SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CELLULAR NETWORKS

The paper has presented an approach to cellular network pattern analysis which is novel in several respects. First, the approach emphasizes the consideration of the complete geometric structure of the pattern rather than the examination of summary statistics for individual variables or correlations between pairs or other combinations of variables. By comparing empirical structures with model-generated ones it is suggested that the approach offers a way of evaluating the relative impact of the three major forces thought to be responsible for the geometric structure of a network, i.e., the generating process, the phenomena expressed in the network, and the function of the network. It was demonstrated how different processes can lead to diverse geometric structures. Examination of two empirical networks composed of bus service centre hinterlands suggested that the generating process was the dominant determinant of physical structure in this particular instance. However, more research on other cellular networks consisting of different phenomena, and on different generative processes, must be undertaken before any firm conclusions can be reached. The approach taken here would seem to offer one way of undertaking such research.     

城市广场休闲者空间行为特征研究——以无锡市太湖广场为例

以无锡市太湖广场为例,从时间距离与以行程时间乘以相应交通速度转换得到的间接空间距离两个角度分析了城市广场的休闲者空间行为特征。结果表明:时间距离上,休闲者的绝大部分都在30min以内,且呈不均匀分布;空间距离上,以1km为临界距离,该距离之内的休闲人数随距离出现波动,该距离之外的休闲者百分比随空间距离呈明显的衰减规律;距离衰减累计曲线比较结果表明不同类型城市休闲行业休闲者空间分布具有各自的衰减模式;另外,因交通方式的差别广场休闲者在空间距离上存在明显的圈层分异。     

Social Boundaries and Networks in the Diffusion of Innovations: a Short Introduction

This short introduction briefly recalls how sociological theories and formal methods for social networks can help to interpret diffusion processes of ancient cultural traits. It also provides a presentation of the selected papers. These papers focus not on the ways archaeological data can be represented in a relational format, but on the potential of specific sociological network-related models to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of diffusion processes. The necessity to develop more fine-grained information to reconstruct ancient local social networks is underlined while three aspects of the diffusion process are explored: (a) situations in which cultural practices are not borrowed in spite of contact between groups; (b) situations in which cultural practices are adopted; and (c) situations in which cultural practices in one group are copied by people from another group. All of them take inspiration from sociological studies of diffusion processes through networks, although to different extents.     

Network Dynamics in Natural Resource Governance: A Case Study of Swiss Landscape Management

Structural characteristics of social networks have been recognized as important factors of effective natural resource governance. However, network analyses of natural resource governance most often remain static, even though governance is an inherently dynamic process. In this article, we investigate the evolution of a social network of organizational actors involved in the governance of natural resources in a regional nature park project in Switzerland. We ask how the maturation of a governance network affects bonding social capital and centralization in the network. Applying separable temporal exponential random graph modeling (STERGM), we test two hypotheses based on the risk hypothesis by Berardo and Scholz (2010) in a longitudinal setting. Results show that network dynamics clearly follow the expected trend toward generating bonding social capital but do not imply a shift toward less hierarchical and more decentralized structures over time. We investigate how these structural processes may contribute to network effectiveness over time.     

Reducing Errors in Rainfall Estimates through Rain Gauge Location

Facility location models are examined as a framework for generating rain gauge networks designed to reduce errors in mean areal precipitation (MAP) estimation. Errors in estimating MAP may be divided into two types: (i) capture error, not observing a storm which occurs in a gauged area, and (ii) extrapolation error, using a rain gauge measurement to represent a heterogeneous area. In this paper, five rain gauge location models are developed to minimize these errors. The models include adaptations of the maximal covering location problem, the p-median model, and three models derived from multicriteria cluster analysis. The models are tested using precipitation data from an experimental watershed maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Arizona. Analysis of the results reveals, for the particular watershed, that (1) in sparse networks, location of rain gauges can play a larger role than number of rain gauges in reducing errors in MAP estimates; (2) models based on mean hydrologic data provide nearly as good networks as models based on spatially correlated data; and (3) models yielding the best networks for estimating precipitation for flood predictions are different from the models providing the best precipitation estimates for low flow forecasts.     

Gendered networks and migration decision-making in Northern Vietnam

This paper examines the gender aspect of migrant networks, particularly the different ways networks are expected to assist men's or women's migration during migration decision-making processes. Through the case study of a farming community in Northern Vietnam, it shows that migrant networks are not gender neutral and, more importantly, men and women capitalise on different functions of networks to facilitate their migratory endeavours. Whilst men tend to be connected to relatively more extended networks primarily for practical support, women are more likely to be tied to family networks, which provide them with not just information and practical support but also social protection. These gender-specific expectations and uses of migrant networks have important implications for men's and women's mobility. The paper provides new insights into the way migration choices are made by men and women and at the same time underscores the importance of understanding migrant networks in researching migration.     

Dimensions of proximity in knowledge-based networks: The cases of investment banking and automobile design

The competitiveness of firms and regions is increasingly dependent on their capabilities to organise knowledge processes that unfold between different knowledge providers. In this article it is argued that this knowledge management in networks is a cognitive process that uses different dimensions of proximity. As much of the knowledge required is 'tacit' in character, 'embedded' social interaction becomes crucial. There are, however, conflicts of interest in business networks. The organisation of knowledge processes thus becomes a complex governance task that depends to a large extent on the characteristics of the learning processes of the sectors involved. This paper offers some empirical evidence from the service sector with the case of M&A activities and from the manufacturing sector with the case of automobile design.     

'Globalizing' regional development: a global production networks perspective

Recent literature concerning regional development has placed significant emphasis on local institutional structures and their capacity to 'hold down' the global. Conversely, work on inter-firm networks – such as the global commodity chain approach – has highlighted the significance of the organizational structures of global firms' production systems and their relation to industrial upgrading. In this paper, drawing upon a global production networks perspective, we conceptualize the connections between 'globalizing' processes, as embodied in the production networks of transnational corporations, and regional development in specific territorial formations. We delimit the 'strategic coupling' of the global production networks of firms and regional economies which ultimately drives regional development through the processes of value creation, enhancement and capture. In doing so, we stress the multi-scalarity of the forces and processes underlying regional development, and thus do not privilege one particular geographical scale. By way of illustration, we introduce an example drawn from recent research into global production networks in East Asia and Europe. The example profiles the investments of car manufacturer BMW in Eastern Bavaria, Germany and Rayong, Thailand, and considers their implications for regional development.     

Outward foreign direct investment,offshore outsourcing and local network resilience in industrial districts

The internationalization of production activities is having a profound impact on regional economies. In this regard, it is generating externalities not only in the countries where production is offshored, but also in the domestic networks in which the internationalizing firms are located. Therefore, this paper investigates the effects of outward foreign direct investment and offshore outsourcing activities on domestic supplier populations in industrial districts (IDs). The aim is to evaluate the ability of these systems to react to the structural shocks associated with internationalization strategies. The results show that local network resilience is generally higher in advanced forms of IDs, where the role of large firms or service activities is more relevant.     

Integration Processes in European Research and Development: A Comparative Spatial Interaction Approach Using Project Based Research and Development Networks,Co‐Patent Networks and Co‐Publication Networks

This study focuses on integration processes in European Research and Development (R&D) by analyzing the spatiotemporal dimension of three different R&D collaboration networks across Europe. The studied networks cover different types of knowledge creation, namely project‐based R&D networks within the European Union (EU) Framework Programmes (FPs), co‐patent networks, and co‐publication networks. Integration in European R&D—one of the main pillars of the EU Science Technology and Innovation policy—refers to the harmonization of fragmented national research systems across Europe and to the free movement of knowledge and researchers. The objective is to describe and compare spatiotemporal patterns at a regional level and to estimate the evolution of separation effects over the time period 1999–2006 that influence the probability of cross‐region collaborations in the distinct networks under consideration. The study adopts a spatial interaction modeling perspective, econometrically specifying a panel generalized linear model relationship, taking into account spatial autocorrelation among flows using eigenfunction spatial filtering methods. The results show that geographical factors are a lower hurdle for R&D collaborations in the FP networks than in co‐patent networks and co‐publication networks. Furthermore, it is shown that the geographical integration is higher in the FP network.     

Communities and Other Social Actors: Rethinking Commodities and Consumption in Global Historical Archaeology

The relationships between people and commodities, and the processes through which goods are entangled with people's lives can be better understood with a focus on the community. The concept of community offers a way to understand the entanglement of individuals and small groups with global processes. In addition, a focus on the community allows historical archaeologists a scale of analysis to consider the links between people, communities, and global networks of exchange, as commodities are exchanged in and out of local, regional, or global arenas.     

Internationalization of non‐capital cities in Europe: Aspects,processes and prospects

Starting with an analysis of the nature of economic internationalization in processes, this text tries to point out what effects these processes have on the development of large cities and on the restructuring of the hierarchy of urban networks. Based on a survey carried out in 18 European non‐capital cities, it attempts to highlight the common features of international cities. Some clearly differentiated processes and aspects of internationalization of these cities are described, leading to a dynamic typology of their profiles. The text also considers the question of planning strategies which municipalities can elaborate to adapt to new prospects of internationalization and analyses the limitations of such voluntary policies.     

The Potential Implications of the European Union Water Framework Directive on Domestic Planning Systems: A UK Case Study

The transformation of planning across Europe in recent years has been characterized by new processes at different spatial scales that reach across traditional boundaries. This Europeanization of planning processes is reflected in the emergence of cross-border initiatives, new spatial relationships and the enhancement of regional policy-making. In using the case of the UK this article analyses the possible ramifications of adopting the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). It is demonstrated that the WFD, despite its apparent focus on water regulation, is symptomatic of wider European Spatial Planning processes that are seeing a reshaping of attitudes, witnessing the emergence of new networks and challenging traditional sovereignties of planning.     

Progressive localism for an ethics of care: Local Area Co-ordination with people with learning disabilities

In the UK devolution to ‘new’ nations and localities is generating differences in the tone and substance of social care. In Scotland there is an apparent rejection of the ‘personalisation’ model dominant in England and other neoliberal welfare states; in its place, there is an emphasis on locally based co-produced care provision, involving local organisations, practitioners and individuals. The paper argues that this is an outcome of the open and deliberative nature of policy-making, and the further devolution of social care provision to local authorities in Scotland. Local scale networks and spaces of provision are generating a ‘progressive localism’, contesting the association between the local scale and financial austerity, drawing on a relational understanding of place. Non-commodified and locally-based provision expands the discourse of care from ‘caring for’ individuals to ‘caring about’ people and places, in what is termed an ‘ethics of care’. The paper uses the example of people with learning disabilities to examine a more broadly conceived ‘caring’ within local communities, offering possibilities for inclusion and belonging. The paper draws on interviews with key policy makers and place-based care practitioners, known as ‘Local Area Co-ordinators’.     

新加坡中华总商会与亚洲华商网络的制度化

新加坡中华总商会在亚洲华商网络的制度化中有重要的作用 ,从总商会的纵向联系和横向交往看 ,它是联接东南亚和东亚华商网络的关键性枢纽。这一组织在建构海外华人社会与商业网络过程中不断地发展 ,逐渐成熟的制度化的华商网络对 2 0世纪海外华人社会及其与中国的互动关系有着深刻的影响 ;与此同时 ,它也成为本土化、区域化和全球化进程中的不可或缺的环节     

Connecting Points to Spatial Networks: Effects on Discrete Optimization Models

To accommodate network allocation, population polygons are frequently transformed into singular, weighted centroids which are then integrated into the network either by snapping each centroid to the nearest network segment or by generating an artificial connector that becomes part of the network. In this article, an investigation of the connection method of network allocation is undertaken with two primary foci: (1) how the density of centroid connectors effects travel cost along the network; and (2) how the algorithms utilized to determine the placement of connectors are affected by the density of connectors. We hypothesize that both issues have an effect on network travel cost and, therefore, on network-based modeling. These hypotheses are tested on three nested spatial networks in the New England region of the United States. Two fundamental facility location models, the p-median problem, and p-center problem, are solved at each spatial extent while varying the density of connectors from one to four. When generating more than one connector thought must be given to the method of connection, the angle of dispersion, the acceptable tolerance of connector length, segment crossing, and saturated connectivity. A novel and thorough framework is proposed to address these concerns.     

Indigenous Tourism and Processes of Resilience – About Communicative Strategies among Tourism Workers in Québec

ABSTRACT

Tourism is a well-known way of life for an increasing portion of the world's indigenous communities, and it has taken tortuous paths and undergone changes in approach and meaning.

Indigenous tourism is examined here within the theoretical framework of resilience, focusing on development, communication and justification. Men and women and their perspectives on space, time and spatial relations are the crucial agents in these processes. Based on an empirical study in Québec, Canada, we show that the impact of indigenous tourism includes networks within the local community at the regional and national levels, as well as translocal networks and relationships. Communicative processes are essential for achieving resilience, communicating identity within families and the community, and giving a voice to a political project. We argue that indigenous tourism works on several geographical levels and that these levels intersect and have the potential to increase resilience if they interact. Our study supplements resilience development theory by highlighting the need to consider communities as parts of networks. It also contributes to the field of tourism research by emphasising communication on several levels.     

From audio tapes to video blogs: the delocalisation of authority in Islam

ABSTRACT. Today, a new breed of charismatic and media‐savvy religious figures are reinvigorating internal debates on Islam by drawing large audiences across the Muslim world and the Muslim diaspora in the West. Using satellite media, websites, blogs and video blogs, these new religious celebrities are changing the nature of debate in Islam from a doctrinaire discourse to a practical discussion that focuses on individual enterprise as a spiritual quest. These leaders have become religious entrepreneurs, with sophisticated networks of message distribution and media presence. From Amr Khaled and Moez Masood, two leading figures of Arab Islamic entertainment television, to Baba Ali, a famous Muslim video blogger from California, Islam has never been more marketable. Satellite television and the internet are becoming fertile discursive spaces where not only religious meanings are reconfigured but also new Islamic experiences are mediated transnationally. This delocalisation of Islamic authority beyond the traditional sources of Egypt and Saudi Arabia is generating new producers and locales of religious meaning in Dubai, London, Paris and Los Angeles. This article examines the impact of celebrity religious figures and their new media technologies on the relativisation of authority in Islam and the emergence of a cosmopolitan transnational audience of Muslims. I ask if this transnational and seemingly apolitical effort is generating a new form of religious nationalism that devalues the importance of national loyalties.     

"The City is Dead, Long Live the Net": Harnessing European Interurban Networks for a Neoliberal Agenda

A network discourse has emerged during the last two decades, representing networks as self–organizing, collaborative, nonhierarchical, flexible, and topological. Progressive scholars initially embraced networks as an alternative to markets and hierarchies; neoliberal thinkers and policymakers have reinterpreted them in order to serve a neoliberal agenda of enhanced economic competitiveness, a leaner and more efficient state, and a more flexible governance. The European Commission and the German state have initiated and financially supported interurban network programs, broadly framed within this neoliberal network discourse, despite their long traditions of regulated capitalism. Really existing interurban networks depart, however, from these discourses. Embedded within pre–existing processes of uneven development and hierarchical state structures, and exhibiting internal power hierarchies, really existing networks are created, regulated, and evaluated by state institutions, and often exclude institutions and members of civil society, making them effective channels for disseminating a neoliberal agenda. At the same time, they create new political spaces for cities to challenge existing state structures and relations and are of unequal potential benefit to participating cities, both of which may catalyze resistance to neoliberalization.     

Museums as Relational Entities: The Politics and Poetics of Heritage

Over the last 40 years museums have become important sites to understand the politics and poetics of heritage management, display, and knowledge production. The books under consideration here all help demonstrate how museums as relational entities—containing dynamic relations between persons and things, as well as generating them—are emergent processes. Each work helps demonstrate why museums in their many guises remain critical terrains for the negotiation of identity, history, and culture in the push for more collaborative accounts of our world and the circulation and display of things.