The aspect of space in the concept of sustainable development: Overview and consequences for research

The discussion on sustainable development reflects in various regard an important spatial aspect. In its context, spatial and regional sciences integrate important impulses and provide important contributions to the further development and operationalization of the concept of sustainable development. Many already known aspects are newly weighted and organized under the long-term horizon of the ecological, economic and social dimensions of development. Some new aspects emerge. The distinction of four different spatial perspectives for the systematical analysis of the very broad and heterogeneous discussion has proven as evident. (1) From the perspective of biophysical goals and concepts, several interesting aspects emerged due to the goal of sustainability. The paper discusses the spatial scale, on which sustainable development should be achieved. It shows consequences for the industrial countries from the approach of convergence between industrial and developing countries on a global sustainable scale, e.g. the necessary change in the importance of the existing concepts of spatial structures. Different aspects are stressed in the discussion about urban and regional development. (2) In the literature about sustainable development, the policy of implementing the necessary changes in a market economy still plays a subordinate role. Therefore the discussion about policy instruments, as it exists in the field of environmental economics, must become stronger in spatial/regional science. In order to make policy more efficient, for instance, environmental taxes and fees must gain in importance, and they must be differentiated spatially. In addition, the traffic should be charged for its external costs. (3) In regard to democracy and public administration, it needs to be remarked, that the local and regional level were undervalued up to now in their potential. But the other administration levels must not be neglected. With the stronger emphasis on the cities and regions themselves it is not guaranteed that their policy of development becomes more sustainable. Therefore new politics and planning ideals are proposed, which focus in particular participative and cooperative elements. (4) From the perspective of society, which includes the market and the democracy/administration, the concept of sustainability emphasizes the spatial proximity in cities and regions as well as the meaning of small and medium sized groups. In this aspect, social control plays an important role. This frame and the participation of all groups of society would help to change the basic values towards more justice and environmental protection. Summing up it can be concluded that the concept of sustainable development calls for an intensification of research in the spatially oriented sciences. On one hand the demonstrated four fields of analysis and action need more specific investigation. On the other hand their interrelations are to be studied more intensively.

Environmentally focused cooperation projects as a stimulus for the development of old industrialised regions. Case studies in eastern German regions in which small and medium-sized towns predominate

Large parts of eastern Germany are displaying symptoms typical of old industrialised regions. Regions finding it particularly hard to adapt are those in which small and medium-sized towns predominate and which therefore only have limited administrative and financial assets as a rule. Alongside more traditional forms of regional development such as, for instance, the setting-up of industrial estates by local authorities and the enhancement of transport infrastructure, a number of interesting and more novel approaches have been adopted here. The development strategies examined in the present article have three distinguishing features. Firstly, they are explicitly environmentally focused. Secondly, they are co-operative in nature and can involve a multitude of actors. Thirdly, the relevant projects call for mutual exertion over a limited period of time in order to fulfil a strategic objective that is distinctly out of the ordinary, hence justifying the "major project" tag. To determine whether such projects can actually provide a stimulus for the development of the regions under review as well as what sort of factors their success may depend on, three specimen cases are being investigated that differ from one another in terms of both project type and regional characteristics. The first case study concerns what became the Saxony-Anhalt correspondence region for the EXPO 2000 event in Hanover, which ran under the slogan "Mankind - Nature - Technology". This project in a region defined by the medium-sized towns of Dessau, Bitterfeld, Wolfen and Wittenberg has strong organisational affinities with the Emscher Park International Building Exhibition (IBA), which was held in the Ruhr Area conurbation and is still having a big impact on the debate concerning strategies of regional development. The second example involves a predominantly small-town region in the eastern Ore Mountains in which the Model-Urban-Ecology Planning Game was played. The aim of the planning game was to identify the level of urban ecology that can be put to effect with any success from an intermunicipal perspective. The third case study is the Green Ring around Leipzig. The key emphasis here is on co-operation to the good of landscape development between the region around Leipzig, an area in which small towns still predominate, and the city itself. Viewed in their entirety, all three environmentally focused co-operation projects are having a considerable impact on regional development. In different ways, it has proved possible not only to improve the situation regarding the environment and the environmental awareness of the actors involved but also to mobilise and educate them in matters of regional co-operation to a degree that exceeds the scope of the actual project. One factor with a crucial bearing on the outcome is the crystallisation of a certain "state of emergency" in a region by dint of the special nature of the undertaking, the limited term of the project, financial backing from outside parties and greater awareness from further afield. Keywords: Co-operation of actors, environmental policy, project oriented planning, regional development

Politik für den Freiraum - wovon hängt sie ab? Die Perspektive des Multiple-Streams-Ansatzes

Es gehört zu den bisher eher weniger untersuchten Fragen, wie und warum politisch- planerische Entscheidungen zuweilen auch aktiv zugunsten des Schutzes und der Entwicklung von Freiräumen getroffen werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag betrachtet diese Frage erstmals aus der Perspektive des etablierten politikwissenschaftlichen Multiple-Streams-Ansatzes von John W. Kingdon in Bezug auf die regionale Freiflächenpolitik. In einer ersten Annäherung wird der Ansatz vorgestellt; die Illustration kann anhand der umfangreichen Darstellung der Entstehung und Entwicklung des Regionalparks Rhein- Main des ehemaligen leitenden Planers Lorenz Rautenstrauch erfolgen. Dies deutet auf eine Eignung des Ansatzes für die Analyse der regionalen Freiraumpolitik hin. Der Erfolg von Freirauminitiativen hängt dem Multiple-Streams-Ansatz nach vom Zusammenkommen von drei eigendynamischen Strömen ab, die sich vereinfacht als relativ starker Problemdruck, attraktive Handlungsoption und günstige Neigung der Entscheidungsträger charakterisieren lassen. Es bietet sich aus der Sicht der Wissenschaft an, die Potenziale und Grenzen des Ansatzes durch empirische Studien weiter auszuloten. Aus der Sicht des Freiraumschutzes sind zwei Schlussfolgerungen zu ziehen. Einerseits ist es dem Multiple-Streams-Ansatz folgend prinzipiell denkbar, dass - trotz großer Bemühungen - eine nachhaltige Freiraumpolitik unverwirklicht bleibt, wenn im Zeitverlauf die drei Ströme nicht zusammenfinden. Andererseits bietet der Multiple-Streams-Ansatz Orientierungspunkte für die Gestaltung von notwendigerweise komplexen Strategien

Editorial : environmental governance of urban and regional development – scales and sectors, conflict and cooperation

Recent years have continued to see a concern for the detrimental environmental impacts of human economic activities particularly in the form of enhanced global warming, sea level rise, land degradation and deforestation. Although it can be argued that economic development and growth remain the priority for governments at a variety of spatial scales or levels, these same governments also express a desire through a growing number of policy initiatives to make such development more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. A growing interest amongst policy makers has been in identifying the ways in which environmental protection measures can be made complementary to economic development aims. Rather than seeing the environment and the economy in opposition, there has been a focus on the growth potential from developing a green or low-carbon economy (OECD, 2011). At the urban and regional scale governments have increasingly begun to try and position themselves as destinations for new forms of green economy investments as a source of a new round of capital accumulation (GIBBS and O’NEILL, 2014). In total then, questions around the environment, climate change and sustainability look set to grow in importance for decision makers in cities and regions

Umweltpolitik und Beschaeftigung

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel B 263539 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Umweltpolitik und Beschaeftigung

IAB-3221 AS 391 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Koordination als Lernprozess - Braunkohlesanierung und Tourismusentwicklung im Lausitzer Seenland

"Nach der Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands gehörten die Braunkohlesanierung und die Förderung der Wirtschaftsentwicklung zu den größten Herausforderungen in Ostdeutschland. Der Beitrag zeigt am Beispiel des neu entstandenen Lausitzer Seenlands, wie über zwei Jahrzehnte hinweg Sanierungs- und Wirtschaftspolitik auf der Ebene von Bund und Ländern sowie auf regionaler Ebene koordiniert wurden, um Synergien für die regionale Tourismusentwicklung realisieren zu können. Ausgehend vom Ansatz eines erweiterten akteurzentrierten Institutionalismus zeigt die qualitative Fallstudie die Faktoren des vielschichtigen und insgesamt als gelungen zu betrachtenden Koordinationsprozesses auf. Unter anderem aufgrund der allmählichen Umorientierung der regionalen Akteure hin zum Tourismus und zur interkommunalen Kooperation sowie des schrittweisen Aufbaus regionaler Kooperationsstrukturen lässt sich hier die Koordination als ein komplexer Lernprozess verstehen." (Autorenreferat)"After German reunification, rehabilitating the abandoned lignite mines and fostering economic development were counted among the biggest challenges in eastern Germany. Taking the example of the Lusatian Lakeland, the article shows how rehabilitation policy and economic policy have been coordinated over two decades at the federal and state as well as regional level in order to achieve synergies for regional tourism development. On the basis of an extended actor-centered institutionalism, the qualitative case study highlights the factors influencing the multifaceted coordination which, all in all, can be considered successful. Due especially to the gradual reorientation of regional actors towards tourism development and inter-municipal cooperation as well as the continuing build-up of regional cooperation structures, coordination can be interpreted in this context as a complex learning process." (author's abstract