Regional planning in Catalonia

After 1975 the main weight of Spanish regional planning passed down to the 17 autonomous communities. This has resulted in very variable territorial planning activity. Since 1980 the Catalan government, the Generalitat, has been preparing a territorial plan for the whole of Catalonia. A draft of the plan was issued for discussion in 1993. The history of the making of the plan is analyzed, before giving an account of the plan's content. The plan received many criticisms and these are described and assessed. In particular, several paradoxes are considered: why has one of the most dynamically distinctive of Spanish autonomous communities, with a great commitment in 1980 to produce a plan, taken so long to complete the exercise? How is it that a centre‐right government has produced a plan with certain clear goals on such a long time‐scale—to 2026? And why has such apparently ambitious planning been criticized so strongly by professionals and authorities to the left of the government?     

Industrial Archaeology in Western Europe: A Bibliography

Abstract

This bibliography lists books and articles covering industrial archaeology throughout Western Europe, excluding the British Isles. While it cannot claim to be complete, it is offered in the hope that it will be of some help to those concerned with industrial archaeology outside the British Isles. Its arrangement is simple. After a brief general section, the bibliography is divided alphabetically by country and within each country societies are listed first followed by books and articles on the industrial archaeology of that country.     

The magdalenian in Western Central Europe: Settlement pattern and regionality

Magdalenian material from northern Switzerland, southwestern and southeastern Germany, the middle Rhine, and central Germany is examined for differences among these geographical areas. Several regional features, including a broad range of archaeological data, can be identified and indicate two regional groupings, a southwestern and a northeastern. The first includes sites from central Germany and the middle Rhine, while the second includes northern Switzerland and southwestern Germany. The southeastern German sites cannot be firmly placed within this pattern because of the insecure data base. The main differences are in prey species, hunting and settlement patterns, and some characteristics of the mobile art. The comparison does not allow a finer separation, although the two regional groups could probably be subdivided into smaller geographical units. Alternative explanations are discussed and further avenues of research are proposed.     

Neolithic settlement patterns in temperate Europe: Progress and problems

The study of settlement patterns must be accompanied by careful evaluation of the processes of formation of the archaeological record and of its recovery. A selective review is offered of Neolithic case studies from central and western Europe, from theLinearbandkeramik culture (fifth millennium bc) to Denmark and Britain (fourth and third millennia bc). The emphasis of the study is upon dispersed settlement patterns. Possibilities of specialization and hierarchy are discussed. Settlement studies should be further exploited for the system, or social rules and contexts, that may be inferred from the patterning of settlements.     

Regional Scientific Production and Specialization in Europe: The Role of HERD

This paper analyses the effects of R&D expenditure in the higher education sector on the scientific production across regions in Europe 15. Our research questions relate to the regional production of science and the role of academic R&D expenditures on regional scientific output. The results show that money affects the production of scientific results in regions. On average, we found different impacts and lags of R&D expenditure according to the level of regional development. Our findings also suggest that scientific specialization is a significant factor affecting scientific outputs, although its effects differ across disciplines and regions.     

On the ISIL attacks in Western Europe and elsewhere

In this guest editorial, the author reflects on the inequitable ways in which ISIL attacks are covered in the media, between the West and the rest.     

Medieval socio-economic historiography in Western Europe: towards an integrated approach

The revival of interest in the economic history of the Middle Ages after World War II has benefitted first to the study of the fourteenth and fifteenth century through the introduction to historical practice of the theories and methods of modern economic science. Secondly the discussion on the early medieval economy launched by Pirenne's posthumous book on Mohammed and Charlemange (1937) resulted in a more dynamic and economic interpretation of the Carolingian renaissance and in a vivid discussion about its end around the year one thousand. On the contrary the centuries between these two periods, i.e. the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, although they witnessed the biggest demographic expansion since Neolithic times, the movement of the great clearances and the growth of big cities, have been neglected. The author argues for a renewed interest in the economic history of these centuries through a more integrated approach now that the quantitative approach has passed its zenith and interest in individual people is reviving, especially the common people and their behaviour and habits. Archeology, demography and anthropology can be used for this purpose in the context of a more integrated social history of the period, no longer dominated by historians of law and institutions.     

Inter-Country Trade Patterns in Europe and the Asia-Pacific: Regional Structure and Extra-Regional Trends

This paper examines the regional structure and extraregional trends of Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The formation of the European Community and the latter's potential enlargement to Eastern Europe contrasts with the Asia-Pacific which has resisted economic and political integration and pursued economic linkages with countries outside of the region. The difference in regionalization tendencies have resulted in more geographically defined subregions in Europe, and greater territorial fragmentation in the Asia-Pacific. Even though European countries exhibit tighter interlinkages with one another, the evidence indicates that their extra-regional links compare favorably with the Asia-Pacific for much of the period from 1965 to 1994.     

欧洲区域聚落形态研究

2009年4期我们译介了"区域聚落形态考古"一文,里面对欧洲的聚落考古也有涉及。这篇文章详细介绍了欧洲聚落考古的成功经验,可以为我们提供更加详尽的国际视野。需要重申的是,"聚落"(settlement)并非仅指我们所习用的"村落"或"聚居村落"概念,而是指过去不同时空中人类所有活动点位组成的网络系统。与中国的学术传统相似,欧洲有较为悠久的依赖文献和艺术的古典考古学和以编年为目的的文化历史考古学研究史。到目前为止,欧洲大多数国家仍将考古学看作是重建历史的手段。欧洲的聚落考古与北美的聚落考古略有不同,北美侧重用环境考古的文化生态学方法(过程论)来研究人地关系,而欧洲则偏好文化观念和象征考古的后过程方法来研究人地关系,这便有了"景观考古学"的独特路径。由于欧洲比北美有更长的古人类演化史和更显赫的文明史,所以聚落考古成为研究考古学三大战略性课题——人类起源、农业起源和文明国家起源的极佳手段,而且成果显赫。从本文的介绍中,我们可以了解当今的聚落考古是如何来观察和了解这些重大历史转折,追溯社会复杂化具体轨迹的。读了这两篇介绍国际聚落考古现状的文章,我们可以得出这样的认识,聚落考古已成为当代考古学一个全方位、综合性的探索领域,它可以将考古学各流派、不同领域、不同课题及学科交叉手段纳入其中,以便从微观和宏观的多维视角,重建过去人类社会和文化变迁的具体轨迹,并对促使人类社会转变的原因提出可信的解释。就此而言,欧美聚落考古的目标是完全相同的,而且也与中国考古学重构国史的期待不谋而合。     

Regional planning in Brandenburg: Putting traditional approaches to the test

The State of Brandenburg represents one of five states that together make up what was the German Democratic Republic. It is now only 6 years ago when its people demanded and accomplished the abolishion of an entire state that was based on a very extensive system of government planning and control. Since unification in 1990, far‐reaching attempts have been made gradually to transform East German society in all its segments and dimensions with the objective to ‘Westernize’ its structure and functioning. With respect to Brandenburg, this process of adaptation has only recently also extended into the field of regional planning. During the first half of 1994, the establishment of regional planning authorities in all parts of the state was completed. These authorities have been charged with the task of formulating regional development plans as a means of securing and improving the living conditions of their inhabitants.