Ján Buček is Associate Professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava. He holds a Ph.D. degree in economic geography at Comenius University. Currently he is Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance (since 2008), Vice-President of the Slovak Geographical Society (since 2010) and a member of editorial boards of several scientific journals. Andrew Ryder is a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Portsmouth. Since 1991, he has also worked as a consultant in regional problems and policies and local government reform for the OECD and other international organisations. He is a member of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance and on the editorial board of several academic journals.

• Introduction.- Part I: Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, and Development.- Top Down and Bottom Up Metropolitan Integration in Poland.- The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy: Implementation Challenges and Breakthroughs.- Governmental Devolution as a Motor of Local Development.- Theories of Metropolitan Government and the Post-Socialist Experience: The Case of the Poznan Metropolitan Area.- Regional Elites, Networks and the Beauty of Regionalism in Hungary.- Rural Governance in the New EU Member States: The Experience of the Polish LEADER + Pilot Programme (2004-2008).- Part II: Crossborder and International Co-Operation in Development.- Strategic Cooperation Between Regions - Building and Using Transnational Relations.- Changing Patterns of City-Hinterland Relations in Central and East European Borderlands: Szczecin on the Edge of Poland and Germany.- Transformation Processes in the Former Black Triangle.- The Influence of Regional Identities on Spatial Development – A Challenge for Regional Governance Processes in Cross-Border Regions?.- Part III.- Administrative Systems, Services Delivery and Local Finance.- The Empowerment of Local Democracy and the Decentralisation of Service Delivery in Local Government Reform: The Evidence from Portugal.-Municipal Bonds in Hungary: Constraints and Challenges.- Municipal Assets During the Post-Socialist Transition in Slovakia.- Governing the Transformation of the Built Environment in Post-Socialist Bratislava.

Ján Buček is Associate Professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava. He holds a Ph.D. degree in economic geography at Comenius University. Currently he is Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance (since 2008), Vice-President of the Slovak Geographical Society (since 2010) and a member of editorial boards of several scientific journals. Andrew Ryder is a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Portsmouth. Since 1991, he has also worked as a consultant in regional problems and policies and local government reform for the OECD and other international organisations. He is a member of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance and on the editorial board of several academic journals.

• Introduction.- Part I: Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, and Development.- Top Down and Bottom Up Metropolitan Integration in Poland.- The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy: Implementation Challenges and Breakthroughs.- Governmental Devolution as a Motor of Local Development.- Theories of Metropolitan Government and the Post-Socialist Experience: The Case of the Poznan Metropolitan Area.- Regional Elites, Networks and the Beauty of Regionalism in Hungary.- Rural Governance in the New EU Member States: The Experience of the Polish LEADER + Pilot Programme (2004-2008).- Part II: Crossborder and International Co-Operation in Development.- Strategic Cooperation Between Regions - Building and Using Transnational Relations.- Changing Patterns of City-Hinterland Relations in Central and East European Borderlands: Szczecin on the Edge of Poland and Germany.- Transformation Processes in the Former Black Triangle.- The Influence of Regional Identities on Spatial Development – A Challenge for Regional Governance Processes in Cross-Border Regions?.- Part III.- Administrative Systems, Services Delivery and Local Finance.- The Empowerment of Local Democracy and the Decentralisation of Service Delivery in Local Government Reform: The Evidence from Portugal.-Municipal Bonds in Hungary: Constraints and Challenges.- Municipal Assets During the Post-Socialist Transition in Slovakia.- Governing the Transformation of the Built Environment in Post-Socialist Bratislava.

Ján Buček is Associate Professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava. He holds a Ph.D. degree in economic geography at Comenius University. Currently he is Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance (since 2008), Vice-President of the Slovak Geographical Society (since 2010) and a member of editorial boards of several scientific journals. Andrew Ryder is a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Portsmouth. Since 1991, he has also worked as a consultant in regional problems and policies and local government reform for the OECD and other international organisations. He is a member of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Geography of Governance and on the editorial board of several academic journals.

• Introduction.- Part I: Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, and Development.- Top Down and Bottom Up Metropolitan Integration in Poland.- The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy: Implementation Challenges and Breakthroughs.- Governmental Devolution as a Motor of Local Development.- Theories of Metropolitan Government and the Post-Socialist Experience: The Case of the Poznan Metropolitan Area.- Regional Elites, Networks and the Beauty of Regionalism in Hungary.- Rural Governance in the New EU Member States: The Experience of the Polish LEADER + Pilot Programme (2004-2008).- Part II: Crossborder and International Co-Operation in Development.- Strategic Cooperation Between Regions - Building and Using Transnational Relations.- Changing Patterns of City-Hinterland Relations in Central and East European Borderlands: Szczecin on the Edge of Poland and Germany.- Transformation Processes in the Former Black Triangle.- The Influence of Regional Identities on Spatial Development – A Challenge for Regional Governance Processes in Cross-Border Regions?.- Part III.- Administrative Systems, Services Delivery and Local Finance.- The Empowerment of Local Democracy and the Decentralisation of Service Delivery in Local Government Reform: The Evidence from Portugal.-Municipal Bonds in Hungary: Constraints and Challenges.- Municipal Assets During the Post-Socialist Transition in Slovakia.- Governing the Transformation of the Built Environment in Post-Socialist Bratislava.