Refereed articles
Sectoral Trends and British Regional Economic Growth – A Spatial Econometric Perspective (#37)
Declan Curran
Abstract
This paper aims to look beneath the surface of British sub-regional aggregate GVA growth over the period 1995-2004, by examining how the differing growth dynamics of the secondary and services sectors have influenced the overall regional growth process. A spatial econometric analysis is undertaken which tests regional secondary, services and aggregate real GVA per capita for absolute and conditional convergence at the NUTS 3 level as well as on a set of functional economic areas, constructed using NUTS 3 level commuter flow data. A number of explanatory factors influencing secondary, services, and aggregate regional economic growth are also identified.
28pp (Refereed Articles, June 2009, no 37)
Curran, D. (2009). Sectoral Trends and British Regional Economic Growth – A Spatial Econometric Perspective, European Journal of Spatial Development, 37
The Portuguese, Slovenian and French Presidencies 2007-2008 - A Sea Change in European Spatial Planning? (#36)
Andreas Faludi
Abstract
This paper gives an account of the successive presidencies of Portugal, Slovenia and France. It asks whether European spatial planning is undergoing a sea change: a transformation caused by the unintentional cumulative impact of pragmatic organisational changes. The paper also invokes the notion of a ‘two-level game’ to characterise the situations in which European planners constantly have to look over their shoulders to how their own national constituencies operate. Against this backdrop, the paper establishes that, albeit under the territorial cohesion flag, there has indeed been a sea change in the institutionalisation, not in a formal but rather in an informal sense. The new arrangements feature semi-permanent working groups with a lifespan extending beyond presidential terms. In addition there is now substantial member state input, with meetings of the National Territorial Cohesion-related Contact Points the functional equivalent of the Committee on Spatial Development from the ESDP era. The professionalism of the whole process, in which one can safely assume that close to one hundred experts from all over Europe have taken part, is clear and particularly so since the Portuguese Presidency where focus was placed on the plans and ideas of the Commission, in particular the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion, and on territorial cohesion policy as giving strength to cohesion policy as such. This emphasis – other than under the German Presidency – on cohesion policy is not really surprising. Portugal is one of its beneficiaries. Slovenia is the paragon among new member states and one of the chief priorities of its presidency has been to launch the discussion on the Lisbon Strategy – now the umbrella under which EU cohesion policy comes – post-2010. France regards itself – rightly – as a leading light in regional policy and planning: Indeed it practically invented EU cohesion policy. This all makes the renewed focus on EU policy understandable and augurs well for a more cooperative relationship in future between the member states and the Commission in this area.
33pp (Refereed Articles, May 2009, no 36)
Faludi, A. (2009). The Portuguese, Slovenian and French Presidencies 2007-2008 - A Sea Change in European Spatial Planning? European Journal of Spatial Development, 36
European Territorialization and the Eastern Neighbourhood: Spatial Development Co-operation between the EU and Russia (#35)
Matti Fritsch
Abstract
The advancing European discourse on spatial development policy and, more recently, territorial cohesion contributes to the emergence of an increasingly sharpened territorial profile of the European Union by supporting the development of a single, more integrated and cohesive EU territory. This internal European Union process obviously also has external implications for the wider European neighbourhood. Within this setting at the interface between the internal and external dimensions of European territorialization, this article investigates co-operation in spatial development policy between the two major regional actors, the European Union and the Russian Federation. Initially, the analysis is theoretically framed by clarification of the concept of territory/ality and its relation to European Union governance while exploring the influence of geopolitical relations between the EU and Russia on existing co-operation in this policy field. An investigation is then made of CEMAT, ESPON, the ESDP process, VASAB, and the INTERREG Community Initiative as channels for co-operation between the EU and Russia. It is argued that EU-Russian co-operation in spatial development policy is of an explicitly multi-level nature that incorporates a peculiar mix of regional, national/bilateral, and pan-European/supranational co-operation initiatives, although the main channels of Russian access to European Union spatial policy initiatives are those in which the national level retains a strong role. Thus, collaboration efforts across the EU’s external border cannot be generalized but rather are contingent on broader geopolitical relations between the EU – as well as its member states – and Russia.
27pp (Refereed Articles, May 2009, no 35)
Fritsch, M. (2009). European Territorialization and the Eastern Neighbourhood: Spatial Development Co-operation between the EU and Russia, European Journal of Spatial Development, 35
Conflict or consensus: The challenge of integrating environmental sustainability into regional development programming (#34)
Sofie Storbjörk, Kaisa Lähteenmäki-Smith &Tuija Hilding-Rydevik
Abstract
Within the context of both national and EU policy, sustainable development (SD) emerges in the Nordic countries as a horizontal perspective to be systematically integrated into regional development programming. Research on this type of integration has, however, been somewhat scarce. This paper deals with the question of how the relation between environmental and economic sustainability – as part of the overall SD framework – is played out in the context of regional development programming at both the national and regional levels. Three issues are raised in the analysis, pointing to challenges of achieving environmental policy-integration. First, working with cross-sectoral interconnectedness or ending up in sectoral traps, where partnership learning processes are hampered by both a lack of responsibility for, and ownership of, the overall SD-perspective and interactions dominated by sectoral struggles where the different roles, mandates and perspectives of various key factors are strong. Second, achieving ‘win-win’ or getting stuck in environment-economy conflicts, where the policy-rhetoric picturing the existence of possible ‘win-win’- opportunities in which environmental and economic sustainability benefit each other show some empirical support at the same time as troublesome conflicts and tough regional development priorities raise questions of where principled priority lies in practical decision making. Third, rhetorical declarations, pockets of good practice or systematic policy integration, where the paper highlights a focus on environmental sustainability in rhetorical declarations and through flagship win-win examples though the study does not provide evidence of any overall transformation of regional development practices taking place. Indeed, policy-integration in terms of rhetorical declarations is more common than evidence of systematic integration. Despite indications of changing patterns of interaction and learning in respect of partnerships between actors from different sectors, the conflict perspective remains more representative of the practical realities and day-to-day concerns expressed in the interviews with both national and regional representatives.
22pp (Refereed Articles, April 2009, no 34)
Storbjörk, S., Lähteenmäki-Smith, K. & Hilding-Rydevik, T. (2009). Conflict or consensus: The challenge of integrating environmental sustainability into regional development programming, European Journal of Spatial Development, 34
What can we learn from previous attempts at Master Planning in Norwegian Rural Municipalities? (#33)
Helge Fiskaa
Abstract
This article provides an account of Norwegian master planning in rural municipalities and discusses some of the experiences gained in relation to prevailing and future planning. Examinations of master planning in five rural municipalities conclude – contrary to criticism raised – that such planning was useful for local political practice and development and introduced a long-term strategic element into the thinking of these municipalities. The master plans seem to have balanced broad co-ordination with manageability and the need for both control and flexibility. The municipalities played a leading role in the planning work, and even if cooperation with private actors was limited the plans satisfied private interests. Further examination of these processes indicates that, given current trends, the recognition and adaptation of such experiences for future planning systems and practice would be very useful.
23pp (Refereed Articles, March 2009, no 33)
Fiskaa, H. (2009). What can we learn from previous attempts at Master Planning in Norwegian Rural Municipalities? European Journal of Spatial Development, 33
Debate articles
Is the ‘Creative Class’ Necessarily Urban? Putting the Creativity Thesis in the Context of Non-urbanised Regions in Industrialised Nations
Cali Nuur & Staffan Laestadius
Abstract
In this article Cali Nuur and Staffan Laestadius raise the notion of creativity in the context of non-urbanised regions in industrialised nations. They argue that in a world where urbanization is proceeding faster than ever where traffic congestion is growing, where environmental problems like smog and water pollution are significant in many of our dynamic regions and where housing prices are rocketing, opportunities may emerge for creative combinations of talented people and non- or less- urbanized regions to develop their competitiveness. What we assert is that there is variety of lifestyle-related activities outside large urbanised centres which may attract talented people who want to combine their professional and private lifestyles – and this creates opportunities.
13pp (Debate, June 2009)
Nuur, C. & Laestadius, S. (2009). Is the ‘Creative Class’ Necessarily Urban? Putting the Creativity Thesis in the Context of Non-urbanised Regions in Industrialised Nations, Debate, European Journal of Spatial Development
The Politics of Gating
Zoltan Csefalvay, Rowland Atkinson, Bill Smith Bowers & Tony Manzi
Abstract
Gated residential developments, neighbourhoods to which public access is restricted, continue to generate academic, policymaker and public curiosity. In a recent paper in the EJSD Tony Manzi and Bill Smith-Bowers (2006) attempt to provide what they see as a more subtle approach to these developments, arguing, that hostility to gated communities is misplaced on several grounds. In a debate article Rowland Atkinson argue, in response, that there are several problems with the positions they adopt, and that these should be considered if we are to effectively discuss how planning practice and housing systems should work with or against these new trends in the built environment.
In this new debate article Zoltan Csefalvay argues that the examination of gated communities requires freedom from the inherent bias of the recently popular politics-driven approach. He suggests that to understand gated communities we need to understand the market-driven process approach as such we should concentrate on the rational and fconomically rooted motivations of homeowners, developers, and local governments. In other words he argues that the notion of gated communities should be demystified.
Contributions:
Csefalvay, Z. (2009). The demystification of gating, Debate, European Journal of Spatial Development
Atkinson, R. (2008). The politics of gating (A response to Private Security and Public Space by Manzi and Smith-Bowers), Debate, European Journal of Spatial Development
Bowers, B.S. & Manzi, T. (2006). Private Security and Public Space: New Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Gated Communities, European Journal of Spatial Development, 22