Digitizing the Dragon Head,Geo-Coding the Urban Landscape: GIS and the Transformation of China's Urban Governance

While local governments have been one of the major user groups of GIS, there is still little research on how GIS development in local government might be intertwined with urban governance, particularly in non-Western contexts. Drawing upon insights from GIS implementation, critical GIS, and governmentality studies, this article seeks to bridge this gap by examining the implications of Chinese urban government GIS practices amidst China's changing urban governance. Through an in-depth case study of Shenzhen, this article analyzes how urban GIS has been transformed from a practice involving internal organizational workflow automation, into a more active dimension of the governance of urban spaces—reflected in the expanding practice of “geo-coding” the urban landscape. “Geo-coding” here refers to a broadly defined spatial practice of carving and reconstructing a rational urban space. GIS practices have constituted a particular form of geographic rationality that seeks to govern at a distance while simultaneously regulating the urban environment, intersecting with the broader transformations of China's urban governance. These GIS developments have been largely government-centric rather than citizen-centric, yet they provide possibilities for new forms of spatial knowledge production for citizen participation in urban governance.     

Edge city or bust: dismantling a regime of aesthetic governmentality in Oak Brook,Illinois

This article examines the construction and dismantling of a regime of “aesthetic governmentality” in Oak Brook, Illinois. This regime consists not only of policy and law, but more importantly of a way of seeing and evaluating Oak Brook’s idyllic suburban landscape. Drawing on interview and archival data, the case is made that the power of this longstanding regime has begun to decline in recent years, making space for new ways of understanding life in Oak Brook and for new social and political priorities. These changes have shifted the balance of power away from the small, affluent residential population and toward the demands of local business interests (including several multinational corporations). The article concludes with the cautionary argument that the dismantling of this regime may simply displace one kind of exclusion in favor of another.     

LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL COMPETITION FOR BUSINESS ACTIVITY: AN URBAN CASE STUDY

Urban governments frequently compete with each other in their efforts to attract new business enterprises that would contribute needed jobs and tax revenues. The results of this competition, however, often depend upon the bargaining resources available to the adversaries. The rivalry between South Bend and an adjacent municipal jurisdiction for a Sears department store provides an example of how differing resources may influence the outcome of such competition and how in general the process is biased toward suburban locations.     

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: MORE THAN EVER,THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA

Community-produced spaces such as community gardens are attracting widespread scholarly interest for the potential of not only food production, but also for social, environmental, and educational benefits. Yet community gardens have also been scrutinized as sites of governmentality that produce neoliberal subjects. In this article, six case studies are analyzed as representative of three ways to organize and manage gardens—grassroots, externally-organized, and active nonprofit management. I use performativity theory to examine how definitions and enactments of community can be used to include, exclude, or bridge difference. The analysis highlights some of the specific moments in garden organizing and management that influence participation or resistance to community-oriented urban food production.     

“Not Only … But Also”: Quantitative and Critical Geography

Urban governments frequently compete with each other in their efforts to attract new business enterprises that would contribute needed jobs and tax revenues. The results of this competition, however, often depend upon the bargaining resources available to the adversaries. The rivalry between South Bend and an adjacent municipal jurisdiction for a Sears department store provides an example of how differing resources may influence the outcome of such competition and how in general the process is biased toward suburban locations.     

Spatial practices of integration and segregation among internally displaced persons and their hosts in Sri Lanka

This article recounts how a group of Muslim internally displaced persons from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka arrived and settled in the North-Western Province of the island. The account is placed in the context of local integration, as one of the so-called durable solutions for refugees and displaced people. It is argued that it is useful to study integration and segregation as related processes. The main focus of the article concerns the development of resettlement villages for displaced people and how this has made it necessary for local people to reconstruct and redefine their places. One particular confrontation that took place between local Sinhalese people and displaced Muslims is discussed, to show how the negotiation of place may become violent. The article concludes by arguing that, in order for the process of local integration to succeed, active participation by all groups involved in the local integration process is a prerequisite.     

The state and its agencies in coastal resources management: The political ecology of fisheries management in Pattani, southern Thailand

Various stakeholders contribute to the current state of resource management in the inshore fisheries of Pattani, southern Thailand. Taking the state, empowered by national legislation, as the main agent of enforcement, this paper uses an actor-oriented approach derived from political ecology to evaluate how key agents in state agencies at provincial and district levels translate Thai political and legal systems at the local level; more specifically, how cross-scalar institutional linkages and translations affect coastal resources management and the access of village-based, small-scale fishermen to coastal resources. The paper shows that trans-scalar interpretations have created a space of contestation and negotiation in resource governance at the local level that reveals intrastate tensions. Based on extensive fieldwork, the paper demonstrates that access to environmental resources at the local level is highly influenced or regulated by the unequal power relations between different actors at various levels.     

Where immigrants live: capturing ethnic segregation at the local level in two Australian cities

Although the consequences of residential segregation are well documented, few studies to date have examined patterns of residential segregation at the local level in Australia. While available research indicates relatively low levels of residential segregation in Australia compared to other contexts, the traditional measures of segregation commonly utilised tend to be aspatial and global in nature and, as such, offer limited insight into local segregation trends. Considering these shortcomings, this paper employs two highly spatialised yet under-utilised local segregation measures—Location Quotients and Local Moran’s I. Using these measures, this paper explores how various immigrant groups are spatially distributed across two Australian cities with differing immigration histories—Sydney an established immigrant gateway and Brisbane a relatively new immigrant destination. Additionally, this article examines whether or not immigrant neighbourhoods in each city are co-located or isolated. Contrary to expectations that Australian neighbourhoods are multicultural, these findings demonstrate clear differences in the neighbourhoods where immigrant groups settle.     

政府能动性对外部冲击型战略耦合断裂的暂时性调节研究——以江苏省昆山市为例

突如其来的新冠肺炎疫情在全球蔓延肆虐,国家间和区域间的人员、货物流动阻滞,对全球生产网络带来了巨大冲击。受此影响,涉外企业纷纷出现了与国际市场、供应链、劳动力、金融资本之间的短暂割裂。在此外部冲击面前,基于全球经济深度链接的战略耦合理论,无法有效解释全球生产网络出现的被动性、暂时性、突发性的耦合断裂。以江苏省昆山市为例,通过深入访谈和调研,重点研究地方政府能动性在维系战略耦合联系中的作用机制。研究发现,昆山政府以本地产业链供应链信息的系统掌握为基础,综合运用协调整合、政策支撑、资源调配等能力,修复导致耦合断裂的环节或重建新耦合。本文提出外部冲击型耦合断裂这一概念,丰富拓展了对战略耦合动态性的认识。其次,本文深化了对政府-全球生产网络互动联结的理解,讨论了地方政府在维系战略耦合联系中的能动性作用和局限性。     

Firewood consumption amongst poor inhabitants in a semiarid tropical forest: A case study from Piura,northern Peru

Semiarid forests are disappearing on a large scale and are considered to be the most endangered ecosystems in the lowland tropics. The deforestation rate in Peru is among the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Poor people are often more dependent on forest resources than those who are well off. However, little is known about poor people's use of forest resources or the effect of logging in semiarid forests. The article deals with household energy use and the source of firewood (bought or collected, either locally or over some distance) in two semiarid forests in Piura, northern Peru. The most used tree species and the vulnerability of the species are also examined in order to understand deforestation. Peru has introduced regulations on the use of forest resources and the article focuses on how these regulations are locally understood. The methodology includes questionnaires, recording local household practices, and in-depth interviews with local informants and both governmental and non-governmental organizations. The daily wood consumption rates per person were measured. The findings reveal that household economy is not the only factor affecting daily firewood consumption rate, but also climate, ecology, access to firewood, and traditions are contributing factors.     

Who owns the name? Fandom,social inequalities and the contested renaming of a football club in Timişoara,Romania

ABSTRACT

Recent scholarship in critical toponymy has raised questions about the impacts on urban residents of selling naming rights and the possibility of contesting the commodification of urban place names. This article examines these issues using Poli Timi?oara, the major football team of Timi?oara, Romania, as a case study. The cash-strapped local authority sold the naming rights for the team to raise revenue. However, when the club’s private owner was unable to finance the team, the local authority reacquired the naming rights of Poli, now under the name Asocia?ia Club Sportiv Poli (a new team with a small fan base). Drawing on the everyday narratives of fans, this article explores how the commodification of a local club name can cause social tensions. This is important for understanding urban residents’ access, or lack thereof, to social capital resources and how this leads to the manifestation of social inequalities which co-determine fans’ reactions and responses to the change in the name of a sports team. The findings suggest that commodifying names can mobilize serious contestations among partisan groups about who owns the name, although such contestations appear to be on uncertain ground because of post-communist urban practices of delayed economic restructuring.     

Fostering sustainable tribal economies in a time of climate change

In this article, we explore how Māori tribal organisations are responding to calls by other Indigenous peoples to become more sustainable in a time of climate change. From a close examination of tribal Environmental Management Plans, we move to a specific case study in the Bay of Plenty area, Ngāti Kea/Ngāti Tuara. Ultimately, we suggest that many tribal organisations are seeking to respond to climate change and transition to becoming producers of their own food and energy needs, and are often articulating these responses in relation to specific local resources and contexts.     

Sustainable Utilisation of Fisheries as Governmentality: Constraining the Potential for Ecosystems‐Based Management?

This paper examines the constitution of ‘sustainable management’ within the context of the New Zealand marine environment. Firstly this paper examines the difference between ‘sustainable ecosystems’ and ‘sustainable utilisation’. The distinction is important if we are to make sense of the different ways in which various stakeholders (fishers, fisheries companies, scientists, fisheries managers and environmental groups) use ‘sustainability’ in the management of New Zealand's marine environment. We then examine how contestation results in sustainable management becoming a governmentality. We propose that such contestation transforms stakeholders into subjects whose everyday practices and relationships are influenced by seemingly incommensurable understandings of the lexicon that surrounds sustainable management. We conclude try considering how the potential revelation of new unknowns may be needed in order for disparate stakeholders to forge a unified approach to New Zealand's marine management.     

Livelihoods in transition: transnational gold mining operations and local change in Cajamarca, Peru

This paper examines how transnational gold mining operations are transforming rural household livelihoods in the Cajamarca region of Peru. In particular, this paper evaluates how Newmont Mining Corporation's Minera Yanacocha (MYSA) mining operations are altering access to the produced, human, natural and social capital resources that households utilize to produce their livelihoods. The paper argues that while access to produced and human capital resources has increased in the past decade, albeit unevenly, access to natural and social capital resources has declined. The paper begins with a discussion of new frameworks for evaluating local livelihood change and household access to resources. Subsequently, the paper describes Peru's new transnational mining sector, livelihoods and livelihood change in the Cajamarca region. The paper then presents the results of case study field research evaluating the impacts of MYSA on household access to resources in three communities. Finally, the paper concludes with a critical discussion of livelihoods frameworks and how they can contribute to geographic studies.     

'Science', representation and resistance: the Bt cotton debate in Andhra Pradesh, India

Transgenic cotton is promoted in India on the basis that it will improve rural livelihoods, but such claims are contested on the basis that they are 'unscientific'. In this study, discourse analysis is utilized to deconstruct the environmental and scientific narratives employed by two key actors (Monsanto-Mahyco and the Deccan Development Society) in the debate in India. Whilst strong differences in the ideology of the two actors are found to account for their approaches to managing the environment, significant similarities in their approach to science and their recourse to Foucauldian governmentality are also evident. The conclusion considers how the use of discourse analysis could empower the rural poor to take part in the debate in India.     

Need and opportunity for a North American caribou knowledge cooperative

The importance of migratory caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) to northerners, the increasing pressure to extract non-living resources, and predicted global climate change have led researchers, managers and resource users alike to focus on how to improve our knowledge of this unique northern ungulate. Unprecedented threats to caribou sustainability, along with the increasingly acknowledged value of indigenous hunters'contribution to caribou research, pose the additional challenge to innovate research methods that accommodate differing cultural perspectives and facilitate communication among groups. This paper surveys the state of scientific knowledge of the eleven major northern mainland herds of North America. We recommend an approach to improve our working knowledge of barren-ground caribou in order to assess better future impacts. The transfer of knowledge gained from years of research and indigenous experience on many aspects of caribou ecology should be evaluated and, where applicable, transferred to herds with more modest databases. The establishment of a North American Caribou Monitoring and Assessment System, based on a synthesis of local knowledge and research-based science, is recommended as a tool for improved communication and collective learning.     

A Geography of Children's Vulnerability: Gender,Household Resources,and Water‐Related Disease Hazard in Northern Pakistan*

Water‐related diseases continue to pose major threats to children's survival and well‐being in many places in the developing world. This article develops a theoretical perspective on the ways in which children's vulnerability to water‐related disease hazard is produced within the everyday circumstances of livelihood and child care. Central to this analysis is the role that household resources play in mediating or shaping particular microenvironments of health risk. Further, the effects of local geographies of gender on how household resources are accessed and on how child care is structured are examined. Children's vulnerability is evaluated in a community in the District of Gilgit in northern Pakistan, a region presently undergoing tremendous social and economic transformation. The case study highlights household‐level response and adaptation to child health risks associated with diarrheal disease transmission and infection in this mountain environment. The case study draws from ethnographic fieldwork involving qualitative household microstudies and interviewing to elicit mothers' resource and risk‐response strategies in the context of changes in livelihood systems and household dynamics.     

Property and Difference in Nature Conservation

Social science research on nature conservation ascribes enclosures and the consequent evictions and dispossession of local people to unequal power relations. It reveals that the monopoly of power by the state configures new relations between local people and their natural resources, and legitimizes land grabbing. In this paper we build on this literature by engaging two questions. The first question relates to how land tenure regimes enable green grabbing and also configure the participation of local people in nature conservation enterprises. Knowing how land tenure regimes structure the involvement of local people in nature conservation is a necessary step toward an inquiry into the relationship between local people and protected areas. In the second question we ask how historical land tenure allocations enable current configurations of power relations in conservation areas. We use the case study of Mapungubwe on the Botswana‐South Africa‐Zimbabwe borderlands to demonstrate that historical land tenure allocations facilitate land alienation and the marginalization of local people in TFCAs.     

The micromechanisms of power in local content requirements and their constraints on Ghanaian SMEs in the oil and gas sector

Local content laws have the potential to promote positive synergies between the extractive sectors and African economies. However, their success is a negotiated outcome of interaction between actors. The objective of the article is to emphasize the mechanisms by which local content requirements are negotiated between actors in Ghana’s oil and gas industry, by drawing on Foucault’s concept of power. Data for the study were obtained through interviews, observations and secondary sources. The author found that complex registration systems, administrative details, and financial and technological requirements constituted the micromechanisms of power at play in determining how the local content law was applied in practice. The article demonstrates how these factors limit the activities of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the oil and gas sector. The author concludes that the institutional context, the capacity of local SMEs, and the techniques and practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) shape the extent of local participation in Ghana’s oil and gas industry.     

Home matters: The role of home in property enactment on Norwegian smallholdings

The article argues that geographies of home add important perspectives for analysing property enactment on Norwegian smallholdings. Characteristics of smallholdings as homes are described, and it is demonstrated that ‘home matters’ in terms of how property owners’ senses of home affect how properties become enacted. In conformity with recent theories in legal geography, the article demonstrates that these socio-spatial relationships conflict with the dominant ownership model which permeates public policy initiatives. The ownership model assumes a single owner motivated by self-regarding behaviour and maximising economic benefits. The article, however, reveals a deep sense of home and place attachment relating to Norwegian smallholdings, and this influences how smallholdings as properties become enacted, and thus, how legal instruments aiming at affecting people's behaviour are responded to. The article draws upon empirical research conducted among current and former owners of smallholdings in four Norwegian local authority districts.