A boundary drawn on a map is not enough to tell the story of the links between territories. Commuting, study, workplaces and facilities create other geographies. The Geographic Information System for the Greater Region is offering StoryMaps to make these connections easier to explore.
Maps accompanied by a narrative
The idea is to bring together data, map visualisations and explanations. The presentation published on 31 August lists six themes: key figures, planning, demography, mobility, culture and tourism, and higher education and research.
The first section, in particular, links population, gross domestic product, employment and cross-border workers. The project is aimed at people who are not specialists in geographical data. Its value lies in being able to understand what a map shows, rather than being left alone with a legend and colours.
Reading a map as information
Even an interactive map calls for a few checks. The date of the data is not necessarily the same as the page’s publication date. Administrative boundaries may differ from one representation to another. And a colour may indicate a number, a proportion or a change: these quantities do not tell the same story.
To avoid being misled, it is useful to look at the title, period, unit and source in turn. A densely populated area may have a large number of commuters in absolute terms without having the highest proportion of commuters.
A tool for relating your own journeys to the region
Readers can start with a simple question: where are the centres of study, how is the population distributed, and which connections cross the border? The maps provide context for everyday experiences that we often know only through our own personal route.
The StoryMaps are not a real-time journey planner or a personalised answer to cross-border matters. Their purpose is to make the way the region is organised visible. That is already a valuable contribution: understanding the Greater Region as a space of relationships, not merely as a collection of neighbouring countries.
Sources
Sources consulted on 1 October 2026.
