Towards a versatile and multidimensional framework to analyse regional governance
通过三轮德尔菲专家调查，提出了区域治理的定义和五个维度（参与、约束性、正式化、区域自主权、权力关系），并细化为21个指标，用于系统描述和分析不同形式的区域治理。
Regional governance has received growing attention, not only from researchers, but also from politicians and practitioners of regional development. The understanding and usage of the concept, however, are highly heterogeneous: sometimes regional governance is described or explained in terms of its characteristics, processes and impacts, while at other times, it is framed as a tool for regional development. This article develops a definition and framework for a systematic assessment of various regional governance forms. For this purpose, it draws on material from a three-round Delphi survey among practitioners and researchers who are experts of regional governance. On this basis, a consolidated definition of regional governance is proposed as ‘the vertical and horizontal coordination of regional transformation processes beyond administrative boundaries by state and non-state actors’. Furthermore, the framework identifies five dimensions of regional governance: (a) participation, (b) bindingness, (c) formalisation, (d) regional autonomy and (e) power relations. These dimensions are disaggregated into a total of 21 indicators to systematically describe and analyse different regional governance forms.