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Showing papers in "GeoJournal in 2005"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper argued that territorial issues with greater intangible salience (e.g., historical possessions, important homelands, sacred sites, identity ties) should be harder to resolve peacefully and should produce more frequent and severe militarized conflict.
Abstract: Early research on contentious issues in world politics suggested that there is an important distinction between largely tangible and largely intangible issues. Tangible issues are thought to be easier to resolve, while intangible issues can fester for long periods of time through fruitless negotiations and repeated armed conflict. Research on territorial issues has suggested that many territorial claims are driven by both tangible and intangible concerns, though, which complicates the analysis of issue tangibility. The authors argue that territorial issues with greater intangible salience (e.g. historical possessions, important homelands, sacred sites, identity ties) should be harder to resolve peacefully and should produce more frequent and severe militarized conflict. Empirical analyses of 191 territorial claims in the Americas and Western Europe (1816–2001) provide mixed support for these expectations. Territorial claims with high intangible salience are significantly more likely to experience militarized disputes and wars. Surprisingly, though, states are much more likely to strike peaceful agreements with their adversaries over territories that are valued for intangible reasons.

126 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been identified as important to rural livelihoods, as an alternative land-use option as well as in fulfilling an important safety-net function although empirical evidence on the latter's strength is limited.
Abstract: Poor, rural communities are vulnerable to adversity. To secure their livelihoods, people adopt multiple livelihood strategies, including using non-timber forest products (NTFPs). NTFPs have been identified as important to rural livelihoods, as an alternative land-use option as well as in fulfilling an important safety-net function although empirical evidence on the latter’s strength is limited. Whilst NTFPs may contribute towards alleviating poverty, this safety-net function needs more critical and quantitative investigation. This includes the establishment of an applicable definition so this function can be communicated to policy makers and taken into account in national poverty alleviation strategies and, in attempts to promote resource-conserving behaviour by highlighting the value of natural resources (including NTFPs) compared to alternative land-use options. Poverty in rural households is complex and households are vulnerable to a range of shocks. During adversity households can turn to a range of possible safety-nets. What determines the use of NTFPs as a safety-net, how this safety-net function manifests and the strength of this function is poorly understood and there is need for further investigation.

124 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, social network analysis is used to trace the social and economic location of ethnic enclaves, in contrast to looking at physical space, in order to understand the ethnic economy.
Abstract: In this paper we suggest how social network analysis, in contrast to looking at physical space, can be used to trace the social and economic location of ethnic enclaves. Taking skilled workers immigrating to Canada from China as an example, we analyze critically how split labor market theories describe materialist and structural factors that determine immigrants’ limited options. Cultural theories play up immigrants’ interest in using their cultural resources to pull themselves ahead. We propose that social network analysis as a single framework can bring together elements from materialist–structural and cultural theories. The position of people and firms in these networks gives us a view of the kinds of jobs immigrants get and the businesses they set up. To understand the ethnic economy, we discuss how networks of social and economic relations intersect each other. By seeing the ethnic economy embedded in social networks, we can provide a more general explanation of the social space of the ethnic economy in contrast to its physical location. We use three cases of ethnic entrepreneurs to illustrate how the social and economic relations locate their businesses in the enclave and how they are also linked to the mainstream economy.

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the socioeconomic causes and pattern of encroachment have been analyzed and limited land availability and unemployment have been identified as the major proximate causes of the encroachment and if no measures are adopted within next three decades the existing natural forests might be encroached.
Abstract: Deforestation is a major cause of environmental degradation. Tropical countries with huge population pressure and widespread poverty are main frontier of deforestation. Bangladesh, being one the most densely populated country with diminishing tropical forestland, supports lowest per capita forestland. The forests are depleting mainly due to illegal logging and conversion to non-forestry uses. In this paper encroachment of forestland by individuals has been dealt with. The socioeconomic causes and pattern of encroachment have been analyzed. Limited land availability and unemployment have been identified as the major proximate causes of encroachment and, if no measures are adopted within next three decades the existing natural forests might be encroached.

57 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Wei Li1
TL;DR: This article reviewed the debate centered around historical and contemporary Chinatowns; discussed the impacts of societal and structural factors on Chinese immigration and settlement; presenting a spectrum of contemporary Chinese settlement forms in the United States, and highlighting some key characteristics.
Abstract: Profound changes in international geopolitics and national policies, as well as global economic restructuring, and technological and communicational development have occurred since Chinatown first emerged. With the rapid pace of globalizing economy, increasing flows of population, commodities, information, and financial resources across the Pacific Rim – particularly in the last two decades – it is imperative that we reexamine the international migration patterns of Chinese population and reconceptualize the resulting Chinese settlement forms in the globalization era. This article attempts to serve such purposes by briefly reviewing the debate centered around historical and contemporary Chinatowns; discussing the impacts of societal and structural factors on Chinese immigration and settlement; presenting a spectrum of contemporary Chinese settlement forms in the United States, and highlighting some key characteristics. The article ends with brief discussion and conclusion sections that summarize some issues in contemporary Chinese community studies.

55 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that Chinese migrants have not only established a local, ethnically meaningful environment, but also challenged the still current metonymic Western image of the Chinese as preferring life in ‘ethnic’ urban enclaves that had its origin from early Chinese settlement and fundamentally detached from the lives of other ethnic groups per se.
Abstract: This paper juxtaposes the actual areas of settlement and settlement activities of Chinese migrants in Brisbane’s southern suburbs since the mid-1980s, with the concomitant, ‘government planned’ construction of the city’s Chinatown as an ‘exotic,’ ‘ethnic,’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ landmark. It argues that while the latter, as with Chinatowns in other Australian and world cities, has continued to appropriate the symbols of so-called ‘Chineseness’ to sell the locale to non-Chinese, the former, in recalling the notion of ‘ethnoburbia,’ significantly evinces actual Chinese migrants’ agency and role in place-making. In the process, these migrants have not only established a local, ethnically meaningful environment, but also challenged the still current metonymic Western image of the Chinese as preferring life in ‘ethnic’ urban enclaves that had its origin from early Chinese settlement and fundamentally detached from the lives of other ethnic groups per se. Indeed greater recognition and comprehension of such locales may go a long way to illustrate that many Chinese living in Australia today do not fit the territorial, place-based identity often associated with them in the imagination of mainstream society.

53 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Jon D. Unruh1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the ingredients for rule-making in combative commons situations and examine their utility and limitations in the provision of a facilitating context for institution derivation for commons management.
Abstract: Pastoralist access and use of common grazing resources in the Horn of Africa increasingly include armed confrontation over diminishing resources and reduced access. This comes about as traditional customary institutions (sets of rules) for commons management become compromised due to the presence of outside influences and actors which significantly change both resource availability, and conceptions about who is subject to traditional rules governing commons – particularly rules associated with exclusion. At the same time a combination of local knowledge regarding what happens to open access commons (degradation), a reluctance to give up control of commons and associated ways of life, and armed conflict as a viable alternative for exclusion rules, provide for combative situations and large costs. While a great deal of valuable work has been accomplished regarding the derivation of effective institutions to better manage commons, situations of armed conflict can seem particularly distant from effective rule-making, because few institutions can endure the stresses of armed conflict. Recent developments in Ethiopia however suggest an unexpected proximity between armed confrontation and the prospect for commons management rule-making. With examples from the Afar, Somali and Karamojong Cluster pastoralists, this paper examines the ingredients for rule-making in combative commons situations. Specific coincident forms of state recognition, donor flexibility, perceptions of the cost of conflict, and the local to international reaction to these, are examined for their utility and limitations in the provision of a facilitating context for institution derivation for commons management.

52 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a dialectic between general social processes operating across spatial scales, which create necessary conditions for conflict, and place-specific historical circumstances that transform necessary into sufficient conditions is explored.
Abstract: Brazil possesses a long history of violent struggle for land, and its most recent phase is occurring predominantly in the Amazon Basin. Consequently, this paper attempts to territorialize land conflict in the Brazilian Amazon, and in so doing, to illuminate the place-specific intersection of historic social, political, and economic circumstance that created a violent landscape in the so-called ‘‘South of Para´ .’’ The paper’s premise is that such conflict can be best viewed as resulting from a dialectic between general social processes operating across spatial scales, which create necessary conditions for conflict, and place-specific historical circumstances that transform necessary into sufficient conditions. The paper presents a framework integrating the theory of contentious politics and literatures addressing violence associated with the Amazonian frontier and with resource scarcity (and abundance). The discussion and theoretical application deconstruct the environmental, cognitive, and relational mechanisms that created violence in

51 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Shalini Singh1
TL;DR: In this paper, Niebuhr describes the prototypical pilgrim from amongst the wide array of contemporary religious and secular tourists, and concludes with a discussion of the emerging practices and recent trends in Himalayan pilgrimology.
Abstract: Assuming the above quote as a true portrayal of pilgrims, this article attempts to describe the prototypical pilgrim from amongst the wide array of contemporary religious and secular tourists. To achieve this end, two approaches have been adopted. Firstly, the phenomenon/concept of pilgrimages have been discussed, so to distinguish it from the tourism phenomenon and; Secondly, the geographical notion of genus loci has been employed to exemplify the fundamental quest for ‘geopiety’ attained through the unification of the pilgrim’s intrinsic belief with its external location. The second part of the article illustrates the forgoing through an exploration of Himalayan pilgrimages. This has been achieved with a discussion of the emerging practices and recent trends in Himalayan pilgrimology. This appraisal alludes to Cohen’s quest for a ‘Theology of Tourism.’ The article concludes with an examination of a specific genre of contemporary tourists in the Indian Himalayas, who have been identified as ‘environmental pilgrims.’ Pilgrims are persons in motion, passing through territories not their own and seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well – a goal to which only the spirit’s compass points the way. – Richard Niebuhr in Morgan 2004: 20

51 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used interviews with women living in six different new developments and in adjacent buildings in the old neighborhoods, to identify the behavioral and affective variables that make up the local sense of place.
Abstract: Every neighborhood has its particular sense of place, resulting from its physical structure and its sociological make-up. When new housing developments are built in or adjacent to old neighborhoods, a different sense of place will exist in the new development and in the adjacent old environment, with mutual effects between the two. This study has used ethnographic analysis of interviews with women living in six different new developments and in adjacent buildings in the old neighborhoods, to identify the behavioral and affective variables that make up the local sense of place. A methodology has subsequently been developed to determine the sense of place in any residential environment, based on ethnographic analysis of the descriptions of the residential environment by its residents, while focusing on the evaluation of a number of predetermined behavioral and affective variables that together define the sense of place. Comparison of the sense of place between different residential environments could enable the identification of the effects of various social factors and the physical environment on the sense of place, the conclusions of which could be of use in the planning of new housing developments, particularly if located in old neighborhoods.

49 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a different framework of analysis that addresses the household not as a fixed object of research, but as a local construction that embodies flows of power and knowledge both within and transcending the local.
Abstract: Over the past two decades development has been shifting its focus toward smaller scales and particular problems. As a result, the household has become an increasingly important institution for development, and has come under increased scrunity as development practitioners and scholars seek to better understand this institution’s functions and foundations, trying to ‘get the household right’. These efforts, rather than clarifying the character and the function of the household, have contributed to its indeterminacy by reifying the very institution they seek to analyse. Arguing that these efforts fundamentally miss the point of examining the household, this paper introduces a different framework of analysis that addresses the household not as a fixed object of research, but as a local construction that embodies flows of power and knowledge both within and transcending the local. Using the example of varying constructions of the household in two villages in Ghana’s Central Region, this article illustrates how such an approach allows us to address the various functions of the household as particular embodiments of these flows, an approach that better explains the endurance or ephemerality of these functions. Such an approach provides a stronger foundation for the consideration of how particular constructions of this institution may have troubling implications for issues like gender equity and sustainability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the housing experience of a typical poor family in Ghana to determine what the poor build and highlight the obstacles the poor have to overcome to acquire the housing they want.
Abstract: The debate on housing the urban poor has become more sophisticated since Turner’s original ideas of self-help and self-building by the poor were introduced in the 1970s. Today, the emphasis in housing the poor is on a pluralistic approach that stresses enabling housing provision for the poor by expanding the range of providers to include government, the private sector, the poor themselves, non-governmental agencies, and cooperatives. Official housing policy in Ghana does not reflect the pluralistic approach that prevails in practitioner and academic circles. Using ethnography, this paper presents the housing experience of a typical poor family in Ghana to determine what the poor build. It highlights the obstacles the poor have to overcome to acquire the housing they want. The ethnography provides a basis upon which the mismatch between the pluralistic approach and Ghana’s housing policy can be bridged thus providing a way forward. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of the housing industry in poverty alleviation in Ghana.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Based on the Census and in-depth interviews of 103 Taiwanese migrants, this article examined the location decisions and residential preferences of Taiwanese migrants in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, and found that the main reasons for choosing to settle in Sydney were favourable business opportunities, and the northern part of Sydney was preferred.
Abstract: Since the 1980s, the increase of Asian migrants in large cities has contributed significantly to the cultural landscape of Australia, especially in the city suburbs. Based on the Census and in-depth interviews of 103 Taiwanese migrants, this research examines the location decisions and residential preferences of Taiwanese migrants in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The reasons for choosing the state, the particular city, and specific area of residence are probed into. The survey shows that migrants moved to Australia mainly for children’s education, lifestyle and political instability reasons. The main reasons for choosing to settle in Sydney were favourable business opportunities, and the northern part of Sydney was preferred. Those who chose Brisbane are attracted by the good climate there, and the residents preferred the Sunnybank area. Melbourne was chosen for the good education it offers, and areas on transportation lines near good schools are selected. Choice of residence was based mainly on their needs and their resources which may change over time. In general, they always choose to locate in close proximity to their family, friends and Taiwanese communities. Their locational choice depends on income and housing budget, proximity to good schools and shopping centers, and information from friends or earlier migrants. Based on such factors, this study clearly demonstrates that the Taiwanese immigrants are fundamentally different from early Chinese settlers who once aimed to settle at Chinatown locations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the GPS measurements of cattle movements made by a pastoralist from 1997 to 2000, based on data from 3 years, a quantification of the extent of movements and mappings of the patterns are made.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to show the contribution of geography to the study of pastoral mobility. While pastoralists of Ferlo, Senegal, have become semi-sedentary, little is known about the mobility of their livestock. In this paper, pastoral mobility is analysed using GPS measurements of cattle movements made by a pastoralist from 1997 to 2000. Based on data from 3 years, a quantification of the extent of movements and mappings of the patterns are made. The results show that cattle walk about 5000 km on an annual basis, and while a great deal of the mobility can be characterised as daily circular movements between the camp and watering points, occasional transhumance is still used to make the most of variable resources.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined recent growth trends in the Chinese ethnoburb of the San Gabriel Valley region of Greater Los Angeles, through analysis and mapping of U.S. Census data, and discovered ethnic persistence rather than spatial and cultural assimilation.
Abstract: Suburban Chinatowns are intriguing subjects for study and comparison. These ethnic suburbs, or ethnoburbs, have emerged to coexist or compete with the older downtown Chinatowns traditionally found in American central cities. Their growth since the 1960s challenges many traditional assumptions regarding the spatial and cultural assimilation of immigrants in U.S. society, namely that ethnicity would decline with the geographic and socioeconomic mobility of immigrants from the inner city into the suburbs. We examined recent growth trends in the Chinese ethnoburb of the San Gabriel Valley region of Greater Los Angeles, through analysis and mapping of U.S. Census data, and discovered ethnic persistence rather than spatial and cultural assimilation. We also discovered the ethnoburb is differentiated between a lower-class core and two middle-to-upper class fringe districts. Though there is some linguistic assimilation on the northwest fringe, the majority of the ethnoburban population continues to speak Chinese. Linguistic isolation is not a barrier to achieving a higher socioeconomic class position in the Chinese ethnoburb of Los Angeles.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the physical-spatial environment of two neighborhoods in the city of Haifa, Israel and found that while the relatively high residential density was similar in both neighborhoods (40 housing units per acre), this was more positively evaluated in one neighborhood as compared to the other.
Abstract: To date, research into the subjective aspects of high density has focused mainly on the negative consequences of overcrowding. This study, in contrast, outlines some of the positive aspects of high density in neighborhoods, exploring the physical–spatial environment of two neighborhoods in the city of Haifa, Israel. It was found that while the relatively high residential density was similar in both neighborhoods (40 housing units per acre), this was more positively evaluated in one neighborhood as compared to the other. This can be attributed to some specific environmental and planning features. In particular, where physical planning enabled the potential advantages of high density to be realized, this was positively perceived and evaluated by local residents. Such advantages mainly comprised accessibility to a variety of services, more frequent public transportation, and access to open spaces within walking distance. Particularly advantageous were the increased opportunities for social gathering. At the same time, however, high density did not foster social relationships on the neighborhood level. The study further identified the gender and age groups that benefited most from the high density. Thus, women evaluated high density more positively than men. Young families with children and senior citizens (over 65) were also more likely to benefit, and to evaluate the high density environment more positively than other social groups.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the current state of Kenya's secondary cities in the context of its urban and regional development strategies and concluded that the country's urban and region development strategies have failed to work as planned largely because of insufficient devolution of power and fiscal responsibility to municipal and other local government units.
Abstract: Kenya has been promoting equitable urban and regional development since the 1970s despite the lack of a clearly formulated national urban policy or an urban and regional development policy A key element of the country’s equitable urban and regional development effort is the promotion of secondary cities that would relieve population pressure in the countryside, help to better integrate the country’s rural and urban economies, help to reduce congestion and improve the quality of life in the metropolitan cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, and help increase the modernization spin-off which urban centers provide to the surrounding rural areas Using recent census and economic survey data, this paper examines the current state of Kenya’s secondary cities in the context of its urban and regional development strategies The paper finds that: (1) the country’s urban and regional development strategies have failed to work as planned largely because of insufficient devolution of power and fiscal responsibility to municipal and other local government units, (2) the country’s secondary cities are faced with immense challenges that undermine their ability to live up to expectations, (3) some of these cities have significantly grown economically over the last four decades despite immense challenges, and (4) Nairobi’s dominance of Kenya’s economy continues because of policies that unwittingly concentrate investments there The paper concludes with strategies that could enhance the country’s urban and regional development programs and, in the process, aid the development of its secondary cities

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test the hypothesis that there are two main reasons for Wal-Mart's problems in Germany, namely, the difference between the so-called WalMart culture and German customer values.
Abstract: Wal-Mart entered the German market at the end of 1997 but is still running at a loss in its 92 stores. This article tests the hypothesis that there are two main reasons for Wal-Mart’s problems in Germany. First of all, Wal-Mart is competing against very strong and well established deep discounters, especially Aldi. Secondly, there is the difference between the so-called Wal-Mart culture and German customer values. So far, Wal-Mart has not managed to close this gap or create a positive image in Germany. The first part of the article describes the differences between the two retail companies Wal-Mart and Aldi, whereas the second part focuses on the consumer perspective. Four hundred people were interviewed on the phone about their shopping behaviour in the city of Wurzburg (northern Bavaria, 140,000 inhabitants). This survey is part of an international study also undertaken in Canada, Great Britain and China.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present both spatial and temporal analyses that offer insights into how the Vietnamese businesses grow through time in Toronto Chinatown West and support the existence of a Vietnamization process.
Abstract: Years of past research on traditional Chinatowns were based on the assumption that Chinatown is an ethnic enclave for a single ethnic minority, i.e. the Chinese. In recent years, one could observe significant changes over Chinatowns in terms of more Vietnamese presence. Yet, the transition process as an object of study is much under-represented in the literature on ethnic enclaves. Looking at ethnic business transition from Hong Kong to Vietnamese in Toronto’s Chinatown West, this paper argues strongly that ‘multiple ethnicity’ can coexist in an enclave. For this case study, the Chinatown is being reconfigured into a ‘new’ Chinatown. Drawing upon data from the authors’ Vietnamese Business Database that covers information between 1983 and 2003, we present both spatial and temporal analyses that offer insights into how the Vietnamese businesses grow through time. Our findings support the existence of a Vietnamization process in Toronto Chinatown West. However, its evolution is still in an infant stage. In some aspects, the incoming Vietnamese businesses display similarities with the remaining Hong Kong businesses. In sum, a total reconfiguration of Chinatown West in form and business nature is still unaccomplished. The conventional enclave concept which bases on the singularity of ethnic group has to be abandoned in view of rising occurrence of ethnic transition, particularly in this globalizing era.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that opportunities exist for a complementary agricultural development approach in the rural margins based on working with the local diversity, rather than its elimination, and that effective in situ agrobiodiversity conservation programs must provide for the needs of local people for sustainable development.
Abstract: The majority of rural communities have limited agricultural development opportunities within the hills and mountains of Nepal. While the dominant development model, which focuses on technology transfer and the evolution of commercial production systems, is effective when access to inputs and markets enables farmers to produce and trade successfully, many communities are marginalised from development opportunities by poverty and poor infrastructure. Complementary development approaches that value, conserve, develop and market agrobiodiversity could alleviate the extreme poverty where these conditions prevail as in the hills and mountains, the rural margins of Nepal. Formalised in situ approaches to agrobiodiversity conservation are in their infancy in Nepal, yet suggest that opportunities exist for a complementary agricultural development approach in the rural margins based on working with the local diversity, rather than its elimination. The obstacles of widespread poverty and inadequate infrastructure ensure that effective in situ agrobiodiversity conservation programs must provide for the needs of local people for sustainable development.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address how the urban planning process mediates between the seemingly dichotomous tendencies of regionalized entrepreneurialism and cultural regionalism in Spanish autonomous regions and their major urban centers.
Abstract: European politics and planning have recently been characterized by a shift to economic entrepreneurialism at sub-national scales, and the planned redevelopment of the city-region in pursuit of global competitiveness, which scholars have interpreted in light of political-economic “rescaling” or regionalization and the emergence of a “new regionalism.” Analyzing rescaling largely in terms of shifting economic and institutional structures, however, many accounts underestimate the complexity and enduring power of so-called ‘old’ regionalist politics of culture and identity as backdrop to urban redevelopment planning. In this paper we address how the urban planning process mediates between the seemingly dichotomous tendencies of regionalized entrepreneurialism and cultural regionalism. Using case studies of two Spanish autonomous regions and their major urban centers – the Basque Country or Euskadi (Bilbao) and the Comunitat Valenciana (Valencia) – we review the historical geography of planning in the European region in order to explore how cultural regionalism collides with economic rescaling and entrepreneurialism, in and through the planned landscape. We propose that such emerging and hybrid politics and planning be understood as a form of entrepreneurial regionalism, a culturally inflected form of economic competitiveness characteristic of but not unique to the Spanish region. This specific notion of entrepreneurial regionalism may illuminate how planners mediate global and local imperatives within political discourse and landscapes that materialize them, and allow us to better reconceptualize the relationship between economic globalization, state restructuring, and cultural politics in a new Europe of the Regions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the various aspects boundaries assume in the European context before looking at a few concrete Swiss examples and reveal that even regions at a certain distance of the state border will feel its effects (the case of Zurich airport), but the most important benefit can been drawn by people living in the border area itself (through price differences between the two countries, as exemplified by the Swiss-Italian border) There may be asymmetry on state borders, but this asymmetry can also swing around: the advantages often lie on both sides: the advantage often lie in both
Abstract: Boundaries can be seen as barriers or as places of contact It has been suggested that we are “prisoners of borders”, of all kinds of borders (political, religious, social, cultural, linguistic etc) While this statement appears to be somewhat exaggerated, it holds some truth Boundaries are elements in spatial organization, and they influence daily life in many ways (not only for people living right along them) The paper addresses the question if we must call ourselves “prisoners” or if we simply have to live with all kinds of borders Departing from theoretical observations, the paper discusses the various aspects boundaries assume in the European context before looking at a few concrete Swiss examples They reveal that even regions at a certain distance of the state border will feel its effects (the case of Zurich airport), but the most important benefit can been drawn by people living in the border area itself (through price differences between the two countries, as exemplified by the Swiss-Italian border) There may be asymmetry on state borders, but this asymmetry can also swing around: the advantages often lie on both sides The paper concludes by pointing to the persistence of the boundary concept They are a necessity for the organization of space and society, but they are not absolute There are always holes in these prison walls, and the examples where boundaries were impermeable are probably rare

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test whether the cross-border regional enlargement process is at best a long-run phenomenon in the Oresund Region and conclude that it is still in its very infancy and that a continued focus on policies to promote crossborder social interaction is required.
Abstract: Cross-border regional enlargement entails complex dynamics. The integration process at the maritime border between Sweden and Denmark illustrates this. Physical infrastructure has been improved by national governments and intranational and supranational institutions have added to the instrumentation as a precondition for social interaction and integration. The outcome of these efforts is here tested under a hypothesis that in spite of this forceful cocktail of policy instruments, the cross-border regionalization process is at best a long-run phenomenon in the Oresund Region. The point of departure is the stepwise procedure for the formation of binational cities suggested in Ehlers (2001, GeoJournal 54: 21–32). Social interaction is identified as the pivotal factor in the present state of integration of the Oresund Region using Bucken-Knapp (2001, GeoJournal 54: 51–60). A benchmarking method is proposed for testing social interaction in the labour market, where cross-border dynamics are benchmarked against national dynamics. The cross-border regional enlargement process is still in its very infancy and a continued focus on policies to promote cross-border social interaction is required. The present governance without government approach to cross-border cooperation in the Oresund Region is in that respect challenged by a reform of the Danish geo-administrative system.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it was revealed that up to eight more tributary glaciers could have dammed the Karambar valley in historical and prehistorical times, and the ice-dammed lakes reached an approximate length of up to about 5 km and more.
Abstract: At least six devastating glacial floods occurred in the Karambar valley in the 19th and 20th century. Previously mainly the Karambar glacier was considered as the origin of these outburst floods. However, in this project more detailed investigations revealed that up to eight more tributary glaciers could have dammed the Karambar valley in historical and prehistorical times. The ice-dammed lakes reached an approximate length of up to about 5 km and more. The dense concentration of the glacier dams along a horizontal distance of only 40 km results in a complex interfingering of lake basins and flooded valley sections. In the individual flood events were probably involved almost synchronously the drainage of at least two lakes resulting in a lake outburst cascade.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors engage constructively with literature on armed conflict and resources in order to draw attention both to assumptions that hinder a more accurate or useful understanding of natural resources and their role in territorial conflict as well as to aspects of this field of research that merit further work.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to engage constructively with literature on armed conflict and resources in order to draw attention both to assumptions that hinder a more accurate or useful understanding of natural resources and their role in territorial conflict as well as to aspects of this field of research that merit further work. In much of the literature on resource conflict, territorial aspects are either implicitly or explicitly tied to resource conflict largely through the assumption that the value of territory is intrinsic. Little of the literature attempts to advance theory, specifically, either on the particular role of resources or on the meaning and objectives of conflict beyond a one-dimensional objective of maintaining or securing control of territory. The paper considers themes of resource scarcity and resource abundance in conflict. A third section focuses on an analysis both of natural resource databases and of conflict databases (both international and civil) which emphasizes problematic results of blending these databases to demonstrate correlations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper analyzed local level apprenticeship contracts and networks to highlight informal urban livelihoods within the context of socioeconomic vulnerability and wider contemporary changes taking place in Koforidua, Ghana.
Abstract: This paper analyses local level apprenticeship contracts and networks to highlight informal urban livelihoods within the context of socio-economic vulnerability and wider contemporary changes taking place in Koforidua, Ghana. It does so by specifically examining the complex entanglements of interpersonal relationships that characterize apprenticeship contracts within which home-based entrepreneurs and artisans in Koforidua engage in to sustain both current livelihoods, as well as to shore themselves against socio-economic vulnerability triggered in part by adjustment. As a result of the changing geography of the city, network entanglements, comprising resilient ties and egalitarian relations, have become vital to urban livelihoods in this community. However, apprenticeship contracts and the networks they engender can be a double-edged sword. For instance, demands of reciprocity or support from co-network members, neighbours and family, can be so taxing that some individuals opt out of the network. This tension notwithstanding, this paper contends that apprenticeship contracts and the network spaces they create have created a new social cohesion and community that transcend the traditionally known spaces of social support, i.e. ethnic ties, family ties or even institutional support.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors defines the New Chinatown as a panethnopolis, that is a global neighborhood with a majority population of Chinese immigrants and other ethnic groups of mostly Asian descent, and analyzes more particularly the formation, development, and integration of San Francisco's Richmond District's New Chinatown into both the city where it is located and the network of transglobal sites to which it belongs.
Abstract: This paper briefly reviews the sociological literature on the “New” Chinatown phenomenon stressing its structural location vis-a-vis the “Old” Chinatown and the homeland. It defines the New Chinatown as a panethnopolis, that is a global neighborhood with a majority population of Chinese immigrants and of other ethnic groups of mostly Asian descent. It analyzes more particularly the formation, development, and integration of San Francisco’s Richmond District’s New Chinatown into both the city where it is located and the network of transglobal sites to which it belongs. It provides an interpretation of the New Chinatown as a cultural enclave within the context of globalization theory.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the pattern of change in Australia and found that population has favored newer locations but that gains in share of national population have not been large, while some of the older regions have maintained population share, or at worst recorded small declines.
Abstract: Analyses of the patterns of national population change have been influenced by the US experience where major differences between a older north and a newer south are prominent in many studies. The current paper argues that these perspectives overlook some inertia in the pattern of population and jobs. Drawing upon US and European experience the paper explores the pattern of change in Australia. There it finds that population has favoured newer locations but that gains in share of national population have not been large. At the same time some of the older regions have maintained population share, or at worst recorded small declines. That broad insight is enriched by sectoral analysis where it is clear that only the retail sector has experienced the large gains in new regions; employment change in other sectors showed the links with population change are weak. The paper concludes that simple notions of new region population and employment gains are oversimplified and overlook the substantial development around established centres. In particular it is possible that the old regions are re-structuring their spatial form and spilling over statistical boundaries and so actually maintaining established role in national networks.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a taxonomy for analyzing international territorial disputes that seeks to capture their tangible and symbolic dimensions and to weigh them as the international community might is presented, including offshore areas and separatist issues, including 15 criteria for objective prominence and 7 criteria related to how a country might view the dispute in terms of its national interest.
Abstract: Conflicts over territory have resulted in innumerable wars and other violent incidents, but the reasons that some territory is more highly valued or volatile than other areas may not be obvious. This paper demonstrates a taxonomy for analyzing international territorial disputes that seeks to capture their tangible and symbolic dimensions and to weigh them as the international community might. Twenty-six territorial disputes, including offshore areas and separatist issues, were examined and scored according to 15 criteria for objective prominence and 7 criteria related to how a country might view the dispute in terms of its national interest. The taxonomy used Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process to identify tangible and intangible properties, measure their interrelations, and produce intermediate and overall ranks. Each dispute was evaluated for prominence by examining intensifying (symbolic) factors, measures of magnitude, and characteristics that retard resolution. The magnitude of a dispute was judged to contribute the most to overall prominence, having twice the weight of the other two factors. The top five disputes in terms of prominence were the Kurdish issue, Kashmir, Tibet, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Xinjiang. The second hierarchy evaluated the disputes from the perspective of an international actor, in this case the United States. When judged by U.S. national interest, the most important factors were the deployment of U.S. forces in the claimant countries and if one of the claimants were a U.S. ally. Finally, the results from the two hierarchies were compared.