Towards cooperation? Reflections on spatial narratives and imaginaries regarding small town and metropolitan cores interrelations

The article explores the local perspective of small towns in metropolitan regions by examining place-based narratives in the case study area Main-Kinzig-district in the Rhein-Main metropolitan region. The research is based on interviews conducted with representatives of the municipal administrations referring to the self-perception of the small towns and their perceived role in the region. It is argued that place-based narratives and metropolitan imaginaries (as underlying attitudes or “worldviews”) shape small-town realities and impact regional and local planning decisions and hence can promote or prevent metropolitan cooperation. Leaning on the framework of critical narrative analysis common topics of the narratives and shared imaginaries are identified and contextualised by relating them to findings of mapping, statistics and fieldwork. As a result, an ambivalent picture of the region and the small towns within it emerges providing particular insights into the perspective of small towns, their specific views of the metropolises and potentials for a metropolitan understanding and future planning cooperation.