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Whilst personal knowledge networks between organisations have been argued to be important for regional economic development, their functioning and, within this context, the exact role of spatial proximity has been empirically underexplored. This paper addresses these issues by, first, examining the dynamic mechanisms of the formation, maintenance, and knowledge interaction of important knowledge relationships of R&D workers in the Cambridge information technology cluster in the UK. It is demonstrated that personal relations tended to transform from an initially professional context into privately governed relationships. Furthermore, it is argued that a sophisticated understanding of the role of spatial proximity requires an investigation of the spatiality of several stages of the network mechanisms. The results show that permanent spatial proximity and face-to-face interaction are more important for the formation of relationships than for the maintenance stage and, in particular, for work-related knowledge interactions. Finally, it is argued that, in contrast to the emphasis in much of the literature on communities of practice and epistemic communities, the knowledge relationships do not tend to be anchored in collective groups. Instead, the paper highlights the usefulness of the concept of individualised networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the findings from a survey of over 400 young people in metropolitan areas in the Netherlands and England concerning their views on identity and school history. The research explored pupils’ ideas about which facets of history were of interest to them, what history they believed should be taught in schools, and their views on the purposes of school history and history in general. The coding of the data made it possible to delineate between those from different ethnic minority backgrounds, boys and girls, age and level of education and first or second generation of migration. The study revealed significant differences between young people's ideas about history and identity, and those advanced by politicians and policy makers in the Netherlands, England and elsewhere. The concluding section of the paper considers the implications of the findings for policy makers in the field of history education in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

24/7 environments - those areas where one can shop, eat out, find entertainment, etc., 24 hours a day and seven days a week - can be seen as underpinning urban vitality. But the question arises why they exist in some cities and seemingly not in comparable others. Finding that directly relevant publications in this area proved scarce, an explorative study was undertaken to generate a theoretical framework and a definition of this type of environment. The ways in which socio-cultural, economic and spatial conditions influence the existence (or non-existence) of these environments and their potential benefits and detriments for society were explored. Based on the theoretical framework, twelve cities in different parts of the world that could be expected to have 24/7 environments were scanned. In combination, these approaches suggest that there are different types of 24/7 environment, in terms of both types of users and spatial structure. A more in-depth exploration of London and Copenhagen enabled preliminary conclusions about the spatial conditions necessary for the existence and development of 24/7 areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]