Conurbations 
 

 

MAHHL Cities


Maastricht, Netherlands
Territorial authorities concerned:
Belgium: City of Liege, City of Hasselt   
Netherlands: City of Maastricht, City of Heerlen   
Germany: City of Aachen   

Number of inhabitants:

Around 800,000 inhabitants.


 

Situation


The cities are situated in an area centred around the Meuse valley and are linked by road and rail infrastructure. Areas marked by high population density, a high level of urbanisation and high concentration of service industry jobs alternate with sparsely populated rural areas. Once characterised by a large mining industry, today the region aims to profit from its favourable geographical situation at the heart of the European economic central area. 


A deeply anchored cross-border relationship




Cross-border relations and the movement of people are deeply anchored in the history of this area. The cross-border employment market is highly developed (particularly from Belgium in the direction of the Netherlands and Germany). Conversely property and land prices cause flows from Germany to the Netherlands and Belgium. 

An early move to cross-border cooperation

Cooperation started at the end of the 1960s and was intensified with the creation of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine in the 1970s. In the 1990s the MHAL (Maastricht, Hasselt, Aachen, Liege) cooperation was launched in response to urban issues. In 2001 the mayors of the 5 largest cities in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (Maastricht, Aachen, Heerlen, Hasselt and Liege) decided to regroup within an independent network: the ‘Conférence des villes MAHHL’ (MAHHL Cities Conference).

Thematic cooperation 


The characteristics of the MAHHL network:
- Thematic cooperation (on the development of the region, economic development, social affairs, culture, education and teaching) centred on the five cities and without national or regional political support.
- Absence of formal legal structures: The success of the network lies in the hands of the bodies and officials of the 5 cities.


 

Symbolic projects


- Cœur(s) de ville (City Heart(s)): To encourage mobility and exploration by tourists of the cross-border area.

- ALMA: Network joining universities in the Euregion to encourage cooperation in teaching and continued learning, research and service provision.

- HST-Connect: Development of the secondary public transport network to improve access to the high speed rail network.

- Euregiochambers: Cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce in the Euregion to promote economic development and stimulate the regional and cross-border economy.


 

Unique features of the territorial project

- Border cities without uninterrupted urban areas linked by a dense infrastructure network. Cooperation is based on very high accessibility.

- Absence of formalisation in the administrative structure 

- Lack of links to the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR). Thus, to realise Interreg projects the MAHHL cities must fulfil the selection criteria prescribed by the EMR, administrative and monitoring body for the Interreg programme.

- Cross-border area well accepted by the populations even if linguistic issues remain.