued that bridging distances is the crucial process in changing relations and that bridging distance in one dimension requires proximities in other dimensions. Implications for regional development are derived.