What builds inter-municipal cooperation? Assumed and added effects of a metropolitan bicycle-sharing project

Abstract

Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) is increasingly becoming a tool municipalities use to achieve development goals and increase public service quality. However, in Central and Eastern Europe countries, including Poland, such a modus operandi is less common due to administrative and legal considerations. This article analyses one bicycle-sharing project carried out jointly by 14 municipalities of the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot metropolitan area in Poland. Based on a series of in-depth interviews, the study aimed to consider what builds inter-municipal cooperation at the local level. During the analysis, it proved that the various actors had different levels of commitment to cooperation based on substantive premises. Positive opinions about cooperation in the project resulted from partner and non-hierarchical relations, fair and equal treatment without domination towards smaller municipalities. The study showed that in addition to the assumed effects of cooperation, the applied cooperation model allowed many added effects to be achieved, beneficial for all project partners.