Territorial Development Strategies Research Articles

The Geological Heritage of Otranto–Leuca Coast (Salento, Italy)

The eastern coast of Salento (Lecce province, southern Apulia, Italy) is a remarkable geological area stretching from Otranto to Leuca villages. It retains a valuable geological heritage produced by the main geological events occurred in the Mediterranean area since Cretaceous. The stratigraphic sequence is extended from the Upper Cretaceous to the Quaternary; the stratigraphic architecture is very peculiar since it is made of several mostly carbonate systems laterally disposed and grafted one upon the other. Numerous sites of stratigraphic, palaeontological, and geomorphological relevance can be recognized. The Otranto–Leuca coastal area is included into a sustainable territorial development strategy supported by Regione Puglia program through the institution of the Regional Natural Otranto–Santa Maria di Leuca Coast and Tricase Woodland Park (n.30 Puglia Regional law of 26/10/2006), including some SIC (Habitat 92/43/CE) and having a consortium for the management. This paper stresses the importance of the geological heritage retained by Otranto–Leuca coastal area supporting the idea to start the procedure to become a Global Geopark Network member.

A methodology for assessing poverty in Moldavia (Romania)

Community poverty, analyzed as the sum of several types of social and territorial deprivation, is the geographical expression of various processes and phenomena, commonly the object of sociological and economic studies. In this paper we performed a statistical compaction of a series of synthetic indicators, generating an indicator called the index of community development. The statistical validation of these results is accompanied by a spatial validation, which identifi es the legitimate social structures in rural areas, emphasizing that obtaining valid results in the implementation of territorial development strategies depends more on the consistency of the scientifi c methods used to interpret statistical analysis.

Customer habits and the Datourway strategy

The different funds of European Union - ISPA, PHARE, SAPARD - ensured the possibility not only to work out developing projects, but also they provided possibility to realize them. These funds' aim was rural development, spatial development, development of economy but tourism has never been nominated. After the year of 2004 tourism received attention and several funds of European Union aimed at development of infrastructure for tourism, development of thematic routes, development of accommodation, etc. There were several strategies prepared for the Danube, and the Datourway project had its special name: Transnational Strategy for the Sustainable Territorial Development of the Danube Area with special regard to Tourism. The Danube is undervalued from the tourism point of view. In the participating countries the capitals, seaside, beaches, mountains are considered real attractions and it means that the tourism strategy for the Danube is a challenging task. The final and main outcome is not only the strategy for tourism considering the customer habits, but an Investment Guide Book pointing out the common values of destination and attraction development together with 'best practices' common projects for the different types of regions too, in order to serve the development of Danube Region.

СТРАТЕГИЯ РАЗВИТИЯ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОГО АГРОПИЩЕВОГО КЛАСТЕРА

Since 2007 the majority of Russian regions include clusters development in the long-term territorial socio-economic development strategies. The main attention is paid to formation of innovative and industrial, tourist clusters. However, a small amount of scientific works is devoted to сlustering in agriculture. The potential of cluster development of the agrarian and industrial complex is studied insufficiently: in our opinion, the formation of agrocluster structures allows to obtain a synergistic effect that contributes to sustainable regional development. The strategy of the agro-food cluster development is considered in the article. Proceeding from its competitive advantages, the priority directions of development are defined. The forecast of staple food production in the region is provided. The implementation of cluster policy in agrarian and industrial complex will enable to increase the competitiveness of region’s economy and its food security. Clustering of the agrarian sector encourages the rural economy diversification and increases the rural population living standards.

European Integration and Spatial Rescaling in the Baltic Region: Soft Spaces, Soft Planning and Soft Security

Spatial rescaling arguably represents one of the most significant recent changes in planning. Rescaling processes do not merely imply changes in powers across existing layers of decision-making, but also entail new scales of intervention, new actor constellations and new geometries of governance. A wide range of examples of spatial rescaling can be seen across Europe, varying from local through to regional and international. The emergence of “soft spaces”—regions in which strategy is made between or alongside formal institutions and processes—is one of the phenomena associated with contemporary spatial rescaling. These spaces are often overlapping and characterized by fuzzy geographical boundaries. The formation of soft spaces is often articulated in terms of breaking away from the rigidities associated with the practices and expectations of working within existing political or administrative boundaries but can also be viewed as providing a means of bypassing formal procedures and reducing democratic accountability. Focusing on European territorial cooperation and development strategies in the Baltic region, this paper discusses how they are contributing to spatial rescaling in soft spaces and how the strategies can be seen as a form of soft planning and as a means to promote soft security policy (which could be considered as a wider form of foreign policy).

Preferenze sociali e preferenze istituzionali a confronto: il caso del distretto forestale dell’Arci-Grighine (Provincia di Oristano)

The research analyses the efficiency of the representative democracy model in the land policies definition. The representative model is based on the assumption that people (public) are not able to manage their interests, but need the presence of representatives in order to assure the common interest. The paper focuses on the comparison between social preferences and institutional preferences. The hypothesis is that in the case there is a wide divergence of preferences between institutional and social preferences, it means that institutional actors have a different perception of priority in comparison to the society. To analyse the divergences concerning land policies authors have used a questionnaire designed in order to consider the main management strategies on rural development. The questionnaire - subdivided into thematic sections (forest functions, strategies of territorial development, renewable energies and forest fire control strategies) - has been submitted face-to-face to the representatives of local institutions and to the non-institutional actors. The results of the interviews have been compared statistically considering the two groups of actors, with the purpose of emphasizing the convergence and divergence on land policies. The study area is the forest district of Arci-Grighine in the Oristano department (Sardinia).

La géographie du vieillissement au Canada atlantique: une analyse sous l’angle des disparités territoriales au cours de la période 1981–2006

Following the example of other Canadian provinces, those in Atlantic Canada are affected, albeit to a lesser degree, by the increase in the number of persons aged 65 or over, a trend that we can define as gerontogrowth. In addition, this region of Canada seems particularly affected by the trend of an aging population, that is, the rise in the proportion of people in the total population aged 65 or more. For example, on a national scale, New Brunswick is the third oldest province according to the last five-year period (2001-2006), having advanced from the fourth position it held between 1981 and 2001 and from the fifth position occupied between 1971 and 1981. In addition, these trends evolve in different manners in different places, contrasts that are strongest at the regional and local level. The goal of this article is to examine the strength of these disparities during the period 1981 to 2006 and to identify some potential solutions for a territorial development strategy for seniors.

Embedding Local Places in Global Spaces: Geographical Indications as a Territorial Development Strategy

Geographical indications (GIs) are place-based names that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. GIs are unique, in that they provide a means of ensuring that control over production and sales of a product stays within a local area, but at the same time they make use of extralocal markets. Although control over GIs largely rests with local actors, GIs are nested in wider regional, national, and international networks; and the passage from local to extralocal markets introduces new costs and benefits and new relations of power into the supply chain. The degree to which GI protection spurs development and protects local environmental and cultural resources depends on the structure of the GI legislation and on the territorial context in which protection is embedded. Using a commodity-chains approach, I compare two GI production systems, tequila in Mexico and Comte cheese in France, in order to develop a theory of the factors that contribute to more sustainable, equitable GI production systems. I argue that three key differences in the design of the GI schemes help to explain the varying effects of the two cases: (1) the manner in which supply-chain actors define quality, (2) the way that the GI valorizes the terroir of the region, and (3) the strength and cohesion that the collective organizing body exhibits. Moreover, the institutional and political context in which GI supply chains “touch down” plays a critical role. Contrary to a conceptualization of GIs as compatible with a purely market-oriented model, my comparison of these two cases indicates that some level of state involvement, in order to level the playing field and empower small farmers, is a necessary, although not sufficient, precondition for successful and sustainable GIs.

Bien vieillir aux États-Unis : mobilités résidentielles et territoires en mouvement

The United States were chosen to analyze the migrations of elderly people due to the extensive research studies available on migratory movements upon retirement in the US and to the emergence and development of economic and territorial development strategies. In this case, the interest of observing the processes at work concerns the emergence of age perceived as a relevant criterion not only for the definition of migratory flows but also for the creation of human groups and development of living areas where, grouped together, individuals think that they control their ageing better to fit into a special model of «ageing well».

Planning for Rural Housing in the Republic of Ireland: From National Spatial Strategies to Development Plans

This paper examines the role of spatial planning as a policy framework for managing rural housing within an integrated territorial development strategy. The paper focuses on the Republic of Ireland, which provides a useful case for analysing spatial planning and rural housing relationships, due to the State's recent shift towards spatial planning (formalized with the publication of the Irish National Spatial Strategy), as well as the level of housing construction that has been observed in an increasingly post-productivist countryside (triggered by counter-urbanization flows, increased affluence and demands for second holiday homes, etc.). The paper reviews all policy instruments that have been used to manage rural housing at various scales (from national strategies to local level development plans). It is argued that while spatial planning adopts an integrative vocabulary, as policy moves down the spatial scale hierarchy, multi-dimensional spatial goals are implemented through traditional, narrow land-use regulation. This often leads to rural housing being addressed in isolation from its wider social and economic context, disconnecting housing from wider rural community issues and ultimately failing to deliver a coordinated and coherent spatial policy for managing rural settlements.

Strategic Planning for City Networks: The Emergence of a Basque Global City?

Throughout Europe, policy-makers recognize the development potentials of regions in which multiple cities are located close to each other. However, developing synergies among these cities requires networking to optimize the critical mass and exploit complementarities. Much is expected of spatial planning in terms of fostering networks. However, little is known about the actual contribution planning may have in developing city networks, in particular, since it involves planning on a new scale and based upon new starting points and objectives. Exemplary is the territorial development strategy (1990s) of the Basque country aimed at developing the networking among its three main cities (Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria) to develop a Basque ‘Global City’. We find that the leverage of this planning strategy has been poor, due to strong local identities and the lack of regional organizing capacity. This also appears to be common for other polycentric regions.

Les inondations historiques dans le bassin du Ter (Catalogne). Histoire, patrimoine et développement territorial

Historical flooding in the Ter basin (Catalonia). History, heritage and territorial development. This article aims at taking a positive view of historical flooding and the marks this has left on the territory as a strategy for territorial development, using the River Ter basin (Catalonia) as an example. It first presents the policy of patrimonialisation of the floods in the Alba-Ter Consortium and the main distinctive features in the studied area, and provides a brief review of the great floods which took place in history. It then sets out, classifies and describes the principal witnesses to the flooding which took place in this Mediterranean river basin. Finally, it looks in more depth at the value, from a heritage and tourism point of view, of some of the most interesting witnesses, such as flood markers, alterations made to certain buildings to deal with the flood risk, natural spaces liable to flooding and hydraulic defence projects.

Eco-labelling in Austria and Lithuania: a Comparative Study

At the end of the last century a number of environmental laws, technical regulations and normative documents were created. At the same time there appeared the combination of such concepts as “business“, “environment- oriented activity“, “sustainable development“, “continuous development“ and “sustainable product management“ in scientific articles. Country‘s economic and social development should be oriented according to sustainable development principle in the way that current satisfaction of consumer needs would not reduce the possibilities of satisfying the needs of generations to come. Austria and Lithuania signed the declaration containing this point together with other countries in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. Every state must have an environmental policy, which links all development strategies of economy branches and territories. Eco-labelling of products and services is part of environment- oriented activity and sustainable product management. Eco-label is an important product quality indicator. Eco-certification and eco-labelling are considered as instrument within the European strategy of Integrated Product Policy to achieve more sustainable consumption patterns. It is possible that the increased demand for green products and services from informed consumers will induce enterprises to supply markets with more environmentally friendly products. The main purpose of this work is to analyze and generalize the practice of products and services ecocertification and eco-labelling in the world as well as to identify their better possibilities of usage in Lithuania and in Austria. The article uses the following methods: comparative and systematic analysis of scientific literature, survey of Austrian and Lithuanian enterprises and markets, mathematical statistics, interviewing experts, managers and consumers. Special parallel investigations have been performed to assess the status in Austria and Lithuania with the purpose to define consumer and manufacturer attitudes and preferences upon ecological products. The comparative study also includes the range of awarded products and services in both countries and the structure of enterprises taking part in national ecolabelling schemes. In a next step the information of consumers in both countries on labels and awarded products will be analysed. Factors of success and failures in the spreading of eco-labelling shall be worked out as a result of the comparative study.

Sustainable rural economies: some lessons from the English experience

AbstractRural areas in Europe have increasingly become cast as places of nature, and so consideration of sustainable rural development is preoccupied with the management and protection of environmental and natural resources. Yet rural areas are also places of business, commerce and living. This paper examines the character and treatment of rural economies in England over the past decade. It sets out some of the challenges for the socio‐economic development of rural areas, and explains how concerns about sustainable rural economies have come to be eclipsed within central government by those of ‘greening farming’ on the one hand and urban policy on the other. The paper concludes by discussing how the role of rural areas and rural economies might be creatively rethought in the context of regional and sub‐regional territorial development strategies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Strategic environmental assessment in Hong Kong

This review examines the development and application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process in the planning framework of Hong Kong. Two strategic planning case studies are evaluated within the context of SEA, namely the Territorial Development Strategy Review (TDS Review) and the Third Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS-3). Rapid population growth and urbanisation in Hong Kong, coupled with a historic lack of planning controls and inherent conflicts between government departments have been major obstacles to achieving sustainable development in the territory. Despite these challenges, Hong Kong was one of the first Asian countries to apply SEA to major development plans, where the implementation of the ‘SUSDEV 21’ study on sustainable development has demonstrated the government's commitment towards integrated environmental protection. The application of SEA has provided decision-makers with key information on potential environment impacts arising from proposed developments, resulting in greater accountability and transparency in the decision-making process. SEA in Hong Kong has also prompted an increased level of environmental awareness and co-operation between government departments and agencies responsible for the management of Hong Kong's natural and urban environments. However, the application of SEA in Hong Kong continues to have notable limitations. SEA needs to evolve beyond its current sectoral application to examine ways in which development decisions can not only pre-empt and prevent environmental damage, but also positively enhance and restore existing natural resources. Current land use plans and transportation strategies still largely determine the pattern of development in the near future without adequate longer-term environmental cost–benefit analysis. Sustainable development includes environmental, social and economic considerations, and these inter-related elements need be suitably balanced. SEA is not a means to obstruct development in Hong Kong, but should be recognised for its inherent socio-economic and ecological value, and fully integrated with the decision-making process. Whilst it is admirable that Hong Kong has taken positive steps in this direction, it is now an opportune moment for the government to have the foresight and tenacity to create a sustainable development framework for Hong Kong into the future.

中国返還直前の香港の開発計画と関連制度に関する研究 : 土地利用の戦略,構想,計画及び規制手法を中心として

Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Development Plans in Hong Kong are based on Town Planning Ordinance and are made by Planning Department. Development Plans consist of Territorial Development Strategy (TDS), Sub-regional Development Strategies (RDSs), Outline Zoning Plans (OZPs), Outline Development Plans (ODPs) and Layout Plans (LPs). Planning Standards & Guidelines contributes to make TDS, RDSs, OZPs, ODPs, & LPs and consists of 11 documents. Land use control is focused to usage of land or building through application of development permission and upper limit of floor area ratio through density zoning.

Strategic planning in Hong Kong: lessons from TDS (Territorial Development Strategy) and PADS (Port and Development Strategy)

Strategic planning in Hong Kong: lessons from TDS (Territorial Development Strategy) and PADS (Port and Development Strategy)

Rethinking the Territorial Development Strategy Planning Process in Hong Kong

(1987). Rethinking the Territorial Development Strategy Planning Process in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Public Administration: Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 25-55.