Since the late 1990s, there have been broad discussions concerning the rapid rise of the creative economy. Creative or cultural industry is seen as the new engine of the regional growth for both developed economies and emerging nations. At the point of transition in economy and society, China is recently striving to transform its economy from "made in China" towards "created in China". This book provides an insight into creative industries and spaces in Shanghai, which is the fastest growing megacity in China and the center of modern economic development on a global scale. Underpinned by new approaches from economic geography and urban studies, it deals with the new relations between the creative economy and urban environment in Shanghai. Over the last decade, creative clusters have been rapidly emerging in particular locations in the central city of Shanghai. This spatial phenomenon is explained in the book through an analysis of dynamics, networks and implications.

The Andes are attracting global interest again: they hold valuable mineral resources, tourists appreciate their great natural beauty and the diversity of indigenous cultures, climbers scale rock and ice faces, while many others are intrigued by regional political developments, such as the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela or the almost unfettered hegemony of the neoliberal economic model in Chile. This volume is the first attempt for decades to present a complete overview of the longest mountain chain on the planet - a region of remarkable climatic, floristic and geologic diversity, where advanced civilization developed well before the arrival of the Spanish. Today the Andes continue to be characterized by their ethnic, demographic, cultural and economic diversity, as well as by the disparity of local socioeconomic groups. The Andean countries pursue a wide range of approaches to tackle the challenges of making the best use of their natural and cultural potential without damaging their ecological basis, as well as to overcome economic disparity and foster social cohesion. This book provides insights into this unique region and its most pressing issues, complemented by a wealth of pictures and comprehensive diagrams, which, in sum, help to better understand these fascinating mountains.

Contains details on the geological units of Nigeria and the associated mineral resources. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 discusses the geology of the crystalline rocks and their regional distribution while the sedimentary basins constitute the subject of Part 2. Part 3 takes the mineral resources of Nigeria one on one, their geological environment, mode of occurrence, localities and where possible the reserves estimation. Thereafter, an account of the previous and current mining policies (including that of petroleum) of the Nigerian government is given and goes ahead to list some specific investment opportunities in the solid minerals sector.

Metropolitan commercial real estate markets are highly influenced by global forces, the regional economy, and institutional behaviour. While descriptions of regional commercial real estate markets are well known and widespread in academic literature, this monograph goes beyond that in explaining the dynamics in and variations between European metropolitan markets. By comparing those markets on relevant indicators and through extensive data analysis, a number of explaining factors is revealed. Contributions on specific metropolitan markets with different positions within the real estate cycle illustrate not only the characteristics of the local economy and its institutions, but also urgent issues such as battling vacancy, changing retail hierarchy or managing obsolescence.

This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural production with special reference to diversification, as well as forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood security in a rapidly growing developing country.

Modern spatial-economic systems exhibit a high degree of dynamics as a result of technological progress, demographic evolution or global change. In the past decade, an avalanche of new regional economic growth and innovation models has been put forward. This volume contains a unique collection of operational models of a strong applied nature that may be seen as original landmarks in the rich tradition of spatial-economic growth modelling. The contributors are recognized experts from different parts of the world.

Quality of life (QOL) research in tourism has gained much momentum over the last two decades. Academics working in this area research issues related to tourists and host communities. Practitioners are becoming increasingly interested in understanding the science that allows them to develop better marketing and managerial programs designed to enhance the quality of life of tourists. Tourism bureaus and government agencies are increasingly interested in issues of sustainable tourism, specifically in understanding and measuring the impact of tourism on the quality of life of the residents of the host communities. This handbook covers all relevant topics and is divided into two parts: research relating to travelers/tourists, and research relating to the residents of host communities. It is the only state-of-the-art reference book in its field and will prove invaluable to academics interested in QOL research, as well as tourism practitioners interested in applying the science of QOL in the tourism industry.

The challenge of growth in transport, especially in freight transport, and scarce resources in money, landscape and local opposition against new infrastructure investment require new solutions from transport policy. This book deals with these issues taking as an example the transport corridor Rotterdam-Genoa, one of the most heavily used in Europe. In 2010 the INTERREG project Code24 with partners from five European countries started with the aim to develop a transnational strategy to strengthen and to develop the corridor. The main objective was to accelerate and jointly develop the transport capacity of the entire corridor by ensuring optimal economic benefits and spatial integration while reducing negative impacts on the environment at local and regional level. These issues are highlighted in the book from an interdisciplinary perspective, taking into account spatial, economic, environmental and political aspects.

The uneven geographical distribution of economic activities is a huge challenge worldwide and also for the European Union. In Krugman’s New Economic Geography economic systems have a simple spatial structure. This book shows that more sophisticated models should visualise the EU as an evolving trade network with a specific topology and different aggregation levels. At the highest level, economic geography models give a bird eye’s view of spatial dynamics. At a medium level, institutions shape the economy and the structure of (financial and labour) markets. At the lowest level, individual decisions interact with the economic, social and institutional environment; the focus is on firms’ decision on location and innovation. Such multilevel models exhibit complex dynamic patterns – path dependence, cumulative causation, hysteresis – on a network structure; and specific analytic tools are necessary for studying strategic interaction, heterogeneity and nonlinearities.

This book introduces a radically spatialised approach to knowledge creation and innovation. Reflecting on an array of European urban and regional developments, it offers an updated notion of milieu as the conceptual and material space of knowledge and innovation in line with the interpretative turn in social sciences and humanities. In view of the unwillingness of mainstream economics to accommodate such a trend, the authors pursue a broadly understood hermeneutic approach that expands on the triad of knowledge-space-innovation. The book's main findings are that space is an essential intermediary in the connection between knowledge and innovation, and that a renewed notion of milieu provides the knowledge-space-innovation triad with both an analytical basis and operational power. It also offers fresh insights into the significance and potential of the knowledge economy. A number of empirical European case studies on various scales (organisations, cities and territories) support the findings and suggest new policy directions.

This book, written by specialists from Canada, India, Italy, Palestine, Peru, Spain and the Netherlands, is a guide to establishing a city on a sustainable path. It addresses sustainable urban planning issues by breaking the city down to its components. A broad range of planning and sustainability considerations are discussed. Important concluding chapters provide a 'what to do and how to do it' practical roadmap for implementing a sustainability program.

This book highlights the long-term resettlement process of the Egyptian Nubian people along the Aswan High Dam. Assessing the resettlement of 48,000 Egyptian Nubians in connection with the High Dam is especially important for three main reasons: firstly, this resettlement process is one of the rare cases in which research begun before the dam was built has continued for over forty years. Secondly, the resettlement of the Egyptian Nubian people is one of the few cases in which the living standards of the large majority improved because of the initial political will of the government, combined with Nubian initiatives. Thirdly, given the complexity of the resettlement process, weaknesses in government planning, implementation, and in the weakening of government political provide valuable lessons for future dam-induced resettlement efforts.

This work offers a nuanced perspective based on empirical evidence of the role of talent and creativity for economic growth, prosperity, social and spatial inequality, and precarity in creative cities by arguing that creativity and talent need to be valued and eventually rewarded to achieve sufficient conditions for individual economic success. Shedding light on the recent momentum of a growing convergence of cultural and economic spheres in post-industrial societies by building on a case study of contemporary visual art from interviews with commercial gallerists. Written from an economic geography and historical-institutional perspective while leveraging the analytic strength of the established repertoire of other social science disciplines this book will provide a fascinating read for economic geographers and other social scientists researching the creative and knowledge economy as well as arts professionals aiming to better understand the process of making value of contemporary visual art.

Since cities are likely to play an even more predominant role in the global economy in the future than they do at present, it is important to understand how urban centers are created, grow, and function in the process of generating and distributing wealth. This integrated collection of essays exploring the new economic theory of cities assembles recent work by a number of the world's leading exponents in North America, the UK/Europe, and Japan. Topics investigated include cities and agglomeration, urban systems, urbanization and growth, and cities and factor markets. The perspectives the editors and contributors offer have strong connections with several branches of modern economics, including industrial organization, public economics, international trade, and endogenous growth and economic development.

This timely and fascinating book illustrates how applied geography can contribute in a multitude of ways to assist policy processes, evaluate public programs, enhance business decisions, and contribute to formulating solutions for community-level problems. The book showcases studies by applied geographers from across the globe collaborating with the public sector, businesses, NGOs and communities to demonstrate how geography - with its space and place perspective and its explicitly spatial methods and tools - has been employed to address significant real-world issues. The 20 case studies have been conducted at a variety of levels of scale and situational contexts, and employ a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches including spatial and statistical modelling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), impact analysis and action research. This enlightening and informative book will prove an invaluable reference tool for academics, students and practitioners with a specific interest in applied geography and spatial analysis. Contributors: F. Arenas, R.G.V. Baker, D. Ballas, M. Birkin, A. Bloodworth, J.R. Bryson, W.M. Burns, M.C. Carroll, M.-H. Chan, P. Chhetri, G. Clarke, T.L. Clower, J. Corcoran, D. de Abreu, A. Esteves, M.L. Fonseca, D. Giband, T.H. Grubesic, K.E. Haynes, A. Higginson, S. Hynes, H. Ismail, P.-C. Lau, J. Lombard, C.-T. Low, F. McEvoy, P.O. McIntyre, B.E. Montz, K. Morrissey, A.T. Murray, C. O'Donoghue, H. Qian, D. Rohde, J. Roosaare, E. Sepp, E. Stern, R. Stimson, R.R. Stough, M. Taylor, D. Tong, S.C. Turner, B.L. Weinstein, M. Wong, W.-C. Wong, S.N. Wood, C. Zuo

This book investigates the recent rise of the market-oriented value chain approach in development policy with a focus on the agro-export sector in the Global South. The research project aims at unveiling the political, social and cultural processes around the circulation of market rationales at the global scale and on the ground. In-depth analyses of two exemplary settings, Peru and Ghana, reveal the extent to which national policies, development programs, laws and academic curricula have adopted a "thinking in terms of value chains" in the last decade. By embracing the perspectives of policymakers, consultants, entrepreneurs and producers, this book provides exciting first-hand insights about the making of markets for scholars and development practitioners alike.

The economic liberalization of India, changes in global structures, and the rapid emergence of India on the global landscape have been accompanied by the dramatic rise in popular, public, and elite discourses that offer the promise to imagine India. Written mostly in the future tense, these discourses conceive of India through specific frames of global change and simultaneously offer prescriptive suggestions for the pathways to fulfilling the vision. Both as summary accounts of the shifts taking place in India and in the relationships of India with other global actors as well as roadmaps for the immediate and longer term directions for India, these discourses offer meaningful entry points into elite imaginations of India. Engaging these imaginations creates a framework for understanding the tropes that are mobilized in support of specific policy formulations in economic, political, cultural, and social spheres. Connecting meanings within networks of power and structure help make sense of the symbolic articulations of India within material relationships.

This book investigates the socio-economic impacts of Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific region. The authors put forward a strategy and action plans that can enhance the capacity of government agencies and non-governmental organizations to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. The needs and interests of critical and neglected groups are highlighted throughout the book, alongside the need for improving knowledge management on climate change. The case studies presented offer regional analyses for countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Mongolia, Nepal and the Philippines and cover issues such as livelihood vulnerability and displacement, climate migration, macroeconomic impacts, urban environmental governance and disaster management.

This book explores significant aspects of the New Urban Agenda in the Asia-Pacific region, and presents, from different contexts and perspectives, innovative interventions afoot for transforming the governance of 21st-century cities in two key areas: (i) urban planning and policy; and (ii) service delivery and social inclusion. Representing institutions across a wide geography, academic researchers and development practitioners from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America have authored the chapters that lend the volume its distinctly diverse topical foci. Based on a wide range of cases and intriguing experiences, this collection is a uniquely valuable resource for everyone interested in the present and future of cities and urban regions in Asia-Pacific.

This book investigates the less-explored dimensions of how industries in different Indian subnational spaces or states have responded to the growing phenomenon of internationalization. What factors have influenced firms participating in global business? Have state (both central and provincial) policies acted as catalyst for local firms? Not only does this study delve into these issues; it also painstakingly develops a comprehensive database that remains unique in the absence of reliable official statistics on this subject to date. Efforts have been made to establish a reasonably consistent dataset for the period 1990-2008 derived from the CMIE-PROWESS database. Care has been taken to condense the data and classify it by sector, location, size and ownership. The study delineates export patterns by firm and state and explores factors influencing export decisions according to sector, size and location. A further interesting aspect is the book's critical examination of industrial and trade promotion policies at the state/regional level that might have contributed to or hindered exporting by firms. The states considered for detailed policy discussions are highly diverse and include Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka. To address the glaring absence of literature on the role of subnational factors in enterprises' export performance, a preliminary state-by-state analysis of the spatial determinants of firms' export activities is also provided.

This book emphasizes the need for experimenting with more deliberate and rigorous policy processes to attain balanced regional development, which can promote both equity and efficiency in India's development discourse. The institutional mechanisms for dealing with regional imbalance in India have not been very successful so far. With rising discrepancies in development, demand for autonomy continues along with a new dimension of regionalism arising from submerged identity along with political and economic aspirations, which demanded new channels for solution. So far, attempts to create space for autonomy have possibly not optimally accommodated the conceptual mechanisms like equity and democratic process. Thus democratizing policy process using six pillars of voice: knowledge, objective, fundamental values, implementation framework and public awareness can ensure a better policy outcome for dealing with the persistent challenges of regional disparity in India. This book further focuses on the need for democratizing the policy process for regional development through discussion and inclusion. Such a transition needs innovation in policy regime, which can be attained through following six pillars (i) Democratic voice of stakeholders in policy development and implementation; (ii) Clear policy objectives that advance the common good, based on voice; (iii) Unbiased, sound and comprehensive knowledge and data bases. (iv) Consistency with constitutional values; (v) A sound implementation framework ensuring user-friendliness, transparency and rationality of decision-making processes, effective grievance redress, clear accountability and independent evaluation; (vi) Public awareness and support of policies with relevant and public participation in implementation.

This publication is devoted to the natural feature - the Black Sea and its littoral states. At the same time the Azov Sea is also considered here. This region is the focus of many geopolitical, economic, social and environmental issues that involve not only the countries coming out to the Black and Azov Seas, but other world countries, too. This publication contains over 1500 articles and terms providing descriptions of geographical and oceanographic features, cities, ports, transport routes, marine biological resources, international treaties, national and international programs, research institutions, historical and archaeological monuments, activities of prominent scientists, researchers, travelers, military commanders, etc. who had relation to the Black Sea. It includes a multi-century chronology of the events that became the outstanding milestones in the history of development of the Black Sea - Azov Sea region.

The authors analyze how the industrial shift toward services and the deconcentration of the Philadelphia region's employment and population affected the distribution of income during the 1980s.

This book is based on the assumption that “organic has lost its way�.  Paradoxically, it comes at a time when we witness the continuing of growth in organic food production and markets around the world. Yet, the book claims that organic has lost sight of its first or fundamental philosophical principles and ontological assumptions. The collection offers empirically grounded discussions that address the principles and fundamental assumptions of organic farming and marketing practices. The book draws attention to the core principles of organic and offers different clearly articulated and well-defined conceptual frameworks that offer new insights into organic practices. Divided into five parts, the book presents new perspectives on enduring issues, examines standards and certification, gives insights into much-discussed and additional market and consumer issues, and reviews the interplay of organic and conventional farming. The book concludes with a framework for rethinking ethics in the organic movement and reflections on the positioning of organic ethics.

What is family farming? How can it help meet the challenges confronting the world? How can it contribute to a sustainable and more equitable development? Not only is family farming the predominant form of agriculture around the world, especially so in developing countries, it is also the agriculture of the future. By declaring 2014 the "International Year of Family Farming," the United Nations has placed this form of production at the center of debates on agricultural development. These debates are often reduced to two opposing positions. The first advocates the development of industrial or company agriculture, supposedly efficient because it follows industrial processes for market-oriented mass production. The second promotes the preservation of family farming with its close links between family and farm. The authors of this book wish to enrich the debates by helping overcome stereotypes - which often manifest through the use of terms such as "small-scale farming, subsistence farming, peasant, etc." Research work has emphatically demonstrated the great adaptability of family farming systems and their ability to meet the major challenges of tomorrow but it has also not overlooked their limitations. The authors explore the choices facing society and possible development trajectories at national and international levels, and the contribution that agriculture will have to make. They call for a recommitment of public policies in favor of family farming in developing countries and stress the importance of planning actions targeted at and tailored to the family character of agricultural models. But, above all, they highlight the need to overcome strictly sectoral rationales, by placing family farming at the core of a broader economic and social project. This book is the result of a collaborative effort led by CIRAD and encapsulates three decades of research on family farming. It will interest researchers, teachers and students, and all those involved in national and international efforts for the development of countries in the South.