Geoinformation, Geotechnology, and Geoplanning in the 1990s

Over the last decade, there have been some significant changes in the geographic information available to support those involved in spatial planning and policy-making in different contexts. Moreover, developments have occurred apace in the technology with which to handle geoinformation. This paper provides an overview of trends during the 1990s in data provision, in the technology required to manipulate and analyse spatial information, and in the domain of planning where applications of computer technology in the processing of geodata are prominent. It draws largely on experience in western Europe, and in the UK and the Netherlands in particular, and suggests that there are a number of pressures for a strengthened role for geotechnology in geoplanning in the years ahead

The spatial aspects of development in south-eastern Europe

This paper analyses for the first time the spatial structure of south-eastern Europe in an effort to assess regional imbalances, border conditions, urban hierarchies and detect the adjustments of the region to the forces of integration and transition. The analysis is based on a unique data base compiled from national sources and is carried on with the use of statistical, diagrammatic and cartographic methods. The analysis shows that south-eastern Europe is characterized by increasing regional disparities, an increasingly superior performance of the metropolitan regions, serious discontinuities at the borders which have, in most cases, generated over-time border regions with below average performance and finally an urban system with serious deficiencies in medium sized cities. These findings suggest that regional policy should become a permanent ingredient of indigenous and international development initiatives, which need to pay a greater attention to the needs of border regions, encouraging and promoting programs and policies of cross-border cooperation.

Transport poverty meets the digital divide : accessibility and connectivity in rural communities

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

National urban policy responses in the European Union: Towards a European urban policy?

"Europe's towns and cities remain its primary source of wealth creation and the centre of its social and cultural development. However there are rising problems relating to rapid economic adjustments. It is clear that new efforts are necessary to strenghten or restore the role of Europe's cities as places of social and cultural integration, as sources of economic prosperity and sustainable development, and as bases of democracy" ["Towards an urban agenda in the European Union", European Commission, 1997]. The environment of cities has become increasingly competitive and complex. Cities need to anticipate and respond quickly to opportunities and threats that influence their position structurally. Although city governments develop policies and strategies to meet the challenges, at the same time higher layers of government pursue policies that influence the position of cities. National governments draw up financial and policy frameworks and create conditions in which cities have to manoeuvre and design their own policies. At the European level the interest for the strategic position of cities within regional development policy is growing. This harmonises with a major objective of the association of large European cities ('Eurocities') to bring the position of the large cities as engines of economic growth and at the same time as concentrations of social problems to the attention of the Europan Commission. Although the Commission recognises the important role of cities for European regional development, until now European urban policy initiatives have been blocked by a majority of national governments, as a consequence of the principle of subsidiarity. The objective of our contribution is to compare current developments as far as explicit national urban policies in the member states are concerned. However the scope will not be limited to explicit policies alone. National policies with a substantial impact on urban development will be dealt with too. The framework for the investigation is made up of four parts. The first two parts compare national urban patterns and structures (the urbanisation pattern and the administrative structure), while the remaining parts deal with the questions: (1) what do national authorities consider to be main issues for, and challenges to their (larger) cities?; and (2) how do national governments respond to these issues and challenges by policies targeted to the role and function of cities? The results of our investigation into current national urban policies are for an important part based on fifteen national case studies produced by colleagues from each of the member states according to the framework mentioned before. This contribution summarises the results of the comparison. The results might give ingredients for a future urban policy at the European level.

A Worldwide State-of-the-Art Analysis for Bus Rapid Transit: Looking for the Success Formula

This paper’s intended contribution, in terms of providing an additional angle in the existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) state-of-the-art knowledge spectrum, is a dual one. On the one hand, it provides a detailed description of the mode, re-defining BRT as an overall concept by identifying, discussing, and categorizing in a systematic way its strengths and its weaknesses in comparison with rail-based solutions and conventional bus services. On the other hand, it presents in detail a number of selected scheme-oriented applications from around the world, looking into some of the basic ingredients behind BRT’s success (or failure) stories. This is a scientific effort that could inform the reader about the current status of BRT internationally and about the challenges and opportunities that exist when trying to materialize BRT’s potential as an effective urban passenger solution that could challenge the merits of more conventional mass-transit options