The relations between global flows and local places

With this paper the author shows through a case study of the harbour town Hirtshals, Denmark, how the same place is being perceived and (e)valuated very differently concerning scale-dependent points of view. Based primarily on interviews and document analysis it is revealed how local citizens in the case of Hirtshals appreciate a strong community as well as physical vicinity and easy access to nature and their surrounding landscapes, whereas politicians, businesses and other stakeholders operating on a municipal, regional or national level often asses the same place more as a strategic node in a global network. Thus, the chapter concerns the consequences of investments and priorities made on bigger scales to the local environment. The author questions the correlation between global mobility and local places and asks for whom value is created; thus touching upon power structures and changes in the balance of power over time. It is argued, that a greater awareness on the differences is key in the professional planning of places, and that it is important to identify and work with potentials of both mobility and place specific concerns to develop such places in a viable way and to assure, that the global flows works for instead of against the local place.