Opening Panama's Darien Gap

The Darien "gap" was opened in the 1970s when a ribbon of highway was cut through the wilderness allowing uncontrolled colonization to penetrate the region. The Gap Highway and associated settlement frontier led to the removal of rain forest habitats and resulted in drastic reductions in wild plant and animal resources. Other resettlement programs also altered the indigenous landscape which had survived largely intact since colonial times. The region's historic Negro riverlowns have declined while population growth has occurred along the new "cattle front" and in the "cultural parks." These new patterns have undermined the region's traditional subsistence base. Although the Darien has experienced considerable deforestation, it nevertheless contains one of the last remaining stands of Central American rain forest and continues to nurture the cultural heritage of the Kuna and Choc Indians.     

Asia‐Pacific security regimes: Conditions and constraints

Security regimes constitute an important test of the ‘liberal’ school of thought in contemporary international relations. In the Asia‐Pacific, interest is growing over how they may contribute to that region's future order and stability. It is argued here, however, that Asia‐Pacific security regimes cannot succeed unless ‘realist’ power‐balancing strategies are first applied, affording time for patterns of structural leadership to shape enduring security norms and institutions. The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is arguably the region's first potential post‐cold war security regime. Its fate, or that of its successor security regimes in the Asia‐Pacific, depends upon satisfying four critical conditions for regime building and upon winning the acceptance of China and the United States, the region's two key ‘structural leaders’. While the ARF does not at present seem close to satisfying these criteria, it may help to provide the breathing space necessary for a successful transition from a competitive cold war environment to a more cooperative climate in the Asia‐Pacific.     

After central planning: The restructuring of state industry in Bulgaria's Bourgas region

Industrial regions in eastern Europe developed under central planning are now confronting the pressures associated with political and economic transition to market‐focused systems. Using the case of the Bourgas region, on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, the article examines how state industries are faring in these new conditions, analyzing developments in production, employment, ownership, management, market‐orientation and other factors. Massive financial and human resources were poured into the region's industrial development during more than four decades of state socialism, building a modem industrial infrastructure, but one heavily characterized by the particular features and constraints of central planning which emphasized quantity over quality and large‐scale, integrated plants. As central control collapses, the region's state‐owned firms are in crisis. Production is down, unemployment has risen, and except for a handful of plants restituted to former owners, privatization is moving slowly. The region's industries have been battered by highly unfavorable outside forces, yet have been mostly unable to marshal the necessary management, financial, or technical resources to implement coherently any indigenous strategic initiatives to address the changed institutional environment and new supply and demand conditions.     

ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY,KNOWLEDGE FLOWS,AND INNOVATION IN U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS

High growth and progressive regions possess a culture that promotes innovation. Innovation depends on a region's ability to use its own existing knowledge and knowledge generated elsewhere. This paper demonstrates the importance of the ability to absorb external knowledge in explaining innovation productivity for 106 U.S. metropolitan areas. Using a spatial interaction model of patent citation flows with origin and destination dependence, the destination fixed‐effects coefficients provides a measure of a region's absorptive capacity. We identify local conditions that shape a region's absorptive capacity and demonstrate it has a positive and significant impact on innovation productivity.     

International relations and the Himalaya: connecting ecologies,cultures and geopolitics

ABSTRACT

This article examines international relations (IR)'s approach to the Himalaya. We argue that the possibility of violent conflict over contested international borders is not the region's primary international challenge. Rather, slow violence inflicted by state-building and militarisation, intimately connected to geopolitical tensions, threaten the region's ecologies, cultures and languages. The Himalaya is home to three biodiversity hotspots and a mosaic of ethnic groups, many of whom speak threatened languages. Its ice-deposits feed most of Asia's large rivers. In recent years, India and China have pursued large-scale infrastructure development in the region, enabling greater militarisation and extraction, and a tourist rush. These threats are amplified by climate change, which is occurring in the Himalaya at twice global averages, contributing to landslides, flooding, and droughts. However, the region's complexity is not matched by IR's theorisations, which overwhelmingly focus on the possibility of violent conflict between state actors. We argue that IR's analysis of the region must go beyond a states-and-security, Delhi-Beijing-Islamabad centred approach, to look at the numerous interconnections between its geopolitics, cultures and ecologies. We suggest this can be accomplished through incorporating more interdisciplinary analysis, and through focusing on the interaction between the organisation of political authority and the region's environment.     

From ‘Problem City’ to ‘Promise City’: Gentrification and the Revitalisation of Newcastle

The city of Newcastle is a complex and changing landscape. Once regarded as Australia's ‘problem city’, Newcastle's identity is being significantly transformed. This identity transformation draws significantly upon the emergence of more cosmopolitan landscapes within inner Newcastle associated with the gentrification of these areas. The discourse of gentrification is inherently post‐industrial, providing a cleaner and more positive identity as Newcastle seeks to erase the stigma of its’ industrial heritage. However, as landscapes are the amalgam of multiple identities, Newcastle's industrial heritage periodically re‐emerges to problematise the city's newly adopted cosmopolitan identity.     

Some Aspects of the Development and Location of Industry in the Central Asian Economic Region

Despite rapid industrialization since World War II, Central Asia is still far from exhausting its potential for industrial development based on abundant mineral resources, fuels and energy, and on the most favorable manpower supply of any of the Eastern regions of the USSR. The only limiting factor in economic development is water. In light of the region's resource situation, future development should focus on a diversified industrial expansion involving activities with limited water and metal needs (in the absence of a major regional iron and steel plant) or medium or high energy and labor requirements. This would include nonferrous metals, chemicals (except for those posing a water pollution problem) and expansion of the region's cotton-based production complex, ranging from irrigated cotton culture to finished fabrics.     

An analysis of technological potential and regional development processes in Rhône — Alpes

A region's technology potential can be developed in three ways: public finding; private investment (by business); and an intermediate area which ensures coherence between the public and private sectors, and which is mainly to be seen in interface structures between universities and business. After presenting these ways for Rhône‐Alpes, the paper introduces the regional policy to promote science and technology. According to French centralized political structure, the regional government acts as a lever. The region's innovation‐oriented policy, which should not be confused with a research‐oriented policy, has the impact of aiming all action at improving the technological environment of business, and at facilitating their economic development by integrating new technologies. Similarities between Rhône‐Alpes and Baden‐Würtemberg have led these two regions to cooperate increasingly in the fields of science and technology. The ‘four motor‐regions for Europe’ (with Lombardia and Catalonia) experiment in the field of new‐material investment cooperation could be useful if we think of the process aimed at strengthening integration in the European Community.     

Community,Connection and Conservation: Intangible Cultural Values in Natural Heritage—the Case of Shirakami‐sanchi World Heritage Area

Intangible cultural heritage, according to a UNESCO definition, is ‘the practices, representations, expressions as well as the knowledge and skills that communities, groups and in some cases individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage’. Using a case study of Shirakami‐sanchi World Heritage Area, this paper illustrates how the local community's conservation commitment was formed through their long‐term everyday interactions with nature. Such connectivity is vital to maintaining the authentic integrity of a place that does not exclude humans. An examination of the formation of the community's conservation commitment for Shirakami reveals that it is the community's spiritual connection and place‐based identity that have supported conservation, leading to the World Heritage nomination, and it is argued that the recognition of such intangible cultural heritage is vital in conservation. The challenge, then, is how to communicate such spiritual heritage today. Forms of community involvement are discussed in an attempt to answer this question.     

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the South Caucasus Republics

Deep geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus have considerably influenced the relationships of Iran and the three republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Geographical location and strategic significance have made this region one of the most important in the world. Because of its historical affinities and socio-cultural links with the region's peoples, the Islamic Republic of Iran has expanded political-economic cooperation with them. The active presence of regional and trans-regional actors has directly affected this relation. This article mainly seeks to examine Iran's relations with the South Caucasus republics, considering the opportunities created since their independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.     

Heritage builds communities: The application of heritage resources to the problems of social exclusion

Abstract

The concept of ‘social exclusion’ has become central to the UK government's political philosophy. The need to combat the causes and deal with the symptoms of ‘social exclusion’ has become vital to many policy initiatives. The use of heritage resources to help deal with social problems has been practised since the early years of the 19th century and can provide a community with a focus, identity and pride as well as making a contribution to regional economies. This paper traces the use of heritage resources in community regeneration programmes and demonstrates their lack of objectives and unplanned nature. A holistic multi‐agency approach is advocated to tackle social exclusion, with heritage playing a central role. Finally, the paper calls for research which will clarify the contribution that heritage resources can make and identify a framework within which heritage can realise its potential to build communities.     

ENERGY,ENVIRONMENT AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: THE EBRD'S ACTIVITIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

This article examines the relationship between the EBRD's project portfolio in the Western Balkan energy sector, and the region's main energy and environment problems. It argues in favour of geographically centred appraisals of the environmental sustainability of multilateral energy investment. Empirical analyses have been placed within the context of this bank's broader policy mandate to support the reconstruction and development of, among other aspects, energy operations in the post‐socialist states of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, while promoting environmental sustainability. The article categorizes the Western Balkans' energy and environment problems into two main groups: the failure to shift away from carbon‐emitting sources of energy, and the inability to introduce efficient technologies in the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy. It investigates the level to which these issues have been represented in the Bank's energy investment activities in the region. The EBRD's ability to fund energy and environment projects has been affected by, among other factors, the decision‐making process within the relevant governments and the Bank itself. These processes are related to the structural legacies of central planning and the organizational cultures embedded within the EBRD at its inception.     

Post‐conflict Heritage and Tourism in Cambodia: The Burden of Angkor

The World Heritage Site of Angkor is enduring one of the most crucial, turbulent periods in its 1200‐year history. Since the early 1990s over 20 countries have contributed millions of dollars to help safeguard and restore its temples. As one of Southeast Asia’s premier destinations, Angkor has also seen a 10,000% growth in international tourist arrivals in just over a decade. The challenges arising from the intense convergence of these two paradoxical and unstable agendas—heritage conservation and tourism development—are greatly compounded by Cambodia’s need to recover from war and turmoil. This paper explores the critical trends that have surfaced at Angkor and why the challenges posed by surging tourism have been inadequately addressed. It argues Angkor’s dominant role within Cambodia’s post‐conflict heritage and tourism industries requires closer, more critical attention given recent events in the country. This article is the summary of Winter's book Post‐conflict Heritage, Post‐colonial Tourism (Routledge 2007).     

RISK AND INCOME TRADEOFFS IN REGIONAL POLICY: A PORTFOLIO THEORETIC APPROACH*

ABSTRACT. Policy makers often try to raise a region's income by altering its industrial mix. However, such attempts to increase local income may have an adverse effect on the stability of the region's economy. In this paper, we develop single-, aggregate-, and multiregional portfolio models that can be used by policy makers to generate frontiers of risk/income-efficient industrial mixtures for a regional economy. These portfolio models are modified for application to the tourist industry in six regions of Spain. In practice, we find that the introduction of bounds on the magnitude of sector rebalancing has a major effect on the model solutions.     

Can a preservationist ideology halt the process of creative destruction? Evidence from Salt Spring Island,British Columbia

For more than 50 years, rural municipalities across the developed world have struggled to redefine themselves in the face of declining primary sector employment. In some places, this struggle has led to the creation of landscapes that provide heritage‐seekers with tangible commodities and intangible experiences reflecting a by‐gone past. Recent research suggests that these post‐productivist heritage‐scapes may evolve into leisure‐scapes of mass consumption, if profit or economic growth are the key motives underlying development ( Mitchell and Vanderwerf 2010 ). This article questions whether a dominant ideology of preservation can prevent this scenario. We studied Salt Spring Island, British Columbia: (i) to determine if the island displays the characteristics of a heritage‐scape, (ii) to discover if a preservationist ideology has contributed to its current state, and (iii) to ponder if this state can be maintained, in light of recent regional and provincial discourse. Our analysis reveals that the creation, and maintenance, of this heritage‐scape has been guided largely by public discourse underlain by a preservationist ideology. This prolonged state, however, may be drawing to an end. Recent provincial directives to double tourist revenues suggest that local (and regional) discourse soon may be overshadowed by the province's mandate to promote economic growth. The response of local stakeholders will ultimately dictate the Island's ability to maintain its present state as a post‐productivist heritage‐scape.     

Where East meets West: The German—polish border region in transformation

There is growing interest in the German‐Polish border area's future status in the changing regional structure of Europe—contrasting scenarios contain, on the one hand, a vision of the region as a new ‘tiger’ region, and are seen at the other extreme as a ‘drainage area’ on the outskirts of the EU. In this article, border areas are treated from a point of view that pays more attention to the regions’ system of production and regulation. The first part deals with some general characteristics of border areas; the second part outlines in more detail the specific developmental conditions of the German‐Polish border area, especially the region between Berlin and Poznan along the middle part of the River Oder (comprising the Euro Region Pro Europa Viadrina). Three aspects of the border region's developmental conditions are emphasized: the region's quality of location within Europe and the respective national territories; the permeability of the border; and the economic structure in the border area, whereby forms of trans‐border economic linkage and cooperation are of particular interest. The last section discusses new challenges for European border areas as posed by economic change and the restructuring of the European spatial fabric.     

Conceptualizing Greek cultural policy: the non‐democratization of public culture

This paper concentrates on several of the most significant moments of Greek cultural policy since World War II, together with its key concepts. It traces the cultural policy of the country, its main changes and its relationship with politics through a socio‐cultural analysis and a look at the political and cultural events which occurred. The concepts of national identity, hegemony, civilizing mission, democratization, and cultural democracy are applicable in this framework. Despite various attempts at reforms, the country's cultural policy could be characterized as ‘path dependent’; it connected unwaveringly to its two main objectives: heritage and the arts.     

Shadows on the landscape: an inquiry into the value of some Australian places

In 1922, Australian places connected with a solar eclipse were of world‐historical significance as they were associated with empirical confirmation of Einstein's general theory of relativity. They also formed a major part of Australian national consciousness, although they have since reverted to lost geographies. An exploration of Australian reception of eclipse science leads to questions of official heritage construction and stereotypical national identity. An argument is presented for the importance of intangible heritage at national, communal, and individual levels. At the complex intersection between memory and identity, place value is investigated within wider social‐political formations with emphasis on participation across perceived boundaries of social class, gender, and ethnicity, including the valuable role of Aboriginal peoples.     

‘Unity,stability, continuity’: heritage and the renovation of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain, 1957–1969

Spain between 1957 and 1969 – the period in the history of the dictatorial regime of General Francisco Franco known as desarrollista (development‐guided) – presents a peculiar case of a state‐driven heritage industry. The present article examines the desarrollista policy aimed at creating and coordinating heritage tourism, focusing on periodical publications, official speeches, films and promotional materials. It looks at late‐Francoist heritage as a vehicle for achieving, simultaneously, an ideological and an economic effect. Economically, heritage was conceived as a tool for diversifying and individualising Spain’s tourism product in the Mediterranean market, and above all, for confronting the uneven territorial and seasonal distribution of ‘sun and beach tourism’. At the same time, ideologically, the models and uses of heritage examined here served the regime’s interest in securing the country’s territorial unity, maintaining the high profile of the Catholic Church, and re‐legitimising the Civil War (1936–1939) which had brought Franco to power.     

Excavating the Pilbara: A Polanyian Exploration

Taking its cues from the ‘substantivist’ economics of Karl Polanyi, the paper retraces a socio‐economic history of the Pilbara from the pastoral capitalism of the region's initially tenuous colonial settlement to the contemporary regime of extractive capitalism. Spatial fixes have been etched deeply into the landscape of this heterogeneously ‘productive’ region, but crises of social reproduction have remained endemic. Since the nineteenth century, disequilibrium has been the reigning principle, as successive failures of commodification and marketisation have marked a long and non‐linear history of double movements.