Governing urban regeneration in the UK: a case of ‘variegated neoliberalism’ in action?

The article focuses on the redevelopment of previously developed land by public-private sector partnerships in three cities/towns in South-West England, two of which can be described as medium-sized places with little previous experience of such developments. In each case we situated the redevelopment process in its wider multi-level and horizontal relationships using Social Network Analysis to produce network and centrality maps to reveal the complex network of relationships the process was embedded within and shaped by. These developments took place in what is termed the ‘roll-out’ phase of neoliberalism and we illustrate how the overarching planning and regulatory regimes (including contracts), along with wider economic conditions, shaped the development process, with the proviso that in each case these factors were mediated and themselves shaped by the assortment and interaction of local organizational, political, economic and civic forces. These included local planning committees and their interpretation of planning regulations and the developers involved, but also opposition to the developments from local sources. Much, however, depended on the ‘capacity to act’ of the relevant partnerships, in the sense of mobilizing and deploying available resources to realize the proposed developments.     

Collaboration and Partnership Development for Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

For many years, the need to improve sustainability in the tourism industry has been widely recognized. Many destinations have attempted to move toward sustainability, but unfortunately, have been hindered in their attempts by a lack of collaboration among stakeholders that is necessary to support their sustainability agendas. Collaboration, specifically through multi-stakeholder partnerships, has been seen as an effective way to support initiatives in tourism development. Through the lens of Gray's collaboration theory and Selin and Chavez's tourism partnership model, the success of collaboration and partnerships in tourism development on the island of Gili Trawangan, Indonesia, will be examined. Through a multi-method approach consisting of an environmental audit and semi-structured interviews, this paper explores the implementation of a multi-stakeholder partnership. The partnership that has been developed, called the Gili Ecotrust, provides an example of successful collaboration, leading to the implementation of innovative sustainability initiatives on the island.     

Ethics and transparency in the field: lessons from the Arab Gulf

This viewpoint draws from feminist scholarship to critically examine an academic partnership between two universities based in the USA and in the Arab Gulf. In particular, feminist geography is used to inform cross-cultural projects such as this academic exchange among Arabs and Americans by focusing on ethics and transparency in the field. The complexity of cultural and institutional dynamics in this and related projects impacts our work with participants and in places where we conduct research. This analysis is based on collaboration between a public university in the USA and an all-women's university located in Bahrain, an Arab Gulf monarchy that has experienced violence stemming from socio-economic disparities and political tensions between the ruling Sunnis and the majority Shiite population. The project exemplifies a growing trend among Western universities to participate in academic partnerships that will generate financial resources while educating students in regions with limited access to higher education. The contradictions and dilemmas that arise in this academic engagement highlight the importance of ethics and transparency in cross-cultural university partnerships.     

Trust,business groups and social capital: building a Protestant entrepreneurial network in nineteenth-century Naples

Abstract

This article explores the behaviour of a group of foreign entrepreneurs (mainly Swiss and Germans) who settled in southern Italy during the nineteenth century, establishing cotton manufacturing, creating a religious community, importing technologies, machines and patterns of management. These entrepreneurs shared a high level of training and culture and they all belonged to Protestant denominations. In the context of this foreign entrepreneurial community, the article examines the role played by friendship, kinship, origins, education and religion in shaping the network that linked groups of Protestant businessmen across Europe, emphasizing how these manufacturing firms relied on forms of cooperation, solidarity and physical proximity that were consolidated and perpetuated across more than three generations.     

Strategic Alliances in Action: Toward a Theory of Evolution

The popularity and prevalence of strategic alliances for problem solving has been well documented in research on the corporate sector and public policy. However, there has been limited work to date on building a comprehensive theory about the evolutionary process of alliances. The purpose of this article is to synthesize current research on alliance development in order to develop a model of strategic alliance evolution. The theoretical model is built with ideas from prior research as well as findings from our own recent research on alliances in education. We conducted a national study of strategic alliances in charter schools focused on uncovering the process of evolution—including how alliances are initiated, operated, and evaluated—and the various internal and external factors that influence alliance development and progress. Our findings offer a model of strategic alliance evolution and provide direction for future research.     

Partnerships in place: Facilitating rural local government entrepreneurialism in Newfoundland and Labrador

Rural local governments across Canada, including those in Newfoundland and Labrador, struggle with many of their day-to-day operational activities, including providing appropriate drinking water, wastewater, and garbage collection services, among other essential services, and rarely have capacity to facilitate local economic development activities. In recent times, entrepreneurialism has been noted as having potential for rural local governments, yet little research has been completed to determine its presence and relevance for municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador. In response, we examined eight case study local governments in Newfoundland and Labrador to determine if, and how, entrepreneurialism was present in municipal efforts to increase economic prosperity in their communities. Findings suggest that while rural local governments continue to face challenges due to declining support for rural development from provincial and federal governments and increased downloading of responsibilities, some communities have established ways to remain resilient through partnerships and building on place-based assets. This exploratory study provides a basis for further in-depth research to determine the extent and approaches to entrepreneurialism in local government in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.     

公私合作在旅游目的地营销中的应用研究——基于阿姆斯特丹和上海的案例比较

开展公私合作是协作型目的地营销组织的主要手段,也是旅游目的地营销发展的必然趋势。本文以Wang和Fesnmaier于2007年提出的"目的地联合营销的组织分析框架"为基础,按照"先决条件-合作动机-发展阶段-营销效果"的思路,对阿姆斯特丹和上海两个城市进行了案例比较分析,研究了公私合作在国内外旅游目的地营销中的应用情况。在此基础上,根据网络治理理论,提出了一个融多主体、全过程和混合目标于一体的新的旅游目的地联合营销分析模型。     

Urban Regeneration in the Brazilian urban policy agenda

This article aims to highlight the main arguments that sought to justify the incorporation and legitimization of Urban Regeneration in the urban policy agenda in Brazil. It shows how the convergence between different and even conflicting propositions related to urban development provided ideological support to the construction of discourses in which urban regeneration is portrayed as beneficial to society as a whole, and how recent international ideas on urban development were incorporated in urban policies of contemporary Brazil, considering our local socio-economic and political environment, planning tradition and regulatory frameworks. The focus will be on Rio de Janeiro and particularly São Paulo given the key role these two cities play in defining urban policy paradigms, guiding government agendas and exporting regulatory models to other parts of Brazil.     

Working gender after crisis: partnerships and disconnections in Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean tsunami

This article focuses on how northern non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their partners, community-based organizations (CBOs), are ‘working’ gender after a crisis. It explores the relationship between one NGO aiming to mainstream gender and a women's CBO in a village in southern Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. The gender policies of the NGO and how the CBO has co-opted these policies are analysed in terms of discourse, interdependence, power and performance. Structural and individual challenges for working gender in post-crisis situations are analyzed and the constraints for making deep reaching changes that can alter gender relations are identified. Because of differences in the conceptualization and implementation of gender policies and practices, the CBO has manoeuvred to maintain its own interests, while the NGO has experienced disconnections in working gender between organizational levels and locations of implementation. In conclusion, it is argued that for changes to take place, knowledge production on gender needs to be locally situated and sensitive to the structural conditions and power relations with which organizations and communities engage.