Hyoji Choi, Jonghyun Kim, Donghyeon Yu, Bogang Jun
This study investigates the impact of the 2018 summer heat wave on urban mobility in Seoul and the role of economic complexity in the region’s resilience. Analysis of subway and mobile phone data reveals a significant decrease in the floating population during the extreme heat wave, underscoring the thermal vulnerability of urban areas. However, urban regions with higher complexity demonstrate resilience, attracting more visitors despite high temperatures. Our results suggest the centrality of economic complexity in urban resilience against climate-induced stressors. Additionally, high-complexity small business clusters appear to serve as focal points for sustaining urban vitality in the face of thermal shocks within the city. From a long-term perspective, our results imply that people might become more concentrated in highly complex regions in the era of global warming.
{"title":"Population concentration in high-complexity regions within city during the heat wave","authors":"Hyoji Choi, Jonghyun Kim, Donghyeon Yu, Bogang Jun","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae044","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the impact of the 2018 summer heat wave on urban mobility in Seoul and the role of economic complexity in the region’s resilience. Analysis of subway and mobile phone data reveals a significant decrease in the floating population during the extreme heat wave, underscoring the thermal vulnerability of urban areas. However, urban regions with higher complexity demonstrate resilience, attracting more visitors despite high temperatures. Our results suggest the centrality of economic complexity in urban resilience against climate-induced stressors. Additionally, high-complexity small business clusters appear to serve as focal points for sustaining urban vitality in the face of thermal shocks within the city. From a long-term perspective, our results imply that people might become more concentrated in highly complex regions in the era of global warming.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143030906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guillermo Jajamovich, Gabriel Silvestre, Isabel Duque Franco
This paper provides a comparative analysis of three symbolic dimensions of waterfront regeneration projects in Latin American cities: the inter-referencing practices alluded to in relation to projects from elsewhere, legitimating strategies that are discursively and materially constructed to present these projects as socially distributive, and subsequent approaches to leverage lessons from these experiences and re-circulate practices to other places. Following recent literature on urban megaprojects, policy mobility and inter-referencing we postulate that urban megaprojects production and legitimation involves material and symbolic, as well as territorial and relational processes, including the mobilisation of symbols, representations and images that generate consensus and mitigate criticism and resistance.
{"title":"The symbolic dimensions of waterfront regeneration projects: inter-referencing, legitimating strategies and circulating practices in three Latin American megaprojects","authors":"Guillermo Jajamovich, Gabriel Silvestre, Isabel Duque Franco","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsaf001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsaf001","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides a comparative analysis of three symbolic dimensions of waterfront regeneration projects in Latin American cities: the inter-referencing practices alluded to in relation to projects from elsewhere, legitimating strategies that are discursively and materially constructed to present these projects as socially distributive, and subsequent approaches to leverage lessons from these experiences and re-circulate practices to other places. Following recent literature on urban megaprojects, policy mobility and inter-referencing we postulate that urban megaprojects production and legitimation involves material and symbolic, as well as territorial and relational processes, including the mobilisation of symbols, representations and images that generate consensus and mitigate criticism and resistance.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143027150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sustainability has a unique symbolic power in the contemporary political landscape, as ordinary people, governments and institutions grapple with the effects of the climate crisis. Proponents of megaprojects have tapped into the symbolic power by framing their initiatives as “green,” however resource-intensive they might really be. This article illustrates how this works in the UAE through a case study of Expo City Dubai, the greenfield site developed for the World’s Fair, Expo 2020, and then used to host the UN’s COP28 climate negotiations in late 2023. At both events, sustainability’s symbolic power was used to advertise the UAE’s supposedly pro-environment credentials on a world stage, as well as to recruit investments in the Expo site’s redevelopment as a new green technopole in Dubai—and in so doing legitimate Emirati leaders’ ongoing commitment to megaprojects that are ultimately designed to continue and intensify the country’s resource-intensive political economy.
{"title":"The symbolic power of sustainability: Gulf megaprojects and the case of Expo City Dubai","authors":"Natalie Koch","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae046","url":null,"abstract":"Sustainability has a unique symbolic power in the contemporary political landscape, as ordinary people, governments and institutions grapple with the effects of the climate crisis. Proponents of megaprojects have tapped into the symbolic power by framing their initiatives as “green,” however resource-intensive they might really be. This article illustrates how this works in the UAE through a case study of Expo City Dubai, the greenfield site developed for the World’s Fair, Expo 2020, and then used to host the UN’s COP28 climate negotiations in late 2023. At both events, sustainability’s symbolic power was used to advertise the UAE’s supposedly pro-environment credentials on a world stage, as well as to recruit investments in the Expo site’s redevelopment as a new green technopole in Dubai—and in so doing legitimate Emirati leaders’ ongoing commitment to megaprojects that are ultimately designed to continue and intensify the country’s resource-intensive political economy.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oil and gas (O&G) companies face a complex process of adaptation to the new sustainability context. How their business models can successfully respond to sustainability requirements remains unclear. We studied the decarbonisation activities of relevant O&G companies and applied the sustainable business model archetypes (SBMAs) taxonomy to shed light on this transformation. Based on this, we focussed on one O&G firm with large socio-economic importance in northern Spain, gathering information via semi-structured interviews. Our analysis shows that O&G companies are developing innovative technologies aligned with the SBMAs. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and a regional focus on industrial clusters appear to be key elements of the sustainability strategies of O&G companies.
{"title":"Understanding the role of oil and gas companies in the current sustainability trends: an application of the sustainable business model archetypes","authors":"Jaime Menéndez-Sánchez, Jorge Fernández-Gómez, Andrés Araujo-de-la-Mata","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae042","url":null,"abstract":"Oil and gas (O&G) companies face a complex process of adaptation to the new sustainability context. How their business models can successfully respond to sustainability requirements remains unclear. We studied the decarbonisation activities of relevant O&G companies and applied the sustainable business model archetypes (SBMAs) taxonomy to shed light on this transformation. Based on this, we focussed on one O&G firm with large socio-economic importance in northern Spain, gathering information via semi-structured interviews. Our analysis shows that O&G companies are developing innovative technologies aligned with the SBMAs. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and a regional focus on industrial clusters appear to be key elements of the sustainability strategies of O&G companies.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142887371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Large-scale industrial settlements, such as the establishment of multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries, are megaprojects that face additional challenges when embedding the subsidiary in the region. Part of these challenges may be due to contrasting symbolic values of the industrial project, which can facilitate or hinder embeddedness. This study considers the relevance of symbolic value for the embeddedness of an industrial megaproject through the case of Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg. Based on 23 interviews, we examine differences in the symbolic representation of the project among stakeholder groups and show that symbolic value can have supportive or divisive effects on the settlement process and embeddedness.
{"title":"Symbolic value and embeddedness of an industrial megaproject: Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg","authors":"Max Roessler, Paula Prenzel, Daniel Schiller","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae045","url":null,"abstract":"Large-scale industrial settlements, such as the establishment of multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries, are megaprojects that face additional challenges when embedding the subsidiary in the region. Part of these challenges may be due to contrasting symbolic values of the industrial project, which can facilitate or hinder embeddedness. This study considers the relevance of symbolic value for the embeddedness of an industrial megaproject through the case of Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg. Based on 23 interviews, we examine differences in the symbolic representation of the project among stakeholder groups and show that symbolic value can have supportive or divisive effects on the settlement process and embeddedness.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142879630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The trade developments of the first quarter of the 21st century prompt speculation on how future generations will perceive them. Will they interpret this era as one where deglobalization took root and flourished, marked by a slowdown in world trade? Or will they view it as a mere pause in globalization’s upward trajectory? The literature explores these possibilities, noting the impact of events like the Financial Crisis, COVID-19 lockdowns and the Ukraine and Gaza wars on world trade. There is disagreement over whether globalization is receding or evolving. Three scenarios offer varied perspectives, from a bleak outlook of disintegrating international relations to a more optimistic view where deglobalization is seen as a temporary setback. These scenarios highlight the complexity and uncertainty surrounding (de)globalization, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary analysis and a nuanced understanding of global trends.
{"title":"Deglobalization: three scenarios","authors":"Peter A G van Bergeijk","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae037","url":null,"abstract":"The trade developments of the first quarter of the 21st century prompt speculation on how future generations will perceive them. Will they interpret this era as one where deglobalization took root and flourished, marked by a slowdown in world trade? Or will they view it as a mere pause in globalization’s upward trajectory? The literature explores these possibilities, noting the impact of events like the Financial Crisis, COVID-19 lockdowns and the Ukraine and Gaza wars on world trade. There is disagreement over whether globalization is receding or evolving. Three scenarios offer varied perspectives, from a bleak outlook of disintegrating international relations to a more optimistic view where deglobalization is seen as a temporary setback. These scenarios highlight the complexity and uncertainty surrounding (de)globalization, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary analysis and a nuanced understanding of global trends.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142831918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The UK, like other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies, has experienced a dismal decade and a half since the financial crisis. The reason lies in the dual technological transition, energy and digital, which is prompting structural shifts in the economy that require a co-ordinated policy response. This implies the need for more co-ordinated policies and more active intervention in the structure of the economy than has been the case in recent decades. It requires a broader measure of economic progress than short-term Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and above all a long-term perspective.
{"title":"The right kind of growth for everyone: policy challenges during the digital and green transformations","authors":"Diane Coyle","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae035","url":null,"abstract":"The UK, like other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies, has experienced a dismal decade and a half since the financial crisis. The reason lies in the dual technological transition, energy and digital, which is prompting structural shifts in the economy that require a co-ordinated policy response. This implies the need for more co-ordinated policies and more active intervention in the structure of the economy than has been the case in recent decades. It requires a broader measure of economic progress than short-term Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and above all a long-term perspective.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"200 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142823309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The rapid evolution of digital technologies over the past decades has induced profound economic and social transformations. Economic geography faces the ongoing challenge of assimilating these changes into existing theories that elucidate the dynamics of the global economy. In response, we present the Global Digital Networks (GDN) framework, drawing inspiration from established analytical instruments like Global Production Networks (GPN) and Global Financial Networks (GFN). GDN centres on three key economic materialities—people, things, and places—intertwined with territorially grounded practices of data generation and enhancement. We identify four enhancement types—singularisation, association, centralisation and fractionalisation—driving a cyclical process shaping complex networks across territories. Governance structures, encompassing national regulations, platform systems, and firm governance, play a pivotal role. The GDN cycle, exemplified through diverse territorial scenarios, underscores the intricate interplay of data generation, enhancement and governance structures in delineating global economic networks.
{"title":"Global digital networks","authors":"Matthew Zook, Michael Grote","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae039","url":null,"abstract":"The rapid evolution of digital technologies over the past decades has induced profound economic and social transformations. Economic geography faces the ongoing challenge of assimilating these changes into existing theories that elucidate the dynamics of the global economy. In response, we present the Global Digital Networks (GDN) framework, drawing inspiration from established analytical instruments like Global Production Networks (GPN) and Global Financial Networks (GFN). GDN centres on three key economic materialities—people, things, and places—intertwined with territorially grounded practices of data generation and enhancement. We identify four enhancement types—singularisation, association, centralisation and fractionalisation—driving a cyclical process shaping complex networks across territories. Governance structures, encompassing national regulations, platform systems, and firm governance, play a pivotal role. The GDN cycle, exemplified through diverse territorial scenarios, underscores the intricate interplay of data generation, enhancement and governance structures in delineating global economic networks.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142820682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Large cities are a key driver of technological innovation and economic growth. This paper investigates the developments of Italian metropolitan areas, building on insights from economic geography and innovation studies. The key questions to be investigated are the following: (i) Which trajectories of population and economic change can be identified for Italian metropolitan areas? Are we facing a process of economic and technological polarisation that may worsen the country’s imbalances? (ii) What is the role played in such developments by technological and structural change, and in particular by digital technologies and the rise of finance? The empirical analysis investigates the patterns of technological and economic indicators for the period 2000–2018 for 14 Italian metropolitan areas, proxied by their provinces, providing evidence of growing polarisation between Milan, where most positive developments are concentrated, and the other metropolitan zones. Rome has been losing ground in most fields; Venice and Genoa are characterised by industrial decline. Few mid-sized cities show some economic dynamism—including Bologna and Cagliari—while most southern and insular Italian cities increase their gap relative to the performances of leading metropolitan areas.
{"title":"The polarisation of Italian metropolitan areas, 2000–2018: structural change, technology and growth","authors":"Giuseppe Simone","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae036","url":null,"abstract":"Large cities are a key driver of technological innovation and economic growth. This paper investigates the developments of Italian metropolitan areas, building on insights from economic geography and innovation studies. The key questions to be investigated are the following: (i) Which trajectories of population and economic change can be identified for Italian metropolitan areas? Are we facing a process of economic and technological polarisation that may worsen the country’s imbalances? (ii) What is the role played in such developments by technological and structural change, and in particular by digital technologies and the rise of finance? The empirical analysis investigates the patterns of technological and economic indicators for the period 2000–2018 for 14 Italian metropolitan areas, proxied by their provinces, providing evidence of growing polarisation between Milan, where most positive developments are concentrated, and the other metropolitan zones. Rome has been losing ground in most fields; Venice and Genoa are characterised by industrial decline. Few mid-sized cities show some economic dynamism—including Bologna and Cagliari—while most southern and insular Italian cities increase their gap relative to the performances of leading metropolitan areas.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142601955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic crises and increased inter-regional economic disparities. However, the catalyst effect that the pandemic has had on digitalization may change the traditional pattern of internal migration, in favour of rural areas. Using time-sensitive register data we explain changes in net migration rates of German districts from an economic geography perspective. We show that, since the beginning of the pandemic, rural regions benefited more from migration. In particular, younger and highly skilled individuals increasingly move to rural areas. This confirms that rural regions can benefit from increasing remote work, but these effects differ across region types and individual skill levels.
{"title":"Rural areas as winners of COVID-19, digitalization and remote working? Empirical evidence from recent internal migration in Germany","authors":"Louis Knuepling, Rolf Sternberg, Anne Otto","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsae033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsae033","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic crises and increased inter-regional economic disparities. However, the catalyst effect that the pandemic has had on digitalization may change the traditional pattern of internal migration, in favour of rural areas. Using time-sensitive register data we explain changes in net migration rates of German districts from an economic geography perspective. We show that, since the beginning of the pandemic, rural regions benefited more from migration. In particular, younger and highly skilled individuals increasingly move to rural areas. This confirms that rural regions can benefit from increasing remote work, but these effects differ across region types and individual skill levels.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142541375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}