The Role of Domestic and International External Cluster Linkages Explored on the Example of Buyer–Supplier Relations in Learning Regions: A Cross-Functional Assessment

This paper analyses three levels of interaction among firms: regional, domestic and international, the analysis relying on cross-functional supplier evaluations by their customers. The statistical analysis reveals that indeed three groups with different evaluation results can be distinguished. Contrary to expectations, though, regional suppliers were not better evaluated than domestic suppliers, while international suppliers scored weakest. Cross-functional differences in assessment were found, which urges researchers to collect cross-functional data for cluster assessment. We conclude that external linkages play an important role in understanding clusters and that the domestic level has to be taken into consideration of an analytical entity of its own.     

The Trelleborg House Reconsidered

THE RECONSTRUCTED Viking-age house erected at Trelleborg in 1942 (FIG. 20) has, as a result of recent archaeological investigation,¹ proved to be wrongly designed. The theory that it had an outside gallery is impossible to sustain, since on further examination the posts proved to be inclined towards the house and they must, therefore, be explained as buttresses. Further, since the height of the walls had been deduced basically from the fact that the gallery must allow of free passage, the whole structure of the house must be reconsidered. Despite these errors the Trelleborg reconstruction has produced an extended discussion of Viking-age house structure and provides a reasonable starting point for a new study.     

Geographical Variation of Subsistence Strategies in Early Mediaeval Populations of Southwestern Germany

The investigation is based on bone element data of early Mediaeval human skeletal samples from eight differing environmental conditions in lowland and mountain range localities of southern Germany. Reconstruction of plausible subsistence strategies revealed close correlations with the respective ecological potentials of the localities as indicated by proxy data on geomorphology, climate, and soil quality. In general, lowland situations showed mixed dietary patterns with a prevalence of agricultural farming, whereas in mountainous areas the emphasis was on dairy farming production and horticulture. This points to subsistence activities during the early Middle Ages that are closely adjusted to differing environmental conditions. An obvious deviation from this pattern in one locality (Kirchheim unter Teck) is explained in terms of successful socio-cultural buffering of limited but effective exploitation of the natural setting.     

Das Netzwerk „VITAL CITIES“ Stärkung polyzentrischer Stadtsysteme durch Förderung des Einzelhandels in den Innenstädten

Abstrakt Das Entstehen von Einkaufszentren „auf der grünen Wiese“ f?rdert einen schnellen Zersiedlungsprozess, au?erdem führt es zu erh?htem Verkehrsaufkommen und Umweltproblemen. Diese Prozesse nehmen negativen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung des st?dtischen Lebensraums, die Fl?chen für Wohnen und Infrastruktur sowie die Freifl?chensituation. Sie laufen damit dem Ziel einer nachhaltigen Siedlungsentwicklung zuwider. Die Ansiedlung von Einzelhandelsunternehmen in den Innenst?dten kann diesen Tendenzen entgegenwirken. Das INTERREG IIIB-gef?rderte Projekt VITAL CITIES will mit verschiedenen Ma?nahmen und Untersuchungen in sieben Projektl?ndern dazu beitragen, polyzentrische Stadtstrukturen zu st?rken und eine ausgewogene Raumentwicklung im CADSES-Raum zu erreichen. Im Ergebnis des Projekts steht die „Comprehensive Urban Retail Trade Improvement Strategy“ (CURTIS), in die die Ergebnisse aller Aktivit?ten einflie?en. Bestandteil sind unter anderem Empfehlungen, neue rechtliche und planerische Instrumente auf nationaler oder regionaler Ebene zu implementieren.