Data on thrusting and metamorphism in the eastern Sierra de los Filabres: Higher Nevado — Filabride units and the glaucophanitic greenschist facies

Data are presented which make it possible to complete the alpine deformation scheme in the rocks of the eastern Sierra de los Filabres (southeast Spain). The deformation schemes of the basal part and cover of the Nevado—Filabride complex have been compared in order to establish the possible existence of a pre-alpine regional metamorphism. It is further argued that the first alpine kinematic metamorphism in the Nevado-Filabride rocks has not taken place under typical HP-LT conditions. Evidence is given to show that the ‘late’ thrust masses — distinguished by H.W. Voet (1967) — should be considered as distinct tectonic units whereby the Nevado—Filabride rocks are grouped together in the ‘higher Nevado-Filabride units’.     

Geographies of crisis in Greece: A social well-being approach

The most prominent ‘victim’ of the global financial crisis in 2007/2008 has been Greece, which is, even now, in the middle of an economic and social storm that is threatening its economic and social cohesion and its membership of the Eurozone. Using the social well-being conceptual framework as a benchmark and exploiting the literature of composite indicators, the paper aims to assess and measure the regional impact of the crisis in a systematic and comprehensive way. Differing from most of previous studies, both at national and international levels, this study is based on the assumption that the effects of the crisis go far beyond economics and create a social crisis strongly associated with significant human and social costs that might transform Greece’s regional status and threaten its regional well-being, probably in a very unequal way. The main finding of the analysis is that although all regions were severely affected by the dynamics and intensity of the crisis, some regions were more affected than others, leading to ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. From a policy point of view, the results of this study have serious implications for crisis management, recovery policy actions and a country’s social cohesion, especially in Greece where austerity policy measures not only imposed considerable cutbacks in regional development policies but also ignored the spatial dimension of the crisis.     

Taiwan: Some spatial implications rapid economic growth

Enthusiasm for economic development in newly-industrializing countries is tempered by the thought of enhanced regional disparities which seem to inevitably accompany such processes. A breakthrough from being consigned such an outcome is possible if the country can successfully switch from import-substitution industrialization to that centered on export promotion. Conceptually, such an amended course would allow for the diversification of regional economies and the development of regional cities associated with the export trade. Under this scenario, the necessity to bolster a core industrial region — almost always focused on the capital city — is made redundant and national strategies can officially espouse regional development targets with some chance of success. Taiwan is both a stellar performer among the newly-industrializing countries and a subscriber to the export-promotion school. It affords, then, an obvious case study for assessing the degree of core-periphery disparity in economic activities. Additionally, its government is much given to declaring the benefits of industrialization for the populace, and has gone a considerable way to provide manufacturing decentralization by means of a string of development districts peppering the island and a number of ‘mega-proj ects’ of the industrial complex kind. An analysis of the distribution of employment engendered between 1975 and 1985 is forthcoming with both optimistic and cautionary results. In the first case, the degree of spatial concentration in growth activities — and especially manufacturing — has ameliorated but, secondly, the proviso remains that the momentum of growth enjoyed by the core is sufficient to guarantee that favored region a disproportionate share of the job prospects thrown up by the ‘economic miracle’.     

Problems of planning for urbanization and development in South Africa: the case of Natal's coastal margins

The growth of urban settlements along the Natal coast serves as a case study with which to evaluate the South African government's emerging concept of ‘planned urbanization’. Changing emphases in South African urban and regional policy are situated within the context of the contemporary legitimacy crisis of the South African state. Data on the experience of urbanization on the Natal coast, and particularly black perceptions of this experience, are presented. Recent government proposals dealing with urbanization—particularly the newly legislated Regional Services Councils—are assessed against this background.     

Exporting the Saemaul spirit: South Korea’s Knowledge Sharing Program and the ‘rendering technical’ of Korean development

This article provides a critical intervention into South Korea’s recent effort to promote its 1970s authoritarian-era rural modernization program, Saemaul Undong (New Village Movement), as the ‘iconic’ model of its international development assistance. To better understand how this movement has been represented, this article examines the policy narratives that have been produced by the Korean government’s Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP) and circulated through multiple development cooperation initiatives. These narratives portray Saemaul as the key to Korea’s developmental success: a mental revolution in values that inculcated the ‘can-do’ spirit in poor rural villagers and allowed them to escape poverty and stagnation. We argue that the emphasis of this narrative on the spiritual, voluntary, and value-oriented nature of the movement has been used to ‘render technical’ Korea’s development experience: i.e. to reduce it to a question of how development experts successfully cultivated the spirit of development in the Korean people and, by extension, how developing countries might do the same. We show how this narrative neglects the contested history and Cold War context of Saemaul, raising questions about the ‘brand’ of development assistance that has been built upon it.     

Regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

Since the 1950s, regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany has switched emphasis from assistance to specific locations with development problems to a systematic programme of development aid. Within the Common Task ‘Improvement of Regional Economic Structure’, which is undertaken jointly by the Federal and Laender governments, areas embracing 62% of the Federal Republic's total area have received aid for establishing new industries, expansion of existing manufacturing industry and rationalisation, and for developing tourism. Overall economic deterioration since the mid-'70s has been accompanied by increasing criticism of the inefficiency of this kind of regional policy directed towards the mobilisation of capital. More recent appraisals of methods improving development aid are aimed at achieving spatial concentration of the development areas, more selective aid for new establishments or expansion schemes which have sound future prospects, and increased encouragement to existing firms to innovate.     

How a court, a commissioner and a lobby group brought European transport policy to life in 1985

Until the mid-1980s, transport policy was considered by many as one of the least successful domains of the European integration project. However, from the early 1990s onwards, there are clear signs of a single European transport policy, along with the accompanying implementation of infrastructure projects. What is the explanation for such a change in pace? This paper aims to offer insight in these processes by looking at the mechanisms which form and transform this policy domain. To understand the state of a policy domain and its dynamics over time an institutional approach is taken. Two concepts in political science, ‘policy arrangements’ and ‘supranational governance’ are combined and used as a framework to analyse the European transport policy domain. This analysis describes the development of several elements: organisations, rules, the transnational society, power, resources, and the central transport discourse. It demonstrates that all of these elements have developed from an intergovernmental setting towards a more supranational one. This development was slow in the first decennia when European transport policy was rather passive, but it picked up speed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the pivotal year of 1985, pressure from the transnational society resulted in a rapid change of the rules, the resources and the discourse.     

Regional geography considered from the systems' approach

The main critiques of the term ‘region’ were directed in the 1950s against the ‘uniqueness’ of the region: being not repetitive, it was considered not to be of general value. In the author's opinion the term ‘uniqueness’ was misinterpreted: a region is made unique by the unique relationship between natural, cultural, economic, political and social elements existing in it. However, as these relationships are repetitive, or some at least can be repeated, regional geography is of general value. If the geographical study of a region invests its efforts and interests in functions, processes and relationships between the elements existing in a region, the concept of a region becomes, in fact, a concept of a system, with epistemological and methodolgical consequences. A model of ‘region as a system’ is the approach taken in this paper. Such an approach can resolve some basic problems of geography: the dichotomy between natural and anthropic elements of the region, which cannot be treated except by a systems approach; the tension existing between ‘space’ and ‘place’, which is perpetuated by the dichotomy between regional and systematic geography. Through a systems approach, the choice of a scale appropriate to a particular study can be directed by a distinction between system and subsystem; inclusion or exclusion of an element in the study of a region is not an arbitrary one, but depends on its relevance to the processes within the region. Perhaps the ‘personality of the region’, so often misinterpreted by scorners of regional geography, can be accepted as a legitimate part of the regional output.     

Flood risk perceptions and spatial multi-criteria analysis: an exploratory research for hazard mitigation

The conventional method of risk analysis (with risk as a product of probability and consequences) does not allow for a pluralistic approach that includes the various risk perceptions of stakeholders or lay people within a given social system. This article introduces a methodology that combines the virtues of three different methods: the quantifiable conventional approach to risk; the taxonomic analysis of perceived risk; and the analytical framework of a spatial multi-criteria analysis. This combination of methods is applied to the case study ‘Ebro Delta’ in Spain as part of the European sixth framework project ‘Floodsite’. First, a typology for flood hazards is developed based on individual and/or stakeholders’ judgements. Awareness, worry and preparedness are the three characteristics that typify a community to reflect various levels of ignorance, perceived security, perceived control or desired risk reduction. Applying ‘worry’ as the central characteristic, a trade-off is hypothesized between Worry and the benefits groups in society receive from a risky situation. Second, this trade-off is applied in Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA). MCA is the vehicle that often accompanies participatory processes, where governmental bodies have to decide on issues in which local stakeholders have a say. By using risk perception-scores as weights in a standard MCA procedure a new decision framework for risk assessment is developed. Finally, the case of sea-level rise in the Ebro Delta in Spain serves as an illustration of the applied methodology. Risk perception information has been collected with help of an on-site survey. Risk perception enters the multi-criteria analysis as complementary weights for the criteria risk and benefit. The results of the survey are applied to a set of scenarios representing both sea-level rise and land subsidence for a time span of 50 years. Land use alternatives have been presented to stakeholders in order to provide the regional decision maker with societal preferences for handling risk. Even with limited resources a characteristic ‘risk profile’ could be drawn that enables the decision maker to develop a suitable land use policy.     

Dispossessing irrigators: Water grabbing,supply-side growth and farmer resistance in India

This paper examines, first, the conditions under which irrigating farmers are being alienated from their water through a state-led process of dispossession, and then, second, details the dialectical process of farmers’ resistance to these efforts. The paper advances recent scholarship on water grabbing and ‘accumulation by dispossession’ by drawing on a case from northwestern India to explore the connections between non-agrarian economic growth, irrigated agriculture and farmer livelihoods. Specifically, it examines an urban water infrastructure development project that aims to provide water to Jaipur, the Indian state of Rajasthan’s capital city, through the appropriation of an existing rural dam/reservoir complex built for irrigation and redirecting it to domestic, commercial and industrial uses. Drawing on an examination of policy documents and interviews with farmers and state planners, this paper argues that these transfers must be understood as a supply-side solution to support economic growth, where the lack of stable water supplies is a barrier to capital accumulation. The paper contributes to critical scholarship by showing that the processes underpinning water’s reallocation are specific acts of ongoing ‘dispossession’ through extra-economic means under advanced neoliberal capitalism, which alienates water away from peasant producers towards new centers of capital accumulation, dialectically creating peasant resistance to these efforts.     

The spatial context of manpower policy: Implications of current Canadian policy on regional development and planning

Macro government policies are often considered outside the context of their spatial impact. Following recent discussions of the problem, this paper is concerned with a critical review of Canadian Manpower policy in the context of national efficiency, regional equity and their interaction. Thus Manpower policy is analysed with respect to its implications concerning regional development as well as implicit regional policy. It is contended that many of the problems of Manpower policy in the spatial context can be traced back to the implicit theoretical background of Manpower policy; Human Capital theory. A radical critique of Human Capital theory is presented and a brief discussion of the ‘functional’ relationship between regional inequality and national macro-planning is also noted. In general the paper concludes that Manpower and regional policies in Canada tend to be contradictory although more research is needed to analyse the spatial impact of macro-policy which may overwhelm spatial policy and significantly influence the future of the spatial economy.     

Between social and spatial convergence and divergence: an exploration into the political geography of European contact areas

The European continent, the motherland of nationalism, and the part of the world where political borders and different territorial and cultural identities are mostly interrelated, is now facing new challenges regarding how best to represent its numerous interests within one system. With the increase of international integration European countries began to devote greater attention to the development problems of their border areas that had to be helped to undertake certain functions in the international integration process. The fostering of a more balanced regional development also resulted in a strengthening of regional characteristics, which the new model could no longer ignore. Regional characteristics in turn have always been preserved in Europe by persistent historical and cultural elements of ethnic and linguistic variety. Therefore, it is not surprising that the process of European integration based on the new regional development model was accompanied by a parallel process of ethnic or regional awakening of minorities and other local communities. The key question for contemporary European (though of course this is not limited to Europe) political geography is, then, how the process summarised under the twin labels of social convergence and deterritorialisation will effect the persistent maintenance of regional identities and the corresponding divergence of regional spaces. Or, in other words: is the ‘unity in diversity’ European programme ever practicable and exportable on a world-wide scale or are we to be absorbed by a new global ‘melting pot’?     

Water reform governmentality in Ecuador: Neoliberalism,centralization, and the restraining of polycentric authority and community rule-making

In most Latin American countries, issues concerning water governance and control also reflect broader conflicts over authority and legitimacy between the state and civil society. What lies behind the diverse water policy reforms is not simply a question of governing water affairs but also a drive to control or co-opt water user groups. This paper examines the efforts by the present Ecuadorian government to ‘control water users’ through new forms of ‘governmentality’ (Foucault, 1991). We use the ‘cathedral and bazaar’ metaphor (Lankford and Hepworth, 2010) to illustrate government rationale and practices in water governance shifts in the last decades. We analyze how Rafael Correa’s government sets out to reshape the relations between state, market and society. In its ‘Twenty-first Century Socialism’ project, based on a proclaimed ‘Citizen Revolution’, actual policy reform does not reverse but rather transforms the process of neoliberalizing water governance – creating a hybrid bazaar-cathedral model. We argue that the current water govermentality project implements reforms that do not challenge established market-based water governance foundations. Rather it aims to contain and undermine communities’ autonomy and ‘unruly’ polycentric rule-making, which are the result of both historical and present-day processes of change. Interestingly, water user federations that emerged during the neoliberal wave of the last two decades now claim water control space and search for new forms of democratizing water governance. They act as agents who fiercely – yet selectively and strategically – oppose both elements of the State-centered (cathedral) and market-based (bazaar) water governance models.     

What’s in a name? Epistemic perspectives and Payments for Ecosystem Services policies in Nicaragua

As Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) continues to gain attention as a policy tool for securing efficient and effective environmental governance, a rising tide of criticism warns of the potentially detrimental social–ecological consequences of nature commodification and ‘green neoliberalism’. These concerns are also expressed at international policy fora, where the market rhetoric has met with political resistance from countries belonging to the ‘Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America’ (ALBA). But despite this ideological opposition, some ALBA countries are increasingly integrating PES into their environmental policies. In this article we consider the reasons underlying this apparent contradiction and relate it to the notion of ‘epistemic circulation’. On the basis of a study on the evolution of PES-thinking in Nicaragua (an ALBA member) and a reassessment of the supposed ‘success’ of an influential pilot project, we shed light on the forces driving the adoption of particular PES modes and contextualise practical difficulties to endorsing more critical approaches to the tool. Instead of either ideologically rejecting PES as a neoliberal evil or embracing it uncritically as the new panacea, we argue that it is precisely through the socio-political processes surrounding environmental governance debates that the application of PES is shaped. In practice, it may either contribute to an imposed and dispossessing form of capitalism, or tend towards a more negotiated and socio-culturally embedded version of it. Only through its reconceptualisation based on political–cultural primacy rather than market-fetishism can PES achieve its true potential within a broader strategy towards improved environmental governance.     

Conservation and development 2.0: Intensifications and disjunctures in the politics of online ‘do-good’ platforms

An increasing amount of interactive ‘2.0’ crowdsourcing platforms raise awareness and funds for conservation and development projects worldwide. By enabling two-way online collaboration and communication, these ‘conservation and development 2.0’ platforms hoped to provide new impetus and popular legitimacy for conservation and development initiatives in the face of budget cuts and general criticism of the ‘formal’ aid sector after the financial crisis. This paper presents the case of the flagship ‘elephant corridor’ project on the Dutch pifworld.com platform to investigate whether and how the ‘2.0’ element has changed conservation and development in line with these expectations. The paper describes and analyses online and offline dynamics of the project and shows that while online excitement about the project remained high, the concomitant conservation and development promises and imaginations ill related to offline local realities. This rather ‘traditional’ conservation and development disjuncture, however, needs to be understood against the system peculiarities of the politics of online ‘do-good’ 2.0 platforms. The paper concludes that as these peculiarities are significantly intensifying and changing conservation and development dynamics, they do not elude familiar (1.0) disjunctures and might even obscure these further from sight.     

Regional innovation strategies in the knowledge-based economy

This paper aims to examine major regional innovation strategies for regional development in the knowledge-based economy in Korea. Innovation policy and Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) are becoming important issues in Korea in both national and regional perspectives. These issues have been evolving since the mid 1990s, especially since the financial crisis of 1997 in Korea. Five major policy issues for promoting innovation and regional competitiveness are examined in this paper. The major policy issues are: promoting region-specific clustering; building habitats for innovation and entrepreneurship; collective learning processes and innovation networks; building a stock of social capital; and promoting local and global networks. Several strategies are suggested for each of these policy issues. These major policy issues and related strategies for regional innovation and competitiveness can be regarded as common issues required for the successful development of RIS. Taking these basic policy issues into account, each region can develop their own region-specific RIS, with appropriate consideration of distinctive regional characteristics such as the level of development, industrial specialization, local labor market, local business climate, local financial system, etc.