Tabu Schrumpfung: über den öffentlichen Diskurs zum demografischen Wandel in schwedischen Kommunen

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How the Dutch deal with demographic decline

For the past few years, there has been much attention paid to demographic decline in the Netherlands. Initially, the shrinkage of an area’s population was considered as a marginal phenomenon in the peripheral regions, such as Limburg, Groningen and Zeeland. However, now, it is recognized as an omnipresent phenomenon. According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, up to 2030 a quarter of the Dutch municipalities will experience a population decline of more than 2.5% (PBL 2014). Furthermore, this decline will not remain limited to areas on the edges of the Netherlands. For example, villages within the Randstad conurbation are already having to deal with that now. There is also a demographic decline in the large cities such as Rotterdam and Almere. Here, we usually see that one district is growing at the expense of another

The dialogue between administrative courts and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia

Administratīvās tiesas jau vairāk nekā 14 gadus iesaistās dialogā ar Satversmes tiesu, lai objektīvi un taisnīgi izspriestu tās izskatīšanā esošās lietas, tomēr līdz šim Latvijā minētais tiesu dialogs pētīts maz. Tālab darbā tiek pētīts ar tiesas pieteikuma palīdzību īstenotā administratīvo tiesu dialoga ar Satversmes tiesu veidošanās pamats, galvenās pazīmes, problēmjautājumi un attīstības virzieni, īpašu uzmanību pievēršot administratīvo tiesu kompetencei pašām veikt tiesību normu hierarhijas kontroli. Pētījuma rezultātā secināts, ka tiesu dialogs ir nozīmīgs procesuāls līdzeklis, ar kuru iespējams nodrošināt efektīvu un augstu personu pamattiesību aizsardzības līmeni, veidojot vienotu izpratni par konstitucionālajām vērtībām ne tikai administratīvajā procesā tiesā, bet arī Latvijas tiesību sistēmā kopumā.In order to adjudicate cases fairly and objectively, the administrative courts have engaged in a dialogue with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia for more than 14 years. However, so far the dialogue has attained little interest by scholars. Thus, the author studies the main features of the dialogue between courts, its deficiencies and directions of development. A special focus is placed on the administrative court’s competence to examine the hierarchy of legal norms itself. It is concluded that the dialogue between courts is a significant procedural tool, which effectively helps to ensure a high level of protection of the fundamental rights of private individuals and helps to create a common understanding of constitutional values throughout the whole legal system of Latvia

A Strategic Spatial Planning Approach to Cross-Border Place Branding with References to Galicia and Northern Portugal

This chapter adopts a strategic spatial planning approach to think strategically about potential joint place-branding initiatives between cross-border regions. The case study focuses on the extended cross-border European region composed of the NUTS III Alto Minho, Cávado, Ave, Área Metropolitina do Porto, Alto Tâmega, Tâmega e Sousa, Douro, Terras de Trás-os-Montes of Northern Portugal and the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwest Spain. Bearing in mind the mismatch of styles of regional government systems, the approval by the European Commission of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Galicia–Northern Portugal, and the current socio-economic environment, this chapter discusses the possibility of joining forces, procedures and strategic tools in order to enhance the reputation and give visibility to this European regional conurbation. In addition, this chapter intends to shed some light on the empirical significance of a cross-border place-branding strategy able to encourage entrepreneurship, job creation, trade and investment. It draws important lessons from the idea of interregional branding and aims to encourage a unique cross-border storyline. The chapter directly addresses the need to develop place branding, independently of the geographical scale of application, through a strategic spatial planning approach. Here the complex interregional branding exercises carried out by the Øresund and the Baltic Sea regions are taken as comparative cases. This chapter also aims to contribute to the academic debate on interregional place branding by discussing the potential development of place-branding initiatives across – administrative – border regions underpinned by knowledge from strategic spatial planning literature