Transport Development and the Evolution of Economic Geography

In this paper, based on the recent advances in the new economic geography (e.g., Fujita, Krugman and Venables [12]), we analyze impacts of transport costs on the spatial patterns of economic agglomeration. We first identify prototypes from the existing models, and explain the mechanism of how transport costs influence the balance between economic forces of agglomeration and dispersion. We then investigate the transformation of the agglomeration/dispersion patterns given gradually decreasing transport costs for different goods.

East Asia's Economic Development cum Trade "Divergence"

This paper addresses some salient features of how some of "successful" East Asian economies have been faring in terms of enhancing their export competitiveness. That export becomes more divergent in terms of its unit price as more technology-enhancing economic activity is undertaken within an economy, is the primary message that this study conveys. This is indeed what Schumpeter had addressed in conjunction with his "creative destruction" thesis. From this perspective, East Asia's export-led industrialization has been attained through a particular policy focus upon high "trade divergence" sectors underpinned by a generally high level of manufacturing flexibility. The experience of Malaysia's development serves as the strong case in point. As an East Asia-wide FTA is expected to facilitate "divergent" export-led industrialization through enhanced knowledge interaction, this dynamic or "divergent" impact that knowledge creation could exert should come to the fore of relevant policy arguments, together with static consideration of trade creation and diversion. A formal statistical test of the "divergence hypothesis" above is called for with a view to building upon this preliminary study.

The Flowchart Model of Cluster Policy: The Automobile Industry Cluster in China

This paper proposes a general model of the flowchart approach to industrial cluster policy and applies this model to Guangzhou's automobile industry cluster. The flowchart approach to industrial cluster policy is an action plan for prioritizing policy measures in a time-ordered series. We reached the following two conclusions. First,we clarified the effects of Honda, Nissan, and Toyota on agglomeration in Guangzhou's automobile industry cluster. Second, we established that local governments play a crucial role in successful industrial cluster policy, and that the mayor of the local government should be offered incentives in order to target industrial clustering and implement cluster policy.

Thailand's Economic Cooperation with Neighboring Countries and Its Effects on Economic Development within Thailand

Thailand's economic cooperation with neighboring countries, including not only trade and investment but also economic assistance, is tied inseparably to regional development within Thailand. Assistance to develop infrastructure along economic corridors, for example, promotes Thai regional development. This study examines the trade and investment relationships between Thailand and its neighboring countries, as well as related economic policies of Thailand. The study also examines the type of economic assistance being extended, and the resulting regional development taking place. And lastly, the study considers policies for further cooperation by Thailand and the implications this has for Japanese economic cooperation.

Development of Border Economic Zones in Thailand: Expansion of Border Trade and Formation of Border Economic Zones

In the wake of economic globalization and development in Thailand, movement of people and commodities at the Thai borders is also becoming pronounced. Economic interdependence between Thailand and neighboring countries is growing through border customhouses. As a policy, Thailand is trying to stimulate trade and investment with neighboring countries following the ACMECS (Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy) scheme. In this report, first, movement of people and goods at the borders will be examined. Second, clarification of where and how development is proceeding will be presented. Last, this study will attempt to review the perspectives of policies on neighboring countries after Thaksin.

Border Trade and Economic Zones on the North-South Economic Corridor: Focusing on the Connecting Points between the Four Countries

The North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC), the road between Bangkok and Kunming, China, including the Laos route (R3B) and the Myanmar route (R3B), has been developed since 1998 following the GMS program. The region covering Yunnan Province in China, Shan State in Myanmar, Northern Laos and Northern Thailand has historical and ethnic closeness, and is a comparatively poor mountainous, boundary area. In the wake of the development of the NSEC, however, the region has started to show signs of change. Consequently, a review is to be carried out concerning the movement of people and cars, border trade and the situation concerning the progress of border economic zones at the five nodal border points in the four countries, and over three routes: R3A, R3B, and the Mekong River route.

Chapter 3 Industrial Location in Cambodia: Industrial Policies and Economic Statistics

Cambodia has experienced high economic growth in the last decade. Because most of its industries were destroyed during the Pol Pot regime and civil war, in the last 20 years the country has been working hard to liberalize its economy to attract foreign investors With its efforts to join the regional and international community and with changes in the international trade environment, Cambodia started to grow its economy in the late 1990s. Now, in the early 21st century, the Cambodian economy seems to be prepared to take off. We can observe a kind of industrial agglomeration occurring, even though still at a small scale. In this paper, first, I will review the history of Cambodia’s economic development since the late 1980s. Second, I will examine the economic policies, laws, rules, and other environmental factors which have influenced industrial development and industrial location in Cambodia. Third, I will introduce industrial location in the late 2000s. Lastly, I will introduce some statistical data for the future analysis of industrial location in Cambodia.

Chapter 4 A Review of the Availability of and Studies on Spatial Economic Data in Laos

Spatial data are being increasingly used in a wide range of disciplines, a fact that is clearly reflected in the recent trend to add spatial dimensions to the conventional social sciences. Economics is by no means an exception. On one hand, spatial data are indispensable to many branches of economics such as economic geography, new economic geography, or spatial economics. On the other hand, macroeconomic data are becoming available at more and more micro levels, so that academics and analysts take it for granted that they are available not only for an entire country, but also for more detailed levels (e.g. state, province, and even city). The term ‘spatial economics data’ as used in this report refers to any economic data that has spatial information attached. This spatial information can be the coordinates of a location at best or a less precise place name as is used to describe administrative units. Obviously, the latter cannot be used without a map of corresponding administrative units. Maps are therefore indispensible to the analysis of spatial economic data without absolute coordinates. The aim of this report is to review the availability of spatial economic data that pertains specifically to Laos and academic studies conducted on such data up to the present. In regards to the availability of spatial economic data, efforts have been made to identify not only data that has been made available as geographic information systems (GIS) data, but also those with sufficient place labels attached. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the maps available for Laos, both in hard copy and editable electronic formats. Section 3 summarizes the spatial economic data available for Laos at the present time, and Section 4 reviews and categorizes the many economic studies utilizing these spatial data. Section 5 give examples of some of the spatial industrial data collected for this research. Section 6 provides a summary of the findings and gives some indication of the direction of the final report due for completion in fiscal 2010.

Chapter 6 Economic integration and changes in industrial location in Vietnam

Vietnam has been praised for its achievements in economic growth and success in poverty reduction over the last two decades. The incidence of poverty reportedly fell from 58.1% in 1993 to 19.5% in 2004 (VASS [2006, 13]). The country is also considered to have only a moderate level of aggregate economic inequality by international comparisons. As of the early 2000s, Vietnam’s consumption-based Gini coefficient is found to be comparable to that of other countries with similar levels of per capita GDP. The Gini index did increase between 1993 and 2004, but rather slowly, from 0.34 to 0.37 (VASS [2006, 13]). Yet, as the country moves on with its market oriented reforms, the question of inequality has been highlighted in policy and academic discourses. In particular, it is pointed out that socio-economic inequalities between regions (or provinces) are significant and have been widening behind aggregate figures (NCSSH [2001], Mekong Economics [2005], VASS [2006]). Between 1993 and 2004, while real per capita expenditure increased in all regions, it grew fastest in those regions with the highest per capita expenditures and vice versa, resulting in greater regional disparities (VASS [2006, 37]). A major contributing factor to such regional inequalities is the uneven distribution of industry within the country. According to the Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam, of the country's gross industrial output in 2007, over 50% belongs to the South East region, close to 25% to the Red River Delta, and about 10% to the Mekong River Delta. All remaining regions share some 10% of the country's gross industrial output. At a quick glance, the South East increased its share of the total industrial gross output in the 1990s, while the Red River Delta started to gain ground in more recent years. How can the government deal with regional disparities is a valid question. In order to offer an answer, it is necessary in the first place to grasp the trend of disparities as well as its background. To that end, this paper is a preparatory endeavor. Regional disparities in industrial activities can essentially be seen as a result of the location decisions of enterprises. While the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Vietnam has conducted one enterprise census (followed by annual enterprise surveys) and two stages of establishment censuses since 2000, sectorally and geographically disaggregated data are not readily available. Therefore, for the moment, we will draw on earlier studies of industrial location and the determinants of enterprises’ location decisions in Vietnam. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. The following two sections deal with the country context. Section 2 will outline some major developments in Vietnam’s international economic relations that may affect sub-national location of industry. According to the theory of spatial economics, economic integration is seen as a major driver of changes in industrial location, both between and within countries (Nishikimi [2008]). Section 3, on the other hand, will consider some possible factors affecting geographic distribution of industry in the domestic sphere. In Section 4, existing literature on industrial and firm location will be examined, and Section 5 will briefly summarize the findings and suggest some areas for future research.

Introduction New Challenges in New Economic Geography

2009年度調査研究報告書

Economic integration, location of industries, and frontier regions : evidence from Cambodia

We examine changes in the location of economic activity in Cambodia between 1998 and 2008 in terms of employment growth. During this period, Cambodia joined ASEAN and increased trade with neighboring countries. Drawing on the predictions of the new economic geography, we focus on frontier regions such as border regions and international port cities. We examine the changing state of manufacturing in Cambodia from its initial concentration in Greater Phnom Penh to its growth in the frontier regions. The results suggest that economic integration and concomitant trade linkages may lead to the industrial development of frontier regions as well as the metropolitan areas in Cambodia.

La Ordenación del Territorio en las Ciudades Globales Europeas: El caso de Madrid

En la Comunidad de Madrid el modelo de ocupación del territorio en las dos últimas décadas ha obedecido a factores de oferta del mercado y no a las necesidades de la población, ello provoca un consumo de suelo y de recursos que conducen a una sobrexplotación insostenible. Las metrópolis globales están experimentando rápidas e intensas transformaciones, basadas en los paradigmas emergentes de la globalización, la gobernanza, la metropolizacion y la dispersión de las actividades en el territorio y a través de ellos se abordan los planes de Londres, París y las tentativas de Madrid. La globalización provoca la pérdida de soberanía de las administraciones publicas y la competitividad entre las ciudades globales en Europa, Londres, Paris y Madrid, son centros de poder, de concentración y crecimiento donde se produce la dualización del espacio y donde la desigualdad participa de la restructuración urbana, concentración de pobreza frente a espacios de la nueva clase emergente en donde dominan los sectores de servicios y las tecnologías de la información. Frente al desarrollo urbano neoliberal de regulación a través del mercado y basada en criterios de eficiencia de la Nueva Gestión Pública, se vislumbra la posibilidad de que la sociedad se administre a si misma por medio de acciones voluntarias y responsables que promuevan los intereses colectivos mediante el reconocimiento de su propia identidad, introduciendo el concepto de gobernanza. Frente, a la explotación del territorio por parte de la sociedad extractiva que genera corrupcion, se propone un modelo de cooperación público-privada basado en la confianza mutua, un marco regulador estable, la transparencia y la información a cuyo flujo más homogéneo contribuirán sin duda las TICs. En todo este proceso, las regiones metropolitanas en Europa se erigen como motores del crecimiento, donde los límites administrativos son superados, en un territorio cada vez más extendido y donde los gobiernos locales tienen que organizarse mediante un proceso de cooperación en la provisión de servicios que ayuden a evitar los desequilibrios territoriales. El fenómeno de la dispersión urbana en desarrollos de baja densidad, los centros comerciales periféricos, la expulsión hacia la periferia de las actividades de menor valor añadido y la concentración de funciones directivas en el centro, conducen a una fragmentación del territorio en islas dependientes del automóvil y a procesos de exclusión social por la huida de las rentas altas y la expulsión de las rentas bajas de los centros urbanos. Se crean fragmentos monofuncionales y discontinuos, apoyados en las autovías, lugares carentes de identidad y generadores de despilfarro de recursos y una falta de sostenibilidad ambiental, económica y social. El estudio de la cultura de la planificación en Europa ayuda a comprender los diferentes enfoques en la ordenación del territorio y el proceso de convergencia entre las diferentes regiones. Los documentos de la UE se basan en la necesidad de la competitividad para el crecimiento europeo y la cohesión social y en relación al territorio en los desarrollos policéntricos, la resolución del dualismo campo-ciudad, el acceso equilibrado a las infraestructuras, la gestión prudente de la naturaleza, el patrimonio y el fomento de la identidad. Se proponen dos niveles de estudio uno actual, los últimos planes de Londres y Paris y el otro la evolución de las tentativas de planes en la Región madrileña siempre en relación a los paradigmas emergentes señalados y su reflejo en los documentos. El Plan de Londres es estratégico, con una visión a largo plazo, donde se confiere un gran interés al proceso, al papel del alcalde como líder y su adaptación a las circunstancias cambiantes, sujeto a las incertidumbres de una ciudad global. El desarrollo del mismo se concibe a través de la colaboración y cooperación entre las administraciones y actores. La estructura del documento es flexible, establece orientaciones y guías indicativas, para la redacción de los planes locales, no siendo las mismas vinculantes y con escasa representación grafica. El Plan de París es más un plan físico, similar al de otros centros europeos, trabaja sobre los sectores y sobre los territorios, con información extensa, con características de “Plan Latino” por la fuerza de la expresión gráfica, pero al mismo tiempo contiene una visión estratégica. Es vinculante en sus determinaciones y normativas, se plantea fomentar, pero también prohibir. Ambos planes tratan la competitividad internacional de sus centros urbanos, la igualdad social, la inclusión de todos los grupos sociales y la vivienda como una cuestión de dignidad humana. Londres plantea la gobernanza como cooperación entre sector público-privado y la necesaria cooperación con las regiones limítrofes, en París las relaciones están más institucionalizadas resaltando la colaboración vertical entre administraciones. Ambos plantean la densificación de nodos servidos por transporte público, modos blandos y el uso los TODs y la preservación de la infraestructura verde jerarquizada, la potenciación de la red azul y la mejora del paisaje de las periferias. En las “tentativas” de planes territoriales de Madrid se constata que estuvieron sujetas a los ciclos económicos. El primer Documento las DOT del año 1984, no planteaba crecimiento, ni económico ni demográfico, a medio plazo y por ello no proponía una modificación del modelo radio concéntrico. Se trataba de un Plan rígido volcado en la recuperación del medio rural, de la ciudad, el dimensionamiento de los crecimientos en función de las dotaciones e infraestructuras existentes. Aboga por la intervención de la administración pública y la promoción del pequeño comercio. Destaca el desequilibrio social en función de la renta, la marginación de determinados grupos sociales, el desequilibrio residencia/empleo y la excesiva densidad. Incide en la necesidad de viviendas para los más desfavorecidos mediante el alquiler, la promoción suelo público y la promoción del ferrocarril para dar accesibilidad al espacio central. Aboga por el equipamiento de proximidad y de pequeño tamaño, el tratamiento paisajístico de los límites urbanos de los núcleos y el control de las actividades ilegales señalando orientaciones para el planeamiento urbano. Las Estrategias (1989) contienen una visión: la modificación del modelo territorial, mediante la intervención pública a través de proyectos. Plantea la reestructuración económica del territorio, la reconversión del aparato productivo, la deslocalización de actividades de escaso valor añadido y una mayor ubicuidad de la actividad económica. Incide en la difusión de la centralidad hacia el territorio del sur, equilibrándolo con el norte, tratando de recomponer empleo y residencia, integrando al desarrollo económico las periferias entre sí y con el centro. Las actuaciones de transporte consolidarían las actuaciones, modificando el modelo radio concéntrico facilitando la movilidad mediante la red de cercanías y la intermodalidad. El plan se basaba en el liderazgo del Consejero, no integrando sectores como el medio ambiente, ni estableciendo un documento de seguimiento de las actuaciones que evaluara los efectos de las políticas y su aportación al equilibrio territorial, a través de los proyectos realizados. El Documento Preparatorio de las Bases (1995), es más de un compendio o plan de planes, recoge análisis y propuestas de los documentos anteriores y de planes sectoriales de otros departamentos. Presenta una doble estructura: un plan físico integrador clásico, que abarca los sectores y territorios, y recoge las Estrategias previas añadiendo puntos fuertes, como el malestar urbano y la rehabilitación el centro. Plantea la consecución del equilibrio ambiental mediante el crecimiento de las ciudades existentes, la vertebración territorial basada en la movilidad y en la potenciación de nuevas centralidades, la mejora de la habitabilidad y rehabilitación integral del Centro Urbano de Madrid, y la modernización del tejido productivo existente. No existe una idea-fuerza que aglutine todo el documento, parte del reconocimiento de un modelo existente concentrado y congestivo, un centro urbano dual y dos periferias al este y sur con un declive urbano y obsolescencia productiva y al oeste y norte con una dispersión que amenaza al equilibrio medioambiental. Señala como aspectos relevantes, la creciente polarización y segregación social, la deslocalización industrial, la aparición de las actividades de servicios a las empresas instaladas en las áreas metropolitanas, y la dispersión de las actividades económicas en el territorio por la banalización del uso del automóvil. Se plantea el reto de hacer ciudad de la extensión suburbana y su conexión con el sistema metropolitano, mediante una red de ciudades integrada y complementaria, en búsqueda de un mayor equilibrio y solidaridad territorial. Las Bases del PRET (1997) tenían como propósito iniciar el proceso de concertación en que debe basarse la elaboración del Plan. Parte de la ciudad mediterránea compacta, y diversa, y de la necesidad de que las actividades económicas, los servicios y la residencia estén en proximidad, resolviéndolo mediante una potente red de transporte público que permitiese una accesibilidad integrada al territorio. El flujo de residencia hacia la periferia, con un modelo ajeno de vivienda unifamiliar y la concentración del empleo en el centro producen desequilibrio territorial. Madrid manifiesta siempre apostó por la densificación del espacio central urbanizado, produciendo su congestión, frente al desarrollo de nuevos suelos que permitieran su expansión territorial. Precisa que es necesario preservar los valores de centralidad de Madrid, como generador de riqueza, canalizando toda aquella demanda de centralidad, hacia espacios más periféricos. El problema de la vivienda no lo ve solo como social, sino como económico, debido a la pérdida de empleos que supone su paralización. Observa ya los crecimientos residenciales en el borde de la region por el menor valor del suelo. Plantea como la política de oferta ha dado lugar a un modelo de crecimiento fragmentado, desequilibrado, desestructurado, con fuertes déficits dotacionales y de equipamiento, que inciden en la segregación espacial de las rentas, agravando el proceso de falta de identidad morfológica y de desarraigo de los valores urbanos. El plan señalaba que la presión sobre el territorio creaba su densificación por las limitaciones de espacio, Incidía en limitar el peso de la intervención pública, no planteando propuestas de cooperación público-privado. La mayor incoherencia estriba en que los objetivos eran innovadores y coinciden en su mayoría con las propuestas estudiadas de Londres o Paris, pero se intentan implementar a través de un cambio hacia un modelo reticulado homogéneo, expansivo sobre el territorio, que supone un consumo de suelo y de infraestructuras para solucionar un problema inexistente, la gestión de la densidad. Durante las dos últimas décadas en ausencia de un plan regional, la postura neoliberal fue la de un exclusivo control de legalidad del planeamiento, los municipios entraron en un proceso de competencia para aprovechar las iniciales ventajas económicas de los crecimientos detectados, que proporcionaban una base económica “sólida” a unos municipios con escasos recursos en sus presupuestos municipales. La legislación se modifica a requerimiento de grupos interesados, no existiendo un marco estable. Se pierde la figura del plan no solo a nivel regional, si no en los sectores y el planeamiento municipal donde los municipios tiende a basarse en modificaciones puntuales con la subsiguiente pérdida del modelo urbanístico. La protección ambiental se estructura mediante un extenso nivel de figuras, con diversidad de competencias que impide su efectiva protección y control. Este proceso produce un despilfarro en la ocupación del suelo, apoyada en las infraestructuras viarias, y un crecimiento disperso y de baja densidad, cada vez más periférico, produciéndose una segmentación social por dualización del espacio en función de niveles de renta. Al amparo del boom inmobiliario, se produce una falta de política social de vivienda pública, más basada en la dinamización del mercado con producción de viviendas para rentas medias que en políticas de alquiler para determinados grupos concentrándose estas en los barrios desfavorecidos y en la periferia sur. Se produce un incremento de la vivienda unifamiliar, muchas veces amparada en políticas públicas, la misma se localiza en el oeste principalmente, en espacios de valor como el entorno del Guadarrama o con viviendas más baratas por la popularización de la tipología en la frontera de la Región. El territorio se especializa a modo de islas monofuncionales, las actividades financieras y de servicios avanzados a las empresas se localizan en el norte y oeste próximo, se pierde actividad industrial que se dispersa más al sur, muchas veces fuera de la región. Se incrementan los grandes centros comerciales colgados de las autovías y sin población en su entorno. Todo este proceso ha provocado una pérdida de utilización del transporte público y un aumento significativo del uso del vehículo privado. En la dos últimas décadas se ha producido en la región de Madrid desequilibrio territorial y segmentación social, falta de implicación de la sociedad en el territorio, dispersión del crecimiento y un incremento de los costes ambientales, sociales y económicos, situación, que solo, a través del uso racional del territorio se puede reconducir, apoyado en una planificación integrada sensible y participativa. ABSTRACT In Madrid the model of land occupation in the past two decades has been driven by market supply factors rather than the needs of the population. This results in a consumption of land and resources that leads to unsustainable overexploitation. Addressing this issue must be done through sensitive and participatory integrated planning. Global cities are experiencing rapid and intense change based on the emerging paradigms of globalization, governance, metropolization and the dispersion of activities in the territory. Through this context, a closer look will be taken at the London and Paris plans as well as the tentative plans of Madrid. Globalization causes the loss of state sovereignty and the competitiveness among global cities in Europe; London, Paris and Madrid. These are centres of power, concentration and growth where the duality of space is produced, and where inequality plays a part in urban restructuration. There are concentrated areas of poverty versus areas with a new emerging class where the services sector and information technologies are dominant. The introduction of ICTs contributes to a more homogeneous flow of information leading, us to the concept of governance. Against neoliberal urban development based on free market regulations and efficiency criteria as established by the “New Public Management”, emerge new ways where society administers itself through voluntary and responsible actions to promote collective interests by recognizing their own identity. A new model of public-private partnerships surfaces that is based on mutual trust, transparency, information and a stable regulatory framework in light of territorial exploitation by the “extractive society” that generates corruption. Throughout this process, European metropolitan regions become motors of growth where administrative boundaries are overcome in an ever expanding territory where government is organized through cooperative processes to provide services that protect against regional imbalances. Urban sprawl or low-density development as seen in peripheral shopping centres, the off-shoring of low added-value activities to the periphery, and the concentration of business and top management functions in the centre, leads to a fragmentation of the territory in automobile dependent islands and a process of social exclusion brought on by the disappearance of high incomes. Another effect is the elimination of low income populations from urban centres. In consequence, discontinuous expansions and mono-functional places that lack identity materialize supported by a highway network and high resource consumption. Studying the culture of urban planning in Europe provides better insight into different approaches to spatial planning and the process of convergence between different regions. EU documents are based on the need of competitiveness for European growth and social cohesion. In relation to polycentric development territory they are based on a necessity to solve the dualism between field and city, balanced access to infrastructures, prudent management of nature and solidifying heritage and identity Two levels of study unfold, the first being the current plans of London and Île-de-France and the second being the evolution of tentative plans for the Madrid region as related to emerging paradigms and how this is reflected in documents. The London Plan is strategic with a long-term vision that focuses on operation, the role of the mayor as a pivotal leader, and the adaptability to changing circumstances brought on by the uncertainties of a global city. Its development is conceived through collaboration and cooperation between governments and stakeholders. The document structure is flexible, providing guidance and indicative guidelines on how to draft local plans so they are not binding, and it contains scarce graphic representation. The Plan of Paris takes on a more physical form and is similar to plans of other European centres. It emphasizes sectors and territories, using extensive information, and is more characteristic of a “Latin Plan” as seen in its detailed graphic expression. However, it also contains a strategic vision. Binding in its determinations and policy, it proposes advancement but also prohibition. Both plans address the international competitiveness of urban centres, social equality, inclusion of all social groups and housing as issues of human dignity. London raises governance and cooperation between public and private sector and the need for cooperation with neighbouring regions. In Paris, the relations are more institutionalized highlighting vertical collaboration between administrations. Both propose nodes of densification served by public transportation, soft modes and the use of TOD, the preservation of a hierarchical green infrastructure, and enhancing the landscape in urban peripheries. The tentative territorial plans for the Madrid region provide evidence that they were subject to economic cycles. The first document of master guidelines (1984) does not address either economic or demographic growth in the mid term and therefore does not propose the modification of the radio-concentric model. It is a rigid plan focused on rural and urban recovery and the dimensioning of growth that depends on endowments and infrastructures. It advocates government intervention and promotes small business. The plan emphasizes social imbalance in terms of income, marginalization of certain social groups, the imbalance of residence/employment and excessive density. It stresses the need for social rent housing for the underprivileged, promotes public land, and the supports rail accessibility to the central area. It backs facilities of proximity and small size, enhancing the landscaping of city borders, controlling illegal activities and draws out guidelines for urban planning. The strategies (1989) contain a vision: Changing the territorial model through public intervention by means of projects. They bring to light economic restructuring of territory, the reconversion of the productive apparatus, relocation of low value-added activities, and greater ubiquity of economic activity. They also propose the diffusion of centrality towards southern territories, balancing it with the north in an attempt to reset employment and residence that integrates peripheral economic development both in the periphery and the centre. Transport would consolidate the project, changing the radius-concentric model and facilitating mobility through a commuter and inter-modality network. The plan derives itself from the leadership of the minister and does not integrate sectors such as environment. It also does not incorporate the existence of a written document that monitors performance to evaluate the effects of policies and their contribution to the territorial balance. The Preparatory Document of the Bases, (1995) is more a compendium, or plan of plans, that compiles analysis and proposals from previous documents and sectorial plans from other departments. It has a dual structure: An integrating physical plan covering the sectors and territories that includes the previous strategies while adding some strengths. One such point is the urban discomfort and the rehabilitation of the centre. It also poses the achievement of environmental balance through the growth of existing cities, the territorial linking based on mobility, strengthening new centres, improving the liveability and comprehensive rehabilitation of downtown Madrid, and the modernization of the existing production network. There is no one powerful idea that binds this document. This is due to the recognition of an existing concentrate and congestive model, a dual urban centre, two eastern and southern suburbs suffering from urban decay, and an obsolescent productive north and west whose dispersion threatens the environmental balance. Relevant aspects the document highlights are increasing polarization and social segregation, industrial relocation, the emergence of service activities to centralized companies in metropolitan areas and the dispersion of economic activities in the territory by the trivialization of car use. It proposes making the city from the suburban sprawl and its connection to the metropolitan system through a network of integrated and complementary cities in search of a better balance and territorial solidarity. The Bases of PRET (1997) aims to start the consultation process that must underpin the development of the plan. It stems from a compact and diverse Mediterranean city along with the need for economic activities, services and residences that are close. To resolve the issue, it presents a powerful network of public transport that allows integrated accessibility to the territory. The flow of residence to the periphery based on a foreign model of detached housing and an employment concentration in the centre produces territorial imbalance. Madrid always opted for the densification of the central space, producing its congestion, against the development of new land that would allow its territorial expansion. The document states that the necessity to preserve the values of the housing problem is not only viewed as social, but also economic due to the loss of jobs resulting from their paralysis. It notes the residential growth in the regional border due to the low price of land and argues that the policy of supply has led to a fragmented model of growth that is unbalanced, unstructured, with strong infrastructure and facility deficits that affect the spatial segregation of income and aggravate the lack of morphological identity, uprooting urban values. The pressure on the territory caused its densification due to space limitation; the proposed grid model causes land consumption and infrastructure to solve a non-problem, density. Focusing on limiting the weight of public intervention, it does not raise proposals for public-private cooperation. The biggest discrepancy is that the targets were innovative and mostly align with the proposals in London and Paris. However, it proposes to be implemented through a shift towards a uniform gridded model that is expansive over territory. During the last two decades, due to the absence of a regional plan, a neoliberal stance held exclusive control of the legality of urban planning. The municipalities entered a competition process to take advantage of initial economic benefits of such growth. This provided a “solid” economic base for some municipalities with limited resources in their municipal budgets. The law was amended without a legal stable framework at the request of stakeholders. The character of the plan is lost not only regionally, but also in the sectors and municipal planning. This tends to be based on specific changes with the loss of an urban model. Environmental protection is organized through an extensive number of protection figures with diverse competencies that prevent its effective protection. This process squanders the use of the land, backed by increasing road infrastructure, dispersed occupations with low-density growth causing a social segmentation due to space duality based on income levels. During the housing boom, there is a reduction in social public housing policy mostly due to a boost in the market of housing production for average incomes than in rental policies for needy social groups that focus on disadvantaged neighbourhoods and southern suburbs. As a result, there is an increase in single-family housing, often protected by public policy. This is located primarily in the west in areas of high environmental value such as Guadarrama. There is also cheaper housing due to the popularization of typology in the border region. There, territory works as a mono-functional islands. Financial activities and advanced services for companies are located to the north and west where industrial activity is lost as it migrates south, often outside the region. The number of large shopping centres hanging off the highway infrastructure with little to no surrounding population increases. This process leads to the loss of dependency on public transport and a significant increase in the use of private vehicles. The absence of regional planning has produced more imbalance, more social segmentation, more dispersed growth and a lot of environmental, social and economic costs that can only be redirected through rational territorial.

Estrutura espacial urbana e mobilidade: o caso da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo

A metrópole de São Paulo é a maior e mais importante aglomeração urbana do Brasil e está entre as dez maiores áreas urbanas do mundo. No entanto, a forma como acessibilidade espacial ocorre gera um fardo para a população e para a atividade econômica. Este trabalho pretende contribuir para a discussão de como melhorar a acessibilidade na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo estudando as características e impactos de estruturas espaciais urbana, analisando criticamente a estrutura espacial da metrópole e proporcionando sugestões de melhorias a fim de proporcionar uma mobilidade mais sustentável. Os procedimentos metodológicos incluem uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema e uma caracterização da estrutura espacial da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, considerando a alocação de população, alocação de empregos e os padrões de deslocamento para os modais individual, coletivo e não motorizado. Apresentamos um relato da evolução recente, com dados das pesquisas de origem e destino realizadas pelo Metrô em 1997 e 2007 e da pesquisa de mobilidade de 2012. Também realizamos uma caracterização mais aprofundada com os dados da pesquisa de 2007. As cidades se desenvolvem com base no trade-off entre proximidade e mobilidade: a fim de maximizar as possibilidades de interação, as pessoas e as empresas tendem a se localizar onde o deslocamento necessário para executar essas interações requer menos custos financeiros, perda de tempo e desconforto. Esse processo molda a alocação espacial de atividades, que define parcialmente os hábitos de transporte. A estrutura espacial urbana pode ser caracterizada por sua escala (padrões compacto ou disperso), arranjo de densidades (padrão disperso ou clusterizado) e arranjo de atividade (padrão monocêntrico ou policêntrico). Estruturas espaciais com padrão mais compacto apresentam menores distâncias de viagem, reduzindo o impacto ambiental das viagens e viabilizando o transporte não motorizado e coletivo, e levam a um uso mais eficiente da terra, menor custo de infraestrutura e maior equidade no acesso ao transporte. Já estruturas clusterizadas policêntricas são associadas com maior facilidade de acesso à terra. Existe um debate sobre a capacidade de estruturas policêntricas resultarem em uma aproximação generalizada de empregos e residências. A Região Metropolitana de São Paulo apresenta um padrão monocêntrico na escala metropolitana, com fortes movimentos pendulares da periferia para o centro expandido da iii capital. Durante o período de análise, foi observada uma realocação da população para áreas mais centrais da cidade e uma centralização dos empregos ainda mais forte, resultando no agravamento dos movimentos pendulares. Existe uma clara divisão modal por renda: as classes mais altas utilizam majoritariamente automóveis, enquanto as classes mais baixas utilizam majoritariamente transporte coletivo e não motorizado. Para o futuro, o novo plano diretor tem o mérito de caminhar na direção do desenvolvimento urbano orientado pelo transporte sustentável, porém os níveis de densidade máxima permitidos ainda são parecidos com o do plano anterior e a largura dos eixos de adensamento é restrita. Acreditamos ser vantajoso um aumento do adensamento em áreas próximas dos empregos; geração de polos de adensamento em áreas mais afastadas dos empregos, mas próximas das infraestruturas de transporte coletivo de alta velocidade, e desencorajamento do adensamento em áreas com baixa acessibilidade. Também é necessária uma gestão integrada dos transportes, provendo infraestrutura para viagens não motorizadas e viagens intermodais, e uma gestão dos impactos negativos do adensamento.

Europe's economic challenges and the importance of ideas and innovation. CHALLENGE EUROPE Issue 22 - Challenges and new beginnings: Priorities for the EU's new leadership, September 2014.

How will we Europeans earn our living in 20 or 30 years' time? And how can it be done, while remaining true to our values of fairness, freedom and solidarity? These fundamental questions predate the financial crisis and will still be with us once we have fully overcome it. Of all the groups in society, business leaders are probably most keenly aware of the challenge posed by globalisation. They have their finger on the pulse of global economic activity and keep alerting me that Europe is losing out. The trade unions, generally more focused on the economy's demand side, regularly call for more (public) investment. Their leadership remains highly committed to Europe but they can sense a rise of Euro-scepticism among their members. We must, and can bring these two narratives together. Yes, global change is relentless and our societies must adapt, but we can also preserve what makes Europe such a special place: a unique combination of relative prosperity, solidarity, individual freedoms, and security. This challenge was always on my mind.

The Financial Crisis and the Future of the Eurozone. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 21/2010

The government debt crisis, erupted in the Eurozone in 2009, nearly led to the collapse of European monetary union. Now that this has been averted, the question is what should be done to make the Eurozone sustainable in the long run. The survival of the Eurozone hinges on the capacity of its leaders to improve the eurozone's governance. With the exception of Greece, the root cause of the government debt crisis has little to do with the poor performance of the SGP, rather, with unsustainable debt accumulation by private actors. Also, the method of convergence implicit in the SGP has not worked well – macroeconomic divergences have stubbornly remained for nearly a decade and several countries experienced boom and bust dynamics. Although strong declines in real interest rates may explain part of the story (but e.g. Italy did not experience boom & bust), self-fulfilling waves of optimism and pessimism which might be called 'animal spirits' and are of mainly national origin, seem a good candidate for explanation. These national animal spirits endogenously trigger credit expansion and contraction. It follows that (national) movements of credit ought to be under much firmer control and this is up to the monetary authorities, including the ECB. Critical recommendations for better governance of the Eurozone should therefore combine credible measures to maintain fiscal discipline over the medium term with such instruments as minimum reserve requirements to control the growth of bank credit as well as minimum reserve requirements in different national banking systems. Finally, the idea of adding more sanctions to the SGP may be ill-conceived since, in future, it might pre-empt national governments to come to the rescue of banks (under credible threats of contagion) and/or prevent a downward spiral in economic activity.