DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin
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How do online community platforms and associated offline meetings support highly skilled (re-)migration? The case of the Rückkehrerstammtisch in Istanbul
Get PDFIn this article we investigate online community platforms and associated offline meetings that cater to highly skilled (re-)migrants. To do so we draw on a case study of the Rückkehrerstammtisch in Istanbul, which is aimed especially at highly skilled (re-)migrants of Turkish origin, who have moved or plan to move from Germany to Turkey. The Rückkehrerstammtisch mainly consists of an online community platform on the professionally oriented social networking site Xing and regular offline community meetings in Istanbul. Based on a mixed-method case study approach using netnography and qualitative interviews, this article shows that the Rückkehrerstammtisch enables highly skilled persons of Turkish origin the access to migration related information and social networks that are often not available through their pre-existing family and friendship networks in Turkey. Our research thus contributes to the debate about social networks within the migrationprocess of highly skilled persons
Hydrogeography – linking water resources and their management to physical and anthropogenic catchment processes
Get PDFEcological, socio-economic and demographic analyses as prerequisites for sewage treatment problem solutions in rural areas. The case study of Dirlammen, Vogelsberg, Germany
Get PDFThe municipal sewage treatment in Germany is traditionally centralized and allows for a high disposal security. The implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD) showed that the central target, the so-called ‘good ecological state’ has not yet been reached in 90% of all surface water bodies. A common and widespread measure to reach said target is the improvement of sewage treatment plants (STP). A large part of the expenses for that has to be shouldered by local communities. But many rural communities already have to manage high costs caused by the modernization of the sewage pipe system. And as the size of the rural population decreases continuously, the per capita burden increases. This raises the question whether the construction of a new sewage treatment plant is the most efficient way to improve the water quality in rural areas. A comprehensive approach has been developed for answering this question, consisting of 1) biological and physico-chemical wastewater analyses, 2) a modified eco-balance for the construction of a new STP and 3) socio-economic and demographic population analyses. The results show that the water quality of the studied creek is good with exception of the sewage disposal point. The eco-balance for the construction, the operation, and the environmental side effects show that the continued operation of the existing STP is more effective than the construction of a modern facility. This conclusion is supported by the aging and general decrease of the rural population. The diminishing potential to shoulder additional costs is in contrast to the reduced future demand for a modern STP
Corruption and travel: effects of China’s anti-graft campaign on Macao
Get PDF Using differences-in-differences regression models, this research note tries to evaluate the effects of China’s anti-graft campaign on tourism in Macao. It finds that anti-corruption policies significantly curbed gambling with public money in Macao, causing a recent drop in Macao’s gaming revenue. Furthermore, the more strongly the campaigns have been enforced, the less tourists go to the city of Macao. Macao is urged to diversify its casino-dominated and mainland China-dependent economy
‘Retail revolution in China’ – transformation processes in the world’s largest grocery retailing market
Get PDFConstituting the world’s largest grocery retailing market, China’s retail landscape has changed radically over the last 50 years. The article discusses retail transformations, outlining the history of growth and the internationalization process in detail. The paper aims to explore the liberalization of the Chinese economy from a retail perspective, thereby revealing the extent of the transformation. It focuses particularly on two areas: Firstly, deregulation with respect to retailing, as well as impacts of foreign retailers on the retail sector and thus the geographical expansion of modern retailing. Secondly, the article intends to test how well the Economic Transition Model by Bradshaw (1996) suits the Chinese context, while presenting a framework for understanding the factors that appear to trigger changes in the retail landscape. The article is based on interviews with senior executives and retail specialists conducted in China in 2015. It concludes by outlining a brief research agenda for work on retail transitions in China
Severe historical floods on the river Roda, Thuringia: from reconstruction to implications for flood management
Get PDFUsing the Roda river (Thuringia) as an example, we present methods for and results of historical flood research in Germany. The Roda river is one of the tributaries of the Saale river with a length of approximately 33 km. Although the watershed only covers around 262 km², the Roda is very vulnerable to flooding. The river caused damages of catastrophic dimensions within the urban area of Stadtroda (until 1925 “Roda”). These damages were especially devastating after heavy rainfall events during the late spring and early summer seasons of June 1582, April 1654, June 1827, June 1871 and June 1876. This article discusses how the flood history of the Roda river and human response to the associated natural hazards can be analysed by a combination of archive and field work. By means of the available material (e.g. printed, handwritten and physical sources as well as maps, engravings and historical photos), the history of severe floods was reconstructed for several centuries. This specifically refers to 1) the genesis, magnitude, frequency and length of floods, 2) the extent of damages and losses, 3) the risk perception and evaluation by municipal and national administrations and 4) the planning and implementation of protective measures and their impacts. Interestingly, the analysis of the disastrous floods of 1871 and 1876 shows striking similarities to the current discussion (e.g. regarding the influence of land use changes). Furthermore, the combined historical accounts are an important basis for the derivation of future flood risk assessments for the Roda river. Going beyond the specific basin of the Roda, the findings also reveal important insights regarding the impacts of increases in heavy regionalized rainfall for small watersheds, which is predicted to occur more frequently in such watersheds in the state of Thuringia
The geophagic nature of financial dominance in the Brazilian real estate market
Get PDFSince the 1980s, following the re-concentration of economic activity in metropolitan regions, the urban real estate market in Brazil has been emerging as a sector that is capable of profitably absorbing the surplus produced in an economy that is facing a crisis. Initially, it is organized around the demand that is concentrated, in terms of space and sector, in the new business centralities. After the sector established a more dependent bond with the capital market, a relationship represented by a wave of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) by major real estate companies, the effects of the North American mortgage crisis were not trivial. An important movement of capital flight took place in the Brazilian stock market from thenceforth. The largest public housing program in the history of the country, the Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV, ‘My Home My Life’) program, was launched during that period, less than a year after the 2008 crisis. The targeted production of real estate that followed had new characteristics in terms of geographic behavior and its relationship with land. This paper aims to shed light on some critical events that led to this scenario and discuss some aspects of this change that are essential for the real estate business to maintain its position as one of the most profitable and promising investments in Brazil. The geographical behavior of real estate investment, considering its tendency to expand and intensify, plays a decisive role in this context
Polycentric development in China’s mega-city regions, 2001-08: A comparison of the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas
Get PDFLarge-scale urban regions are increasingly functioning as the territorial backbone of the global economy. Many of these mega-city regions are polycentric in that they consist of a range of densely interwoven cities and towns. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the geographies of these polycentric networks in what are arguably China’s two most important mega-city regions: the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD). To this end, we deployed a methodology that allowed the analysis of the shifting spatial organization of mega-city regions through the lens of the headquarters–branches linkages of corporations; that is, we explored the mega-city regions’ constituent urban networks by looking at the ownership linkages running from a corporation’s headquarters to the corporation’s branches. In the process, this research extended and refined the statistical tools that are often deployed to measure polycentricity. Our results suggest that in both the YRD and the PRD there are more and more linkages interconnecting the mega-city region. The two regions share the following features: the general level of polycentricity is increasing, even though the concentration of headquarters is also increasing; and the growth of the general level of polycentricity mainly originates from higher levels of network density. There are, however, also fundamental differences between the YRD and the PRD: firms in the PRD are more likely to set up branches beyond the prefectures’ boundaries, which results in higher levels of network density than in the YRD; there is a relatively 'flatter' intercity network in the YRD compared to the PRD, in which there are more firms’ links interconnecting the four major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Foshan), rather than other small and medium-size cities
Urban health challenges in India – lessons learned from a surveillance study in Pune
Get PDFUrban health in India is gaining increasing attention due to the growing share of urban population and the changing living conditions caused by the rapid urbanization process. The rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes is partly attributed to this process making NCD prevention and control one of the biggest public health challenges in the 21th century. Though public health programs in India are increasingly targeting NCDs, data quality and availability to budget scarce resources remains a challenge.The objective of the study was to conceptualize a prototype for an urban NCD sentinel surveillance system to capture data on newly diagnosed NCD cases, taking also into account socio-spatial intraurban differences. As preliminary steps, two systematic literature reviews, mapping of healthcare providers and a knowledge attitude practice survey on disease surveillance were conducted. In total, 258 private primary healthcare providers (allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy and unani) participated in the survey, out of these 127 agreed to participate in the six months surveillance study, providing data on a monthly basis.The study indicates that, despite the small size and low level of infrastructure in the private clinics, these practitioners play an important role in diagnosing and treating NCDs. They can be involved in NCD surveillance, if the following major barriers are addressed: lack of regulation of the private sector, cross-practices among different systems of medicine, limited clinic infrastructure, and knowledge gaps about disease surveillance. Based on our findings, a voluntary augmented sentinel NCD surveillance system including public and private healthcare facilities at all levels of care might be an adequate approach to monitor NCD related health trends
