Regional development takes place in a complex force field, in which competitiveness is playing an increasingly important role. At present, we observe a repositioning of regions in an open European space. Vanishing borders will automatically mean an increase of competition between European...

Soil cleaning-up operations have become a priority in most western countries. In the Netherlands, in particular, a systematic effort to restore the environmental quality of polluted sites has started in the early eighties. The cornerstone of the Dutch legislation is that of restoring soil...

The literature on ethnic entrepreneurship has identified a blend of structural and cultural factors that influence the step towards ethnic entrepreneurship. An important issue is whether ethnic entrepreneurs produce for their own ethnic niches or whether they try to cover a wider market of...

In the context of the devolution of public policy, recently much administrative competence in land use policy is given to decentralised forms of decision-making in which local (or regional) authorities and the private sector play a more prominent role. The paper describes the pathway to a more...

International labour mobility is becoming a key feature of a globalizing world. There is an increasing amount of literature on the success and failure conditions of migrant workers. A particular class of foreign workers is formed by so-called expatriates who are sent on a temporary basis...

Urban green spaces play a key role in improving the liveability of our towns and cities. The quality and viability of cities depend largely on the design, management and maintenance of urban green as well as on open and public spaces that make up an important social constellation and offer a...

This paper addresses the local-regional-supra-regional orientation of small-scale farms and firms in rural areas. Due attention is given to the role of local centres (villages, towns) for the functioning of rural areas. With help of a quantified indicator spatial linkages related to sales and...

This paper emphasizes the importance of quantitative comparative research in the social sciences. For that purpose a great variety of modem classification methods is available. The paper aims to give a selective overview of major classes of these methods and highlights the advantages and...

This paper will identify specific planning conditions that arise when planning aims at sustainable development. First, attention will be paid to socio-ethical attitudes toward sustainability issues and to the reasons why much of the sustainability debate deserves an urban focus. Then, specific...

Modern societies in the western world are increasingly faced with cultural diversity as a result of international migration. The socio- economic position of ethnic groups in a globally mobile society has extensively been studied in recent years, from the perspective of their skills, language...