Geneva's future: reflections on the role of a values‐based city

In a world where most of the great cities are heavily branding themselves to compete for lucrativebusiness, political and sporting events, what future role is there for an international values‐based city like Geneva? This article reflects on the history of ideas that have taken root in Geneva over the centuries and suggests how they might be actively re‐positioned to give the city continuing relevance in the coming century. It looks at eleven political and practical ideas that have hadimportant manifestations in Geneva and have been embodied in some of its international organizations, notably: freedom of movement; free thinking; political self‐determination; compassionate warfare; peace and trade among others. It then argues that, in order to survive as a leading international city, Geneva must develop real expertise on these big‐hitting political issues, improve its ability to deliver on them and create a dynamic alliance of other internationalist valuesbased cities around the world which can mobilize similar concerns and embody a similarly Genevan model of international space.     

Rural communities and small area forecasting: some examples from South Australia

This paper demonstrates and evaluates two different but complementary methodologies of small area forecasting in a rural area some 80 km north of Adelaide. The first approach forecasts overall population trends using a sector-by-sector appraisal of the growth/decline prospects of each economic sector based on detailed field surveys carried out in 1968 and 1970. The second approach was to use the readily available 1971 census and corresponding vital statistics data to project the population of the study area using a simple cohort-component projection methodology. Both approaches made forecasts of expected population levels by 1980, and in that year the authors conducted a resurvey of the same study area. The article demonstrates the need for, and results of, regular updating of the assumptions on which population forecasts are made, for the period 1968–1980 includedan unexpected revival of the farm economy as well as the onset of the international urban-rural migration flow of the ‘population turnaround’. Neither of these trends had been foreseen in the initial forecasts; their effects are shown in the results of the 1980 resurvey, and the utility of the forecasting methodologies is discussed in the light of these findings.     

Immigration Responses to Global Change in Asia: a Review

There has been a parametric increase in the scale and complexity of global international migration in the last fifteen years. Asia has been prominent in this change with countries in the region being important sources and destinations of migrants. This paper summarises the main developments which are occurring in south‐north migration, student migration, forced migration, north‐north migration and international labour migration. In the transformation of international population movement in the region a most striking feature is the strong pattern of circularity in movement and the networks which are established between origin and destination. It is argued that several global changes have been instrumental in these changes. These include the three ‘Ds’: demography, development and democracy. It is shown that increasing gradients of difference between nations in the pattern of growth (or lack of it), in the workforce, in income and poverty levels and in patterns of governance, have been important drivers of the migration. Moreover they are likely to increase in their impact over the next two decades. In addition, the impact of global environmental change on migration is considered, as are the effects of proliferating social networks and the global migration industry.