DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin
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Special Economic Zones in the Global South: Between integrated spaces and enclaves – a literature review
Full text linkSpecial Economic Zones (SEZs) have gained massively in popularity worldwide and particularly in the Global South. However, they are also discussed as a controversial economic policy instrument. Some analyses view SEZs as promising spaces with integrative linkages, while other studies see them as enclaves marked by spatial and economic segregation. To shed light on the various and partly contradictory perceptions of SEZs, this paper reviews literature on SEZs in the Global South and suggests a differentiated and more comprehensive view for SEZ analyses in order to understand their different characteristics, interactions, and the related processes between SEZs and their host regions. Our review goes beyond dichotomies of viewing SEZs as enclavistic or integrated spaces. Instead, it systematically outlines how even a single SEZ can integrate into regions in some ways, while remaining disintegrated in other ways. Here, we build on recent studies of SEZs in the Global South, employing the enclave approach as a conceptual basis, and include conceptual works on economic linkages and global production networks
City-regional cooperation in smaller metropolitan areas. Transdisciplinary research on strategy development in the city region of Kiel (Germany)
Full text linkThis paper presents the results of a transdisciplinary study on the further development of city-regional cooperation in a smaller metropolitan region. The case study covers the city region of Kiel in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Against the backdrop of scientific concepts on city-regional cooperation and based on the own empirical research, central future topics of regional cooperation and possible forms of institutional development were identified in the study. It was recommended to begin via a regional special purpose association (“Zweckverband”), allowing for later refinement options, which were introduced in the form of scenarios. This approach was supported by key decision-makers, but also encountered resistance from stakeholders who were reluctant to give up familiar structures. Beyond the case study, general challenges for approaches to more intensive cooperation in city-regions are identified. Therewith, the study can contribute to current governance research in urban-rural processes
The concession of the BR-163 highway in the Brazilian Amazon: Corporatization of territory and conflicts
Full text linkThe BR-163 highway in the Brazilian Amazon has become one of the most important corridors for the Brazilian ag- ribusiness sector. It is a highway that synchronizes times, flows, logics, and economic chains, especially with its total paving in 2019, and its concession to the private sector in 2022. This article seeks to synthesize and analyze the complex recent and future territorial manifestations of the BR-163 concession (Sinop/Mato Grosso to Itaituba/Miritituba/Pará). The concession of the highway is a driver and inducer of new spatial orders and the expansion of corporate uses of theterritory. Deforestation, land grabbing, violence and conflicts are already observable and the future scenario is its expansion. Thus, new governance arrangements are needed to push towards a variety of discursive and material prac- tices: the respect for the laws, the environment, the different cultures. These arrangements would be important ways to promote territorial and food security for the Amazon peoples
Fresh food systems in small island economies of the South Pacific
Full text linkThis study analyzes to what extent small islands in the South Pacific are integrated into global food systems; it shows which different fresh fruits and vegetables are sold, which retail formats are offering which specific assortments, and which supply chains are established. In the small island economies, distance, transport costs, and market volume are much more important than in larger countries of the Global South. Direct marketing for local products is dominating, fresh products which can be transported by using ship-freight-container with lower transport costs are broadly available and the supply with long-distance air-freight imports is very limited due to high transport costs. These products are only sold in areas with high-income households who can afford to buy them. In small and distant economies, the globalization of food systems finds its limits
Water disputes in Argentina. Analysing environmental movements against the mining industry in Mendoza, Argentina
Full text linkDuring the last decades, social environmental movements (SEM) and protests have been arising in response to emerg- ing social environmental conflicts that have been occurring across the globe. In contrast to the globally predominant neoliberal economic system, they fight for an alternative way of living and coping with nature and its goods and criticize persisting postcolonial power relations between countries of the Global North and South. This paper explores the claim for a right to water in terms of the right to nature, within the context of postcolonial and neoliberal structures in Men- doza, Argentina. Drawing on qualitative semi-standardized interviews with local activists and environmental experts from Mendoza as well as participatory observation and media compilation, we analyze key tools and strategies of the socio-environmental movements. The investigation points out how neoliberal restructuring processes since the end of the 20th century have triggered water conflicts in the province and in what way those are embedded in postcolonial structures
The impact of land use/cover change on extreme temperatures on the Yangtze River Delta, China
Full text linkThe contribution from land use/cover change (LUCC) toward temperature in recent decades is of great concern across the globe. Although there have been many studies, most of them focus on the discussion of average temperature and lack a discussion of extreme temperatures. In this study, we first investigated the spatio-temporal changes in extreme temperatures in the Yangtze River Delta during 1980–2020 using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method. Then, we explored the impact of LUCC on extreme temperatures using the observation minus reanalysis (OMR) method. Finally, the relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and extreme temperatures was analyzed using the correlation analysis method. We found that: (1) extreme temperatures have a nonlinear variation characteristics on different time scales. Extremely high temperatures (EHT) clearly exhibited a monthly time scale (quasi-3-month), an interannual time scale (quasi-1-year, quasi-2-year, quasi-3-year and quasi-5-year), and an interdecadal time scale (quasi-10-year and quasi-35-year). Extremely low temperatures (ELT) also clearly exhibited a monthly time scale (quasi-3-month), an interannual scale (quasi-1-year, quasi-2-year, quasi-3-year and quasi-6-year), and an interdecadal scale (quasi-10-year and quasi-20-year). (2) EHT showed an east–middle–west staggered phase and ELT showed a southeast–northwest anti-phase characteristic in spatial distribution. (3) The contribution rates of LUCC on EHT and ELT are 53.6% and 92.4%, respectively, which are higher than for the average temperature (40%). (4) The monthly time scale response of the NDVI to extreme temperatures is more regionally concentrated and significant than that on the interannual time scale in spatial distribution. This paper makes up for the insufficiency of the impact of land use/cover changes on extreme temperature changes at multiple time scales and enriches our understanding of climate change
Interdisciplinary research on food environments: key to transforming unhealthy food consumption practices and unsustainable food systems
Full text linkSince the Covid-19 pandemic, digital services such as apps for food and health have become much more widely used, especially in urban settings, where the majority of human society now resides. Therefore, the context in which food choices are made have changed significantly. We suggest that understanding food environments and their entanglements with dynamics of digitalization, corporeality, and power relations can contribute to an improved analysis of the interrelations between food systems, public health, and sustainability. In this short communication, we call the attention of food scholars to the under-researched dimensions in food environment debates and invite medical, psychology, and sustainability scientists to engage in a concerted effort to comprehend food environments as key to transform unhealthy food consumption practices and unsustainable food systems
Book review: Ungleiche ländliche Räume: Bernd Belina, Andreas Kallert, Michael Mießner, Matthias Naumann. Bielefeld 2022
No full textSurvey Results on Preparedness, Coordination, and Lived Experience of First Responders in Germany and Romania 2021
Full text linkPluvial and riverine floods affected many areas worldwide in 2021. To better prepare for future disasters, understanding the areas of emergency and the need for disaster management improvement is necessary. This study analyzes the results of several online surveys amongst professionals and voluntary helpers active in the 2021 flood operations in Germany and Romania. The main findings from 2,333 respondents are about perceptions of motivational aspects and problems experienced in flood operations. Satisfaction with several aspects is lower in Germany, especially provision of information and coordination. Coordination and cooperation with the population are the main problematic areas in Romania. Infrastructure disruptions are a problem in Romania, especially in terms of wastewater disposal, and in Germany in terms of roads and transportation to the affected areas. Preparedness of the population and cooperation challenges are reported for Romania, but less so in Germany. The differences revealed by the survey between Germany and Romania lie not only in the magnitude of the hazard event but also in the organizational structure of disaster response
The spatio-temporal dynamics of the short-term rental market in Berlin (2008-2020) - The case of AirBnB
Full text linkOver the last decade, the emergence and development of the digitally mediated short-term rental market (STR) has vastly disrupted urban housing and touristic accommodation markets. Whereas the fact about emergence and devel- opment of STR in cities is well-known, there are lesser insights on how this emergence and development takes place in space and time. In this short communication, we build on the case of Berlin – a city which has implemented a strict regulatory framework towards limiting housing misuse, including the provision of dwellings through short-term rental platforms – in order to explore the ways the short-term rental market emerged and expanded in the city. In doing so, we focus on both the spatial distribution of the listings and the quantitative attributes of the market, building on the analysis of data from the AirDNA dataset that contains all AirBnB listings (n = 104,746) in Berlin from 2008 to 2020. Our findings confirm the peak of spatial concentration of STR listings in predominantly central-city district tenement hous- ing quarters which, since the 1990’s, have gone through gentrification and touristification processes