National borders as barriers: impacts of international events on interaction between Denmark and Sweden

Knowles, Richard D.

Abstract

National borders act as barriers that constrain interaction and movement between neighbouring countries and depress demand for travel. There has been little research on the impacts of significant international changes and events on cross-border interaction. This research addresses that gap by measuring the impacts of several major changes and events on the volume of cross-border movement between Denmark and Sweden, using evidence from passenger and car traffic data, and isolating these impacts by comparing them against an equivalent (Danish) national control case. Although Denmark and Sweden are similar countries with a long history of open borders and common labour markets, and have many cross-border opportunities that can boost interaction, some economic and cultural barriers depress interaction. Between 1990 and 2022 numerous important international events affected interaction across the Øresund Strait border between the Copenhagen area of Denmark and the Malmö area of Sweden. The positive and negative impacts of these events are measured using Øresund Strait passenger and car traffic data. Denmark’s Great Belt is used as a national control case to isolate underlying trends in interaction and travel that are unconnected with the effects of the international border between Denmark and Sweden. The Øresund road and rail bridge has removed the physical obstacle of the Øresund Strait and transformed the Øresund Region into an imagined space, helping to create a bi-national functional region with urban identity.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Publication Date: May 4, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jul 4, 2025
• Journal: Geography
• Print ISSN: 0016-7487
• Publisher: Geographical Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 110
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 60-71
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00167487.2025.2506296