Time and the other time: Trajectories of Fiji time

This article looks into the valuation of time in Fiji with particular emphasis on ‘Fiji time’, an idiom typically employed in reference to unpunctuality or relaxing. The article discusses Fiji time through four exemplars in order to illustrate the degree to which Fiji time is compatible with labour-based valuations of time.     

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Survey with Commercial-Grade Instruments: A Case Study from the Eastern Ḫabur Archaeological Survey,Iraq

Low-altitude photography in archaeology is now common practice at the scale of excavations; however, landscape-scale applications are a relatively new endeavor with promising analytical potential. From 2014–2016, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a mounted camera was used to document sites recorded as part of the Eastern ?abur Archaeological Survey (E?AS), an archaeological reconnaissance project in western Dohuk Province, Iraqi Kurdistan. The E?AS team documented over 70 archaeological sites with the UAV, from single-phase artifact scatters, to archaeological remains with standing architecture, to tells that cover more than 30 hectares. Representative examples from this survey are presented here to outline the project workflow and primary output data layers, including digital orthomosaics and digital elevation models. The quality and utility of results are then assessed in relationship to available satellite-based data. Methods for analysis and interpretation are then considered to demonstrate applications in landscape archaeology. An A) orthomosaic and B) shaded relief model with surface collection area (in red) of site EHAS-C045 created from photographs taken from a UAV.     

Grüne Infrastruktur in den Städten Nordrhein-Westfalens

Hardly any other city in North Rhine-Westphalia has such a green image as the city of Münster. It embodies the image of a livable city in Germany. Other North Rhine-Westphalian cities also work on their external perception and are approaching the task of getting a greener image for themselves in many ways. A central question is how it is done precisely and whether urban green infrastructure can be a locational factor to affect location-based marketing. This article deals with the strategies of various cities in North Rhine-Westphalia.     

The Politics of Hella Wuolijoki’s Autobiography

This article approaches the Finnish-Estonian Jill-of-all-trades, Hella Wuolijoki (1886–1954), through her autobiographical writings. She was active in business, politics, science and culture during a turbulent time in Finnish history, and her radical political stance and unorthodox methods made her a controversial person. The article revisits the concept of persona, as it has been used in history of science, in order to analyse how Wuolijoki used her autobiographical writings to expand the field of acceptable actions for women, and to justify her own life choices.     

The mealtimes that bind? Filipina au pairs in Danish families

Since 2000, more than 17,000 young Filipinas have received temporary residence in Denmark as au pairs. Officially, au pair placement is a cultural exchange program; however, it is also a domestic work arrangement where au pairs conduct domestic labor in return for food, lodging and allowance. The au pair is expected to live as part of a host family, who in turn should offer a protective space for the young foreigner. Nevertheless, au pairs and hosts often find this challenging. Focusing on mealtimes, this article examines how culturally diverse practices of family relations influence au pairs' participation in their host families. The study employs anthropological perspectives on kinship to explore the forms of closeness and distance that govern au pair–host relations, leading to a discussion about how au pairs and hosts approach themes such as hierarchy, independence and family inclusion in different ways. This adds to the ambiguous positions au pairs are offered as they are to involve themselves in gendered tasks that ‘makes the family’, while they also are expected to liberate themselves from the host family sociality. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among au pairs and hosts in Denmark, as well as with the au pairs' families in the Philippines, the article suggests that studies of migrant domestic workers should embrace family practices in the receiving as well as the sending society when attempting to merge the themes of family and work relations.     

Communication and Distance in Collaboration between High-technology Enterprises in Northern Finland

New technologies affect economic activities, even to the extent that some claim they have lessened the importance of geographical distance. However, collaboration in product innovation creation involves various elements; therefore the development of technologies does not make geographical proximity insignificant. In this paper a study is made of collaboration aiming to create a product innovation between high-technology enterprises in northern Finland, especially the intertwining between communication and geographical distance. The study is based on interviews with managers of high-technology enterprises. The results indicate that while email and personal meetings are seen as important, geographical proximity also has an effect on collaboration.     

Strengthening the Polycentric Urban System in Europe: Conclusions from the ESDP

The first European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) document agreed in May 1999 calls for closer cooperation at the EU level in response to the challenges posed by globalization and the increasingly transnational impact of spatial development in Europe. The ESDP maps out a common approach to spatial development in the EU member states and supports an integrated perspective for European spatial development which goes beyond specialist viewpoints. This article focuses on the relationship between key statements on the European urban system contained in the ESDP and the 'real' structures and changes within this urban system. It also examines possible conclusions from the ESDP for urban policy in Europe in the light of the activities already launched to translate the ESDP into practice in the urban dimension of European spatial development.     

A world geography of global media cities

This is an empirical study that analyses the geography of 33 global media firms through their locations in 284 cities across the world. The analyses are set within the world cities literature and a methodology is used that searches out city networks from data on firms to define ‘global media cities’. Resulting definitions of network connectivities allow comparisons to be made with more familiar world city network results on global service centres. The relative importance of media industries in European cities is highlighted. The main analysis uses a principal components model to discover global media fields centred upon specific articulator cities, notably New York, Los Angeles, Munich, Berlin, London and Paris. It is concluded that there is a geographical logic to the growth of large media companies.     

The Regional Impact of EU Eastern Enlargement: A View from Germany

Based on a relational concept of regional analysis this contribution emphasizes that European Union (EU) Eastern enlargement will primarily lead to a restructuring or intensification of interregional economic relations. However, it rejects the widespread view that at first the border regions at the present EU Eastern boundary would be affected by Eastern enlargement. This view relies on the problematic assumption that the regions' transnational relations are subject to a logic of geographical nearness. The most important nodes of transnational economic relations in an enlarged EU are not the border regions, but certain regional development centres in the interior of the European economic space. Thus the regional impact of EU Eastern enlargement should be differentiated with regard to different types of regions: Particular advantages come towards the structurally strong regions in the interior of the present EU as well as the accession countries, whereas the structurally weak regions at the present EU Eastern boundary can gain advantages from Eastern enlargement only to the extent that they manage to overcome their endogenous blockades concerning cross-border economic cooperation and a positive attitude of the regions' population towards European integration.