Making Space and Place for the Knowledge Economy: Knowledge-based Development of Australian Cities

The impact of what has been broadly labelled the knowledge economy has been such that, even in the absence of precise measurement, it is the undoubted dynamo of today's global market and an essential part of any global city. The socio-economic importance of knowledge production in a knowledge economy is clear, and it is an emerging social phenomenon and research agenda in geographical studies. Knowledge production, and where, how and by whom it is produced, is an urban phenomenon that is poorly understood in an era of strong urbanization. This paper focuses on knowledge community precincts as the catalytic magnet infrastructures impacting on knowledge production in cities. The paper discusses the increasing importance of knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) within the paradigm of the knowledge economy and the role of knowledge community precincts as instruments to seed the foundation of knowledge production in cities. This paper explores the KBUD, and particularly knowledge community precinct development, potentials of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and benchmarks this against that of Boston, MA.     

Food Markets in the Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea: Actors, Power and Rural Development Geography

Discussions of rural development in the highlands of Papua New Guinea have often centred on coffee, and been couched either in narrowly economic terms or in class analysis terms. Fresh food marketing has received less attention, although it is an important activity for many highland people. An approach which takes into account the subjectivity of actors, and the contests of power which permeate markets, is explored in this paper. The history and present forms of fresh food marketing in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea are then outlined. The author concludes by arguing for a geography of rural development, which is based on close attention to social interaction at the local level, coupled with an awareness of global structures provided by non-universalist political economy.     

Knowledge management in regional innovation networks: The case of Lahti,Finland1

This article focuses on knowledge creation and management in regional innovation networks. A knowledge management system for a regional innovation network is designed. Besides explicit and tacit knowledge, self-transcending knowledge is taken into account within the knowledge management system. In addition, considerations of knowledge vision as well as methods from futures studies are incorporated into the system. An innovation network of the Lahti regional innovation system, Finland, is used as a case example in the article. The article highlights the importance of combining loose network development and an explicit, systematic approach to planning and working on knowledge-related matters within regional innovation networks.     

Moral Ecological Rationality,Institutions and the Management of Common Property Resources

This article considers theories of collective action in relation to the management of communal water resources in Nkayi District, Zimbabwe. Taking a critical view of institutional explanations of common property resource management, it illustrates how the addition of social theory can enrich such approaches. The prevalence of rational choice premises in defining the problem of collective action and the persuasiveness of institutionalism in apparently offering solutions to it is questioned. The article rejects simple evolutionary theorizing about institutions in favour of an embedded approach that allows for complexity, for the social and historical location of collective action and for an examination of the interface between agent and structure. It is argued here that collective management of water supplies does exist but that it is more partial, changeable and evolving and less attributable to single factors than suggested in much of the literature.     

长征过遵义时的广西籍红军群体

中央红军长征中有一支以诞生于广西的原红七军战士为主的部队,以及一批从这支部队走出的红军战士.这些广西籍红军在遵义期间,为中央红军前进攻城拔寨、搭桥开路,并为遵义百姓挖井治病,给遵义人民留下了宝贵的精神财富.     

Network Management and Information Systems in Promotion of Urban Economic Development: Some Reflections from CityWeb of Tampere

Partnership relations have become more important in promotion of urban economic development. Efforts have been made to create such networks by which to strive for new markets or political arenas and so to extend the resource base of the urban region. The objective in the creation of networks is the most efficient mobilization possible of the know-how and resources in the urban region and external to it. These observations inevitably prompt the following questions: How can the quality of cooperative processes be improved and how can networks and various development projects be managed? It seems evident that information and its conscious management play a crucial role in seeking answers to these questions. Simultaneously such questions emerge as to how network management can respond to the increasing amount of information and the demands for rapid learning. How can the vast flood of information and knowledge in the networks be managed, how can essential features be extracted, i.e. how can a sustainable basis for perceptions be created? One possible answer, among others, to these questions is information systems utilizing modern information technology. This paper focuses on urban development networks and especially at how their efficiency can be promoted by network management and by modern information systems. The case described and tentatively analysed is the information system CityWeb of Tampere urban region, Finland.     

Varieties of Innovation and Welfare Regimes: The Leap from R&D Projects to the Development of City-regions

In the varieties of capitalism, welfare capitalism, and systems of innovation literatures, the university is a critical actor as public employer, trainer and provider of several public goods. However, there is relatively weak enquiry into the spatial and institutional characteristics of university-led economic development and a relative neglect of the political economy and organizational features of embedded R&D projects in urban and regional planning. We argue that technical projects, far from being stand-alone entities, have taken on the broad characteristics of the university and city-regional development mandate in where they reside. The article is based on an exploratory study of university–industry R&D projects in six city regions of Finland. We show that: (a) the shifting role of universities reflects a changed context for the welfare state in which the “public” debate occurs; (b) These create distinct issues of legitimacy and coalition-building in local economic planning which give rise to diverse regional interpretations of single technology programmes; (c) We categorise three general types of models of R&D projects in universities and propose tentative categories of contributions to “public knowledge”. This diversity of interpretations and outcomes leaves us optimistic regarding the ability of city-regions to adapt and plan for the future against a changing welfare state that shapes the university's role, yet more cautious about any clear-cut “public knowledge” emerging from such technical projects.     

Knowledge Networks as a Regional Development Resource: A Network Analysis of the Interlinks between Scientific Institutions and Regional Firms in the Metropolitan region of Hanover,Germany

The debate on regional innovation potentials has concentrated in recent times upon the topic of regional knowledge networking. This article presents the findings of the first phase of a detailed network analysis of the cooperation relations between scientific institutions and firms in the “metropolitan region Hanover-Brunswick-Göttingen”. The research concentrated on the regional and supra-regional cooperation relations of approximately 500 science establishments of the region, including their interlinks with private sector firms. This analysis of a polycentric metropolitan region's knowledge networks in different fields of competence produced detailed information on the density of knowledge interlinking within the region, on the degree of connectivity between the region's scientific institutions and private sector firms, and on central network nodes within the regional innovation networks. The case study exemplifies the methodical approach of a regional network analysis and emphasizes the role of knowledge networks as a development resource which is of particular relevance to the region's innovation capacities.     

Ecological Knowledge and the Regional Economy: Environmental Management in the Asesewa District of Ghana

This study examines perceptions of the environment in farming communities in the forest ecotone of Ghana. It places local knowledge within a socio-economic and historical context and argues that knowledge is continually evolving, attempting to solve existing problems and discovering new ones. It maintains that favourable conditions exist in farming communities for environmental actions and development approaches based on sustainable development, since these areas have suffered from the negative effects of degradation. However, major constraints exist within the wider political economy and policy framework, which is still locked into environmentally-hostile export-oriented production, and political models which marginalize rural people.     

口岸贸易与经济地理:怎样理解近代中国经济

百年来历经数代学者的努力,从开放口岸理解近代中国经济,逐渐描绘出一幅相对准确的图景,究竟怎样才能更全面准确地解读近代中国经济的多样性与矛盾性,给予贴近实情的分析,而不是面上的估测?如今发现从经济地理的角度,能够描绘近代中国经济的全息图,从而相对完整地理解大国经济的多样性,明晰其中同时共存的斑驳陆离,进而获得近代中国经济发展的实情。     

全球资本主义:三次重大转型——对于经济—社会关系的社会—哲学解读

从19世纪起,资本主义社会向工业时代过渡,经济、文化与价值观等各方面都发生了转变,这些转变为经济与社会的关系问题提供了研究基础。19世纪至今的资本主义可以划分为三个发展阶段,即自由资本主义阶段、有组织的资本主义阶段和非西方式的民主经济阶段。可将一个阶段向另一个阶段的过渡称为大转型。每一次转型都是资本主义现代性类型出现危机的结果,而新的现代性类型是通过寻找新的社会价值和社会组织关系来形成的。分析资本主义三次大转型的经济、社会根源,可以清晰地洞察资本主义的过去、现在和未来。同时,三次大转型的新理论框架为预测全球资本主义的未来发展方向提供了理论基础。     

长沙临时大学湘黔滇"小长征"述论

抗战初期长沙临时大学西迁昆明时实施的湘黔滇跋涉,被誉为中国教育史上罕见的“小长征”。在68天的3500里长途迁徙中,300余师生克服了种种困难,沿途开展抗战宣传,进行社会调查,不仅磨炼了意志,加强了集体观念,而且对西南社会进行了初步考察,直接体验到知识分子肩负的复兴国家民族神圣职责。这一经历凝结的财富,既成为继承五四精神的“联大精神”之重要组成部分,也是中国教育史的宝贵遗产。本文立足抗战建国的角度,对“长沙临时大学湘黔滇旅行团”的发起背景、组织建制、实施过程等进行必要梳理,并在此基础上就“小长征”的自身价值、历史意义,及与西南联大精神的关系等文化内涵,做一初步考察与分析。