Alternatieven en ervaringen met de integratie van bestuur in grootstedelijke gebieden

The establishment of cooperative links on a voluntary basis did not seem to be adequate for the administration in large urban agglomerations. These links are often lacking in actual administrative power, and they can be reduced to the sum of the municipal interests. Large-scale amalgamation of municipalities does not seem to be a solution when one considers the developments and prevailing attitudes in a few Western European countries. Because of the lack of an integral framework, legally based agglomeration administrations have been created in a number of these countries.They are extra, often complicating administrative levels. The existing administrative levels can often suffice with a balanced redistribution of administrative tasks. Territorial adjustments must be based primarily on functional considerations, but must also be translated in terms of the other administrative levels. A functional redistribution of tasks is, therefore, a condition for a specific solution of the total administrative problem.