Showing papers in "Environment and Planning A in 2000"
TL;DR: The public should be engaged in debates about environmental risk and policy, and in the seemingly ubiquitous quest for sustainability as discussed by the authors, and the need for dialogue is acknowledged by many in industry, some of whom have learned the hard way that public perceptions cannot be ignored.
Abstract: It has become commonplace to claim that the public should be engaged in debates about environmental risk and policy, and in the seemingly ubiquitous quest for sustainability. The UK government's strategy for sustainable development sees public involvement as `̀ essential'' (DETR, 1999a, paragraph 7.87).Within a once-sceptical scientific community, there is growing recognition that public perspectives should be incorporated in risk assessment (Horlick-Jones, 1998a; Royal Society, 1997; Thompson and Rayner, 1998), and the need for dialogue is acknowledged by many in industry, some of whom have learned the hard way that public perceptions cannot be ignored. Advisory bodies too have added their voice to calls for wider engagement. Notably, in a report on environmental standards, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has asserted that: `̀ better ways need to be developed for articulating people's values and taking them into account from the earliest stage in what have been hitherto relatively technocratic procedures'' (RCEP, 1998, paragraph 8.37). This impressive consensus begs some simple but fundamental questions about identities and motivesöwho are `the public' and why should they be engaged? I begin with these before looking critically at perspectives grounded in what Burgess et al (1998, page 1447) identify as (information) `̀ deficit'' models of public understanding and action. Though enjoying some intuitive appeal, such approaches have repeatedly been shown, by experience and in research, to be flawed, and a growing body of opinion points instead towards the need for more deliberative and inclusionary procedures. While broadly concurring with this view, I suggest that this alternativeöI shall call it the c̀ivic' modelöpresents a more profound challenge than is sometimes acknowledged and, at present at least, remains largely aspirational. It may seem self-evident that `the public' in the context outlined above means everyone except policymakers, or perhapsöas is often implied in common usageöeveryone except `experts'. But, as many social scientists have argued, setting up `expert' knowledge against `lay' (mis)understandings of some predefined public is misleading (for example, seeWynne, 1996; see also Horlick-Jones, 1998b). Blake (1999a, page 271) suggests a more nuanced definition: `̀ the `public' is best defined in terms of alienation from dominant political or knowledge regimes in a particular context''. This implies that most of us, on issues of any complexity, fall into this category.(1) More significantly, perhaps, it suggests that delineation of a `public' is inseparable from the motives of those claiming that the public must be engaged. Rationales for public engagement fall broadly into the two camps identified aboveöthose based on a rationalist, `information deficit' model, and those owing more to a civic, or deliberative, ideal. Into the first category falls the lament (familiar in conflicts over nuclear power, genetically modified foods, and many more) that lay people are ignorant of environmental science and irrational in their response to risks: the public must be engaged in order to be better informed and converted to a `more objective' view. At worst, the motives are those of legitimation, and the aim is passivity. But there may also be a genuine belief among policymakers and others that information is the key to public involvement and action: hence the conviction that, if only Commentary Environment and Planning A 2000, volume 32, pages 1141 ^ 1148
481 citations
TL;DR: Geographically weighted regression (GWR) as mentioned in this paper is a way of exploring spatial nonstationarity by calibrating a multiple regression model which allows different relationships to exist at different points i.e.
Abstract: Geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a way of exploring spatial nonstationarity by calibrating a multiple regression model which allows different relationships to exist at different points i...
409 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated factors influencing farmers' participation in agri-environmental schemes (AESs) based on a large transnational research project that involved questionnaires with 1000 farm households in nine EU countries and Switzerland.
Abstract: Based on a large transnational research project that involved questionnaires with 1000 farm households in nine EU countries and Switzerland, this paper investigates factors influencing farmers' participation in agri-environmental schemes (AESs). Analysis of motivations for AES participation highlights that complex patterns of AESs are in operation. Pronounced geographical differences in farmers' reactions towards schemes can be identified, with responses by farmers from northern member states often differing from those in Mediterranean countries, and with arable farmers often responding differently from grassland farmers. Yet, the study also highlights that much common ground exists and that conceptual frameworks for the understanding of farmers' participation in AESs developed in the United Kingdom can be successfully applied outside the British context. Common participation patterns include the importance of financial imperatives and ‘goodness of fit’, and the influence of similar sets of factors such a...
261 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the recent shift towards a "right and responsibilities" agenda in urban policy is part of broader transformations in the rationalities and techniques of government.
Abstract: We deploy aspects of Foucault's concept of governmentality to discuss the argument that the recent shift towards a ‘rights and responsibilities' agenda in urban policy is part of broader transformations in the rationalities and techniques of government. Following Rose, we characterise the emergent forms of urban policy as part of ‘advanced liberalism’ or strategies which seek to activate citizens, individually and collectively, to take greater responsibility for their own government. Such strategies are, as Rose notes, seeking to govern through the instrumentalisation of the self-governing properties of the subjects of government themselves in a whole variety of locales. We develop the argument in three parts. The first part justifies the use of a Foucauldian framework in seeking to understand the new political and policy agenda on ‘rights and responsibilities’. In a second part, we investigate the changing nature of governmental rationalities and techniques of governmentality primarily through the contex...
224 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a description and analysis of the clustering behavior of the commercial Internet content industry in specific geographical locations within the United States and explore the relationship between existing industrial sectors and the specialization in commercial domain names.
Abstract: This paper provides a description and analysis of the clustering behavior of the commercial Internet content industry in specific geographical locations within the United States. Using a data set of Internet domain name developed in the summer of 1998, I show that three regionsSan Francisco, New York, and Los Angelesare the leading centers for Internet content in the United States in terms both of absolute size and of degree of specialization. In order to understand better how the industrial structure of a region impacts the formation of the Internet content business, I provide an analysis of how the commercialization of the Internet has changed from 1993 to 1998 and explore the relationship between existing industrial sectors and the specialization in commercial domain names. Over time there appears to be a stronger connection between Internet content and information- intensive industries than between Internet content and the industries providing the computer and telecommunications technology necessary for the Internet to operate. Although it is not possible to assign a definitive causal explanation to the relationships outlined here, this paper provides a first step in theorizing about the overall commercialization process of the Internet.
193 citations
TL;DR: The notion and practice of development have been severely critiqued from both modernist and post-modernist perspectives, yet the global development industry flourishes as discussed by the authors, and the postmodern critique of development could lead to a more politically astute and practical reconstruction of certain aspects of 'development', particularly in the neopopulist mode of developmentalism.
Abstract: The notion and practice of development have been severely critiqued from both modernist and postmodernist perspectives, yet the global development industry flourishes. The latter have afforded important insights, but also suffer from unexamined ideological agendas, a disinclination to undertake detailed research into development processes and policy, a preoccupation with texts and representations by the development industry, and from perpetuating an indulgent and agenda-less academic cul-de-sac. Instead, the postmodern critique of development could lead to a more politically astute and practical reconstruction of certain aspects of 'development', particularly in the neopopulist mode of developmentalism. Three powerful development paradigms are identified, and the ways in which they are constructed, promoted, and adapted are discussed in the light of conflicting modernist and postmodern accounts.
188 citations
TL;DR: Agent-based models (ABMs) are an increasingly popular tool in the social sciences as discussed by the authors, and they have been widely used in geography and in urban and regional planning, however, they tend towards an individualist view of the social world.
Abstract: Agent-based models (ABMs) are an increasingly popular tool in the social sciences. This trend seems likely to continue, so that they will become widely used in geography and in urban and regional planning. We present an overview of examples of these models in the life sciences, economics, planning, sociology, and archaeology. We conclude that ABMs strongly tend towards an individualist view of the social world. This point is reinforced by closer consideration of particular examples. This discussion pays attention to the inadequacy of an individualist model of society with reference to debates in social theory. We argue that because models are closed representations of an open world it is important that institutions and other social structures be explicitly included, or that their omission be explained. A tentative explanation for the bias of ABMs is offered, based on an examination of early research in artificial intelligence and distributed artificial intelligence from which disciplines the approach is derived. Some implications of these findings are discussed. We indicate some useful research directions which are beginning to tackle the individualism issue directly. We further note that the underlying assumptions of ABMs are often hidden in the implementation details. We conclude that such models must be subject to critical examination of their assumptions, and that model builders should engage with social theory if the approach is to realise its full potential.
187 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the economies of scale, localisation, and urbanization among Swedish export firms in terms of their performance in the area of scale and localisation.
Abstract: Agglomeration and firm performance: Economies of scale, localisation and urbanisation among Swedish export firms.
183 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between high-technology regional development and ethnic networks in the connection between Silicon Valley, California and Hsinchu, Taiwan, and argue that the skill and competence required for technological upgrading are not necessarily guaranteed within the ethnic network.
Abstract: In this research we explore the relationship between high-technology regional development and ethnic networks in the connection between Silicon Valley, California and Hsinchu, Taiwan. We elaborate the argument that regional industrial structure and embedded social networks, rather than the multinational firm, should be the focus in the study of transnational business. The complementary regional industrial structures allow economic and technological collaboration between these two regions while the social networks help coordinate these transnational (cross-regional) collaborations. However, we seek to distinguish this account from the dominant perceptions of the role of guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in overseas Chinese business networks (OCBN). In contrast with the arguments for OCBN, that guanxi provides resources for Chinese firms to coordinate and control transnational business,we argue that the skill and competence required for technological upgrading are not necessarily guaranteed within the ethnic network. Although ethnic networks facilitate transnational business and technology cross-fertilization, it seems go too far to argue the Silicon Valley^Hsinchu connection is another version of Chinese guanxi capitalism.
163 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the importance of networks and lobbying as a form of informal action in influencing planning outcomes through a case study in Western Australia and examine stakeholders' utterances and questions of who networks and acts informally; why, when, and how they do so, and with what implications.
Abstract: In negotiated land-use planning decisions there may be intractable opposition and the use of strength, strategy, and influence outside of formal public participation processes—forms of communicative behaviour neglected by Habermasian theory. I investigate the empirical reality of the importance of networks and lobbying as a form of informal action in influencing planning outcomes through a case study in Western Australia. I map the networks of social relations within which stakeholders act and the links and energy flows between them. I examine stakeholders' utterances and questions of who networks and acts informally; why, when, and how they do so, and with what implications.
145 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that knowledge-cultures are social achievements that equip those who embody them with a relational–responsive kind of understanding of events and surroundings built on multiple knowledge-forms.
Abstract: Over recent years the concept of ‘knowledge’ in the singular has been increasingly challenged by ideas of differentiated, contextualized ‘knowledges’. In this paper we propose the concept of ‘knowledge-cultures’ as a way of exploring the fluidity of diverse forms of knowledge and the rules, norms, and values that enable or constrain their production. Elaborating on Shotter's idea of knowledge-from-within, we argue that knowledge-cultures are social achievements that equip those who embody them with a relational–responsive kind of understanding of events and surroundings built on multiple knowledge-forms. To explore this contextual nature of knowledge-culture construction and illustrate our arguments, we draw on detailed empirical research of farmers' experiences with the precision-farming technique of yield mapping in the English counties of Lincolnshire and Suffolk.
TL;DR: The authors argue that assumptions of unrestricted movement and mobility in contemporary Western societies are hegemonic in prioritising specific bodies and modes of mobility and movement, which has the effect of re-producing structured inequalities in peoples' movements and mobility patterns.
Abstract: In this paper I seek to make a contribution to ‘geographies of mobility’ by arguing that assumptions of unrestricted movement and mobility in contemporary Western societies are hegemonic in prioritising specific bodies and modes of mobility and movement. In particular, mobility and movement are defined through ‘normalising’ discourses which serve to alienate impaired bodies and to prioritise what one might term the ‘mobile body’. This has the effect of (re)producing structured inequalities in peoples' movement and mobility patterns. Such ideas are developed and illustrated with reference to interviews with disabled people.
TL;DR: This paper argued that the supercession of the "radical geography" label is symptomatic of a substantive shift in the nature and purposes of Left geographical inquiry, which has entailed the professionalisation and academicisation of Left geography.
Abstract: In this paper I seek to describe, explain, and evaluate three decades of Left geographical change. Now that ‘critical geography’—rather than ‘radical geography’—has become the privileged descriptor for Left geographical inquiry, it is argued that this temporal switch of labels is of more than merely semantic significance. Specifically, it is suggested that the supercession of the ‘radical geography’ label is symptomatic of a substantive shift in the nature and purposes of Left geographical inquiry. This shift has entailed the ‘professionalisation’ and ‘academicisation’ of Left geography. Both developments have occurred in the context of a thirty-year transition from a ‘modern’ to an ‘after-modern’ higher education system. Taking the Anglo-American case, it is argued that the current vitality of the geographical (read ‘critical’) Left in the academy correlates with its detachment from ‘real world’ political constituencies and also a blindness to the academic changes underpinning this inverse correlation. R...
TL;DR: In this article, a materialist-semiotic analysis is proposed using the concept of commodity chains, which has greater potential for theorizing connections between consumers and producers in a way that stimulates political praxis as well.
Abstract: The author argues that radical geography needs a political revival. Of many avenues that might be followed, the areas of consumption and commodity chains are taken up for consideration. Revival involves a critique of certain trendy, theoretical approaches prevalent particularly in the study of the commodity—as with postmodern notions of the sign and image space, the new retail geography with its stress on identity, and actor-network theory diverting into nonhuman actants. Although not without potential, these approaches lack critical, political edge, especially in the sense of connecting consumption with production. Liberation at one end is divorced from exploitation at the other. Nets are noticed but not workers. As an alternative, a materialist–semiotic analysis is proposed using the concept of commodity chains. This analysis has greater potential for theorizing connections between consumers and producers in a way that stimulates political praxis as well. Nine strategies for political engagement are pro...
TL;DR: In this paper, two kinds of statistical tests for spatial autocorrelation among the residuals of the GWR model are suggested and an efficient approximation method for calculating the p-values of the test statistics is proposed.
Abstract: Geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a useful technique for exploring spatial nonstationarity by calibrating, for example, a regression model which allows different relationships to exist at different points in space. In this line of research, many spatial data sets have been successfully analyzed and some statistical tests for spatial variation have been developed. However, an important assumption in these studies is that the disturbance terms of the GWR model are uncorrelated and of common variance. Similar to the case in the ordinary linear regression, spatial autocorrelation can invalidate the standard assumption of homoscedasticity of the disturbances and mislead the results of statistical inference. Therefore, developing some statistical methods to test for spatial autocorrelation is a very important issue. In this paper, two kinds of the statistical tests for spatial autocorrelation among the residuals of the GWR model are suggested. Also, an efficient approximation method for calculating the p-values of the test statistics is proposed. Some simulations are run to examine the performances of the proposed methods and the results are encouraging. The study not only makes it possible to test for spatial autocorrelation among the GWR residuals in a conventional statistical manner, but also provides a useful means for model validation.
TL;DR: On corporate social reporting Ecoefficiency as a corporate interpretation of sustainability is being superseded by the incorporation of the social dimension into business as mentioned in this paper, and the major players could easily handle ecoefficiency.
Abstract: On corporate social reporting Ecoefficiency as a corporate interpretation of sustainability is being superseded by the incorporation of the social dimension into business. The major players could easily handle ecoefficiency. It fitted neatly into environmental reporting via the voluntary codes of ISO 14001 and environmental auditing and management systems of the EU (EMAS). It also encouraged firms to adopt better management strategies for environmental regulation, for proactive technological investment in clean technology and energy conservation, and for glossy environmental report cards aimed at assuaging shareholders and market analysts.Virtually every company worth its salt has embarked on the ecoefficiency trade, with more or less enthusiasm.
TL;DR: This article conducted a comparative study of housing consumption in Beijing and Guangzhou, drawing upon two surveys of newly completed commodity housing conducted in 1996, and found that the work unit still constitutes the single most important buyer and distributor of commodity housing.
Abstract: The Chinese government has made repeated attempts to end the so-called welfare provision of housing so as to reduce the burden on the state and the individual work units. Development companies have been set up to undertake housing construction and the housing units sold as commodities; these are referred to as ‘commodity housing’. The author conducts a comparative study of housing consumption in Beijing and Guangzhou, drawing upon two surveys of newly completed commodity housing conducted in 1996. In Beijing, which is dominated by the traditional socialist system of economic and social organisation, only a tiny portion of such housing is traded on the open market. In Guangzhou, where many of the market-oriented reform measures were first experimented with, the open market already accounts for a substantial proportion of the newly constructed stock. In both Beijing and Guangzhou, however, the work unit still constitutes the single most important buyer and distributor of commodity housing. Further, if the a...
TL;DR: In this paper, the interaction between the university and the community is addressed, highlighting a number of cultural roles which universities undertake in the community and outlining the historical development of the cultural role of the university through a shift from the high-cultural role of elite university to a broader cultural role for the contemporary mass university.
Abstract: In this paper the interaction between the university and the community is addressed. Whilst previous work has concentrated on the economic roles of universities in the community, insufficient attention has been paid to their cultural roles. Drawing upon fieldwork undertaken in Bristol, United Kingdom, I highlight a number of cultural roles which universities undertake in the community. In particular I outline the historical development of the cultural role of the university through a shift from the high-cultural role of the elite university to a broader cultural role for the contemporary mass university. A new environment for universities, including the declining influence of national structures, the interplay of processes of localisation and globalisation, and the emergence of new regional governance structures in Britain, is reshaping the cultural relationship between the university and the community and is opening up new possibilities for the creation of a closer, and more equal, relationship between t...
TL;DR: In this paper, a fine-scale data model of population densities, and fractal measures of the way in which urban development fills space were developed for measuring the form of urban areas.
Abstract: Developments in the provision and quality of digital data are opening up possibilities for more detailed measures of the form of urban areas. This paper begins with a review of some of the new data sources that are available in the United Kingdom, specifically the Ordnance Survey's ADDRESS-POINT product. The authors go on to develop a fine-scale data model of population densities, and fractal measures of the way in which urban development fills space. The research findings are compared with those of previous research that used less detailed data models.
TL;DR: A new methodology to select appropriate areal units using the Akaike information criterion and two search methods for an informative geographical aggregation in map construction is proposed.
Abstract: The modifiable areal unit problem becomes apparent when incidence rates are mapped on the basis of areal units. Although small units with high spatial accuracy can present unreliable rates, large spatial units may remove relevant geographical variation. Regarding mapping as a kind of statistical modelling, this author proposes a new methodology to select appropriate areal units using the Akaike information criterion and two search methods for an informative geographical aggregation in map construction. The optimal zoning of similarity is suitable for finding spatial anomalies but presents a biased overall pattern. An alternative approach is to cluster areal units according to explanatory variables: this shows clear spatial patterns of elderly men's mortality matching the ecological structure in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on the development of a microsimulation model of daily activity patterns in the context of a regional planning model, which is used to predict traffic flows on a transportation network for various times of the day by using available statistical data sources as input.
Abstract: In this paper we report on the development of a microsimulation model of daily activity patterns in the context of a regional planning model. One of the aims of the simulation model is to predict traffic flows on a transportation network for various times of the day by using available statistical data sources as input. We first discuss the general conceptual underpinnings of the model, and against a brief discussion of existing activity-based models of transport demand we outline the major differences between these models and the current one. Next, major operational decisions, data input, and model architecture are discussed, followed by an illustration of the model for the Eindhoven region in the Netherlands. We conclude the paper by critically discussing its basic assumptions and identifying avenues of future research.
TL;DR: Barcelona as mentioned in this paper is one of the most interesting examples of inner-city regeneration in the Western world today, and it has received a very important international award, the Royal Gold Medal, given annually by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), to recognise outstanding distinction in architecture.
Abstract: A few months ago, The Observer published an article which, under the heading `̀ Catalan cool will rule Britannia'' stated that `̀ in what must be the ultimate homage to Catalonia, the Spanish region's fashionable capital, Barcelona, is to become the template for ten wannabe cities in Britain'' (1999). According to the article, the architect Lord Rogers in the interim report of his Urban Task Force, a study that calls for sweeping redesigns to regenerate the centres of large cities in Britain, considered Barcelona one of the most interesting examples of inner-city regeneration in the Western world today. In June 1999 Barcelona received a very important international award, the Royal Gold Medal, given annually by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), to recognise outstanding distinction in architecture. For the first time the award was given to a city, thus applauding its recent transformation as an urban and political model, and encouraging those responsible for that transformation to push forward with their plans for the future (El Pa|̈s 1999; Made in Barcelona, 1999). According to RIBA: `̀Both the process and results of Barcelona's rebirth are exemplary. Though with city-wide goals in mind, initial interventions were local and low budget, yet big in impactönot least because their design flair drew international plaudits. From creating parks and plazas wherever opportunities arose, this strategy snow-balled, gathering enthusiasm and financeöadding schools, health care and cultural facilities and attracting all sorts of public/private partnershipöall the way up to realising very major infrastructural projects. Hosting the Olympics was only part of this larger, still continuing strategy of up-grading the whole city'' (RIBA press release, 1999, emphasis added). And in this spiralling process, the City Council of Barcelona decided to convene the first Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004 which will take place by the sea on a newly built site resulting from the rezoning of this area: `̀ in 2004, all voices, languages, religions, all the cultures of the world come together to talk about cultural diversity, the conditions of peace and the sustainable city'' (Forum 2004, Web page). It is true that the overall balance from the urban transformations that have taken place in Barcelona during the 1980s and 1990s (fuelled by the celebration of the Olympic Games in 1992) is very positive and for many constituted what they call the `Barcelona model' for design and urban management (El Pa|̈s 1999). But it is also true that there are shadows in this process which deserve attention. To try to make it into a `model for export' might be self-defeating. Instead of a model, it would be better to speak of the `Barcelona experience'. Let us turn now to examine some aspects of this process.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore playground reform as an institutional response that aimed to produce and promote ideal gender identities in children, and explore playground training as a means of constructing gender identity in and through public space.
Abstract: At the turn of the 20th century, children's play came under new and heightened scrutiny by urban reformers. As conditions in US cities threatened traditional notions of order, reformers sought new ways to direct urban-social development. In this paper I explore playground reform as an institutional response that aimed to produce and promote ideal gender identities in children. Supervised summer playgrounds were established across the United States as a means of drawing children off the street and into a corrective environment. Drawing from literature published by the Playground Association of America and a case study of playground management in Cambridge, MA, I explore playground training as a means of constructing gender identities in and through public space. Playground reformers asserted, drawing from child development theory, that the child's body was a conduit through which ‘inner’ identity surfaced. The child's body became a site through which gender identities could be both monitored and produced, ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the definition and measurement of deprivation and of rurality in the context of health-care research and draw parallels between the methodological issues involved in the meas...
Abstract: The authors consider the definition and measurement of deprivation and of rurality in the context of health-care research. Parallels are drawn between the methodological issues involved in the meas...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that multilayered institutional cultures, which are shaped by official school policy, teacher practice, and pupil culture, are exceedingly important in shaping distinct cultures of computing in (and within) the case-study schools.
Abstract: Geographers' renewed interest in institutions reflects traditional concerns with the way institutions can shape geographies and a more recent interest in the ways geographies are important in shaping institutions. In this paper the authors build on this second strand of work and are specifically concerned with children's use of new information and communications technologies in schools. The authors suggest that multilayered institutional cultures, which are shaped by official school policy, teacher practice, and pupil culture, are exceedingly important in shaping distinct cultures of computing in (and within) the case-study schools. The highly gendered character of these institutional cultures is reflected in the very different attitudes of male and female pupils to computers and in the patterns of use which generally favour boys rather than girls. These are negotiated through competing masculinities and femininities in the classroom context, gender identities which are played out through normative unders...
TL;DR: This article used a multinomial choice model of owning a home, owning a trailer, or renting to examine the housing-market entry of young adults in the USA after they have left the parental home.
Abstract: We use a multinomial choice model of owning a home, owning a trailer, or renting to examine the housing-market entry of young adults in the USA after they have left the parental home. We also model the choice between renting independently and sharing with roommates. We show that the likelihood of becoming an independent actor in the housing market is closely related to the size and regional location of the housing market. The young adult's resources are an important influence on housing-market entry. Parents' resources seem to be less important as a factor in housing selection. Whereas trailer ownership is more common among the less well educated, couples, and those leaving home to live in the South or in rural areas, sharing is typical for the younger nest leavers, singles, and those leaving home to live in the cities.
TL;DR: In this article, an important item of agreement between the new economic geography and economic geography proper is the role of increasing returns in regional economic development, which provides a focal point f...
Abstract: An important item of agreement between the ‘new’ economic geography and economic geography ‘proper’ is the role of increasing returns in regional economic development. This provides a focal point f...
TL;DR: In this article, the dual nature of governance as both an institutional and a political activity means that consideration of such strategic forms of behaviour is essential to a deeper understanding of the nature of collaborative and associative forms of governance and their outcomes.
Abstract: Recent work on ‘collaborative planning’ has concentrated on applying Habermas's work on communicative action to the realm of urban and regional governance. This work has its parallels in other disciplines, notably geography, where institutional capacity building has been considered as part of local systems of governance. Both bodies of work are premised to a degree on the rationality of communication. Habermas contrasted his ideas on the possibilities for communicative action with the widespread presence of ‘strategic behaviour’ in social relations. The dual nature of governance as both an institutional and a political activity means that consideration of such strategic forms of behaviour is essential to a deeper understanding of the nature of collaborative and associative forms of governance and their outcomes. What social scientists refer to as ‘teleological/strategic action’, ‘normatively regulated action’, and ‘dramaturgical action’ together with communicative action are all integral to collaborative ...
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that there is no link between the opening of a science park and employment growth in high-tech sectors, and that there are no positive relations between the creation of a park and the employment in the surrounding regions.
Abstract: In response to the current accepted wisdom that we are now in a ‘knowledge economy’, where economic growth is directly linked to the capacity to gather and analyse information, an increasingly popular policy approach has been to foster the development of science parks. These parks, it is argued, contribute to the development of learning regions' by encouraging knowledge transfer between academic institutions and ‘high-tech’ or ‘knowledge-intensive’ establishments, thereby bringing about start-ups and growth in these sectors. Over the last 25 years, 17 such parks have opened in Canada, and in this paper the authors set out to answer two questions. First, what do these parks consist of? Second, can it be shown that they stimulate high-tech employment (whether in the manufacturing or service sectors) in the regions in which they are located? It is found that there is no link between the opening of a science park and employment growth in high-tech sectors.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore multiple discourses of adolescent femininity, masculinity, sexual morality, and achievement conveyed through consecutive, in-depth group discussions with friendship groups of young Latinas.
Abstract: The focus of this paper is the significance of an urban high school in the process of gender and sexual identity construction for a group of adolescent Latinas in Los Angeles. I explore multiple discourses of adolescent femininity, masculinity, sexual morality, and achievement conveyed through consecutive, in-depth group discussions with friendship groups of young Latinas. I argue that for these young women, studenthood is not a generic stage in the life course, but one that is embedded in society's expectations of and anxieties about young women. In and through dominant discourses and institutional practices they are constituted as vulnerable and as out of control in terms of sexual desire (their own as well as others' for them). In a ‘spatiality of protection’ they are positioned, precariously, as singularly responsible for both their academic diligence and their bounded sexuality in order to succeed as young women in high school and realise their goals as adult women beyond high school.