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Abstract: This paper explores the broader setting of urban and economic development that links ports and cities in Europe and aims at enhancing our understanding of the port‐city interface. A relational view is taken for linking local developments and policies with overarching, more remote spheres of influence and impact, which can be considered both beneficial and critical for the port and the city. In order to illustrate the argument, a framework of three issues is applied to discuss the port‐city interface: first, the role of ports as economic engines of their wider region; second, the cruise ship industry as a market segment that re‐connects port and city; third, semi‐political bodies and institutions that play key roles as intermediaries and knowledge brokers. The paper finally discusses the implications of relationality for governing the port‐city interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper interrogates the stability of relative geographical patterns of electoral results in Europe since World War II in a context of the dramatic socio‐economic changes and the deep transformations of the European geography. To do so, we propose a theoretical model in which regional political orientations along the Left vs. Right cleavage dates back to the end of the nineteenth century or even before, related to the land tenure, the familial structure, the time of the industrial take off or the impact of religion. Specifically, we show that the current electoral map is still partly related to such old structures, long after they vanish. To explain this hysteresis, we refer to the role of social networks and institutions embedded in places, allowing the transmission of electoral behaviour from one generation to the other. However, the West European electoral map has not been frozen, and, in the last part of the paper, we explain how major political and socio‐economic changes alter political behaviour of places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the cluster model of local economic growth is model that became a message that is now a mantra. It is an approach that has extended its explanatory reach through the accretion of layers of contingency. The paper suggests seven major limitations that undermine the explanatory power of what is now a mesmeric policy prescription for local economic development. It neglects the imperatives of capitalism, underestimates of the impact of unequal power relations on business relationships, fails to incorporate time, fetishises proximity, treats entrepreneurship simplistically, promotes the chaotic concept of institutional thickness, and is limited by the chaotic concept of social capital. It is concluded that a more nuanced and empirically grounded approach to agglomerated local growth is needed and a set of research questions is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: During the recent decade, scholars have started to pay more attention to how the local socio‐institutional environment affects the outcome of regional cross‐border co‐operation (CBC) programmes and projects. This paper studies the social capital processes of CBC, particular focus being on how power and trust relations are manifested in project networking and implementation governed by public authorities. The examination focuses on the border towns of Tornio (Finland) and Haparanda (Sweden) which share a common cultural history and a long tradition of co‐operation. The results, based on document analysis and 16 interviews, show that the CBC at Tornio‐Haparanda is not unproblematic but contested by different interest groups and actors. It involves practices of inclusion and exclusion that influence mobilisation, engagement and trust building between different actors. The social capital processes are intertwined with the local norms and values as well as with the strategic networking and pursuance of specific development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To grasp the critical role of socio-cultural factors for regional economic development, several concepts have been developed, including that of ‘social capital’. This notion usually refers to norms, values, networks, reciprocity or trust which are held in a community and can lead to positive social and economic outcomes. Despite its popularity as a fashionable concept in the literature, the exact meaning of social capital is far from clear. This paper criticises the dominant conceptions of social capital in economic geography and regional studies and aims to place the debate in a different perspective. It argues for an alternative understanding of social capital defined as resources embedded in social networks which can be accessed or are used for actions. The potential to overcome the current weaknesses in the literature is illustrated through discussing social capital of economic clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]