The Creative Economy: Vision or Illusion in the Structural Change?

This contribution discusses the hopes associated with the rise of the creative industries and gives explanations for the debates in politics, science and the media. In doing so, our underlying thesis is that the culture and creative economy is a virtual sector and that a uniform promotion—also by means of staged events that attract a lot of media attention—needs to be challenged. In a further step, the scientific implications will also be outlined on the basis of the term's “career” in the public debate. A brief analysis of the empiricism of the creative economy will provide further insight into its real significance and demonstrate possible definitional weaknesses of the term. The creative industries are an essential element of modern economic infrastructure. They will play an important role in the future, especially for cluster strategies. However, the scientific research so far is not able to reach more accurate conclusions regarding the effects of governance on the culture and creative industry. Therefore, this contribution shows future research fields. We will conclude by venturing an outlook on the further development of the sector and demonstrate its social and economic effects using the example of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia.     

The spatiality of trust in EU external cross-border cooperation

This paper argues that effective cross-border cooperation (CBC) networks closely interrelate with the building of ‘trust’ between actors. The aim is to contribute to the CBC literature by investigating the different forms of trust, their spatial attributes and impact on actor relations in the context of the Finnish–Russian European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) of CBC. The paper applies a specific spatial approach by identifying the territorial and relational aspects of four different forms of trust: rational-personal decisions, social-cultural understanding, general-personal interactions and the historical–institutional environment. The analysis, based on policy documents and semi-structured interviews with relevant Finnish ENI CBC actors, shows that the study of transnational cooperation networks benefits from a conceptualization of trust recognizing its spatial characteristics. The study concludes that sub-national actors are key agents in the formation and maintenance of trust. These actors negotiate with socio-cultural differences through the development of personal relationships which increase social capital in the actor–network. However, the cooperation network is vulnerable towards geopolitical circumstances affecting foreign relations. The paper demonstrates that Finnish ENI CBC actors are operating in a transnational network in which their activities are challenged by territorial constraints such as national border-crossing regulations.     

Industrial change and meso‐corporatism — a comparative view on three German states

Tripartite‐arrangements between state, unions and employers associations played a prominent role in the theory and practice of corporatism, with incomes policy at national level providing the paradigm for this approach. Now the focus has changed. Concepts of meso‐corporatism have gained significance in research on interest groups; alternative modes of political‐economic governance in general, and problems of industrial restructuring in particular, have become central to the discussion. Accordingly, important contributions have come from industrial and economic sociology and from the theory of the state, marking a distinctive expansion of the analytical framework. At the same time, studies of meso‐corporatism have neglected the regional perspective in favour of sectoral studies. This paper undertakes to remedy this by examining the governance of industrial adjustment through industrial policy in three Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. The three cases can be considered as different variants of meso‐corporatism: ‘Corporate’ corporatism in Baden‐Württemberg; ‘staged’ corporatism in North Rhine‐Westphalia; ‘situative’ corporatism in Saxony. In its final part the paper raises questions on the conditions for those arrangements and the prerequisites for their continuance.     

There are Many Roads to Reindustrialization and Resilience: Place-based Approaches in Three German Urban Regions

Reindustrialization has become a major political objective in the European Union. This paper provides three urban case studies on reindustrialization pathways and experiences during the global economic crisis to reveal the specificities of place-based approaches on the local level despite common policies on EU, federal and state levels. Moreover, the evolutionary perspective on reindustrialization and economic resilience shows the importance of adaptive capabilities on the local level, although the sources for these capabilities differ according to context- and place-specific structures.     

Erlebniseinkauf in der Innenstadt mit hoher Akzeptanz

Im Oktober 2000 führte die BAG zum zehnten Mal die über die Grenzen des Einzelhandels bekannte Untersuchung „Kundenverkehr” in mehr als hundertfünfzig deutschen St?dten durch. In Kooperation mit der Swiss Retail Federation sowie mit Unterstützung der femged (European Federation of Medium-size and Major Retailers) wurde die Untersuchung erstmals auch in der Schweiz und in ?sterreich durchgeführt. Es beteiligten sich insgesamt 463 Unternehmen an der Untersuchung, die knapp 9,5 Mio. Besucher gez?hlt haben und davon mehr als 360.000 Kunden nach bestimmten Parametern befragten. Die Daten für Deutschland wurden, wie in den Jahren zuvor, vom Institut für Handelsforschung an der Universit?t K?ln ausgewertet. Die Zahlen der Untersuchung in der Schweiz und ?sterreich wurden von der wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Beratungsgesellschaft ECON-Consult in K?ln zusammengetragen und analysiert.     

Petrological characterisation of 'alabaster' from the Marib province in Yemen and its use as an ornamental stone in Sabaean culture

'Yemen alabaster', a calcareous sinter, is a unique building and ornamental stone of the Sabaean culture ( c. 1000 BC to 100 AD). This study characterises the quarries and describes the facies of their stones. Through thin sections, luminescence microscopy and geochemical analyses, 'Yemen alabaster' can be classified and assigned a quarry source. The stone is a calcareous sinter related to volcanism in the Marib province. It can be divided into several microfacies types different in luminescence and trace element contents. During Sabaean times it was mined in highly organised quarries including underground quarries and used extensively in the Sabaean kingdom.