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The main aim of this chapter is to analyse whether recent economic developments in Central and Eastern European countries have been subjected to a typical process of Dutch Disease (DD). We investigate the impact of foreign aid and other external inflows on the economies of these countries through their effect on the real exchange rate (RER).

After a review of the literature on the DD, we apply robust new generation augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) tests, and autoregressive distributed lag models following the methodology of Arellano and Bond (1991) and Blundell and Bond (1998) to establish the impact of capital inflows on output growth for the period 2003–2013.

We find no significant role for financial costs in the determination of the RER in the integration process of these countries. The evidence supports a positive influence of external capital inflows, and in particular European structural funds, on the determination of RER. This positive influence also extends to non-tradable goods and public investments.

In order to promote medium-long run sustainability, Central and Eastern European countries should carefully apply European funds in a way that does not bring about higher internal prices, or, if possible, control the nominal exchange rate in accordance. They must invest more in the higher qualification of human resources, research and development, innovation, entrepreneurship and industrial clusters, in view of the development of the tradable sector.

It is the first chapter that analyses the presence of DD originated by European structural funds and external inflows of funds for this group of countries.

Links between urban areas and public space have always had a central presence in the field of Urban Sociology. During the last four decades, and in relation with globalization processes, reflection about city places and what constitutes the “public” has increasingly been in line with what has been called an “emplacing heritage process,” which emerged as a controversial point of intervention in urban areas. In this sense, itineraries have been considered of primary importance in urban heritage signification, recognition, and symbolic production. In short, these routes appear as ways in which public space is materially and symbolically occupied, becoming emplacing heritage processes in themselves.

In this chapter, we study two heritage-making processes through neighborhood itineraries, which are carried out in district territory and are located in two peripheral neighborhoods belonging to the City of Madrid (Hortaleza and Carabanchel). Ultimately, the point here is that these routes are not merely a pathway that “goes” along acknowledged heritage places; these itineraries are an emplacement and a signification of patrimony itself. These processes act as markers of iconic places and as remembrance performances of neighborhood memory. We would argue that routes around historical places in Carabanchel, as well as the “Three Wise Men” popular parades in Hortaleza bring shared geographical imaginaries, collective memory, and iconic places together in everyday experiences of both places. These itineraries change both urban sites in terms of their neighborhood heritage by disputing spatial discourses and imaginaries of heritage, urban place, and neighborhood.

Feminist perspectives from women of color did not emerge solely as a result from racism in the white feminist movements; such an assumption negates the agency of feminists of color (Roth, 2004). Instead, feminist perspectives by women of color emerged from historical and sociopolitical dynamics within their own communities of origin, as well as in relationship to each other, including in opposition to, and at times in concert with, the white feminist movements. This chapter explores the development, complexities, and unique contributions of Womanist, Black Feminist Thought, hip-hop, Chicana, Native American, global, Asian American, Arab American and ecofeminism. These feminist perspectives include overarching themes, such as the intersectionality of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, nationality, and other important identities and issues. Each contemporary feminist theory also explores the interstices of issues such as education, health, economics, reproduction, sociopolitical, historical, organizational, technological, and myriad interrelated dynamics.

This study focuses firstly on the importance for forecasting accuracy of allowing for intervention events in the modeling process. Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models are therefore estimated both with and without intervention effects (the September 11, 2001 events) using data for the period 1990–2001. These models are used to generate forecasts for 2002 and the first part of 2003, and forecast accuracy is assessed using mean absolute percentage error and root mean square percentage error. The second focus of the study is to examine the impacts on tourism demand of the major crises that occurred during the period 2001–2003. The chosen US metropolitan destination is New York City, which was severely affected by the September 11 events, and within New York the US Metropolitan Museum of Art is selected, as this is a very well-known and visited destination for which seasonal data are available over the period 1990–2003. The artificial neural networks (ANNs) and SARIMA forecasts are compared with forecasts generated by the much simpler automatic Holt-Winter's seasonal double exponential smoothing model as well as two naïve forecasting models to ensure that minimum performance standards are being met.

Generation Z is already an influential global cohort with strong stances about social, economic, and climate justice. According to the Global Gen Z Survey, worries about racism, sexism, limitations on personal freedom and homophobia are the top social justice concerns while education, poverty, access to health care, access to viable and affordable housing, and cost of higher education top the list of economic justice concerns. Added to the list of concerns is climate change, including its intragenerational and intergenerational impacts, and in the words of one participant, “none of the rest… matter if we don't have a planet to live on.”