The Business of Improving Neighborhoods. A Critical Overview of Neighborhood-Based Business Improvement Districts (NBIDs) in Sweden

This article offers an overview of neighbourhood-based BIDs (NBIDs) in Sweden. Swedish NBIDs tend to appear in stigmatized residential areas engaging with pressing sets of urban issues that have been longstanding concern of social policy. Their overarching goal is raising property values in neighborhoods on the edge between urban decline and (re)development potential. Emerging in a neoliberalizing institutional context, NBIDs present themselves as correctives to public-policy failures by promoting property-oriented solutions. The adaptation of the BID model in the Swedish ‘post-welfare’ landscape, however, exhibits, and arguably exacerbates, the shortcomings found in BID elsewhere. Their opaque institutional structure and lack of accountability contribute to curbing democratic influence over local development, thus reinforcing spatial inequalities. We argue that the growing political advocacy for the institutionalization of the BID model in Sweden presents a new milestone in the neoliberalization of urban governance, as private actors are promoted to legitimate co-creators of urban policy.

Navigating norms and invisible rules: Explaining the case of business influence in international shipping regulation

This article develops a micro-level theoretical perspective of business influence in international negotiations. By drawing on organizational institutional theory, the article proposes that site-specific institutionalized norms can structure the nature and extent of business power. The article illustrates the value of this perspective through an illustrative case study of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through interviews and participant observation of on-site dynamics during negotiations on environmental shipping regulation. The article shows how, in the case of the IMO, specific institutionalized norms and beliefs structure private actors’ possible influence and their claims to authority. In particular, strongly held beliefs about the nature of political deliberation in the IMO both constrain and enable business interests, sometimes overriding the general structural power of the shipping industry. This research implies that future scholarship of business power and lobbying should be attentive to specific institutionalized ideas structuring business actors’ range of legitimate activities, in particular in international institutions where individual negotiation sites can develop idiosyncratic norms and beliefs about the legitimacy of private actor participation.

The territorial segmentation of coastal tourism areas

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the potential benefits of identifying homogeneous territorial units of the urban-tourism space at a local scale. Design/methodology/approach The territory is an essential variable for designing tourist activities adapted to the characteristics of each urban-tourism space. However, your consideration presents a series of problems, including the lack of alphanumeric, microscale, georeferenced statistical information. The territorial segmentation of the tourist accommodations supply is approached as a methodology, a technique and an instrument that can be used to apply marketing strategies in coastal tourism areas. Findings One of the most important results is that territorial segmentation is a methodology and technique that can mitigate this issue because it is well-suited to defining spatial patterns of tourist behaviour through the delimitation of territorial units that have a certain degree of homogeneity. Originality/value The idea of territorial segmentation is the ideal technique for understanding tourists and their behaviour in the territory by integrating all the variables that intervene in a trip, the different aspects of the destination and data regarding tourist behaviour, allowing them to be understood at the greatest level of territorial disaggregation and making it a good tool for public and private actors, capable of facilitating intelligent decisions in strategic territorial planning and in defining the marketing approach of tourism companies.

Energy Market in the Post-COVID-19 World

The objective of this chapter was to structurally model the high priority factors in the face of the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19 on the energy market. The method was based on interpretive structural modeling, and the matrix of crossed impacts multiplication was applied to classification. A model of 12 factors structured hierarchically in six levels is proposed in which consumption preferences, regulatory and normative modifications, political restrictions, and planning strategies have the greatest influence on the energy market from the perspective of China. As a result of this, it is suggested to move towards greater participation of public and private actors in renewable energy vectors.

Fostering Ecocultural Resources, Identity, and Tourism in Inland Territories (Galicia, NW Spain)

Inland territories hold a great diversity of ecocultural resources, increasingly constituted in tourist products for local development. Their role in improving the socioeconomic conditions and wellness of local communities, as well as in promoting tourism and sustainability, depends on the involvement of public and private actors. The relationships and the collaboration of local actors are essential in that regard. The study of aforementioned processes takes place in the inland territory of Galicia (NW Spain). The methodology of research relied on in-depth interviews. Due to the key role of the local actors, the interviews focused on their professional and life experiences. The analysis of the answers establishes the definition and the appraisal of the main resources, attached to territorial identity, and highlights the engagement and involvement of the actors in the territorial dynamics that foster the promotion of the ecocultural resources for tourism.

Factors influencing the level of Social Responsibility of marine tourism companies and restaurants: The island of Fuerteventura

This research aims to analyse the factors that affect the level of commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of marine tourism companies and restaurants. This commitment can be conditioned by economic reasons, stakeholder pressure, difficulties in implementing socio-environmentally responsible actions, and adaptation to change, as reflected in the innovative activities of companies, as well as by the degree of collaboration with public and private agents. This study was carried out on the island of Fuerteventura. A Likert scale questionnaire with 39 items was designed to collect the data, which was processed using a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results show that innovation, stakeholder pressure, and economic reasons have positive effects on companies’ commitment to CSR, while poor collaboration with public and private actors and implementation difficulties have negative effects. Given that this sector is highly regulated and depends on different public authorities to carry out its activity, collaboration with the public administration must be improved to reduce barriers for companies and their activities. Moreover, when an island’s economy depends almost exclusively on tourist activity, it is essential to develop responsible tourism. This requires public authorities that organise and promote sustainable uses of the territory, while encouraging dialogue and facilitating mechanisms for private initiatives, as well as socio-environmentally responsible companies.

Connect the Dots

This chapter presents a case study of the Connect the Dots Project, which encompasses a coordinated and connected set of actions aimed at sustainable territorial development, under the prism of the knowledge economy. The project, held in São Paulo City, Brazil, was awarded with the first place at the contest Mayors Challenge 2016, organized by the North American institution Bloomberg Philanthropies. Connect the Dots is a project aimed at strengthening producers and support their transition to an agroecological production system, as a way of protecting the rural landscape, conceived within the scope of the 2014 São Paulo Strategic Master Plan. The name of the project, an allusion to a puzzle game, has its inspiration in the fundamental connections between public and private actors. Its foundation is in the development of technological innovations, education collective actions, and decisions based on data and evidence typical of the knowledge economy.

Ville et Evenement : Analyse de l’inscription Territoriale de la « Fete du 15 Aout » Dans la Ville de Savalou (Centre Benin)

Les villes accueillent souvent des évènements qui, de par leur nature et les manifestations qu’ils engendrent, marquent la trame urbaine et contribuent au développement local. Le but de la présente recherche est d’analyser l’inscription territoriale de la « fête du 15 août », le plus important évènement qu’accueille, chaque année, la ville de Savalou. L’approche méthodologique adoptée combine les recherches documentaires notamment sur la thématique ville et évènement, les enquêtes de terrain à travers l’observation participante des manifestations des éditions 2019 et 2021 de la fête du 15 août, les entretiens semi directifs avec les autorités communales et les questionnaires avec les promoteurs de réceptifs hôteliers, de restaurants ainsi que quelques forains et visiteurs urbains. Au total, 173 personnes ont été interrogées dans le cadre de cette recherche. Ces personnes ont été retenues par la méthode de choix raisonné. Les méthodes d’analyse de contenu et de statistiques descriptives ont permis de traiter les données et informations recueillies et le modèle SWOT ou FFOM (Forces, Faiblesses, Opportunités et Menaces) a été utilisé pour analyser les résultats obtenus. Il ressort des analyses que cinq (05) manifestations clés sont organisées dans le cadre de la « fête du 15 août » : il s’agit du rituel d’autorisation de la consommation des nouvelles ignames, la Grande Foire Artisanale de Savalou (GFAS), l’élection de Miss Savalou (la plus belle fille de la Commune de Savalou), la finale de la coupe de football de la commune et les concerts. Au plan spatial, l’évènement se déroule en plusieurs lieux à savoir le palais royal, la paroisse de l’église catholique, la maison des jeunes, le stade omnisport de la ville, la place Soha et le site de la foire. Il n’existe pas une structure officielle qui assure le portage de l’évènement ; chaque manifestation est organisée par un acteur donné sans qu’aucune coordination ne soit mise en place. Par ailleurs, très peu de recettes sont collectées par la mairie à l’occasion de cet évènement. On en déduit que l’évènement profite financièrement plus aux acteurs privés qu’à la municipalité. Cities often host events which, by their nature and the events they generate, mark the urban fabric and contribute to local development. The aim of this research is to analyze the territorial inscription of the "feast of August 15", the most important event hosted each year by the city of Savalou. The methodological approach adopted combines documentary research, in particular on the city and event theme, field surveys through the participant observation of the events of the 2019 and 2021 editions of the August 15 festival, semi-structured interviews with the municipal authorities and questionnaires with the promoters of hotel receptives, restaurants as well as a few fairgrounds and urban visitors. A total of 173 people were interviewed for this research. These people were selected by the reasoned choice method. The methods of content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to process the data and information collected and the SWOT or SWOT model (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) was used to analyze the results obtained. It emerges from the analyzes that five (05) key events are organized within the framework of the “feast of August 15”: it is about the ritual of authorization of the consumption of new yams, the Great Artisanal Fair of Savalou (GFAS) , the election of Miss Savalou (the most beautiful girl in the Municipality of Savalou), the final of the municipal football cup and the concerts. Spatially, the event takes place in several locations, namely the Royal Palace, the parish of the Catholic Church, the youth center, the city's sports stadium, Soha Square and the site of the fair. There is no official structure that ensures the portering of the event; each event is organized by a given actor without any coordination being put in place. In addition, very little revenue is collected by the town hall during this event. We deduce that the event financially benefits private actors more than the municipality.