scholarly journals Can development axes be identified by socio-economic variables? The case of Czechia

Geografie ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Blažek ◽  
Pavlína Netrdová

This article aims to contribute to existing analyses of regional development in the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by conducting a detailed regional analysis at the municipal (LAU II) level in Czechia. The focus on such a detailed regional level allows for the testing of several hypotheses, for which traditional regional analyses based on NUTS II – NUTS III data were insufficient. First, we investigate whether development axes, as used in planning documents, manifest themselves at a higher level of socioeconomic development. Second, we expect the formation of clusters, exhibiting a higher level of socioeconomic development, around strong growth centres, such as the city of Mladá Boleslav. Third, we explore whether increasing differentiation has shifted from the regional level to the microregional/local level during the past 15 years of the post-socialist transformation. To address these hypotheses, we analyze a set of socioeconomic variables with the help of the spatial autocorrelation method, which allows us to generalize the inevitably, highly fragmented patterns found at the local level.

Author(s):  
P.A. Ukrainskiy ◽  
◽  
E.A. Terekhin ◽  

Over the past two decades, in the Belgorod region there has been a spread of woody vegetation along the erosional network. One of the forms of this process is the formation of open woodlands. In this work, we research the density of trees in such light forests. On the territory of the Belgorod region, we chose 200 sites with an area of 1 ha each. We mapped trees inside the sites using mosaics of satellite images Google Map. For this, we used the QGIS program and the plugin Quick Map Services. Based on these data, by interpolation, maps of changes in the density of trees in open woodlands were constructed. To show local variation, interpolation by the method of inverse-weighted distance is used. To identify trends at the subregional and regional level, we applied smoothing interpolation (based on a locally weighted mean according to the Nadaraya-Watson formula.) with a bandwidth of 20 and 50 km, respectively. We performed the interpolation in the environment for statistical computing R using an additional spatstat package. Among 200 plots, tree density ranged from 21 to 415 pcs / ha. On average, it was equal to 111.2 pcs / ha. At the local level, there are no clearly visible patterns. At the subregional level, alternation occurs when moving from west to east areas with increased and reduced density of trees open woodlands. At the regional level, there is a decrease in tree density when moving from the northwest to the southeast.


Author(s):  
Nurul Huda Sakib

Abstract In the past few years, community organizing has been initiated by different government and non-government organizations in corruption prevention through creating social awareness and motivation. The question arises: Can community-based organizations or community organizing empower people to raise their voice to prevent corruption? Based on empirical evidence, this research argues that engaging the community in anti-corruption initiatives can be an effective way to avert corruption and empower people’s voice. The finding shows that anti-corruption initiatives through spontaneous individual and collective involvement at the local level have an impact on creating accountability and transparency. Despite several challenges, these group and individual efforts have had significant results in promoting anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh. Effective anti-corruption initiatives in engaging the community need ‘spontaneous’ participation by individuals or groups. As such, the government should give primacy of these individuals and groups and use them to create more formalized corruption watchdog bodies at the sub-regional level and make it a stronger National Integrity Systems foundation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Yves Boulin ◽  
Ulrich Mückenberger

The modern ‘network society’ restructures the system of ‘voice’ as it has come down from the past. Decision-making is drifting away from particular plants, organisations and institutions, and is becoming fluid — whereas voice remains fixed to plants, organisations and institutions. The tentative thesis put forward in this article is that only both regional/local and global ‘voice networking’ may be capable of coping with the decision-making character of the network society. This leads to efforts to integrate, into the bargaining processes, also representatives of civil society — NGOs on a European and supranational level, various ‘stakeholders' on a local and regional level. This gives two new roles to social dialogue: it has to take place not only on a sectoral, but also on a territorial level (‘la négociation sociale territorialisée’); and it has to ‘open up’ towards the territorial stakeholders (‘le dialogue sociétal’). Local time policies are taken as an example for such a new function of territorial social dialogue.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva (Evangelia) Papatzani ◽  
Lena Knappers

Over the past decades, Athens has emerged as both a destination and gateway city for diverse migrant populations. Athenian urban development interrelated with migrants’ settlement dynamics has resulted in a super-diverse and mixed urban environment. This article focuses on the western part of Omonia, in central Athens, Greece, and investigates sociospatial trajectories of migrants’ habitation, entrepreneurship, and appropriation of (semi-)public spaces. It draws on scholarship about everyday encounters where negotiations of difference and interethnic coexistence take place at the very local level. It explores encounters between migrants, as well as between migrants and locals, that are created due to their everyday survival and social needs. The article argues that these ‘place-specific’ and ‘needs-specific’ encounters emerge as ‘micropublics’ that are open to negotiation, manage to disrupt pre-existing social boundaries, and epitomise processes of belonging in the city. The article draws from ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative semi-structured interviews carried out from 2013 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2019.


Author(s):  
Gareth Newham

It has been a little over five years since metropolitan police departments were first established in South Africa. Despite relatively small numbers of operational personnel, they now form a familiar part of the policing landscape. With good reason, metro police officers do better at traffic control than crime prevention, and their relationship with the SAPS needs attention. This article reflects on their achievements over the past years and some of the key challenges confronting these local level police agencies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-100
Author(s):  
Waldemar Sęczyk

AbstractUntil 1989 Wałbrzych was an important industrial center of Lower Silesia. The system transformation which started in 1989 led to the liquidation of enterprises in the mining, ceramics and textile industries. The city began to be perceived in Poland as a city of high unemployment, illegal shallow coal mines or political corruption.The city authorities began to wonder what events from the past could be helpful in creating its new image. They undertook a number of activities in this regard. The questionnaire was to assess the effectiveness of the city’s activities. It was carried out among secondary school students, students and the employees of Wałbrzych city institutions, teachers of Wałbrzych schools and councilors of the City Council. The survey was conducted in October and November 2019. The respondents indicated mainly the activities of the authorities aimed at personalizing local historical policy. The city authorities undertook a number of other initiatives in the field of local remembrance policy. The surveys showed that the initiatives were not known to the inhabitants of Wałbrzych. In the minds of respondents, there were only two historical events, namely May 3 and November 11. To a small extent, they participated in historical ceremonies present in national historical politics (e.g. the Day of the Cursed Soldiers). Apart from the figure of Princess Daisy, most respondents were unable to identify other people important to the region. Although there are a number of organizations and associations in the city, only the Princess Daisy Foundation conducted the eff ective and visible activities in the field of local remembrance policy. Although the respondents declared their interest in history, their knowledge at the local level is low.


2009 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 8-10
Author(s):  
Sher Singh Bhat

Due to our lack of vision, planning and other mistakes, Nepal is in a very serious situation of load shedding. The nation is about 200 MW deficit of power supply. Hydropower development is an endeavor related with several sectors. It cannot be taken as only a commercial sector considering that businessmen will make all necessary things when there is a demand. In the past, the transmission sector has not been given due importance. Because of the complex nature of Transmission, there should only be one transmission operator in the country. Based on the periodic basin-wise generation plan of the nation, we should prepare an accelerated Development Plan. The Basin Plan should indicate how and where local level, regional level and national level hydro plants will be connected to the grid, and the sequence of developing the basin transmission network.Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Issue No. 4, January, 2009 Page 8-10


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Shaw ◽  
Fred Robinson

In a referendum in November 2004, the people of the North East decisively rejected the proposal to create a directly elected Regional Assembly. This result effectively put an end to proposals for Regional Assemblies elsewhere as plans for referenda in other regions were consequently abandoned. Drawing upon detailed interviews with a wide range of stakeholders in the North East, this article assesses why the North East voted ‘No’ and argues that, despite the subsequent emergence of the city-region as an alternative framework for governance, what is still needed is a serious commitment to democratic renewal. Democratic connections between citizens and the state, between the taxpayer and public services, need to be rebuilt. Only a reinvigorated democracy can begin to dispel the cynicism and alienation that characterises the contemporary political process — and which was a main factor behind the ‘No’ vote in the referendum. Given the failure of political devolution at the regional level, genuine democratic renewal must now be taken forward at the local level.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
Cecília Avelino Barbosa

Place branding is a network of associations in the consumer’s mind, based on the visual, verbal, and behavioral expression of a place. Food can be an important tool to summarize it as it is part of the culture of a city and its symbolic capital. Food is imaginary, a ritual and a social construction. This paper aims to explore a ritual that has turned into one of the brands of Lisbon in the past few years. The fresh sardines barbecued out of doors, during Saint Anthony’s festival, has become a symbol that can be found on t-shirts, magnets and all kinds of souvenirs. Over the year, tourists can buy sardine shaped objects in very cheap stores to luxurious shops. There is even a whole boutique dedicated to the fish: “The Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines” and an annual competition promoted by the city council to choose the five most emblematic designs of sardines. In order to analyze the Sardine phenomenon from a city branding point of view, the objective of this paper is to comprehend what associations are made by foreigners when they are outside of Lisbon. As a methodological procedure five design sardines, were used of last year to questioning to which city they relate them in interviews carried in Madrid, Lyon, Rome and London. Upon completion of the analysis, the results of the city branding strategy adopted by the city council to promote the sardines as the official symbol of Lisbon is seen as a Folkmarketing action. The effects are positive, but still quite local. On the other hand, significant participation of the Lisbon´s dwellers in the Sardine Contest was observed, which seems to be a good way to promote the city identity and pride in their best ambassador: the citizens.


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