The tourism industry is growing fast in the recent years. Every place is looking up on tourism and expect it to bring benefits for local developments; and the metropolitan areas are not exceptions. This research focus on the strategy of developing tourism in the metro-area. Although the metropolitan -area may not have significant amount of nature attractions, it has the advantage of being the ¡§gate¡¨ of all sorts of transportations. People have to pass through the metropolitan area in order to arrive their destination. Thus, the strategy of how to use this advantage and cooperate with the surrounding areas is essential. In this research, we call the above described metropolitan area the ¡§Metropolitan Tourist Gateway.¡¨ Also, we use the term ¡§Metropolitan Tourist Gateway Economy¡¨ to express the total product of the metropolitan tourism. The researcher uses TOWS matrix and three successful cases as the foundation of the tourist gateway strategies of Kaohsiung city; then use Delphi to generalize strategies from experts¡¦ opinions. In the end, the author concludes this research into six aspects and fourteen recommendations.

The objective of this dissertation is to unearth the multi-scalar political geographies of regional development using an empirically intensive, single-region, case study approach focussing on Northern Ontario. This research focuses on Northern Ontario because it provides a unique setting to understand the political strategizing and contestation of regional development. Northern Ontario has had a long history of federal and provincial regional development initiatives from region specific policies, reports, and studies to regional development institutions. In fact, up until recently it was the only sub-provincial region in Canada with a federally appointed regional development institution. In Northern Ontario there is also a deep sense of territorial grievance and discontent that has generated a number of organizations and movements to mobilize regional interests in the quest for greater autonomy over decision-making and economic development. The main objective of unpacking the multi-scalar political geographies of regional development in Northern Ontario translates into the following questions: 1) How and why have federal regional development initiatives in Northern Ontario changed since the 1960s? 2) How and why have provincial regional development initiatives in Northern Ontario changed since the 1960s? and 3) What are the regional responses? Answers to these questions underscore the messy and complex nature and politics of regional development. More pointedly, this thesis clearly demonstrates that regional development is not just about finding economic solutions to regional challenges but that these initiatives are also deeply political. To explore the politics of regional development, I draw on insights from Canadian political economy, new regional geography, state theory, and new regionalism literature. By viewing regional development through these frameworks, I expose the nuanced nature of regional development so that ultimately, we may learn to adopt more effective regional policy innovations for Northern Ontario and other peripheral regions in Canada. This research makes several important contributions. Empirically, it provides a rich history of federal and provincial regional development initiatives in Northern Ontario since the 1960s. Theoretically, it contributes to debates on the conceptualization of regions and regional development including the politicization of boundaries and the paradox of regional development institutions. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-24 14:39:52.888

Universities play an important role within their region and the common economy. They are source of the development of essential knowledge and industrially relevant technology, have a strong influence in economic development of a region, and, as employers, they are part of the regional society. In addition universities have an influence on the competitiveness of a region through a combination of people’s wellbeing, regional feeling, reputation, and everyday happiness. Students of universities get an impression of the universities themselves and of the surrounding environment. They promote their feelings about the universities, the campus, and the city to their relatives, families, and friends. The focus of the present study is to visualize the influence of universities on their region, the development in the past decade and the existing challenges to combine third level education with traditional occurrences and the vicissitude of a region influenced by the universities themselves. The research area is the Austrian municipality Krems at the Danube with five universities which has a long tradition in education. The foundation of the first two universities in the middle of the 1990s was the start of higher education within the region. Inductively based approach was used for investigating how universities are influencing their environment, which needs exist and which benefits are created through a common planning and confident cooperation with the regional government. Empirical data was collected through a mix of methods; in addition to literature and statistics the main data was extracted from interviews with involved persons of the universities and the local government. As a result of this study the predominating topics mentioned by the interviewees are the challenges for both participants which are given by a change of society through increasing numbers of students and young people, the tasks to solve infrastructural problems, the effects and advantages for the local labor market and the purchasing power of the region, the reputation and its effects to the region, and finally the common need and ways to intensify the cooperation between the local government and the universities. The aim of this study is to give a broad but detailed overview about the thinking of involved persons and to compile implications to focus further research.

Tesis de grado de Magister Scientiae. IICA, Centro de Enseñanza e Investigación, Depto. de Desarrollo Rural.

This work is based on the analysis of regional innovation policies and partnerships for innovation in EU 2000-2006 Objective 1 regions. The focus on the wide concept of innovation at European level and the international competitive challenges are pushing European regions to increase the effectiveness of local innovation policies, developing and strengthening their regional innovation systems in partnership with local actors. The research has the main aim to evaluate the contribution of regional innovation policies to regional development, identify levers and obstacles, analyse the structures of Regional Innovation Systems including processes of cooperation, assess the effectiveness of regional policy mix and finally evaluate the effectiveness of regional partnerships. The methodology of the research is based on a multiple case-study approach and on mixed methods. Four case studies have been selected: Puglia, Sardegna, Comunidad Valenciana and Region de Murcia. Overall, 104 semi-structured interviews have been carried out in the four regions, with regional administrators, innovation agency managers, entrepreneurs, technology centres managers and academics (involved in spinoffs or managers of collaborative/industrial research projects). The field work activities have been focused on documentation review, unstructured interviews and data collection. A database of policy interventions was created to analyse targets, beneficiaries and areas of intervention. An analysis of regional performance has been conducted to examine the socio-economical structure and regional innovation indicators. The findings show common patterns and issues in policy implementation and dilemmas in strategic choices. All case studies featured wide and multi-purpose strategies aimed at the quantitative growth of regional innovation systems and a higher degree of internal collaborations through the support to intermediate bodies. Innovation systems are taking shape: regional administrations made a significant effort but struggled to overcome structural limitations and external constraints affecting the innovation structure.

In a context of increasing attention to sustainability issues, France has formulated a number ofstrategies to develop greener transport practices. The French National Sustainable DevelopmentStrategy is one of them and - among other topics - it encourages soft mobility and the development ofactive modes of transportation such as walking and cycling. In such a setting, the Nîmes andMontpellier Bypass railway project stands out thanks to one of its specificity: planning simultaneouslyfor a high-speed line and a véloroute. A critical investigation of the véloroute’s planning processwithin this project provides elements that may improve usual greenways and véloroutes projects.

No description available.

No / Regional disparities within China are now an important policy question. Recently the three provinces of the north-east region have been identified as priority areas for regional development, along with the Western part of the country. The north-east is the old industrial heartland of the country and its economy is based around heavy industry, mineral extraction and state owned enterprises. This paper uses a unique database on medium and large-scale enterprises to establish how far enterprise performance in the north-east differs from the national average and the reasons for any such differences. It finds that even allowing for industrial structure and ownership, performance in the north-east is significantly below that in the rest of the country. This is attributed to aspects of the investment climate in the region.

Paris' successful bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics arises in the midst of a grand rethinking of the politics of regional and local development in the Île-de-France region. The emerging ambition to advance a metropolitan model is fundamentally hindered by a historically persistent and burdensome institutional puzzle. Contravening the consensual political dogma that such intricate structure demands to be simplified, initiatives of metropolization prompted the establishment of a new administrative layer, the Métropole du Grand Paris (MGP). By advocating dynamics of cooperation, the MGP is the institutional manifestation of a State-led ambition to reinvent a detrimental power mosaic in the region. But limited resources, expertise, and jurisdictional authority prevent it from asserting relevance within the metropolitan conversation. Yet, the Olympic project provides the MGP with a compelling opportunity to manifest crucial competence and to significantly mature its authoritative influence. In this thesis, we explore the blending of the Grand Paris regional development project and the Olympic ambition by investigating the role of the 2024 Summer Olympics in the establishment of an ambitious yet fragile metropolitan model. We use key informant interviews and secondary sources such as news articles, bid books, and official documents to interrogate the way France is tackling, in the 21st century, the challenges of metropolization. Our evidence suggests that Paris as a city of projects fundamentally corresponds to a ground for experimentation that puts institutions and infrastructure at the forefront of discussions. It appears clear that the Games correspond to a grand excuse to legitimize investments in ongoing projects (specifically the Grand Paris Express) and to consolidate State-led spatial reforms with little risk of dissension. The 2024 Summer Olympics are the State's cautious means to inquire the feasibility of a grand ambition without committing to an overhaul of the jurisdictional structure of metropolization. / Master of Science / After multiple failed French mega event bids, Paris was elected as host city of the 2024 Summer Olympics. While ostensibly the 2024 Summer Olympics are linked to Paris, the spatial requirements of the event explicitly suggest Paris’ incapability to accommodate specialty infrastructure within its own city limits. Ultimately, an important negotiation must take place in order to identify potential sites suitable for olympic facilities while also considering the production of a significant urban, economic, and social heritage. As such, the 2024 Summer Olympics emerge as an opportunity to investigate the way France is tackling, in the 21st century, the challenges of metropolization. This paper examines the blending of the Grand Paris regional development project and the Olympic ambition. Relying on interviews with key informants and secondary sources such as news articles, bid books, and city planning documents, it specifically addresses the implications of organizing the distribution of jurisdictions in a complex multi-layered structure of governance and a desire for political legitimacy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 257-276).