Multiple dimensions in negotiating the cross‐border transport links that connect and divide Singapore and Johor,Malaysia

Abstract: Despite recent literature pointing to the need for a multidimensional approach to border processes, transport links across borders are usually uncritically associated with cross‐border ‘integration’. This paper focuses on examining the roles played by transport facilities in border processes. It uses case studies of three key transport links at the border between Singapore and Johor, Malaysia. As would conventionally be expected, enhancing these links was often seen in terms of the economic opportunities expected to arise from the easing of bottlenecks. However, the findings also reveal multiple roles for the transport links at this border, many of which cannot be enlisted in any simple conception of cross‐border integration, even when clear enhancement of the links is involved. These roles include: as ‘filters’ (or ‘valves’) used to encourage or discourage certain flows; as ‘gateways’ asserting territoriality; and as ‘bargaining chips’ in the bilateral relationship. A role as ‘collision points’ between policy regimes was also surprisingly important. However, contrary to usual expectations none of the transport links examined appear in the guise of ‘bridges’, contributing towards integrated governance. These findings highlight the complexity of border processes, and underline the contingent interactions between different dimensions of cross‐border processes sometimes simplistically conflated as ‘integration’.