Globalization of real estate markets in Central Europe

The process of globalization is increasing competition between urban areas for the attraction of investment. Within this context the paper initially highlights the impact of global change on city economies linking this to international investment within the real estate market. Factors influencing diversification strategies and international investment activity within property markets in central Europe are considered relative to a range of performance criteria. Office markets in Prague, Budapest and Warsaw are forwarded as case study examples to assess the degree of maturity that is occurring in these former socialist cities based on the activity of investors and end‐users including the extent to which there are dual markets operating for local and international actors.     

GOVERNMENT AND THE CANADIAN URBAN SYSTEM: INCOME TAX,TRANSFER PAYMENTS,AND EMPLOYMENT

The impact of government on the Canadian urban system is explored using Revenue Canada data from personal income tax returns. Variations in taxes and in certain forms of government expenditure among urban places are linked with city size, economic base, per capita income, and rate of growth. It is found that many locations are heavily dependent on the public sector and that, overall, government programmes redistribute income toward smaller and less prosperous places. The most significant effect, however, is the stabilization of local economies by means of a large and relatively constant public sector. L'impact du gouvernement sur le système urbain canadien est étudié en utilisant des données de Revenu Canada qui proviennent des déclarations d'impǒt sur le revenu des particuliers. Les variations de taxes et de certains types de dépenses publiques parmi les régions urbaines sont associés avec les variables de taille urbaine, base économique, revenu per capita, et taux de croissance. Il est démontré que plusieurs régions sont fortement dépendantes du secteur public et que, globalement, les programmes gouvernementaux redistribuent le revenue vers les régions les plus petites et les moins prospères. Mais l'effet le plus significatif est celui de la stabilisation des économies locales par le biais d'un large et relativement constant secteur public.     

THE REGIONAL MALL IN CANADA

Over the last three decades, regional shopping malls have become significant features of the Canadian urban landscape. They account for the largest concentrations of employment, retail sales, and trip destinations outside the central business district, and they reshape patterns of accessibility within communities. This article examines the number, economic role, location, and implication of these facilities, in Canada, and contrasts them with similar malls in the United States. By 7 986, there were 84 regional malls with more than 500 000 sq. ft. of space in Canada, and these malls accounted for 10 per cent of all retail sales.     

Taking the Local: The Reagan Administration, New Federalism, and Fair Housing Implementation

This article explores how "New Federalism" under President Ronald W. Reagan manifested itself in the implementation of fair housing policy. We examine the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and how it led to state and local civil rights agencies playing an increasingly vital role in implementing the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Relying on data provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), we show that a significant number of fair housing complaints were shifted from HUD to state and local agencies.     

Book reviews

PRESENT AT THE CREATION. MY YEARS IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT. Dean Acheson. London, Hamish Hamilton Ltd., 1969. xviii, 798 pp. $12.80.

THE SPLIT: AUSTRALIAN LABOR IN THE FIFTIES. Robert Murray. Melbourne, Cheshire, 1970. vi, 388 pp. $5.95.

THE EMERGENCE OF THE SUPER‐POWERS: A SHORT COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE USA AND THE USSR. Paul Dukes. London, Macmillan, 1970. 155 pp. £1 and $3.40.

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON GANDHI. K. P. Karunakaran. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, 1969. ii, 115 pp. Rs. 10, $3.60 U.S.

LENIN THROUGH INDIAN EYES. K. P. S. Menon. Vikas Publications, Delhi, 1970. ix, 79 pp. Rs. 12.

AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED NATIONS: NEW GUINEA TRUSTEESHIP ISSUES FROM 1946 TO 1966. W. E. Tomasetti. New Guinea Research Bulletin, No. 36, July 1970, New Guinea Research Unit, Australian National University, Canberra and Boroko. 108 pp. $1.50.

ENGLISH TRANSPORTED: ESSAYS ON AUSTRALASIAN ENGLISH. W. S. Ramson. (ed.). Australian National University Press, 1970. xii, 243 pp. $3.95 Paper. $6.00 Cloth.

THE FIRST AI.F. A STUDY OF ITS RECRUITMENT 1914–1918. L. L. Robson. Melbourne University Press, 1970. 230 pp. $6.75.     

Assessing place-based identities in the early Middle Ages: a proposal for post-Roman Iberia

Sociological models of place-based identity can be used to better understand the social dynamics of local communities and how they interact with their surroundings. This paper explores how these theoretical models of belonging to a place, in tandem with communal cognitive maps, can be applied to post-Roman contexts, taking the Iberian Peninsula in the Visigothic period (sixth–eighth centuries) as a preliminary case study. We argue that this approach can give us not only a more complex understanding of community agencies but also allows us to reconsider the social context for past social interactions. Furthermore, it will open a new archaeological perspective for future work on the relations between groups and individuals with their built, social, and natural environments.     

The Tide of History

Two stories are told simultaneously: one that may have been, and one that yet might be. The story of the voyage that might have been is based on archaeological evidence provided by the earliest shipwreck discovered in the New World. These two stories are set in different eras to demonstrate certain constants in the human drive to explore the unknown, in the methods used, and in the consequences encountered.