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Purpose This study targeted hospitality family business owners as essential pillars of the tourism industry. How they perceive aspects of the crisis and what they derive organizational resilience from, including the role of their human resources, are explored. Internal and external factors of resilience are analyzed alongside different levels of resilience action. Design/methodology/approach The World Health Organization announced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. In Tirol, the hospitality industry has particularly been affected as tourism businesses find themselves in the challenging times of returning to normal business, corresponding to the fourth phase in Faulkner’s (2001) Tourism Disaster Management Framework. The authors used a qualitative exploratory approach, using semi-structured interviews. Findings In taking on a holistic explorative approach, the authors determined several methods used by entrepreneurs in dealing with a pandemic crisis to increase business resilience at a specific stage. Internal and external resilience factors have been detected among three levels of resilience action (personal, regional and governmental). The most surprising result of the semi-structured in-depth interviews was the entrepreneurs’ rather positive outlook. Originality/value Generally, this study creates an in-depth understanding of the tourism businesses in their dealing with a global crisis, using family business owners as an exemplary stakeholder group. The authors bridge a gap in the literature by applying a holistic explorative approach in the early stage of a never seen worldwide crisis and by addressing organizational resilience. Three levels of resilience action give new insight into how the beginning of a pandemic crisis is handled and perceived by hospitality family business entrepreneurs.

Sustainability 14(21), 14449 (2022). doi:10.3390/su142114449 special issue: "Special Issue "Quantitative and Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Sustainable Diets" / Special Issue Editors: Dr. Florent Vieux, Guest Editor; Prof. Dr. Xavier Irz, Guest Editor", Published by MDPI, Basel

In conclusion, this collection of papers shows that, just as delta environments are continually remade through the interplay of human intervention and environmental forces (more so than most other environments because of the dynamic nature of riverine erosion and deposition and the interface between land and sea), so too are livelihoods of delta dwellers continually adapting to the effects of similar sets of forces The three deltas considered here were perceived by colonial administrations as "food bowls" that would generate wealth in British India (the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta) and Burma (the Ayeyarwady Delta), and for French colonial interests in Indo-China (the Mekong Delta) Delta regions in South and Southeast Asia have historically been key sites of trade, exchange and wealth-creation What remains difficult to answer is the question of how future delta economies and residents' livelihoods will change, particularly for the resource-poor, should the social-ecological delta systems cross tipping points and reach a point of collapse (Renaud I et al i , 2014) [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

Social capital is used widely by households in the Global South as a collective response mechanism to natural hazards. It is argued that these processes serve as substitutes for scarce financial and human capital in poor communities. To date, the majority of studies on social capital in the Global South has framed these processes in place-based ways, assuming that they are developed and deployed within local spaces. However, in an increasingly globalized world, people’s social networks increasingly transcend the local, and social capital is therefore manifested in multi-scalar geographies. The aim of this study is to assess the significance of this translocality for the use of social capital in responding to natural hazards. Using evidence from communities under threat of sea-water inundation in rural and urban areas in North Java, we focus on both the outcomes of translocal social capital for hazard adaptation and the origins of these social ties. Our results show that households with a higher number of translocal contacts are more likely to take proactive measures against flooding and subsidence. Furthermore, we found that the conditions for establishing translocal social capital differ between rural and urban areas, and we show that the propensity for translocal social capital is stratified along economic lines. Poorer households have fewer translocal social ties, which impairs their ability to adapt to environmental threats. Thus, our results contest former assumptions about (translocal) social capital being a prime resource for the poor. The paper concludes that interventions in poor communities designed to enhance translocal social capital may offer answers to this problem.

This paper analyzes the relationship between the urban form of neighborhoods and collective bottom-up adaptation processes. The adaptive capacity of urban populations in marginal settlements of the Global South is critically related to social capital, as manifested through social networks, self-organization, and collective action. We analyze these responses and hypothesize that they are significantly shaped by the specific spatial forms of neighborhoods, particularly in the presence and form of places to meet. Drawing on mix-method research, we investigate socio-spatial practices and collective responses to hazards in coastal neighborhoods of Jakarta, including a standardized household survey (n = 300) and cultural mapping. Our findings demonstrate that social capital is key to community-based hazard responses. Importantly, the presence of different types of public meeting places enhances different forms of social networks due to highly diversified locations and user groups. We found that North Jakarta's urban form facilitates bonding social capital, which enables the formation of 'responsive neighborhoods' capable of responding on mid-term scales. Meeting places in neighborhood centers foster bonding ties, which, together with attachment to place and social belonging, appear to be key local assets for dealing with natural hazards e.g. by creating informal 'insurance systems'. However, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the current urban form of North Jakarta supports the formation of 'adaptive neighborhoods' in the long- term, which would require bridging and linking ties to the outside world. Our findings suggest that a spatial perspective on collective hazard response action is important for urban planning strategies to empower local communities.

The main objective of this paper is to measure the level of household resilience to cyclone and storm surges in the coastal area of Bangladesh. We draw on four general disaster frameworks in terms of addressing household-level resilience to cyclones and storm surges. We use a composite indicator approach organized around four components: (1) household infrastructure (HI), (2) household economic capacity (HEC), (3) household self-organization and learning (HSoL), and, (4) social safety nets (SSN). Drawing on a household survey (N = 1188) in nine coastal union parishads in coastal Bangladesh purposively selected as among the most vulnerable places in the world, we use principal components analysis applied to a standardized form of the survey data that identifies key household resilience features. These household index scores can be used for the assessment and monitoring of household capacities, training, and other efforts to improve household cyclone resilience. Our innovative methodological approach allows us to (a) identify patterns and reveal the underlying factors that accurately describe the variation in the data, (b) reduce a large number of variables to a much smaller number of core dimensions of household resilience, and (c) to detect spatial variations in resilience among communities. Aggregated to the community level, our new index reveals significant differences in community cyclone resilience in different areas of the coastal region. In this way, we can show that shoreline and island communities, in particular, have significant deficits in terms of household resilience, which seem to be mutually reinforcing one another and making for lower resilience.

Sea level rise (SLR) is among the most pressing challenges for urban coastal areas. While geocentric (eustatic) SLR receives widespread attention in politics and media, relative SLR at the coast, mainly caused by land subsidence, is still comparatively under-researched despite much higher rates. This paper introduces a combined natural and social science study to bring subsidence more to the forefront of coastal hazard research. We use data from radar altimetry, GNSS controlled tide gauge stations, and InSAR mapping to characterize regional and relative SLR at Jakarta and Semarang Bay, and focus-group discussions and a standardized household survey to analyze risk perceptions and adaptation. Our analysis of InSAR, radar altimetry, and corrected tide gauges clearly identifies subsidence as the major coastal threat in our study areas. The InSAR analysis for Semarang shows stable trends of subsidence up to ~100 mm/a. For Jakarta, our analysis reveals more complex spatial and temporal patterns with rates around 60 mm/a; revealing significant changes to previous studies. Our analysis of radar altimetry data since 1993 shows a moderate regional SLR of 2.1 mm/a off Semarang and 3.2 mm/a off Jakarta. The InSAR data are integrated into our statistical analysis of household responses towards subsidence. We found, that in contrast to fast-onset events, constantly proceeding subsidence becomes normalized in peoples’ perceptions and responses are integrated into day-to-day habits. Thus, risk perception is a far lesser determinant of responses towards subsidence than it is for fast-onset events. Hence, our results relativize former assumptions that risk perception and not actual exposure lead to action. Moreover, we found that local people are not willing to vacate highly exposed areas. Their views need to be included in municipal disaster risk reduction, the urgency of which clearly lies on mitigating subsidence effects rather than on building protection against regionally rising sea levels.

The environmental dimension and sustainability-related issues have increasingly gained momentum in Economic Geography. This paper argues that integrating the inequality perspective into Environmental Economic Geography (EEG) and trying to disentangle the manifold interrelationships between economic, social, and environmental disadvantage could be worthwhile efforts. Based on three case studies – the debate on urban environmental justice in German cities, the spread of alternative food systems and food-sharing initiatives in Germany, and the socially selective migration in hazard prone areas in rural coastal Bangladesh – we demonstrate that aspects of social inequality indeed matter for EEG thinking.

Cities are suggested as being the key level for shifts towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The building sector with its significant carbon footprint plays an important role in urban climate change adaptation strategies. Using the case study of Brisbane (Australia), the paper examines the place-specific contextualisation of green building transitions by analysing the co-evolution and interplay of building practices, policy making and involved actors. Drawing on theoretical approaches of Transition Studies and Evolutionary Economic Geography, we trace back and analyse policy and economic trajectories focusing on formative and hindering processes. The paper discusses ambivalent pathways and 'regime resistance' caused by local economic and political specificities. The analysis illustrates how crucial the continual support from both policy makers and industry actors can be when economic market mechanisms do not drive sustainability transitions. Regime actors can play a powerful role as 'transition detractors' and can determine the dynamics and the scope of sustainability transitions.

Aerotropolis is an urban development concept characterised by the concentration of land uses fostering economic activities around airports. However, limited empirical evidence exists about the formation of aerotropolises and their effects on the productivity of airports. This study addresses the gaps by examining changes in land use patterns around 75 major airports globally, using data extracted from Google Earth for two time periods: 2004 and 2014. A Two-Step cluster analysis technique was applied to identify natural groupings of the airports in terms of their land use patterns for both periods. Changes in cluster membership were observed between the periods to examine the process of aerotropolis formation. A multivariate multiple linear regression (MMLR) model is estimated to identify factors contributing to aerotropolis formation process. Finally, the effects of the aerotropolis formation process on airport productivity is estimated in a two-stage least square (2SLS) regression model. Cluster analysis results show that airport land side development can be classified into three groups: Island airports (surrounded by largely vacant land), Waterfront airports (adjacent to a large body of water), and Built form airports (well-developed residential, commercial and industrial land uses). Overall, built-up areas increased by 2.1% between 2004 and 2014, and only three airports transitioned from Island to Built form – suggesting a weak evidence of the aerotropolis formation process. Developable land surrounding the airports and city population growth rate contributed significantly to this process, which consequently contributed to the productivity of airports. In conclusion, aerotropolises are a promising concept, yet unreal. It needs to be integrated with city plans to direct development, and thereby, to make it a reality.

Tidal flood risk threatens coastal urban areas and their agriculture and aquaculture, including salt farming. There is, therefore, an urgency to map and portray risk to reduce casualties and loss. In the floodplain of Cirebon, West Java, where salt farming dominates the landscape, this type of flooding has frequently occurred and disrupted the local economy. Based on two recorded events in 2016 and 2018 as benchmarks, this paper formulates an innovative approach to analyze tidal flood risk in salt farming areas. Our study considers the fundamental concepts of hazard and vulnerability, then uses selective parameters for evaluation in an Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP)-based Geographic Information System. The analytical process includes weighting criteria judged by experts and uses the resulting values to define the spatial characteristics of each salt parcel. Our high-resolution simulations show that the two flood events in 2016 and 2018 affected almost all salt production areas, particularly in the eastern, middle, and western parts of the Cirebon floodplain, although to very different degrees. The study also uses a physical-based approach to validate these results. The damage estimates show a strong positive correlation for economic loss (r = 0.81, r = 0.84). Finally, the study suggests that our multi-methods approach to assessing tidal flood risk should be considered in disaster mitigation planning and integrated coastal zone management in salt farming areas.

The number of tidal flood events has been increasing in Indonesia in the last decade, especially along the north coast of Java. Hydrodynamic models in combination with Geographic Information System applications are used to assess the impact of high tide events upon the salt production in Cirebon, West Java. Two major flood events in June 2016 and May 2018 were selected for the simulation within inputs of tidal height records, national seamless digital elevation dataset of Indonesia (DEMNAS), Indonesian gridded national bathymetry (BATNAS), and wind data from OGIMET. We used a finite method on MIKE 21 to determine peak water levels, and validation for the velocity component using TPXO9 and Tidal Model Driver (TMD). The benchmark of the inundation is taken from the maximum water level of the simulation. This study utilized ArcGIS for the spatial analysis of tidal flood distribution upon solar salt production area, particularly where the tides are dominated by local factors. The results indicated that during the peak events in June 2016 and May 2018, about 83% to 84% of salt ponds were being inundated, respectively. The accurate identification of flooded areas also provided valuable information for tidal flood assessment of marginal agriculture in data-scarce region.

Despite the importance of local ecological knowledge of forage plants, there has been little discussion on how local agro-pastoralists perceive forage species diversity, abundance trends, habitat distributions and ecological drivers influencing changing abundance trends over time in rural West Africa’s savannas. In estimating, assessing and investigating the ecological variables, we performed elaborate ethnobotanical surveys in seven villages in northern Ghana and nine villages in southern-central Burkina Faso. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analysis and cognitive salience index calculations to disentangle the dynamics of local responses to ecological variables considered in this study. Our results revealed that agro-pastoralists exhibited extensive knowledge on forage species diversity, habitat types, abundance trends and ecological drivers. According to agro-pastoralists interviewed, about 82 percent of all forage species known to them were commonly available in local landscapes, while a majority of our interviewees indicated that available forage resources have shown a gradually increasing trend over the past few years. Rainfall variability, tree cutting and drought were the topmost perceived threats causing changes in the trends of forage species abundance. Given our findings, local perceptions of agro-pastoralists could have substantial practical implications in favor of forage-related biodiversity conservation and sustainable livestock production.

Tidal flood implications for agricultural areas have been relatively neglected in research due to their relatively low economic values. Nevertheless, many rural coastal communities are facing these types of floods regularly, especially salt harvesters. Based on a synthetic approach using damage functions and the Geographic Information System, this study applies previous simulations from a hydrodynamic model to quantify vulnerability through flood depth and duration. A depth-duration damage function using a synthetic approach was applied to develop damage curves based on previous events. Data was collected through a questionnaire aimed at salt harvesters’ group representatives. This data was used to evaluate the direct monetary loss related to two recorded events in Cirebon, West Java: in June 2016 (Event A) and in May 2018 (Event B). Those events brought losses of about Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) 74.11 × 109 (5.37%) and IDR 13.79 × 109 (8.1%) for Event A and Event B respectively. This study reveals the different vulnerability levels of the events, which represent different production stages in salt harvesting. This paper presents methods and information to support risk management in salt harvesting, including prioritizing mitigation strategies.

Knowledge coproduction between practitioners and scientists offers promising opportunities for the emerging research field of the geography of sustainability transitions. Drawing on experiences from an international research project on urban green building transitions, this article explores the potentials and challenges of interactive and collaborative knowledge generation methods in understanding sustainability transitions. Our results show that ongoing engagement with local experts and practitioners through interactive World Caf e workshops and follow-up exchanges allows for a better understanding of the research context and knowledge exchange to all participants involved in the research process.

High tide event has been acknowledged as a major cause of inundation in urban coastal area. This event is expected to increase in the future as an impact of global climate change. Meanwhile, there is still a gap of interest on tidal flood impact of marginal land use such as salt production with its traditional process. This study aims to identify high tide event in Cirebon waters and its impact on solar salt production area. Here we combine hydrodynamic simulation and Geographic Information System (GIS) within inputs from national seamless Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data from National Geospatial Agency, bathymetry, and wind record in May 2018 event. Additionally, this study also proposes coarse analysis of potential loss due to tidal flood event through productivity and pricing data from recent studies. From this research, it is found that 6, 570 ha (84%) of the salt production area has been inundated in that peak event with € 48.69 million of potential loss. This model exposes beneficial information for Indonesia salt sufficiency program as well as coastal disaster risk management.

Socio-technical transitions towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption are receiving increasing attention in the academic world and also from political and economic decision-makers. There is increasing demand for resource-efficient technologies and institutional innovations, particularly at the city level. However, it is widely unclear how processes of change evolve and develop and how they are embedded in different socio-spatial contexts. While numerous scholars have contributed to the vibrant research field around sustainability transitions, the geographical expertise largely has been ignored. The lack of knowledge about the role of spatial contexts, learning processes, and the co-evolution of technological, economical, and socio-political processes has been prominently addressed. Bridging approaches from Transition Studies and perspectives of Economic Geography, the paper presents conceptual ideas for an evolutionary and relational understanding of urban sustainability transitions. The paper introduces new perspectives on sustainability transitions towards a better understanding of socio-spatial contexts.

The building sector has been identified as one of the largest contributors to human-related greenhouse gas emissions but also as one holding great potential to lower its emissions. Due to the concentration of built structures in urban areas, green building has become a major part of urban climate change strategies, but approaches differ considerably. This book discusses local pathways to green building in four selected city regions: Freiburg in Germany, Vancouver in Canada, Brisbane in Australia and Luxembourg City in Luxembourg. The four case studies illustrate both similarities and differences through which green building is realised. The work presented identifies different forms of urban green building that range from experimental building designs and technologies and retrofitted building stock to newly designed neighbourhoods and from policies and regulatory tools to new institutional arrangements and actors. It captures not only endeavours to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and their associated uses but also considers the wider context and social dimensions of sustainability such as ideas of liveability and affordability. It considers the conditions that foster and promote green building but also factors that inhibit its realisation and critically examines the success and changes over time within the four case studies in order to contribute to ongoing debates around urban sustainability transitions.

Monitoring and tracing product and process qualities along global supply chains have become increasingly challenging tasks for companies at the downstream end of the chain. High levels of uncertainty in trade coordination arise among importing companies in the face of these developments. The conceptual aim of this paper is to show, by the example of organic food imports to Germany and Australia, how convention theory can contribute to the analysis of trade coordination in global value chains. Our empirical results affirm that industrial conventions such as standards and third-party certification have gained increasing significance over the past two decades. Simultaneously, however, we argue that industrial conventions are not enough to overcome uncertainties in trade. They do not necessarily lead to reduced differences in perceptions of product quality between suppliers and importers. Less tangible factors such as trust established through relationship management and reputation are likewise significant. Furthermore, not only companies with a certain ideological tradition, but also individual people with altruistic motives within other types of firms, can determine how ‘dedicated’ a firm is in pushing trade coordination according to civic and domestic conventions. Market conventions (ie, the importance of price and competitiveness) are stressed more by Australian firms reflecting the country’s liberal market economy and low state subsidies especially in the area of agriculture. Finally, compromises between conventions are sometimes necessary to end a situation of conflict between buyer and supplier. Keywords: convention theory, global value chains, imports, organic food, quality standards, Australia, Germany

Responding to coastal hazards is a daily challenge for populations in low-lying coastal areas all over the globe. How local communities develop accommodating strategies for these hazards remains largely under-emphasized. Filling this knowledge gap is vital to connect the big picture science of sea-level rise with the adaptation needs and capabilities of affected communities. This paper contributes new understanding by presenting the results of original, mixed-methods research (a household survey and focus group discussions) that documents the accommodating strategies of communities and households in the Semarang Bay on northern Java. We find that participatory capacity and self-organization are key factors in enabling communities to live in unstable environments. Coastal hazards have become a normal element of live and are not perceived as severe risks. Rather than retreating or gaining permanent protection, people found ways to accommodate to and hence live with floods. This result adds an important dimension to contemporary theorization of responding to coastal hazards. Although the IPCC (2014) acknowledges ‘accommodating’ as one form of adaptation alongside ‘retreating’ and ‘protecting’, it tends to be overlooked as temporary and insubstantial compared with the latter responses. This research finds that accommodating strategies, such as informal loans, are effective means for people to maintain their livelihoods in hazard-affected coastal areas on a more substantial basis than recognized in much of the literature. We therefore argue that accommodating should be distinguished from both long-term adaptation and short-term coping and deserves elevated consideration by researchers examining hazard response modes among coastal populations.

Slum dwellers are often exposed to natural hazards. While their high vulnerability seems to leave them unpro tected to face these hazards, current research points to the fact that slum dwellers in particular are able to deal with crises remarkably well due to their high social capital. Using the example of extreme floods in the megacity Dhaka, we study the structure of social capital in slum dwellings by focusing on the question how this form of capital enables the management of these events. Three characteristics seem to be crucial for this: first, trusting relationships between the people, which al lows for a quick and unbureaucratic way to receive financial aid in form of small credits. In addition, the multifaceted and redundant structures of social capital, which allow numerous people to ask for help from people in varying positions. The final characteristic consists of the various possibilities to resume work immediately after a flood event. However, while the social capital in Dhaka allows slum dwellers to overcome the crisis, it does not enable a long-term development. For the slum dwellers it is not sufficient to utilize social capital alone in order to become resilient in a comprehensive way.

Going green - environmental upgrading and value chain coordination in the Indian automotive industry. Previous debates have linked environmental upgrading processes in global value chains above all to the influence of powerful lead firms from developed countries. In this paper, we argue that the Indian automobile sector, too, shows a growing tendency for more environmental protection. However, the decisive impetus is often not given by international lead firms.Applying the concept of global value chains, this paper aims to identify both the dominating coordination mechanisms in the Indian automobile chain, and the strategies of different actors for environmental upgrading. The empirical section draws on findings from 130 qualitative interviews with eight vehicle manufactures, 54 component suppliers and several industry experts held between 2009 and 2011. Our results indicate that Indian vehicle manufacturers are presently more pivotal to driving “green” supply chains than international players. Our findings suggest that especially the strong technical and organizational support provided by Indian lead firms is the crucial factor to push component suppliers to improve their environmental performance. On this account, the recent debate on greening of supply chains seems to be led too much from a western perspective. Rather, it appears that many environmental upgrading processes in automobile supply chains occur independently of western lead firms. In fact, they are mostly initiated and implemented by local lead firms.

Cet article examine la pertinence et la viabilité des réseaux innovateurs de petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) dans trois environnements industriels différents en Allemagne. Il repose sur des entrevues en profondeur auprès de 155 PME de I’industrie d’ingénierie mécanique. Les résultats empiriques révèlent que les réseaux régionaux sont fortement redevables des traits dominants de chaque région analysée. De faibles liens et des relations d’échanges d’innovation sont moins limités spatialement qu’on le pensait. Dans plusieurs cas, l’accès à diverses formes de contacts interrégionaux réticulaires est beaucoup plus important. En général, la compétitivité provient plus des stratégies individuelles que des réseaux intensifs régionaux. Ces conclusions doivent être prises en compte lorsque le concept de réseau est utilisé pour mettre en place des politiques d'économie régionale., This paper examines the relevance and viability of innovation-oriented networks of small and medium-sized enteprises (SMEs) in three differently structured industrial environments in Germany. It is mainly based on in-depth interviews in 155 SMEs of the mechanical engineering industry. Empirical results suggest that regional networks are hardly dominant features of the surveyed areas. Weak ties and innovation-oriented relationships are less spatially restricted than generally assumed. In many cases, the access of inter-regional contact networks is much more important. Generally, competitiveness is pursued more through individual firm strategies than through intensified regional networking. This has to be considered if network concepts are to be translated into regional economic policies., Este artículo examina la pertinencia y la viabilidad de redes de innovación de pequeñas y medianas empresas (PyMEs) en tres entornos industriales diferentes de Alemania. Se basa en la realización de entrevistas en profundidad a 155 PyMEs del sector de la ingeniería mecánica. Los resultados empíricos sugieren que las redes regionales están muy marcadas por los rasgos característicos de cada región analizada. Los débiles lazos y las relaciones de intercambio de innovación están menos limitadas espacialmente de lo que se pensaba. En muchos casos, el acceso a diversas formas de contacto con redes interregionales es mucho más importante. En general, la competitividad viene dada más por las estrategias individuales que a través de redes intensivas regionales. Estas conclusiones deben ser tenidas en cuenta cuando el concepto de red se considera en las políticas de economía regional.

In many megacities of the global south, the combination of rapid population growth and high pressure on space for housing, results in urban growth taking place in areas particularly prone to natural hazards. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is no exception to this rule. Many marginal settlements or slums are located on low-lying land at high risk of flooding. This paper analyzes the vulnerability of slum dwellers in Dhaka and highlights the major factors behind their sensitivity to floods and their ability to adapt to the related changes. The empirical findings presented are based on a questionnaire survey covering 625 households in five slum areas of Dhaka. Our data suggests that social capital plays an important role with regard to the ability of slum dwellers to find ways to live with the floods. Regardless of how strongly people are affected, mutual help and support are dominant features in times of crises. While poorly educated and resourced slum dwellers are highly vulnerable to external shocks, they still show a surprising capacity to cope with natural calamities.

This article attempts to study Chinese visitors' intention to visit world cultural heritage sites in the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), with the additional constructs of past experience and cultural tour involvement. The survey data were collected by a self‐administrated questionnaire in Suzhou, which is one of the cities with world cultural heritage sites in China. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the research model and hypotheses. The result shows that perceived control, past experience, and cultural tour involvement, but not attitude and subjective norms, are valid predictor constructs for visitors' intention to visit a world cultural heritage site within the next 12 months. The findings have implications for predicting heritage tourism.

In this paper we aim to show that stakeholder theory can enrich analysis in (environmental) economic geography. By applying and modifying the stakeholder salience model from management studies, we analyse which factors influence company managers in their environmental decision-making and which priorities they give to competing stakeholder claims. We test the model on data from 250 German manufacturing firms. Overall, the results strongly support the basic assumptions of stakeholder theory. They indicate that stakeholder attributes such as legitimacy, power and urgency and the stakeholders’ willingness to co-operate are more important for stakeholder salience than company- and product-related characteristics. Moreover, the results confirm the findings of a recent study of Spanish manufacturing firms by Gago and Antolín. Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es aufzuzeigen, dass die aus den Managementwissenschaften stammende Stakeholder-Theorie eine Bereicherung für die (umweltorientierte) Wirtschaftsgeographie sein kann. Anhand eines modifizierten Stakeholder Salience-Modells wird untersucht, welche Faktoren Manager von Unternehmen bei Umweltschutz-Entscheidungen beeinflussen und welche Prioritäten sie konkurrierenden Forderungen einräumen. Das Modell wird anhand der Daten von 250 deutschen Industrieunternehmen empirisch getestet. Insgesamt bestätigen die Ergebnisse zentrale Annahmen der Stakeholder-Theorie. Sie zeigen, dass den Anspruchs­gruppen zugewiesene Eigenschaften wie Legitimität, Durchsetzungsfähigkeit, Dringlichkeit und Kooperationsbereitschaft für deren Wahrnehmung im Unternehmensmanagement deutlich wichtiger sind als strukturelle Merkmale der betroffenen Unternehmen und ihrer Produkte. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen auch weitgehend die Befunde einer neueren Studie von Gago und Antolín zu spanischen Industrieunternehmen.

Sidney and Singapur - diverging governance strategies in urban competition. Singapore and Sydney are two emerging global cities in the Asian-Pacific region. The output of growing numbers of regional headquarters. modern architecture, high standard inner city residential areas and a rising proportion of high qualified professionals is mostly similar. Yet, the ways to reach global city status show differences. In Sydney private developers or investors play a major role in urban governance. In Singapore state control is much stronger in fields of urban planning. However, the visions and visible outcomes are comparable.

Concepts and key issues of an ecological modernisation of economic geography. To date, economic geographers have addressed ecological problems only very hesitatingly despite the fact that an “ecologically modernised” economic geography could offer a double chance to the entire discipline. First, because there is a good opportunity to add new value to older, established approaches within the discipline. Second, because there is considerable demand for applied environmental knowledge in politics, economy and society. In our paper we will discuss several new approaches and concepts from within and from outside (economic) geography in order to present a conceptual framework for further research. In particular, we try to outline research topics and questions regarding different but fundamentally inter-connected spatial scales, namely at the macro level (national and international regulation, environmental governance), at the meso level (environmental protection in regional context) and at the micro level (environmental performance of firms).

In this paper we compare the regional network relationships of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the mechanical engineering and related metal manufacturing industries in Japan and Germany. We show that the structure of network relationships is still largely determined by traditional forms of the organization of production, despite convergent developments. The network relationships of SMEs in Japan are thus very largely determined by a hierarchically organized system of production. By contrast, the German SMEs almost always have far more scope for strategic action than their Japanese counterparts because they are less dependent on large companies and have their own distinctive images in the final markets. In both countries, cooperative network relationships are on the increase. However, reregionalization as postulated in the flexible specialization hypothesis does not appear to be a dominant trend in either Japan or Germany.

Since Muhammad Yunus first began launching joint ventures with multinational corporations such as Group Danone (2006) and Veolia Water (2008) in Bangladesh, his social business concept has received international attention. With reference to empirical findings from a comprehensive field study in rural Bangladesh, this paper suggests that Yunus’ early social business joint ventures do contribute to poverty reduction in terms of the sustainable livelihoods approach. Both Grameen Danone Foods and Grameen Veolia Water Ltd. provide low-income consumers with access to products for their basic needs, while at the same time creating new sources of social and economic capital. However, considering the multidimensional character of poverty, the findings are not suggestive of a panacea. Given the fact that the conscious abdication of personal financial gain by those who invest in a social business company is the defining attribute in Yunus’ concept, the authors conclude that his idea is primarily a strong plea for social entrepreneurship. It is a strong call for the efficient use of philanthropic resources in contrast with a more conventional charity approach.