There is political interest in Sweden’s proximity to Norway, which is reflected in the regional policy focusing on developing business needs. As such, proximity at the regional level is simply expected to generate economic growth. The authors propose a holistic approach to spatial planning in a Swedish–Norwegian border region in place of the simplistic economic perspective. The aim of the article is to highlight the importance of adopting a bottom-up cross-border planning perspective that is based on the perceptions of the border region residents by showing that the proximity of Norway is important to communities in Värmland Province, on the border with Norway, in a different way from how regional authorities and policymakers perceive it. The authors used a qualitative method in their study. They found that residents were more interested in the individual, social, and cultural opportunities of the border, while authorities stressed traditional growth strategies. In conclusion, the authors recommend that policymakers should implement a bottom-up cross-border planning strategy (CBPS) in Värmland that includes the residents’ perspective, as a reinforcement of place-based policy approaches.

瑞典与挪威的毗邻关系引起了政治兴趣，这一点体现在侧重于发展业务需求的区域政策上。因此，仅在区域一级接近就可以促进经济增长。作者提出了一种整体的方法来代替瑞典-挪威边境地区的简单经济观点。本文的目的是通过显示挪威的邻近地区对边界州韦姆兰省的社区很重要，从而强调采用基于边界地区居民看法的自下而上的跨境规划观点的重要性。与挪威的合作方式，与区域当局和政策制定者的看法不同。作者在研究中使用了定性方法。他们发现居民对边界的个人，社会和文化机会更感兴趣，而当局则强调传统的增长策略。总之，作者建议政策制定者应在韦姆兰实施自下而上的跨境规划策略（CBPS），其中应包括居民的观点，以加强基于地点的政策方法。