Ethnic and economic regions in Slovakia: A statistical and visual exploration of contemporary patterns

When Czechoslovakia was formed after World War I from the remains of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the national boundaries imposed at the time did not accurately portray the areal extent of some ethnic groups. This was particularly true for the Hungarian minority which was established along the southern border of Slovakia. Because of this boundary arrangement, ethnic and economic divisions have resulted within Czechoslovakia and have continued in the new state of Slovakia. This paper analyzes the contemporary regional extent of the major ethnic groups in Slovakia at the district and commune levels. It also analyzes these ethnic patterns in light of a number of economic characteristics. Methods include mapping and analysis of various statistical tests using 1991 Czechoslovak census data. A strong relationship between Hungarian communes and agricultural employment is shown as well as a connection between employment in industry and Slovak ethnic regions. These findings suggest that the Hungarian minority has experienced a substantial geopolitical shift from the group in power to a peripheral society within Slovakia that continues to exhibit higher levels of agricultural reliance than the majority of ethnic Slovakian regions.     

Gypsies in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic: Geographic and demographic characteristics

Geographic and demographic characteristics of Gypsies were elaborated on the basis of population census' results in 1970 and 1980. In 1980, there were about 300 000 of Gypsies in Czechoslovakia (2% of the total population). The fast numerical growth of Gypsies becomes a subject of increasing interest of both specialists and large public. According to the prognosis till 2005, in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic will be about 495 000 of Gypsies (3% of the total population). The spatial structure of Gypsies is very uneven, they are concentrated mainly in the East Slovakian districts. The differences between Gypsies and other inhabitants in the demographic behaviour are evident from the age structure. Gypsies are demographically young population with the progressive type of the age structure (high proportion of children and low proportion of the aged). Gypsy women have a high level of fertility during the whole childbearing period. The number of live born children per one Gypsy woman was 6,0 in the age group 45–49 (total population 2,3) in 1980. The effort has been made to estimate the expectation of life of Gypsies on the basis of results from population census 1970 and 1980. The probability of death was derived from the probability of survival between 1970 and 1980. In the period 1971–1980 the expectation of life at birth of Gypsy men was 55,3 years and 59,5 years for Gypsy women. The level of life expectancy like this we can find in developing countries of the Third World. Changes in the demographic behaviour occur as permanent changes only on the basis of the overall social and economic development. The consequences of this development appear usually after a certain delay, measured by the length of generation, not by calendar years.     

Provincial disparities in levels of living: The case of Spain, 1970–1981

Regional inequalities in economic development in Spain are widely recognised, but similar patterns of levels of living have been less studied. Some of the general factors which might contribute to regional inequalities are discussed. Although it is difficult to identify their precise role, it is argued that the pattern of economic growth, the character of regional economic structures, population distribution and urbanisation, return migration, and the nature of Spanish regional and local government all contribute in varying ways to inequalities in levels of living in different regions. Furthermore, they suggest that such inequalities have persisted throughout the 1970's. The regional patterns are then described and trends of change between 1970 and 1981 examined. The evidence suggests that the decade saw a widening dichotomy in levels of living in Spain with the south and west showing deterioration and the N and E showing relative improvement.     

Chosen aspects of sustainable development on the Polish, Czech and German borderland

The shift to market forces in Poland, East Germany and Czech Republic has fundamentally reconfigured its economic geography. In particular, spatial inequalities between neighboring Polish, Czech and German border regions have re-emerged forcefully in response to new values, expectations and preferences. In this paper the example of coal mines illustrates the potency of spatial planning. The abundance of coal mines in the Polish, Czech and German borderland at or near abandonment and their proximity to ecological corridors make them candidates for renewed uses in industry or conservation. Attention will also be given to the main environmental problems caused by wrongly conducted spatial policy on this borderland. Transforming a landscape requires continuation of guidance and financial assistance of the European Union.     

Vulnerability and resistance to neoliberal environmental changes: An assessment of agriculture and forestry in the Biobio region of Chile (1974–2014)

This article examines the dynamics of double exposure, vulnerability, and resistance to neoliberal globalization and environmental change in the Chilean agricultural region of Biobio. By using climatic models and secondary Agricultural Census data from 1997 and 2007, we assess how Chilean neoliberal reforms have, since 1974, facilitated land use changes and forestry investments. We demonstrate that policy changes which incentivize forestry investments have reduced cultivated agricultural lands and native forest, and concentrated land in the hands of global agribusiness corporations. Compounding these issues, Biobio shows a climatic trend towards aridity coupled with an increasing demand for irrigation. Analyzing these conditions, we argue that the neoliberal globalization of regional agriculture under the context of climatic changes has produced a regional space of increasing vulnerabilities and uneven geographical development in Biobio. We particularly demonstrate that the Chilean mode of agricultural neoliberalization has been conducive to land dispossession—to the detriment of traditional agriculture —and has homogenized the biophysical landscape, replacing traditional crops and native forests with exotic species like pines and eucalyptus. We also examine how local producers are using resistance movements to cope with and contest neoliberal environmental changes. We conclude by evaluating the implications of these spaces of agricultural vulnerabilities and local resistances in the context of uneven geographical development at a regional and global scale.     

The ideology behind the technology - Chilean microentrepreneurs and public ICT policies

Digital divides are differences in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) which tend to reflect the social and regional inequalities between and within countries. This paper presents a case study from Chile, which is among the leaders in Latin America both in levels of e-readiness and in social and regional inequality. The Chilean state’s ICT policies are situated within the “Third Way” approach of the centre-left government, reflecting the tensions between a pro-active and positive view of neoliberal globalisation, and state social programmes to support poorer sectors of society.The paper presents a multi-level analysis of two elements of Chilean ICT policy: Chilecompra, an online public e-procurement system aimed at creating transparent and competitive transactions in line with neoliberal economic theory, and Red Comunitaria, a network of Community Information Centres which offer free internet access and training to individuals, including microentrepreneurs. Interviews were conducted at the national, regional and local level. Findings were that the Community Information Centres (telecentros) had indeed furthered digital inclusion while in the meantime the shift to e-procurement had excluded many microentrepreneurs who had not registered with the system of Chilecompra. The larger of the local enterprises had registered but were having difficulties competing online with bigger companies located in the regional and national capitals.The paper argues that while both state policies see themselves as successes, the political objectives underlying the technology mirror the Chilean government’s struggle to simultaneously embrace neoliberal globalisation while working towards greater social and regional cohesion. At the local level there is evidence of the failure to reconcile the two approaches which may be indicative of a more general tension between these goals.     

贵州省近40年耕地功能转型评价及演变差异分析

梳理1978年之后贵州省农业政策及农业农户概况,构建耕地功能评价指标体系,并运用熵权法计算指标权重与其功能值,对耕地多功能进行分类和评价,对比全省及各个州市耕地在不同社会经济条件下所承载的功能,分析差异及原因,研究表明:（1）贵州省耕地功能呈下降趋势,功能转型从2006年前后开始,各州市存在一定差异,经济发展较快的地区在2004年前后已提前转型,经济发展较慢的地区在2012年前后转型;（2）耕地功能存在空间分布差异,主要与地区耕地压力和经济发达程度组合状况有关,低耕低压力高GDP（如遵义、六盘水）耕地功能值最高,高耕低压力高GDP（如贵阳市）则次之,高压力低GDP（如安顺等地区）再次之,低压力低GDP（如黔南等地）最低;（3）耕地数量减少,耕地化学品负荷加剧,建议注重耕地生态保护,减少以过度化学品的投入换取粮食产出等不合理做法;从当地实际出发选择适合的农业发展方式,协调粮经作物、种养业发展的关系,推动农业结构优化升级。      

Investment and regional development in Post-Mao China

This paper investigates China's changing investment systems, investment patterns and their impact on regional development. It reveals that the reforms have brought profound changes to Mao's investment system and investment allocation. Investment decentralization has given localities considerable autonomy and incentives in economic development. Budgetary investment has declined dramatically while enterprise funds, bank loans and foreign investment have increased significantly in China. An increasing amount of these new sources of fixed investment have been channeled to more profitable non-state sectors. In terms of regional changes, China's coastal provinces, particularly Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang have recorded more rapid investment growth and have much higher per capita investment than many interior provinces. In addition, investment in the coastal provinces relies less on the state and is more profitable than that in the poorer interior. The sectoral and regional unevenness of fixed investment has significantly contributed to the uneven regional development in China. This research also has important theoretical implications, as it shows that regional investment is neither a cumulative causation process nor a convergent process, but influenced greatly by government policy, local states and local conditions, and foreign capital. An analysis of these factors should improve the understanding of investment allocation and regional development, especially for the transition economy in which the control and capacity of the central state has declined, while local and global forces have emerged as equally important forces shaping spatial change.     

Gendered labour arrangements in Switzerland: Structures, cultures, meanings: statistical evidence and biographical narratives

In this paper we explore the role of culture in the reproduction of gendered labour arrangements. Using Switzerland as an example, we first analyse statistical data on paid and unpaid labour. We look at differences between women and men, but also between different types of regions. Patterns emerge to support our hypothesis that beyond structures of economic opportunity, economic cycles and welfare state provisions, local (gender) culture might explain some of the particularities of gendered labour arrangements. The argument is reinforced by data on regional voting patterns in a recent referendum on the issue of maternity leave. In the second part, we further explore these issues by looking at a particular place and re-telling work-life-stories that show how two women navigate between different working culture environments in accordance with their life-cycle needs and individual ideas and values. Finally, we discuss issues of scale and methodology and reflect on the significance of varying local working environments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Moving workers with the work: State selection, key workers and spatial development policy in post-war Britain

Spatial and planning policies in Britain have increasingly become focused on regional inequalities and the creation of mixed, sustainable and balanced communities. Within these new policy paradigms the category of the key workers has emerged as an essential element in the socio-economic sustainability of any bounded area programmes have been introduced to support their needs. Yet, defining key workers is an inherently political process as it necessitates the selection of essential and non-essential workers. Theoretical approaches that highlight state selectivity and the ways in which key policy subjects and objects are identified and mobilised have become increasingly popular across the social sciences and key worker support programmes provide a clear example of these processes in action. This paper draws on archival research to explore the formation of the category ‘key’ worker as an object of government in spatial development policies of the post-war period. It examines how key worker programmes were established to tackle the economic problems of Development Areas. It argues that definitions of key workers were forged in and through particular social, political, and economic contexts and that their emergence as an object of government presupposed and reinforced the existence of different classes of workers and different types of citizens. The paper highlights the significance of such historical work in assessments of contemporary policy and academic debates concerning the changing character of sustainable communities and citizenship, regional development, and changing modes of state regulation.     

Ecological function zoning and protection of groundwater in Asia

The natural groundwater recharge in Asia is estimated to be 4 677.74×10⁹ m³/a. However, it features extremely uneven spatial-temporal distribution. Groundwater is distributed in various natural and geological environments, and it is liable to be affected by numerous factors and possesses different properties. Moreover, groundwater faces complex ecological problems. This paper gains a complete understanding of groundwater in Asia in terms of the structure of aquifer systems, the processes of groundwater cycle, and the spatial variation laws of surface ecosystems. Based on this, it proposes the ecological function zoning scheme of groundwater in Asia, aiming to provide guidance for the utilization of regional water resources and the planning for economic and social development, coordinate the relationship between social and economic development and water resource protection, and improve the ecological functions of groundwater. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the problems with regional groundwater management in Asia and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions, thus providing a theoretical basis for the sustainable development and utilization of regional groundwater and environmental protection.     

Land reclamation in Egypt: A study of life in the new lands

For decades, Egypt has tried to increase its agricultural area through reclamation of desert land. The significance of land reclamation goes beyond the size of the reclaimed area and number of new settlers and has been important to Egyptian agricultural policies since the 1952-revolution. This paper examines from a micro-perspective, the life of Egyptians resettled in the new lands. The first part of the paper provides an introduction to the discourses of land reclamation, to the policies of reclaimed land distribution, and to the background of the settlers. The second part is based on fieldwork in a village in the new lands; it is inhabited by graduates who have received land under the Mubarak Project. The analysis shows that they move there in hope of making a better life especially for their children. Nevertheless, the settlers have difficulties building a sense of belonging to the new villages, and lack of good schools and other public services may cause families to split up. For some, however, resettlement in the new lands entails new social and economic possibilities. The paper concludes that while land reclamation may not be ecologically or economic sustainable, the new lands provide settlers with new opportunities.     

Water resources and the political geography of development in Southern Africa: The case of Swaziland

In Africa, the development of water resources for irrigation is seen as crucial for the recovery from current crises. This paper examines two issues generated by the geography of river systems which pose political as well as technical and economic questions. First is the problem of inter-state cooperation, where river systems cross political boundaries. Second is the domestic debate that arises from the differential access to water supply through the pattern of water rights. These issues are illustrated with material from Swaziland, a small landlocked state in southern Africa. Here, regional political tensions exacerbate the problems of long-term water development.     

A comparative analysis of multi-scalar regional inequality in China

This paper investigates regional inequality across regions, provinces, prefectures, and counties in China from 1997 to 2010 using a comparative and multiscalar framework. Regional inequality is sensitive to geographic scales and regional heterogeneity. The year 2004 was a turning point for trends in inequality, when a new spatial regime started to emerge at the county-level in China. County-level inequality demonstrates a consistent upward trend despite a slight dip in 2005, which is different from a broad inverted U-shape trend at other geographic scales. Furthermore, intensifying inequalities are demonstrated between prefectures than within prefectures, within provinces than between provinces, and between regions than within regions. The underdeveloped Western region of China contributes the most to regional inequalities across counties and prefectures. Based on the heterogeneous characteristics of regional inequality, it is suggested that effective regional policies should adopt a geographic focus to reduce inequalities. Finally, a Markov chain technique is applied to predict the long-run properties of regional development in China. The results show that it is difficult for counties, prefectures and provinces to leapfrog from being less developed to well developed. This paper concludes that regional inequality in China in the long-run does not follow the neoclassical convergence hypothesis.     

Necessary restructuring or globalization failure? Shifts in regional supplier relations after the merger of the former German Hoechst and French Rhône-Poulenc groups

A large part of the work in economic geography and other social sciences surrounding globalization processes has focused on the prospects of economic growth due to the establishment of global production chains and the rise of new clusters of industrial activity. In recent years, much less attention has been paid to former growth industries and regions that have suffered from the negative consequences of internationalization processes. This paper will explore the cases of two chemical regions, i.e. southern Hessen, Germany and Rhône-Alpes, France. Both regions were forced to undergo drastic restructuring since the mid 1990s due to the merger of the chemical groups Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc into Aventis. The paper argues that it is beneficial to develop a relational perspective of economic action and interaction in order to better understand these regional transformations and restructuring processes and their consequences. Instead of investigating the development of activities, which became the core operations at Aventis, we will focus on other activities that were considered less important and, consequently, split off. In analyzing the logic of restructuring and the associated changes in regional supplier relations, this paper aims to contribute to a relational understanding of economic globalization and its associated threats to regional development by focusing on agents who are subject to negative restructuring consequences.     

Regional policies and regional consciousness in Europe's multinational societies

This paper is concerned with the political significance of the spatial economic activities of states. Regional problems are often the result of social differences which frequently are expressed in regional consciousness and loyalties and in turn they often create potential political and social cleavages and thus affect the cohesion and viability of the state. Various aspects of regional development policies in both western and eastern European multinational states which involve the spatial distribution of economic activities are examined. Planning the economic and social life emphasizes the regional allocation of resources, the coordination of national plans with regional objectives and increased consideration of the problem of lagging regions. Most regional movements are a protest against neglect and demand more local control and autonomy, therefore regional policies must be geared to the modification of long standing grievances resulting from past policies. In countries where increased participation by its inhabitants in the economic and social policies of their respective countries has been a matter of national policy, regional grievances generally have been kept under control.     

Mining conflicts and transformative politics: A comparison of Intag (Ecuador) and Mount Ida (Turkey) environmental struggles

This article argues for an understanding of local socio-environmental struggles as political spaces that present possibilities for the transformation of subjectivities of the social actors participating in them. Relying on Gramsci’s theorization of state and society relations the paper analyzes whether and how these struggles foment challenges to hegemonic understandings and practices of development, environment and democracy. The analysis builds on a comparison between two mining conflicts—one in Ecuador’s Intag region, the other in Turkey’s Mount Ida region. The paper suggests that the two conflicts differ in the ways political subjectivities of the peasants opposing the mining projects were constructed. In Intag, the peasants framed their opposition to the copper mine project as a struggle for their right to have control over their lives and territories. They have participated in the construction of a vision of local development based on the promotion of sustainable economic activities, and of an organized society actively building its future. In Mount Ida, the peasants resisting gold mining have emphasized the distributional inequalities; yet have not linked their concerns to broader rights-based discourses or political and ethical principles. Their opposition has been confined to a particularistic defense of the place. The paper discusses the role of the state in the making of subjects, and the relationships among the resistance actors as crucial factors accounting for these differences.     

Devolution, the governance of regional development and the Trade Union Congress in the North East region of England

The devolution and regionalisation of political and administrative structures following the election of New Labour in 1997 have changed the nature of the state and territorial development and governance in the UK. A regional and sub-national tier has opened up within the existing multi-layered governance system operating at the supra-national, national and local scales. This ‘new institutional space’ is increasingly open to the participation of social institutions--including trade unions--in economic and social governance. Drawing upon empirical analysis of the experience of the Northern Trade Union Congress (NTUC) in the North East region of England, the paper argues that the NTUC--in contrast to its national organisation--is beginning to engage with the emergent institutional structures but its role is inhibited by the centralised strategy and structure of the TUC nationally, its own need for upgrading, capacity building and greater financial resources and the interaction between the North East’s particular legacy of tripartite corporatism and the more pluralist modes of regional development governance emerging in the English regions. Unless such issues are addressed regional trade union centres--such as the NTUC--risk remaining relatively junior partners in the emergent regional governance structures.     

内蒙古东部两大沙地土壤理化特性沙漠化演变规律的比较

为了了解不同地带沙地土壤理化特性沙漠化演变规律的差异及其机制,研究比较了科尔沁沙地和呼伦贝尔沙地土壤理化特性的沙漠化演变特征,得到以下结论:沙漠化过程中,2个沙地的土壤黏粉粒含量均大幅度下降,沙粒含量明显增加,但科尔沁沙地土壤机械组成的变化幅度要大于呼伦贝尔沙地,而且前者黏粉粒主要释放期早于后者;科尔沁沙地土壤温度趋于...     

Spatial and temporal analysis of water pollution in China

The relationship between water pollution and economic development, its regional differentiation and its temporal trend is analyzed. With the uneven distribution of water resources, the regional differentiation of water pollution in China is very obvious. Based on the index RSR (the ratio of sewage to runoff), water pollution can be divided into five grades across the whole country. Overall, water pollution is more serious in north and northeast China. On the other hand, economic development level is not the only factor associated with water pollution. As for temporal change, with current economic growth and urbanization, it is impossible that water quality in China will be improved in the near future.