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We live in a period of multiple crises, including economic, environmental, and social emergencies. The prioritisation of capitalist economic growth by most political institutions is among the most critical drivers of these crises in a never-ending loop. Against this context, commoning, perceived as collective care, presents an alternative political strategy to respond to those crises. In this paper, we investigate how an anti-mining community in Skouries, Greece, opposes the imposition of a large-scale mining project by forming a commons. Our commons is a women's collective that sought a sustainable economic alternative to large-scale mining and a model that could influence different political values much needed for politics in a crisis-ridden framework. We argue that commoning can enrich the politics of our times. Commoning highlights the importance of caring collectively for developing collective identities and relations between humans and the environment, which can benefit local, national, and international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between young individuals that are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs) and regional resilience across the Mediterranean European Union South. It attempts a significant contribution to the literature since academic readings on youth studies have partly overlooked potential interlinkages with regional resilience, while regional studies have neglected to assess the resilience of the young cohorts of the labour force. The paper builds on a geographical political economy approach and employs a mixed-research method, calculating regional resistance and recovery indices and drawing upon informed expert interviews. It scrutinises labour market resilience in terms of youth employment and NEETs against the 2007/08 crisis and documents which regions have been (less) resistant to youth unemployment and inactivity. Thereupon, it locates four factors of low resilience in regional youth labour markets, namely structural deficiencies, path-dependence, labour market segmentation and informal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successive crises of the 21st century (2008/2009 global recession, COVID-19) have significantly affected the organisation of work and increased the flexibilisation and precarisation of labour, reflecting the changing needs of capital accumulation. Although employment reorganisation is unevenly distributed across space, the link between labour precarisation and cities or regions has not been studied in depth, with most research efforts focusing on the national scale. This article enriches the emerging literature for composite indices of labour market change by constructing an index of labour precarity at the regional scale. It estimates the very Flexible Contractual Arrangements Composite Index in the NUTS2 regions of the European Union from 2008 to 2020 to provide a comparative analysis of the impact of the global recession of 2008/2009 and the initial implications of COVID-19. The findings highlight a persistent division between peripheral and core regions. High precarity is a persistent feature of less developed regions, although it is also increasing significantly in urbanised, economically advanced regions. As found, the degree of labour precarity of a regional labour market is the complex result of national factors as well as regional characteristics such as specialisation, remoteness, path dependency, and local institutional practises and population dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a new perspective on trade fairs, examining their expected impact on the sustainable development of the host city. To study this impact, the paper examines the annual fair of Thessaloniki, Greece, which has a long history and strong connection with the city. Methodologically, mix research method is used, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings challenge the focus of trade fairs' benefits in terms of sustainability on the economic aspect. Thessaloniki citizens believe that the fair contributes positively to sustainable urban development, possibly due to their emotional attachment with it and its crucial economic benefits. Stakeholder interviews, however, reveal concerns. Some attribute limitations to outdated fair infrastructure, claiming that a planned redevelopment could address sustainability issues. Others, more critical of the fair, argue that achieving truly balanced development is difficult within the existing mode of socio-economic organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has examined geographical variations in SME access to external finance, especially bank loans. Rather less attention has been paid to how far SME equity access difficulties in more peripheral regions, and cities within these regions, is a demand or supply side issue, and how far equity investments are concentrated in specific urban areas in peripheral regions. This paper examines these topics through an analysis of small firm equity deals across the UK regions, before focusing on the case of the Welsh economy. In the case analysis a low equilibrium for small business equity investment in Wales is identified, with low demand and poor supply of equity, but with a relatively high concentration of equity deals in the Cardiff urban area. The paper examines the potential implications of a low equity equilibrium and provides a challenge for further research in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines firm relocation in the aftermath of the 2007 global economic crisis. In particular, the paper analyses the unprecedented recent increase in the movement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Greece to Bulgaria using original insights by a survey of 103 Greek companies in Bulgaria. The findings suggest a reconsideration of the existing literature on firm mobility in order to explain the post-crisis movement of Greek SMEs. Entrepreneurs perceived firm relocation as a necessity, while, contrary to the existing literature, labour cost does not appear to have significantly influenced firm exit from Greece, the level of demand was highlighted as more important compared with the literature findings and access to external finance emerged as a major factor. Important among elements that attracted businesspeople to Bulgaria were low taxation and geographical proximity to Greece. The present analysis thus challenges the significance of firm relocation determinants in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens' reactions to planning decisions imposed from above occur commonly, especially when it comes to the siting of controversial facilities, such as refugee camps. Explaining these reactions within the context of migration governance and forms of planning (participatory vs. conventional) could provide valuable insights to deepen our understanding of the underlying causes. This paper studies top-down planning procedures of refugee camp siting vis-à-vis the bottom-up local reactions characterized as NIMBY phenomena. To this end, it adopts a socio-spatial approach, with the logics of production (top-down planning) and appropriation (bottom-up mobilizations) of space. Employing qualitative research, based on media and document analysis as well as semi-structured interviews, the paper conducts a comparative analysis of two contrasting regions with low and high refugee concentration rates in Greece: Crete and Central Macedonia. It enriches the academic discourse on geography, sociology and political science and policy debates, highlighting the NIMBY phenomena as mobilizations claiming access to information and local community participation in planning and underlining the importance of participatory planning to address these reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban governance and participatory planning have been key concepts in the academic discourse, policy debates and international practice related to spatial planning, urban development and organization of mega-events. However, they are relatively absent in academic debates and international practice pertaining to trade fairs. This paper explores the links of urban governance and participatory planning with trade fair activity. It focuses on the case of Thessaloniki, where trade fair activity has a strong connection with the city and its citizens. Methodologically, this paper utilizes mixed research methods by conducting interviews with key actors, including representatives of TIF-HELEXPO and local institutions in Thessaloniki, and a questionnaire survey to explore the views of Thessaloniki citizens. The results show that a possible adoption of urban governance and participatory planning in trade fair activity can have significant benefits. Urban governance is likely to boost cooperation between stakeholders, while participatory planning can contribute to a greater acceptance of trade fairs by citizens. On these grounds, the paper suggests the adoption of urban governance and participatory planning as a new model of managing, organizing and planning trade fairs that can strengthen their links with the city. • Links of urban governance and participatory planning with trade fairs are explored • Urban governance is likely to boost cooperation between stakeholders • Participatory planning can strengthen acceptance of trade fairs by citizens [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the socio-spatial constitution of the mall, as a basic consumption place, in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, employing a geographical approach to malls and a socio-spatial perspective on heterotopia, as a conceptual theoretical tool on the exercise of power and production of space. Introducing the concept of crisis-heterotopia, the case of the Mediterranean Cosmos shopping Centre in Thessaloniki, Greece, is employed, carrying out questionnaires and interviews with residents of Thessaloniki. The findings highlight the internal constitution of the mall as a crisis-heterotopia identified by the socio-spatial and cultural profiles and spatial representations of the consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the transformative potential of inward investment on cluster development. It undertakes this through the lens of the evolving semiconductor cluster in South Wales (UK) and within a context whereby the semiconductor industry is under pressure with government interventions to improve prospects being implemented at a time of increasing global tension in the industry. The paper reveals the potential of inward investors as agents of regional economic change and cluster development. It shows that the emerging South Wales cluster distinguishes itself in terms of investment motivation, commodities and services produced. These factors result in growing embeddedness in relation to elements such as joint research with higher education and intra-firm collaboration to develop new products and processes. The paper concludes that investments based on risky and fast-changing technologies in industries such as the semiconductor sector necessarily create challenges for policy makers. These are best managed by placing greater emphasis on developing the conditions to satisfy the needs of such knowledge-intensive industries in relation to labour market conditions, factor conditions and market access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reuse of urban abandoned areas, which is constantly increasing, is necessary for urban sustainable development. This paper seeks to examine whether temporary use adopting participatory processes is an appropriate tool for the reuse of urban abandoned areas, while studying the implications for social capital by taking advantage of the social dynamics of space, reinforcing sustainable urban development. We focus on the case of the "Old Hospital" of Alexandroupolis, in Greece, a long-term abandoned area in the inner city. Adopting a socio-spatial perspective through the approach of Lefebvre and Remy, it highlights that temporary use of urban abandoned areas strengthens the socio-spatial dynamics, in conjunction with the logics of space production and appropriation, spatial practices, representations of space and representational spaces. The qualitative survey with local government and stakeholders shows how the production of space applies "top-down" governance and captures visionary scenarios of reuse via temporary use. The quantitative survey with locals identifies weak social capital, which poses obstacles to urban development and community's acceptance of the reuse scenarios. We suggest new logics of space production, through participatory governance for the temporary use of the urban abandoned areas that could enhance social capital and sustainable development, exploiting the social dynamics. • Temporary use of urban abandoned areas aids social capital. • Temporary use of urban abandoned areas boosts sustainable development. • Temporary use and participatory governance help sustainable use of abandoned areas. • Space provides the basis of bottom-up social appropriation through temporary use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]