Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Urban, rural and regional economics'

Swedish municipalities have very different age structures. Migration from rural to urban areas has led to a polarisation of Swedish regions, where urban centres have an inflow of young and skilled workers while rural regions are ageing and falling behind economically. This thesis examines what effect population ageing has on output of Swedish municipalities and how that effect differs between urban and rural municipalities. By classifying all 290 municipalities as either rural or urban and dividing the population of each municipality into six age cohorts, a clear negative relation is found between the share of people aged 65 to 79 and gross regional product per capita in both types of municipalities. Surprisingly, this negative relation is not found for the share of people above 80. This group is positively related to output in urban municipalities, but not in rural ones. Overall, population ageing seems to be negative for economic growth in both urban and rural municipalities.

This dissertation examines the turnaround of labor force migration patterns in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington in the 1970s. The focus of the dissertation is the simultaneous phenomena of economic deconcentration and employment migration in nonmetropolitan counties during the turnaround period. The theoretical approach of the research draws from the disciplines of economics, geography, and sociology to develop a model that addresses what attributes of areas attract labor migration flows. The study specifies that labor migration is a function of economic activities, the environment, and accessibility. The research focus is the role that economic and noneconomic factors play in attracting labor migration flows. The spatial focus is the counties in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The temporal focus of study is the period between 1965 and 1975. The results of the research affirm the complexity of migration modelling. A test of equality of coefficients of the different periods investigated show significant differences between the turnaround and preturnaround models. The data results show just a few of the noneconomic factors are a major determinant of the nonmetropolitan turnaround. The model results show several unexpected results. Several of the coefficients in the models have the opposite sign of what originally was expected. Another unexpected outcome of the research is the apparent symmetry of labor in-migration and labor out-migration coefficients. A formal test for symmetry, however, shows the models are significantly different. This study finds that the economic deconcentration process in the Pacific states is not one in which metropolitan growth spilled over into the nonmetropolitan counties. Rather both the metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties simultaneously experienced deindustrializing (a decline of manufacturing employment and growth of service employment). The service related employment activity has a major influence on employment growth in the Pacific states. Although employment change does not show a significant influence on labor migration flows, labor migration does show a significant influence on employment growth in several of the model results.

The rapid economic development in China has successfully drawn a worldwide attention and benefit its population, with a average 8 percentage GDP growth rate every year and 500 million people out of poverty. While a large number of people are seeking for the reason why economic achievement in China has been so dramatic and unprecedented, less people show solicitude for Chinese women`s condition and empowerment.    Women as a worldwide vulnerable group, their well-being need to be taken into consideration during the process of developing economy. In China, female population accounts for 48.47 percentage (633.2 million) of entire population. Under the big picture of economic prosperity, the author found that Chinese people`s living condition has advanced largely, the popularization of basic education and medical service has benefit the vast majority people, meanwhile, people can be more involved in political process to express their opinions. However, women are benefited disproportionately but still less empowered than men are. Moreover, since China is a geographically large country, the economic development has shown some regional characteristic, that means, in southeastern China, due to the convenient traffic condition, such as harbors, economic development process is faster than in northwestern China, where traffic and natural conditions are both weak. Would that cause a unequal empowered situation between women from different economic developed regions?   Women has been paid less attention through the history of China, let alone different conditions of women in different regions. In this thesis, the author will describe women`s different empowered situation in rural and urban regions of China, via a capability approach viewpoint, and discussion of whether there is a regional pattern will be based on (Dis) Empowerment model.

Bicycling is a method of tourism transportation that is healthy, non-invasive, environmentally responsible, and economically sustainable. It allows freedom, mobility, and sightseeing potential that is not made possible by other modes of transit. Thousands of bicycle tourists travel from all over the globe annually to explore California on touring bikes via established cycling routes and robust determination. Thousands of additional domestic and international visitors take weekend trips, plan family vacations, travel for business, or tour California from abroad, many of whom are excellent candidates for local and regional bicycle touring at a more gentle intensity level. The increasing popularity and prominence of bicycle tourism, among both domestic and international travelers, carries great potential for economic benefit to local communities. Rural and agricultural communities can particularly benefit from bicycle tourism, as these communities do not normally experience the benefits of tourism as significantly as their urban, coastal or mountainous neighbors. Tourism that is developed in accordance with the size, scale, constraints and character of a particular community can have a beneficial effect on the economics and industry of the area. Infrastructure projects to this effect, such as development of a town or regional trail system, wayfinding features, or other resources come with benefits for visitors and locals in the form of recreation, public health, mobility, and access to food, drink, amenities, scenic areas, jobs and commerce. Trails may further improve the economy of the local housing market, as proximity to trails has a positive effect on housing values. Incorporation of agricultural destinations into local tourism planning creates a draw for visitors and can become a mutually beneficial relationship – contributing to the economic stability of the agriculture industry, preserving local farm lands, increasing tourism revenue and educating the public on the importance of local farming. Through careful planning of the touristic components of the destination, rural communities can achieve multifaceted economic benefits of diverse and versatile tourism amenities.

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The objective of this research was to analyze and to define a strategy of economic development that consolidates the economic emergency of Terra Roxa City - PR. Based on the theoretical premise of Hirschman (1974, 1996), in which the industrial expansion is a consequence of the economic development and the local is becoming the space of reference of strategic actions stimulating this expansion, the causes of the economic emergency of Terra Roxa were identified. The results of this research evidenced that its emergency is a consequence of the industrial base formed by micro, small and medium companies that are specialized in the branch of infantile confections. This industrial base has been responsible for the changes in the productive structure of the city, from urban-agricultural to urban-industrial, producing a sequence of events, stimulators of the local economy. As final result of this research, a strategy of economic development for the base was proposed. This strategy aims to the consolidation of the industrial base of infantile confections in Terra Roxa, stimulating the necessary structural changes to the productive chains that will lead, with the times, the economic development of the city.
Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar e definir uma estratégia de desenvolvimento econômico que consolide a emergência econômica do município de Terra Roxa - PR. Partindo da premissa teórica de Hirschman (1974, 1996), que a expansão industrial é um reflexo do desenvolvimento econômico e que o local passa a ser o espaço de referência de ações estratégicas que estimulam essa expansão, foi identificado às causas da emergência econômica de Terra Roxa. Através dos resultados da pesquisa constatou-se que a sua emergência adveio da base industrial formada por micro, pequenas e média empresas que se especializaram no ramo de confecções infantis. Esta base industrial esta sendo responsável pelas mudanças na estrutura produtiva do município, de urbano-rural para urbano-industrial, produzindo uma seqüência de eventos estimuladores da economia local. Como resultado final da pesquisa, foi proposta uma estratégia de desenvolvimento econômico pela base. Esta estratégia visa à consolidação da base industrial de confecções infantis de Terra Roxa, estimulando as mudanças estruturais necessárias aos encadeamentos produtivos que levarão, ao longo do tempo, o desenvolvimento econômico do município.

This research project explores the rural-urban bind in four novels by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). In each of these novels Hardy contrives to create an imagined nostalgia for a rural community losing its traditions, memory, and history due to social change brought about by the urban elements of modernisation, migration, and industrialisation. The purpose of this thesis is to expose the methods that Hardy employs to construct and conserve this rural-urban bind. Firstly, Hardy utilises the regional novel genre, which, as this essay shows, offers a felicitous framework for considering the problematic repercussions of the rural-urban bind, drawing attention to the importance of locality within the landscape. Secondly, Hardy draws on pastoral landscapes as a setting for representations of how social change, industrialisation and urbanisation affect characters, communities, environments and a nostalgic, rural way of life. Finally, this thesis explores Hardy's antagonistic portrayal of science, religion, industry, technology and travel to argue that the rural-urban bind is used negatively to convey encroaching modernity and portray a growing urban industrial landscape, which consumes rural traditions, erases memories and severs the individual's connection to place.

In this set of essays, I grapple with issues related to the core questions of urban economics. Why are people so heavily clustered in urban areas? Why do some cities grow while others decline? What explains where people live within urban areas? My first essay focuses on understanding patterns of racial segregation within metro areas. One factor that has long been hypothesized to contribute to this divide, but has proven difficult to test empirically, is that local zoning regulations have an exclusionary impact on minority residents in some neighborhoods. I focus on variation in block-level racial composition within narrow bands around zone borders within jurisdictions. My results imply a large role for local zoning regulation, particularly the permitting of dense multi-family structures, in explaining disparate racial location patterns. The second essay returns to core issues of agglomeration and the role of cities. The fact that wages tend to be higher in cities, and that this premium grows with density, has been seen as strong evidence for urban agglomeration forces enhancing productivity. In modern data this density premium seems only to exist in areas with above average levels of human capital. Agglomeration models emphasizing learning and knowledge spillovers between workers in close proximity seem most compatible with the data. Finally, I investigate the impact of local governance structure on urban growth over the last 40 years. Some economists have touted the virtues of competition between fragmented local governments in efficient provision of local public goods, while regionalists have pointed to the need to coordinate planning and infrastructure across jurisdictions, and warned of the impacts of fractionalization on segregation and sprawl. While cities with regionalized governments have grown more rapidly, a small set of strong historical correlates with local government density can account for this. Impacts on segregation are more robust.
Economics

Urban and regional development decisions have long-term, often irreversible impacts on the natural and built environment. These changes impact society’s wellbeing, yet rarely occur in the context of well understood economic costs and benefits. The cumulative effects of these individually small land use decisions are also very large. Ecological economics provides several frameworks that could inform more sustainable development patterns and practices, including ecosystem service valuation (ESV) and the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). This dissertation consists of a series of articles addressing urban and regional development from an ecological economic perspective, using GPI, ESV, and evaluation of tax and subsidy programs. The GPI has been well developed at the national level but is of growing interest to stakeholders and citizens interested in better measuring social welfare at local and regional scales. By integrating measures of built, human, social, and natural capital, GPI provides a more comprehensive assessment of social welfare than consumption-based macroeconomic indicators. GPI’s monetary basis allows these diverse metrics to be integrated, and can also facilitate intra- and inter-regional comparisons of social welfare. Ecosystem services are also increasingly recognized as important contributors to human well-being, particularly in areas where they are becoming scarce due to rapid land conversion. Despite recent advances in measuring and valuing ecosystem services, they are often not considered in decision making because of both scientific uncertainty and the difficulty in weighing these values in tradeoffs. Techniques to speed the valuation process while maintaining accuracy are thus in high demand. As public recognition of the value of ecosystem services grows, ESV can serve as the basis for a variety of policy tools, from inclusion in traditional permitting or conservation easement programs to new programs such as payments for ecosystem services. Ideally planners, citizens, and decision makers would better weigh the diverse costs and benefits of land use decisions as part of development and conservation planning. By quantifying changes in: 1) contributors to social welfare and 2) the value of ecosystem services across the urban-rural gradient, the GPI and ESV frameworks developed as part of this dissertation can thus be used to better inform local and regional policy and planning.

This thesis consists of three independent but thematically related papers exploring the income determination process in African labour markets from spatial and sectoral perspectives. Using long-run household panel data from rural Tanzania, chapter 2 investigates the extent to which education can explain migrants' income and consumption gains. We expect that the higher return to schooling at the destination primarily drives migrants' gains, suggesting that those who cannot afford the cost of schooling cannot reap the benefits of migration. We find that education indeed plays the role, but that it does not appear to be a major factor in limiting the internal migration as a source of raising income and consumption. Exploiting data drawn from urban household panel surveys in Ghana and Tanzania, chapter 3 investigates how rural-to-urban migrants' earnings compare with those of natives in urban labour markets. The chapter attempts to identify the growth of migrants' earnings at the destination (assimilation), making a distinction between wage and self-employed migrants. We find that wage-dependent migrants would achieve higher lifetime earnings if they entered a self-employed sector from their arrival, conditional on individuals' attributes and the varying returns to those attributes across urban residents. The evidence points towards the importance of capital constraints in a decision to start a business. Using firm-level data of manufacturing and retailing from the Enterprise Surveys conducted in seven Sub-Saharan African countries, chapter 4 attempts to improve our understanding of enterprise performance in urban Africa by investigating three aspects of firms' productive structure: technology, total factor productivity (TFP), and firm size. We find that the technology is similar between sectors, that retailing firms are smaller and less capital intensive but not, on average, ones with lower TFP, and that TFP differences are primarily within sectors. All these findings might point towards the importance of factor prices in characterising the industrial structure in urban Africa.

This research is focused on the issue of urban development within the context of regional planning in Thailand. The study's main question is how national policy should attempt to shape the emerging urbanisation pattern in Thailand. In the past the country's development plans have emphasised industrialisation which has led to an acceleration in the growth of Bangkok, creating a dual economy and widening regional disparities. The Government's past efforts to decentralise economic activity have been relatively ineffective. This thesis considers a new approach, using the public service sector as the leading economic base for the development of a selected regional centre, Chonburi, in the Eastern Seaboard Sub-region. The study's analysis indicates that it is economically and administratively feasible to implement a Government work dispersal scheme. The analysis also indicates the necessity of controlling the large regional leakages which would otherwise reduce the regional multiplier effects. Overall, the study confirms that a growth pole approach can be initiated by public employment relocation and suggests that there is a viable alternative to nearly all of Thailand's growth being concentrated in Bangkok. However, the study also confirms that if private investment in the growth pole is to be achieved, this approach must be supplemented by long term public investment commitments and subtle co-ordination of private and public programming and planning measures.

In a little more than a decade regional planning has emerged as a vital component of the development planning process in Saudi Arabia. From its limi ted beginnings in physical planning its scope has rapidly widened and the latest plans attempt comprehensive regional planning within the context of a multi-level development planning effort. This experience has been rich and varied, and various innovatory approaches and techniques have been introduced. This study was conducted with a view to evaluating Saudi experience and placing it in an international perspective. With these aims in mind, a comprehensive planning model has been developed and a number of key questions posed, the answers to which reflect the acceptability and practicality of the planning system. The model is based upon a review of international experience of countries with different political, social and cultural settings, and at different stages of development. The model consists of four main components: planning activities, plan making bodies, decision making bodies and implementing bodies with a feedback from the public and private sectors. The model was tested against the planning experience of three countries with widely differing political, social and economic settings: Canada with its laissez-faire economy, the United Kingdom with its mixed economy, and Poland with its command economy. It was concluded that the model is sufficiently robust to act as a framework wi thin which to describe and analyse the Saudi experience. The context for regional planning in Saudi Arabia was analysed. The study included the political and administrative systems, the economy,the settlement structure, the sectoral planning process, the spatial planning process, and the past experience in regional planning. Then, the current regional planning experience which includes the National Settlement Strategy and the Regional Comprehensive Planning Project were discussed and analysed, taking the five comprehensive regional development plans (Hail, Qassim, Baha, Tabuk and Makkah) as case studies. This "current" experience was evaluated against the comprehensive planning model and the key questions for an acceptable planning system. It has been found that the Saudi planning system is fairly well developed at the national and local scales. However, at the regional scale, although there is political commitment there is little in the way of administrative arrangements for plan making and implementation. A set of proposals for improving the planning system has been presented for future action.

The goal of this thesis is to establish if the dynamic model of ecological organization at a distance reflect the same influence or different influences than the ones which acted upon the areas in the vicinity of the city. In order to accomplish this, existing studies of Phipps, Baudry and Burel measuring the ecological organization of a rural landscape in two segments submitted to a low urban pressure (between 1 Km and 10 Km from the city) and high urban pressure (less than 1 Km to the city) will be used. The problem is seen from a landscape point of view, from the organization measured in time and from the variable effect of the urban pressure. With the results of this study, we should be able to complete the picture of the study of the dynamic of the ecological organization of a landscape in view of the distance to the urban center. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This paper gives a detailed account of rural-urban migration in South Africa. Using data from the recent National Income and Dynamics Study (NIDS) it defines the determinants and nature of rural-urban migration in South Africa before providing a thorough analysis of changes in a range of economic and social factors that individuals experience when they leave their rural homes and relocate to the country’s urban areas. These factors include income, housing standards, access to utilities, relative deprivation, interpersonal trust, crime and safety, physical health and depression. In particular the paper looks at subjective well-being, defined in terms of individuals self-reported satisfaction with life.

The concept of Region is one of the elements which has differentiated Regional Economics from other fields of Applied Economics. In spite of this, however, researchers in this field of economic analysis have not paid a great deal of attention to this concept. All too often, Regions have been identified with the politico-administrative units into which nationstates have divided their territory and for which statistical information is widely available. However, a Region can be defined in many different ways. Frameworks which define regions according to analytical/theoretical criteria provide greater scope for applied studies and permit a more complete interpretation of the results contained therein. In this research we have proposed a concept of Region which goes beyond the administrative division of territory. Our regional aggregation has been based on agglomeration economies, one of the fundamental concepts in the fields of Economic Geography and Urban and Regional Economics. In accordance with the work of Polèse et al. (2007), the territory has been classified into analytical regions which take into account the size of the population and the distance from the main urban areas. In doing so, we achieve an aggregation which corresponds with the differences in agglomeration economies across space. However, their robustness in comparison with the administrative units commonly used has - to date - not been evaluated.The objective of the first chapter of this thesis was to prove that the functional regions defined under such economic criteria provide better defined regions - in terms of greater compactness and separation - than the administrative ones commonly used to carry out labour market studies at sub-national level. Using micro data from the last available Spanish Census, the functional and administrative regions are evaluated using the Theil index and the Davies-Bouldin Validation index. Applied to employment (by gender, industry and level of qualification and occupation), both indexes show better results for the analytical regions than for any of the ordinary administrative ones (NUTS I, II or III regions). In other words, the analytical classification generates areas where the distribution of employment is more homogeneous within and more heterogeneous between the regions. Agglomeration economies and distance (to the metropolis) seem to be relevant for understanding the patterns of distribution of employment, either by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation. In practice, this provides a clearer way for identifying local labour markets and explaining their differences and similarities. In light of the results from the first chapter, we suggest the use of this alternative classification -subject, of course, to the availability of data - when carrying out Labour Economics studies that include a spatial dimension. The following chapters have provided two applications of this analytical division of the territory to Labour Economics issues: the factors affecting the probability of being employed (Chapter 2) and the effects that labour mobility and commuting have on the central regions (Chapter 3). In the second chapter, we presented a spatial analysis of employment at local level where, among other factors, the demographic and geographical characteristics can and do affect the outcome. The empirical results support the hypothesis that size - in terms of population - and location - in terms of distance to a metropolis - are explanatory variables for the probability of being employed. In other words, employment depends not only on the personal characteristics of the individuals (level of education, age, sex, etc.) but also on the type of analytical region - as defined in Chapter 1 - where they live. Regarding the importance of location, our results show a significant gap in the chances of being employed between "central" and "peripheral" types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, the types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, theexpected negative relationship between employment and the size of the region where the individual lives is confirmed, and this seems to be stronger for non-skilled individuals than for people with university studies. In terms of employability, the largest Spanish metropolitan areas (MA1) seem to be enjoying the full benefits of agglomeration economies while the smaller metropolitan areas (MA2) seem to be suffering their negative effects. Likewise, for urban areas that cannot be considered "metropolitan areas" (UA1 and UA2), size does not seem to be as important as their central-peripheral location. In rural areas (less than 50,000 inhabitants), both size and distance seem to be relevant determinants of employability. In other words, regardless of the level of studies, there are fewer chances of being employed in rural areas as opposed to urban areas and in peripheral rural areas as opposed to central rural areas. Recognizing the importance of these spatially differentiated results should have a significant impact on current policy discussions, shifting the focus from general solutions to more spatially customized ones where size and location are considered. Just as differences in age, gender or industrial structure are taken into account in the design of employment policies (at national or local level), these results suggest that an additional spatial dimension that somehow includes the size and location of the local area where the person lives should be considered. Some important migration policy implications can also be derived when using these alternative functional regions to analyze the direct and indirect effects that the arrival of workers has in the core regions. Spain has experienced over the last two decades an intense arrival of both immigrants and in-migrants to its central regions, and as a consequence (though not exclusively) of these inflows, we can observe internal migrations and/or commuting to some areas that might be more attractive. Using the last available Census, the estimations for Spain of an input-output multi-regional model that includes the possibility of commuting show that the arrival of in- and im-migration to the core generates a set of effects induced by the redistribution of population among other regions. The arrival of workers from the periphery to the core provokes reallocations of residence in all cases (displacement effect).However, the intensity of these reallocations increases with size, which shows the existence of some agglomeration diseconomies associated with big cities. When the possibility of commuting is also considered, the arrival of workers from the periphery to the core generates the reallocation of both jobs (economic activity) and residences. The larger cities are the ones pushing out more residents to other areas, while keeping most of the jobs. In other words, they are becoming attractive areas to work in, but not to live in (due to, among other reasons, high housing costs, congestion or other negative externalities). The oppposite is true for the smaller cities, which are attractive for residing in but for working in. The distributional pattern of residences proves to be different to the distributional pattern of jobs. These results highlight the idea that the effects of the arrival of population are not only felt by the recipient region/city but may generate comparatively far larger effects on other regions in the form of internal migration and commuting flows, something that policy makers should bear in mind. To conclude, surpassing the administrative division of the territory, this classification manages to have explanatory power in spatial Labour Economics topics while including relevant geo-economic characteristics such as location and agglomeration economies. The use of this classification has proved to offer a better understanding of the patterns of distribution of employment (by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation), job opportunities, and of the probabilities of being employed depending on the level of qualification or the degree of attractiveness of a region for working or living purposes. Some other questions spatially related to the performance of regional labour markets remain unanswered. Future lines of research include the application of this classification to the study of labour economic issues such as the determinants of unemployment, inter-industrial labour mobility or the existence of overqualification taking into account spatial factors (i.e. the type of analytical region where the potential worker lives) which are usually ignored.Agglomeration economies and distance play an important role in the location of economic activity, and therefore should affect the labour outcomes once the worker has decided to live in certain type of region. Obviously, such a decision does not have to be permanent, and workers can move in order to improve their labour opportunities. Therefore, a further possible question of relevance is the internal migration decisions between and within analytical regions. That is, can certain regularities be observed? Are people moving from peripheral regions to central or metropolitan areas or the other way round? Are internal migrations better explained in terms of size, i.e. in terms as counter-urbanization or urbanization? Are these movements linked to job opportunity decisions? Can we observe any differences according to their level of qualification? Even more, workers can be employed in a certain type of region but live in another, i.e., we could observe migration on a daily basis (commuting). Is one type of analytical region attracting workers or attracting residents? Do people tend to live and work in the same type of region? Could the analytical division be improved in order to specifically include the commuting criteria used in the local labour markets literature? We believe that these questions provide a fascinating and important future research agenda.

Cette thèse porte sur l’évaluation de quatre politiques d’aménagement du territoire en France. Elle aborde également trois questions majeures de l’économie urbaine : l'influence des transports sur la localisation de l'emploi et de la population, l’élasticité de l'offre de logement et la ségrégation urbaine. La première politique publique étudiée est le Réseau express régional. Ainsi, l’amélioration des transports publics en Île-de-France a favorisé la croissance de l’emploi dans les communes de banlieue. Il n’y aurait en revanche pas de croissance globale de la population mais un possible effet de gentrification à proximité des stations. Dans un deuxième temps, cette thèse s’intéresse au rôle du train à grande vitesse dans l’organisation spatiale des entreprises multi-implantations. Il est établi que les filiales voyant le temps de parcours vers leur siège diminuer se spécialisent dans les activités de production. Cette création s'effectue au détriment des activités d'encadrement. Ensuite, ce travail évalue l’impact des zones franches urbaines. L’effet de première génération de ce dispositif sur la localisation des entreprises et sur l'emploi est massif. En revanche, il n'a que faiblement profité aux habitants de ces quartiers, soulignant un manque de ciblage de la mesure. Le dernier chapitre évalue l’effet des aides au logement sur le niveau des loyers et l’offre de logements locatifs. Il confirme que les aides au logement induisent une hausse des loyers privés. L’élasticité de l'offre de logements reste faible dans le long terme, puisque l'effet inflationniste perdure tandis que la quantité et la qualité des logements locatifs ne s'adaptent pratiquement pas
This thesis evaluates four French urban and regional policies. It also covers three major issues in urban economics: the impact of transportation on the spatial distribution of employment and population, the elasticity of housing supply and urban segregation. First, the thesis focuses on the Regional Express Rail system. The improvement of public transport in the Paris region causes employment to grow in suburban municipalities. However, there is not effect on overall population growth but a possible gentrification effect nearby RER stations. Secondly, this thesis studies the role of high-speed rail in the spatial organization of multi-plant businesses. It shows that the reduction in travel time to their headquarters subsidiaries lead the affiliate to specialize in production activities, to the expense of management tasks. Then, this work assesses the impact of the French Urban Enterprise Zones. The first generation of this program have a massive impact on firm location and employment. However, it only slightly benefited to the local residents, highlighting a lack of targeting. The last chapter evaluates the effect of housing allowance on the level of rents and the supply of rental housing. It confirms that housing subsidies cause private rents to increase. The elasticity of housing supply remains low in the long term, since the upward effect does not vanish and the quantity and the quality of rental housing do not adjust

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This paper aimed to evaluate the impact of the Rural Village Program, as development public policy, in the lives of settlers, especially of the seasonal rural worker. In the context of rural development public policies, which was considered a unprecedented program in the country, Rural Villages implanted in the state of Paraná between 1995 and 2003 had as main recipient seasonal rural workers (S.R.W.), settling them in rural lots measuring an average of 5,000 m² near urban areas and in regions with a demand for temporary hand labor aiming to improve their live conditions. At first, it is shown the situation of the national agriculture issue from the point of view of some theorists, and its aggravation due to some Public Policies, such as the Rural Credit, that collaborated to the formation of a working category widely known as bóia fria (Day Laborer). It refers to the Rural Village Program, a sub-component of the 12 Month Paraná Project, emphasizing the process and implantation strategies giving emphasis to the Western Region of Paraná. According to acquired data, it was established that, although the main beneficiaries were the S.R.W., only 20% of the settled families had as landowner one of their workers. To achieve this proposed work objective a study was conduct on the case of Rural Villages in the cities of Corbélia and Anahy, where the impact of the Program in the life of the settlers was identified, specifically in the lives of the S.R.W. It was concluded that, even though the objective initially proposed of settling 60,000 families throughout the State was not reached, and some of the basic prerequisites defined by the Program were not abided, the evaluation was that if there was no significant change in economic terms, in the aspect of quality of life in loco ,through interviews with villagers, deep transformation was observed with the increasing in the families self steam and satisfaction in general, as far as having their own house and productive subsistence land. For an effective improvement on socioeconomic conditions, the Rural Villages still need income generating and technical assistance projects directed to non-qualified hand labor, such as day laborer. It is also possible, through the Rural Village experiences, to acquire larger areas by identifying those families that had shown capability in exploring agriculture, settling them in land financed by the Federal government s Rural Credit Program.
Esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o impacto do Programa Vila Rural, enquanto Política Pública de desenvolvimento, nas condições de vida dos assentados, especialmente dos trabalhadores rurais volantes. No contexto de políticas públicas de desenvolvimento rural, considerado um programa inédito no país, as Vilas Rurais implantadas no Paraná, no período entre 1995 a 2003, tinham como beneficiário meta os Trabalhadores Rurais Volantes (T.R.V.), assentando-os em lotes rurais de em média 5.000 m², próximos das áreas urbanas e em regiões com demanda de mão-de-obra temporária, com o objetivo de melhoria das condições de vida dos mesmos. Inicialmente apresenta-se a situação da questão agrária nacional, sob o ponto de vista de alguns teóricos e o seu agravamento em função de determinadas Políticas Públicas, como o crédito rural, que colaboraram para a formação de uma categoria de trabalhadores popularmente conhecida como bóia-fria . Aborda-se o Programa Vila Rural, subcomponente do Projeto Paraná 12 Meses, enfocando o processo e as estratégias de implantação, com destaque para a Região Oeste do Paraná. Pelos dados levantados verificou-se que, embora o beneficiário meta fosse o T. R. V., na região estudada apenas 20% das famílias assentadas tinham como titular do lote um desses trabalhadores. Para alcançar-se o objetivo proposto neste trabalho foi realizado um estudo de caso das Vilas Rurais dos municípios de Corbélia e Anahy, onde se identificou o impacto do Programa na vida dos assentados, especificamente na vida dos T. R. V. Assim, mesmo não atingindo a meta inicialmente proposta de assentar 60.000 famílias em todo o Estado e não obedecendo alguns requisitos básicos definidos pelo Programa, a avaliação é de que, se não houve mudança significativa em termos econômicos, no aspecto de qualidade de vida houve sensível transformação. Observou-se in loco, através de entrevistas com os vileiros, o aumento na auto-estima e satisfação das famílias de maneira geral, especialmente no tocante à casa própria e ao terreno para produção voltada à subsistência. Para uma efetiva melhoria nas condições socioeconômicas as Vilas Rurais necessitam ainda de projetos de geração de renda e assistência técnica, direcionados à mão-de-obra desqualificada como a do bóia-fria . Também é possível, pelas experiências das Vilas Rurais, com a identificação daquelas famílias que demonstraram aptidão à exploração agrícola de adquirirem áreas maiores, assentando-as em terrenos financiados pelo Programa Crédito Fundiário do Governo Federal.

China has been experiencing considerable growth following the economic reforms and open doors policy of 1978. The whole country has not benefited from these changes, however. A significant socioeconomic gap has been created between the developed Eastern coast and the poor hinterlands of the Western regions. Although the Chinese Government has made the development of the Western provinces' social and economic conditions a national priority (China's Western Development Priority), since the year 2000, progress has been hindered due to the lack of understanding of the many factors that have created the disparity of Western China. This thesis applies a statistical and geographical approach to understanding the evolution and spatial distribution of urban-rural income disparity in the minority counties of Gansu, Western China over the last 15 years. The quantitative analysis between this disparity and the socioeconomic variables reveal that minority counties are significantly affected by less favourable socio-economic environments. Moreover, urban-rural income disparity resuits in reduced access to basic education for school-aged children, particularly girls, in minority counties. This thesis adds a new perspective---statistical and geographical---to previous studies of urban-rural income disparity in Western China's minority regions.

This thesis is concerned with the regional dimensions of Polish EU rural development policies. Two major streams in this research, theoretical and practical, correspond to the core intertwined research questions: " What (if any) policy regionalisation is desirable for EU rural policies in Poland? " How should the rural development process be conceptualised with what implications for regionalisation of policy? This research has a direct policy linkage as under the EC legislation Poland has a possibility to implement rural development programmes at "an appropriate geographical level". This thesis explores whether the region (at NUTS 2 level) is such an appropriate level. The thesis is structured around four potential justifications for policy regionalisationin Poland: 1) regionally differentiated rural development patterns across Polish regions; 2) heterogeneityo f regionalp referencesfo r rural policiesa nd their legitimacy; 3) territorial fairness and compliance with regional cohesion objectives, safeguarded by specific regionally set policy budgets; 4) political feasibility. In conclusion, a synthetic framework is proposed, based on a complex system approach. The thesis sprang from a participant observation experience in setting Polish EU preaccession policies. It adopts a multidisciplinary perspective with elements from development economics, economic geography, political studies, regional science, sociolinguistics, and policy evaluation leading to a complex system analysis. A multiplicity of data has been mobilized: participant observation, secondary statistical data, past policy data as well as a series of semi-structured interviews. The empirical analysis suggests there is little evidence of the relevance of NUTS 2 level for rural policy making in the Polish EU context based on the propositions examined here. However, rural policy regionalisation can be more adequately conceptualized as a process, not as a policy desideratum. The forces driving policy regionalisation in Poland are weakly developed at present, but predicted to gain in force in longer term, implying that regionalised policies may become more relevant in the future. The theoretical strand of the thesis leads to a formulation of an integrated framework for rural policy analysis. The model recognizes that the policy making has a multiple rationality, namely actors perform a multiplicity of actions in economic, political and cognitive paradigms when setting and implementing policy, embedded in, and feeding back to fundamental resource capacities. It is argued that such a conceptualization has significant policy consequences, putting the multi-rational policy process rather than purely policy outputs at the centre of policy advice and analysis.

Bibliography: leaves 57-66.
This survey focuses on the theoretical and empirical aspects of rural-urban migration as a determinant of the observed rapid urbanisation in developing countries. The theoretical work covers the neo-classical as well as alternative economic theories of migration. The empirical component covers work on the determinants of migration and attempts to test the economic theories. The more recent modelling and simulation techniques of the computable general equilibrium models (CGE) are then discussed and their merits assessed.

A personal social learning experience in itself, the thesis articulates the territory/function dialectic as an alternative, social learning paradigm of regional development planning. The current crisis affecting this activity is firstly diagnosed, the underlying problem is then traced to the prevailing orthodoxy, and, in its place, a new paradigm is offered. The story behind the thesis is told via a characterisation of the overall study process as a transition from objective empiricism to empirical subjectivism. The story features highlights of the main case study experiences as well as those insights gained during the actual creation, that is, in the writing, of the ultimate thesis. After identifying the desirable qualities in a contending paradigm, and elaborating the basic elements of the territory/function dialectic, particular attention is given to the significance of territory. This is complemented by a discussion of the fundamental change in the thinking of John Friedmann, who must be credited with originating the subject dialectic. A literature review is presented featuring a consideration of competing paradigms. A detailed contrast of the centre-periphery and territory/function conceptualisations is also presented before concluding with some critical revelations and key insights. The territory/function dialectic is seen to possess the attributes of both a substantive and methodological paradigm. The special paradigm status is bolstered by a consideration of geography's role in relation to the key concept of territory. The paradigm as a whole is seen to underpin an alternative epistemology combining critical science and social learning. The lessons from a social learning experience are elaborated in a revisitation of the original objectives-cum-working hypotheses. These lessons feature: the pursuit of more real theory; the social value of underdevelopment theory; the explicit role of the state as manifest in official practice; and the significance of learning through collective action. The territory/function dialectic is seen to provide the necessary link between theory and practice in an all encompassing manner. The thesis concludes with a review of certain basic, dialectical, dualities. There is also specific consideration of planning and social learning, entailing further distinctions between not only theory and practice, but also between scientific practice and social practice.

Recent empirical migration literature in South Africa suggests that access to physical and human capital, in the way of finance and education respectively, are key factors in increasing one’s probability of migrating. This paper attempts to extend this literature by directly measuring the extent to which social capital, broadly defined as one’s access to a migrant network, affects the probability of rural-to-urban migration. Using the first nationally representative panel dataset in South Africa, the National Income Dynamics Study, and defining a rural-to-urban migrant as an individual who is observed moving from a rural area in the baseline wave (2008) to an urban area by Wave 3 (2012), I estimate a standard model of migration choice with the inclusion of one’s connection to a migrant network. This connection is measured by being part of a household in the baseline wave that contains somebody with current or recent experience as a labour migrant. In line with international migration literature, the empirical results suggest that access to a migrant network increases the likelihood of becoming a migrant (by between 2-3 percentage points). These findings are robust to the inclusion of the individual’s prior migration experience and employment status. Furthermore, an extension of the core analysis to assess the impact of genetic relatedness in conjunction with the migrant network effect suggests some evidence of a household bargaining process at play. The findings in this paper therefore suggest that social capital does indeed play a role along with physical and human capital in determining who migrates in South Africa.

As Rural Development assumes a greater importance in European policy, one strategy to stimulate economic activity across a broad range of sectors is to use small towns as a focal point for economic development. This may be particularly relevant in the UK where there is increasing concern over the future vitality and viability of these towns. However, such a strategy rests on the assumption that there is a strong level of interdependence between small towns and their surrounding areas. While their historical legacy suggests close integration, developments in the wider economy and resultant socio-economic restructuring have undermined the traditional functions of small towns and may have severed many of these local linkages. Methodologies are developed to measure the size and spatial distribution of economic linkages in and around two small towns in rural England; one located in the 'remote' area of South Devon, and one in more 'accessible' Buckinghamshire. Results from two validation exercises indicate that self-completion methods are a useful means of obtaining spatial economic data from producers and consumers. Analysis compares the degree of economic integration of the towns into their respective local economies, and identifies key characteristics of firms and households that are good predictors of strong local integration. Results show that the strength of local economic integration is a function of economic and demographic structure as well as proximity to urban centres. This illustrates that the functional role of small towns in the economy is a more useful criterion on which to base policy recommendations than is demographic size. The town in the 'remote' rural area is found to be more strongly integrated into its locality than the town in the 'accessible' area; indicating that benefits of intervention are more likely to 'trickle out' into the surrounding area in the former case. Further, the minimal role of agriculture in the local economy implies that traditional measures of farm support are no longer likely to provide a valuable method of supporting rural communities. A useful area for subsequent enquiry would be to employ an 'integration index' to develop settlement typologies so that more generalisations can be made to aid the process of policy formulation.

Over the past five decades, Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, has witnessed many organisational, economic, social and demographic transformations, all of which have contributed to its rapid growth. This growth, which exceeded the city’s plans to meet the needs of a growing population, resulted in many neighbourhoods experiencing limited services and utilities. Along with governmental efforts to manage the spread of residential areas, several agencies accountable for providing residential services have sought to exploit the potential of geospatial technologies as a means for improving the planning, management and decision-making processes needed to address these issues. Government support has provided a major boost towards the improvement of geospatial technology usage in different areas. However, the use of these technologies in the context of residential infrastructure delivery is limited. This research investigates empirically how the implementation of geospatial technologies can be improved in the agencies concerned with the delivery of residential infrastructure, with the aim of developing strategies to enhance the exploitation of the available technologies in support of decision-making. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher carried out an extensive review of the literature, official reports and documentation, and conducted a Delphi study through three successive consultation rounds, involving a set of experts representing all concerned agencies. The results revealed that shortcomings in organisational, technical and human aspects are the primary reasons behind the limited use of geospatial technology tools in the planning process for residential infrastructure delivery. This in turn assisted in the development of consensus-based strategies for addressing these issues. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field of urban studies by offering a better understanding of how the employment of geospatial technology tools could be improved in the context of residential infrastructure delivery in rapidly growing cities in general, and the city of Riyadh in particular. It also offers a practical contribution to decision makers in the agencies concerned with residential infrastructure delivery, who work to improve the activities of these technologies to achieve the best use of their implementation. The research results are expected to help researchers to conduct further studies on the development of the use of geospatial technologies in the context of Saudi Arabia.

O presente trabalho de projeto incide sobre a estratégia de desenvolvimento regional de Angola à luz da bibliogafia internacional. A mesma é analisada em duas fases. Na primeira faz-se uma análise baseada nas estratégias de desenvolvimento urbano e rural, de três regiões de sucesso da América latina e da África Subsariana e associa-se a esta análise as correntes dominantes sobre a temática; na segunda fase, a estratégia é analisada com base nos paradigmas da política de desenvolvimento Regional, fazendo uma análise dos instrumentos utilizados em cada um dos paradigmas dessa política, aos da estratégia de desenvolvimento regional de Angola. Concluiu-se que esta é muito centralizada e, a longo prazo pode aumentar os desequilíbrios do território, com o aumento dos efeitos de polarização exercida pelas regiões do litoral no território. Por outro lado, no que concerne aos paradigmas da política regional, existe uma certa heterogeneidade, com maior pendor para o paradigma tradicional da política regional. Finalmente são prestados alguns subsídios a política de desenvolvimento regional de Angola.
This project work focuses on the regional development strategy in Angola in the light of international bibliography. The strategy is analyzed in two phases, the first phase is an analysis, based on the urban and rural development strategies of three Latin American and Sub-Saharan Africa successful regions, and is associated to this analysis the dominant currents on the subject, in the second phase the strategy is analyzed based on regional development policy paradigms, making an analysis of the instruments used in each of the regional policy paradigms, the Angola regional development strategy it was concluded that Angola's regional development strategy is very centralized, in the long term it can increase the imbalances of the territory, with the increase of polarization effects exerted by the coastal regions in the territory, on the other hand with respect to regional policy paradigms , there is a certain heterogeneity, with greater emphasis on the traditional paradigm of regional policy. Based on these conclusions, some subsidies are provided to Angola's regional development policy.

The implementation of neo-liberal policies in Mexico during the administrations of Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988) and Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) severely impacted the rural sector, especially areas of rainfed agriculture. In the framework of these policies, the institutional services provided by key state institutions in terms of technical assistance, crop insurance and agricultural credit was significantly diminished In light of such situation, farmers (especially low-resource farmers) were faced with great difficulties to carry out their agricultural activities. Their situation called for definition and implementation of new alternatives to provide the necessary means to return services to the countryside One of these alternatives was the foment of local organizations to provide credit services, mainly in the form of credit unions. This type of financial institution grew despite the obstacles created by certain public institutions (i.e. The National Bank and Stocks Commission-CNBV) which continuously increased the capital base legally needed to constitute a credit union One credit union that was created in the midst of this process in 1992 was the Union de Credito Mixta 'Plan Puebla-UCMPP.' The UCMPP is comprised of more than 3000 members and operating 8 branches in 12 Mexican States This study describes and analyzes the UCMPP experience, from its early stages of organization to its current situation. The underlying principle of this study is the contention that joint efforts by institutions of higher learning (Colegio de Posgraduados) and Mexican campesinos to provide rural populations with affordable credit is a viable alternative for (furthering) development in rural Mexico The investigator utilizes several methodological approaches to collect and analyze data. To collect information he relied on archival research and fieldwork using surveys, case study guides and focus groups. To analyze the data he uses primarily qualitative methods
acase@tulane.edu

Implementing coordinated development in rural and urban regions is a major decision made by the Central Committeeof the Communist Party of China (CCCPC )under the new historic conditions by judging the situation and correctly interpreting the rural-urban developmental relationship in China. It is a major initiative to improve China's socialist market economic system and build a well-off society in an all-round way. It is also a pioneering job to gradually change China’s urban-rural dual economic structure and fundamentally solve the issues of agriculture, farmer and rural areas by, among others,. increasing farmers’income. Only in this way, can the fundamental position of agriculture be consolidated and strengthened and the rural industrial development be boosted; only in this way, can the purchasing power and consumption levels in the rural areas be continuously improved and sustained, and the speed and health of the national economy be maintained and promoted. However, high-risk and low-income rural areas have been facing severe scarcity of financial services for a long time. On the one hand, the conditions of rural areasand farmers are insufficient to meet the requirements for credit access; on the other hand, banks are inconveniently located and it is hard to find an effective implementation platform, resulting in the situation that makes it “hard to secure loans” on the part of farmers, and “hard to provide loans” on the part of banks. This becomes a severe financial bottleneck that constrains the growth of farmers’ income. This thesis analyzes and studies the typical cases in a pilot work for servicing agriculture, farmer, and rural areas. Based on a case study, the thesis seeks to investigate different aspects such as products, resources, environment, and risks, to try to solve the bottleneck of financial services for agriculture, farmer, and rural areas in China, to establish and improve a rural financial service system and establish a mechanism to financially help the growth of farmers’ income, so as to provide a reference for financial services for agriculture, farmers, and rural areas and for relevant departments to study rural financial work.
A decisão tomada pelo Comité Central do Partido Comunista Chinês de desenvolver de forma coordenada as regiões urbanas e rurais é importante na medida em que tem em conta as novas condições históricas e uma preocupação em interpretar de forma correta a relação urbano-rural na China. Trata-se de uma iniciativa com vista a melhorar o sistema chinês de uma economia socialista de mercado e construir uma sociedade próspera em todos os sentidos. É também um trabalho pioneiro destinado a mudar, de forma gradual, a estrutura económica da relação dual entre o campo e a cidade e, fundamentalmente, resolver os problemas da agricultura e das áreas rurais entre os quais o aumento do rendimento dos agricultores. Apenas assim será possível consolidar e fortalecer o desenvolvimento rural; apenas assim o poder de compra e os níveis de consumo nas áreas rurais poderão ser aumentados de forma contínua e sustentada. Contudo, o risco elevado e os baixos rendimentos dos habitantes das áreas rurais tem vindo a servir de justificação para a escassez de serviços financeiros disponíveis. Por um lado, as condições dos agricultores são insuficientes para os requisitos do acesso ao crédito; por outro, a localização dos bancos não é a mais conveniente e é difícil encontrar uma plataforma de implementação efetiva. Como resultado, é “difícil obter empréstimos” por parte dos agricultores e é “difícil conceder empréstimos” por parte dos bancos gerando-se um grave estrangulamento que limita o crescimento do rendimento dos agricultores. Esta tese analisa casos típicos de um trabalho piloto destinado a servir a agricultura e as áreas rurais. Tendo por base um estudo de caso, a tese investiga diferentes aspetos deste problema, incluindo produtos, recursos, envolvente e riscos, com vista a encontrar uma solução para o fornecimento de serviços financeiros aos agricultores na China e a estabelecer um mecanismo que ajude financeiramente o aumento do rendimento dos agricultores. O objetivo principal é que este mecanismos sirva de referência não só aos serviços financeiros prestados às áreas rurais mas também aos departamentos que os estudam.

O vocábulo “competitividade” há muito que domina o léxico económico. Contudo, várias têm sido as críticas endossadas àqueles que procuram transpor um termo originário da esfera empresarial para a complexa realidade nacional e regional. É tendo como ponto de partida este debate que a presente dissertação pretende clarificar alguns pontos envoltos nesta acesa discussão. Neste sentido, começar-se-á por analisar alguns pressupostos que permitirão indagar se, tal como as empresas, também os países competem entre si. Para tal, serão apresentados diferentes pontos de vista, alguns dissonantes, assegurando, desta forma, a pluralidade de pontos de vista. Para facilitar a perceção de alguns pontos cruciais, serão, ainda, analisados alguns estudos que procuram operacionalizar o conceito de “competitividade nacional”. Seguidamente, far-se-á uma análise semelhante, contudo, direcionada para a problemática regional, ou seja, procurar-se-á clarificar o que se pode entender como “competitividade regional”. Neste sentido, serão apresentadas as diferentes perspetivas acerca desta problemática, os principais propulsores de uma melhor performance regional e, mais uma vez, alguns modelos que operacionalizaram o conceito. Por último, debruçar-me-ei no estudo da realidade regional portuguesa. Para tal, e procurando identificar as principais particularidades regionais, proceder-se-á à construção de um índice de competitividade regional. Espera-se que este índice, além de permitir identificar as regiões mais e menos competitivas, facilite, ainda, o estudo dos perfis de competitividade regional em Portugal.
The term "competitiveness" has long dominated the economics lexicon. However, several criticisms have been endorsed to those who seek to transpose a term, originating from the business world, to the complex national and regional conditions. As such, this thesis will first analyze some assumptions that aim to question whether, much like companies, countries can also compete. Different points of view will be presented, some of which discordant, thus ensuring plurality of views. To facilitate the perception of some crucial points, some studies that seek to translate the concept of “national competitiveness” were analyzed. Thereafter, we will perform a similar analysis focused on a regional scale, in which we seek to clarify what can be understood as "regional competitiveness". We will present different perspectives on this problem, the main advocates for a better regional performance and some of the models that have operacionalized the concept. Finally, we will take an approach to the Portuguese regional context. To this end, we sought to identify key regional characteristics in order to build an index of regional competitiveness. It is expected that this index will allow the identification of both the most and the least competitive regions in order to facilitate the study of regional competitiveness profiles in Portugal.

A política regional no Brasil possui uma trajetória sexagenária, ao longo da qual diversas mutações e adaptações ocorreram, quer em razão de progressos na teoria económica ou de alterações no contexto político-económico do país. Há um ano, mais uma mudança ocorreu: foi aprovada a nova Política Nacional de Desenvolvimento Regional, no ensejo de uma tentativa de reavivar a estratégia regional brasileira. A presente dissertação centra-se, portanto, na análise dessa nova política, de modo a responder se os seus objetivos, a sua estratégia, os seus instrumentos de intervenção e o seu arranjo de governança, estão alinhados com o que é preconizado pela bibliografia internacional mais contemporânea acerca do tema. Para tal, buscou-se consolidar os preceitos do paradigma atual das políticas regionais e apreender lições úteis de experiências internacionais com similitudes aos desafios enfrentados no Brasil, como o caso da Austrália, do Canadá e da União Europeia, a fim de utilizá-los, tanto o paradigma como as lições obtidas, como referencial normativo à nova política regional brasileira. Concluiu-se que, apesar das mudanças implementadas terem conduzido a política regional brasileira no rumo certo, ainda subsiste um crônico descompasso entre o arcabouço conceitual que lhe dá fundamento – predominantemente alinhado com o paradigma atual – e a estrutura institucional que lhe permite implementar as intervenções no território – claramente desordenada e anacrónica. Consequentemente, algumas críticas construtivas e proposições de ajustes são apresentadas para o aperfeiçoamento da nova política.
A regional policy in Brazil has a sexagenarian trajectory, along which several mutations and adaptations have taken place, either because of progress in economic theory or changes in the country's political-economic context. A year ago, another change took place: a new National Regional Development Policy was approved, in the opportunity of an attempt to reactivate the Brazilian regional strategy. The present dissertation focuses, therefore, on the analysis of this new policy, in order to answer whether it’s objectives, it’s strategy, it’s intervention instruments and it’s governance arrangement, are aligned with what the most modern international bibliography about the subject recommends. To this purpose, this work sought to consolidate the precepts of the current paradigm of regional policies and seize useful lessons from international experiences with similarities to the challenges faced in Brazil, such as the case of Australia, Canada and the European Union, in order to use them, both the paradigma and the lessons seized, as a normative reference for new Brazilian regional policy. It was concluded that, although the implemented changes have driven Brazilian regional policy in the right direction, there is still a chronic mismatch between the conceptual framework that underpins it – predominantly aligned with the current paradigm – and the institutional framework that allows it to implement interventions in the territory – clearly disordered and anachronistic. Consequently, some constructive criticisms and proposals for adjustments are presented to improve the new policy.

Actualmente, as cidades concentram a sua actividade no sector terciário e os responsáveis do planeamento urbanístico enfrentam desafios para reconverter antigos espaços dedicados a actividades económicas abandonadas. Neste projecto de tese apresenta-se um modelo de um espaço dedicado à classe/práctica criativa associada ao consumo cultural, que possa ter efeitos positivos ao nível do estímulo da inovação económica e atractividade social para a cidade e região de Portimão, em particular, e do Algarve, em geral. A antiga Lota de Portimão é exemplo de um espaço degradado com localização urbanística privilegiada, carecendo de um projecto a médio/longo prazo que, mais que um simples (re)aproveitamento de um espaço, possa contribuir para a sua requalificação como serviço público e para a melhoria da qualidade de vida dos habitantes de Portimão. Seguindo a tendência de aproveitamento de espaços devolutos para fins de reabilitação urbana com projectos culturais e/ou turísticos, é proposta a reabilitação desse espaço que albergará uma organização sem fins lucrativos, inovadora no sentido de implementar um espaço de confluição de criadores e consumidores de cultura e lazer criativo num ambiente lounge com acessibilidades de restauração, algo inexistente na actualidade. Unindo as potencialidades do espaço e sua localização, com a promoção de eventos e actividades culturais e criativas focadas no potencial local, pretende-se ter um impacto tanto na reabilitação urbana e desenvolvimento sociocultural das populações, como no estímulo à economia criativa e ao desenvolvimento regional. É um projecto que pretende ser sustentável, gerando receitas quer através dos eventos e actividades dinamizadas, quer, principalmente, através do serviço de bar/restauração, e procurando sempre minorar os custos envolvidos no desenvolver da sua actividade, através de protocolos de parceria com diversas entidades.
Cities nowadays concentrate their activity on the tertiary sector. As such, city planners are faced with the challenge of reconverting vacant buildings once dedicated to industrial activity. This thesis presents a model of a space dedicated to the creative class, cultural consumption, and creative practice, which can have a positive impact in terms of stimulating economic innovation and social attractivity in the city of Portimão in particular and the region of Algarve in general. The old Lota1 de Portimão is an example of a degraded building with a privileged location within the city lacking a mid-term/long-term project that, more than a simple re-occupation of the space, could contribute to its requalification and to the improving of Portimão’s population quality of life. Following the trend of using vacant buildings to urban rehabilitation ends, through cultural and/or touristic projects, in this thesis is proposed the rehabilitation of this space, which would be home to a not-for-profit organization. It would create a space devoted to the converging of culture and creative leisure creators and consumers, in a lounge environment with bar/food services, something that does not exist at present. By uniting the potential of the building and its location with that of local creativity and culture, through the promotion of different activities and events focused on it, it is aimed to cause an impact both in terms of urban rehabilitation and socio-cultural development of the population, and in terms of stimulating creative economy and regional development. It is a project aimed at sustainability, generating revenue through event creation and primarily through the bar/food service, always trying to minimize the costs of its activity through partnership protocols with different entities.

Desde a década de 80 que o tema do auto-emprego tem sido alvo de inúmeros estudos teóricos e empíricos, um pouco por todo o Mundo. Nos últimos 20 anos, fruto do crescente e contínuo processo de globalização, bem como da recente crise económica que se instalou nalguns países (com severos impactos no mercado de trabalho), muitos autores têm focado a sua pesquisa no impacto do auto-emprego na população imigrante, bem como no seu carácter de solução de último recurso. Os seus estudos confirmam a existência de uma “predilecção” destes trabalhadores por esta forma de trabalho, que acaba por ser a sua melhor hipótese de integração em mercados muito fechados. No que respeita a Portugal, uma amostra retirada do “Inquérito ao Emprego” do INE e tendo por base dados para o período entre 1998 e 2010, permitiu verificar que factores como a experiência, a educação e a idade parecem ser absolutamente determinantes para a decisão de entrada no auto-emprego, o que vai de encontro a pesquisas anteriores de outros autores. Uma pesquisa em termos regionais permitiu, ainda, eliminar a ideia de que pudessem existir padrões ou similitude entre algumas regiões, ou seja, apesar de existirem algumas diferenças, predominam os padrões comuns. Assim, as únicas diferenças encontradas respeitam aos Arquipélagos (sobretudo da Madeira) e ao Continente, mas mesmo essas não parecem ter demasiada importância.
Self-employment has been a current theme since the 80´s, being studied all over the world. In the last two decades, the on-going process of globalization, as well as the economic and financial crisis that has affected some of the biggest and most powerful economies in the world, have influenced the economic literature that now tries to understand if self-employment can correct and improve the conditions of the labor market. When it comes to Portugal, using micro level data drawn from the Portuguese Labour Force Survey, concerning the period between 1998 and 2010, we concluded that factors such as previous work-related experience, education and age appear to be the key determinant factors that explain the decision of being self-employed. These conclusions are in line with a large number of other international studies. Finally, a more regional-fractioned research allowed us to understand that, in Portugal, with some minor exceptions, the characteristics mentioned above also seem to be the most important determinants in every region..

Poon Fung Ting.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-166).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii
ABSTRACT --- p.iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vi
LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix
LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x
Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- Research Questions --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- Research Objectives --- p.3
Chapter 1.3 --- Definitions --- p.4
Chapter 1.4 --- Research Design --- p.9
Chapter 1.5 --- Outline of the Thesis --- p.11
Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AND THE LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.13
Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.13
Chapter 2.2 --- Background of the Study --- p.15
Chapter 2.3 --- Literature Review --- p.28
Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.38
Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- SPATIAL PATTERNS OF NON-HUKOU MIGRANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA --- p.41
Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.41
Chapter 3.2 --- Proportion of Non-hukou Migrants --- p.44
Chapter 3.3 --- Distribution of Migrants --- p.47
Chapter 3.4 --- Sources of Migrants --- p.50
Chapter 3.5 --- The PRD as a Destination --- p.56
Chapter 3.6 --- Gender Ratio of Non-hukou Migrants --- p.64
Chapter 3.7 --- Spatial Patterns and Correlation of Migration Indicators --- p.67
Chapter 3.8 --- Summary --- p.79
Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- ANALYZING THE DETERMINANTS OF NON-HUKOU POPULATION IN COUNTY-LEVEL AREAS --- p.83
Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.83
Chapter 4.2 --- Method --- p.84
Chapter 4.3 --- Variables --- p.86
Chapter 4.4 --- The Results --- p.90
Chapter 4.5 --- Summary --- p.102
Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- IMPACTS OF NON-HUKOU MIGRANTS AND THE POLICY RESPONSES --- p.104
Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.104
Chapter 5.2 --- The Trend of Non-hukou Migrants in PRD --- p.106
Chapter 5.3 --- Positive Impacts --- p.110
Chapter 5.4 --- Negative Impacts --- p.115
Chapter 5.5 --- Policy Responses --- p.121
Chapter 5.6 --- Summary --- p.139
Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION --- p.142
Chapter 6.1 --- Non-hukou Migration in PRD --- p.142
Chapter 6.2 --- Policy Responses --- p.147
Chapter 6.3 --- Suggestions for Further Research --- p.150
REFERENCES --- p.152

O presente trabalho de projeto incide sobre os desafios que um território enfrenta aquando de grandes investimentos proporcionados pelas Políticas de Desenvolvimento Rural, nomeadamente na agricultura. O estudo de caso irá concentrar-se no concelho Odemira devido ao grande impacto que os mais recentes investimentos em explorações de agricultura intensiva têm neste território a nível político, socioeconómico e ambiental, dando conhecimento ainda da dinâmica de Almería, a região espanhola com mais de 25 000 hectares de área coberta destina à produção agrícola intensiva. A importância deste tema justifica-se pela necessidade urgente de resolução de alguns dos impactos neste território, como a expansão não controlada de explorações agrícolas no Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina (PNSACV) e pela nova realidade migratória, que se alocou no concelho para suprimir a falta de mão de obra no setor agrícola. Para uma melhor perceção dos desafios a que o concelho de Odemira está sujeito foram estritamente analisados os planos concebidos pelos atores locais. Conclui-se que as Políticas de Desenvolvimento Rural programadas para o território trouxeram profundos impactos que entidades locais, mesmo que através de uma vigorosa colaboração e elaboração de planos de políticas integradas não conseguem resolver.
This project work focuses on the challenges that a territory faces in the large investments provided by the Rural Development Policies, namely in agriculture. The case study will focus on the municipality of Odemira due to the great impact that the most recent investments in intensive farming holdings have in this territory at the political, socio-economic and environmental levels, as well as the dynamics of Almería, the Spanish region with over 25 000 ha of covered area for intensive agricultural production. The importance of this theme is justified by the urgent need to resolve some of the impacts in this territory, such as the uncontrolled expansion of farms in the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast Natural Park (PNSACV) and the new migratory reality, which has been allocated in the municipality to suppress the labor shortage in the agricultural sector. For a better understanding of the challenges to which the municipality of Odemira is subjected, the plans conceived by the local actors were strictly analyzed. It is concluded that the Rural Development Policies programmed for the territory brought profound impacts that local entities, even though through vigorous collaboration and elaboration of integrated policy plans cannot solve.