https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.2307%2F3343168.pdf

Development as Freedom

Governing the Commons

The questionnaires from the field were received, checked and stored by the data processing personnel. They checked: 1. The completeness of the questionnaires 2. The correct bubbling 3. The correct number of questionnaires per household, if total males + total females > 8 as the questionnaire ONLY accommodated maximum of 8 household members. 4. The reference number appears in all the 10 pages of the questionnaires.

Population and Housing Census

Neil Brenner has in the past few years made a major impact on the ways in which we understand the changing political geographies of the modern state Simultaneously analyzing the restructuring of urban governance and the transformation of national states under globalizing capitalism, 'New State Spaces' is a mature and sophisticated analysis of broad interdisciplinary interest, making this a highly significant contribution to the subject

New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood

Novel urban ecosystems, biodiversity, and conservation.

The task of adapting cities to the impacts of climate change is of great importance—urban areas are hotspots of high risk given their concentrations of population and infrastructure; their key roles for larger economic, political and social processes; and their inherent instabilities and vulnerabilities. Yet, the discourse on urban climate change adaptation has only recently gained momentum in the political and scientific arena. This paper reviews the recent climate change adaptation strategies of nine selected cities and analyzes them in terms of overall vision and goals, baseline information used, direct and indirect impacts, proposed structural and non-structural measures, and involvement of formal and informal actors. Against this background, adaptation strategies and challenges in two Vietnamese cities are analyzed in detail, namely Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho. The paper thereby combines a review of formalized city-scale adaptation strategies with an empirical analysis of actual adaptation measures and constraints at household level. By means of this interlinked and comparative analysis approach, the paper explores the achievements, as well as the shortcomings, in current adaptation approaches, and generates core issues and key questions for future initiatives in the four sub-categories of: (1) knowledge, perspectives, uncertainties and key threats; (2) characteristics of concrete adaptation measures and processes; (3) interactions and conflicts between different strategies and measures; (4) limits of adaptation and tipping points. In conclusion, the paper calls for new forms of adaptive urban governance that go beyond the conventional notions of urban (adaptation) planning. The proposed concept underlines the need for a paradigm shift to move from the dominant focus on the adjustment of physical structures towards the improvement of planning tools and governance processes and structures themselves. It addresses in particular the necessity to link different temporal and spatial scales in adaptation strategies, to acknowledge and to mediate between different types of knowledge (expert and local knowledge), and to achieve improved integration of different types of measures, tools and norm systems (in particular between formal and informal approaches).

/pdf/adaptive-urban-governance-new-challenges-for-the-second-2c57zqg14u.pdf

Adaptive urban governance: new challenges for the second generation of urban adaptation strategies to climate change

Megacities and global change: key priorities

The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. In view of the existing cognitive, technical, economic and institutional path dependencies, a policy of business as usual – i.e. an unstructured, quasi-automatic urbanization – would lead to a non-sustainable ‘world cities society’. Only if cities and urban societies are sufficiently empowered can they make use of the opportunities for sustainability and successfully follow the urban transformation pathways. The success or failure of the Great Transformation will be decided in the cities. The WBGU discusses the relevant conditions for the success of this transformation in this report.

Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities

In the last few decades a striking world-wide trend towards rising fatalities and economic losses due to natural and man-made hazards can be observed. One major influencing factor is growing urbanization, megacities being particularly prone to supply crises, social disorganisation, political conflicts and natural disasters. They can be both victims and producers of risks. This article concentrates on major risks and gives examples of a) environmental hazards (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, storms, floods, droughts and heat waves, snowfall, frost and avalanches as well as global sea-level rise). Furthermore b) man-made hazards such as air, water and soil pollution, accidents, fires, industrial explosions, sinking land levels, diseases and epidemics, socio-economic crises, civil riots and terror attacks, nuclear accidents as well as war, germ and nuclear warfare are addressed. Finally, the most remarkable deficits in research are summarized, as well as future tasks.

Megacities as Global Risk Areas

Socio-economic development in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta is shaped by a complex web of interacting and dynamic trends. Based on the analysis of statistical data, special reports, planning documents and scientific literature, the chapter examines the key dimensions of such trends, paying particular attention to agricultural transformation, industrialization, migration and urbanization. It is argued that changes in these fields have been producing ambiguous economic net-effects and socially stratified development outcomes over the last decades. On the one hand, the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta has been experiencing profound production gains due to de-collectivization, expansion, intensification and diversification. This has contributed to overall poverty reduction in the Delta and to the economic progress of the entire country. On the other hand, the Mekong Delta lags behind the national average in terms of many development indicators in the socio-economic sphere (e.g. education levels or housing conditions). Under stress from multiple economic and environmental pressures and risks, small-scale farmers increasingly have difficulties securing a minimum level of profitability and a stable livelihood base. Rising inequalities, high incidences of landlessness, and labour migration, notably into urban areas, are among the most significant consequences. At the same time, industrial development falls short of earlier expectations. The Delta’s secondary and tertiary sectors are presently unable to sufficiently absorb the former agricultural labour force. As a result, strong outmigration occurs, most importantly to Ho Chi Minh City and its neighbouring provinces. Guided by development theory we argue that next to the neoclassical expansion of conventional capital stocks for fostering endogenous growth potentials, development in the Mekong Delta heavily depends on institutional factors, enabling social and economic development. Aspects such as the need for improved access to land or for extended education and professional training, more integrated planning, and intensified promotion of economic innovations are discussed in detail.

Frauke Kraas

Papers

Adaptive urban governance: new challenges for the second generation of urban adaptation strategies to climate change

Megacities and global change: key priorities

Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities

Megacities as Global Risk Areas

Socio-economic development in the Mekong Delta: between the prospects for progress and the realms of reality