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Long established and revisionist approaches to European state formation are put to one side in this article and a turn to the imperial domains of early modern states is made. The rise of Atlantic Studies as a new current of history has drawn attention to transatlantic patterns of colonialism. However, historical sociologists and comparativists have yet to grapple with the conclusions of this field of research. This article points to a possible line of argument that could draw historical sociology and Atlantic Studies together. It takes up the argument that early modern polities broke new ground in the formation of territorial institutions when they turned to transcontinental state building. From their inception, the projects of empire produced conflict-driven institutions. Comparative examination of the Spanish, British, Dutch, French and Portuguese empires reveals that, despite the authority accorded to overarching institutions of imperial government, domestic and colonial patterns of institutional formation diverged considerably. The article explores how developments in European territories took one course in each case, while colonial trajectories in the Americas took others and thereby generated distinct kinds of conflict.

This paper seeks to argue that racially discriminatory zoning in Colonial Hong Kong could have been a form of protectionism driven by economic considerations.

This paper was based on a review of the relevant ordinances, literature, and public information, notably data obtained from the Land Registry and telephone directories.

This paper reveals that many writings on racial matters in Hong Kong were not a correct interpretation or presentation of facts. It shows that after the repeal of the discriminatory laws in 1946, an increasing number of people, both Chinese and European, were living in the Peak district. Besides, Chinese were found to be acquiring land even under the discriminatory law for Barker Road during the mid‐1920s and became, after 1946, the majority landlords by the mid‐1970s. This testifies to the argument that the Chinese could compete economically with Europeans for prime residential premises in Hong Kong.

This paper lends further support to the Lawrence‐Marco proposition raised in Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design by Lai and Yu, which regards segregation zoning as a means to reduce the effective demand of an economically resourceful social group.

This paper shows how title documents for land and telephone directories can be used to measure the degree of racial segregation.

This paper is the first attempt to systematically re‐interpret English literature on racially discriminatory zoning in Hong Kong's Peak area using reliable public information from Crown Leases and telephone directories.

The purpose of this study is to apply a model of regional networks and governance to cross‐border cases for the purpose of identifying determinants that help local governments overcome barriers and promote interaction in border areas most susceptible to globalization realities, namely “old economy” manufacturing and industrial centers. It aims to draw together research from a variety of perspectives on regional networks and explore efforts by two local European communities and one local US community to respond to the challenges posed by the global economy by interviewing stakeholders in territories that have experienced significant deindustrialization.

Interviews were conducted with local, regional and central government officials, as well as private sector actors, in the Italian region of the Marches and in the countries of Luxembourg and the USA.

The study's preliminary findings show a range of networks across several arenas closely associated with economic development, but fail to show direct associations with economic development alone. The authors attribute this to the centrality of geographic space in development augmented by local competition and presence of the international border.

The authors conclude by identifying a set of determinants that will guide future research into local networking in cross‐border economic development and related arenas.

Examines diversification focusing on international and cross‐border investment. Extends the concept of regional diversification to European planning regions and discusses the potential implications of a “Europe of the regions” on property investment. Uses cross‐sectional analysis to identify the criteria influencing property investment performance across a number of European cities. Model outcomes indicate the importance of local factors in particular market size. Also provides, in this analysis support to the hypothesis concerning linkages between real estate returns, GDP and employment characteristics.

In the literature on peace and security, we identify at least two different uses of the term Eurasia. One stakes a rather narrow geographic boundary while the second includes a much broader region. If we adopt the narrower view, Eurasia incorporates the fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union and possibly their security zones in Eastern Europe. Choosing to see Eurasia more broadly means defining it as the huge land-mass that comprises the continents of Europe and Asia. We may call the narrower definition Eurasia Minor and the broader one Eurasia Major.

This chapter explores the potential of transnational history for researching global higher education policy. It begins with an overview of transnational history as a perspective, demonstrating how it is, in part, a response to processes of globalization that have also transformed contemporary higher education. Second, it reviews key features of transnational history as a perspective that can enhance global higher education policy research. The third part takes dimensions of contemporary global higher education and discusses how these can be approached through a transnational historical perspective drawing on the features outlined. The chapter concludes by highlighting how a transnational historical approach can enable new insights and research questions as well as some challenges presented by this perspective. The spatial focus of the chapter is predominantly European higher education, though the implications are more general.

One often thinks of competition as a mechanism whereby undertakings are forced to answer more efficiently the needs of clients. One may wonder whether that system could be used to organize the institutional environment. Competition already exists among states or regions, where it affects their capacity to attract investment or skilled workers. Could we go further and organise institutional competition among authorities within the same territory? Electronic communications provide a good case study, with the same competencies being attributed to regulators, competition authorities and judicial power.

This work aims to ask for the possibility to establish one or more Europes in a heterogeneous territory where the main goal is to create a common space. The use of a specific methodology will help us to know whether it is possible to apply general policies in the whole territory or it will be necessary to adapt them to a different group of spaces.

Taking into account the experts’ opinions, causality relationships, grouping processes and distances techniques can be obtained to get an overall view of different groups of areas where it will be possible to develop the specific policies successfully.

Theoretically, the proposed model using fuzzy logic in grouping processes presents significant results that contribute to the theory on regional development.

This paper provides a new approach to solve the territorial problem to apply the European policies. Introducing these techniques, one will be able to approach the different positions to the specific areas in Europe to create a peaceful and harmonic space of cohabitation.

“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.