The aim of the thesis is to investigate patterns and consequences of internal and international migration in Laos during the period 1985-2005 on both a macro-and a micro-level. The thesis focuses on the influences of socio-economic change and government policies on inter-regional and rural-urban migration as well as on crossborder migration from Laos to Thailand. The study also examines the effects of migration and industrial factory work on gender relations during economic transition and consequences of undocumented migration to Thailand. The background consists of a discussion on socio-economic change within the country and on government policies influencing migration patterns, as well as on how socio-economic change, urbanization and industrialization in the region affect internal and international migration in Laos. The thesis consists of three empirical studies which derive from different sources of data; the first is based on Population Censuses in 1995 and 2005 and the second and the third draw from empirical surveys in 2004-2005 and 2006. Paper I focuses on how socioeconomic factors and government policies influence migration patterns in Laos. The paper found that the interregional migration rate decreased in the later census period. This was due to significantly higher rural-rural migration in the earlier period, which in turn was influenced by various types of government policies. Papers II and III are based on micro surveys; paper II focuses on an urban industrial area in Vientiane Capital and explores the current feminization of rural-urban migrations during economic transition with specific focus on the effects of industrial work on gender roles and status of women as industrial workers. Industrial work was seen by the women as temporary jobs for saving money, for sending remittances, and for either returning home or moving to other jobs in Vientiane or Thailand. Paper III is based on surveys in three provinces, and deals with undocumented migration from Laos to Thailand and its consequences. Different income levels, existing social networks, similar language and socio-cultural backgrounds were determinants of cross-border migrations. The study found that migrants who had contacts with informal brokers were highly exposed to risks of human trafficking and violence.

När en verksamhet ska etableras på en ny geografisk marknad så uppstår en lokaliseringsproblematik och det är detta som är fokuseringen på denna studie. Bakgrunden till studien är en verksamhet som är baserad i Arvika och som vill etablera sig på en ny marknad i Europa. Företaget, som bland annat tillverkar och säljer fordonstvättar för tunga fordon (till exempel buss, lastbil och tåg), finns idag etablerad på den svenska, amerikanska och kanadensiska marknaden. Dessutom finns de representerade på den polska och finska marknaden. De vill nu undersöka vilka möjligheter som finns i andra länder inom Europa, närmare bestämt i England, Frankrike, Tyskland och Benelux-länderna. Målet med denna undersökning är att genomföra en övergriplig lokaliseringsstudie, en regional zonering, i anknytning till det företaget. Studien lutar sig emot en deskriptiv ansats och baserar sig på material hämtade från olika källor via huvudsakligen Internet. Studien behandlar teorier från den ekonomiska geografin, om var den befinner sig i nuläget och var den har utvecklats ifrån. En större vikt läggs på lokaliseringsproblematiken och vilket perspektiv som används i de tillgängliga teorierna. Det diskuteras om olika tillvägagångssätt och fenomen inom lokaliseringsteorierna och de sätts också i samband med de förutsättningar som verksamheten har. Den praktiska tillämpningen av undersökningen innebär att utveckla en metodologisk grund utifrån tillgängliga teoretiska kunskaper för att sedan kunna applicera den i ett specifikt exempel. Problematiken med att etablera en verksamhet på en ny geografisk marknad innebär för studien att undersöka en verksamhet, dess bakomliggande orsaker och målet med en ny etablering. Undersökningen ska studera förekomsten och hur spridningen av olika faktorer ser ut för att sedan sätta dem i relation till varandra och i kontexten av företagets bakomliggande målsättningar.

Transboundary protected areas are a fairly recent concept that have been increasing in popularity and are increasingly being integrated into large international organizations’ environmental policy making. This essay examines the phenomena through the cooperation between two national parks, Parc National des Pyrénées in France and Parque Nacional Ordesa Monte Perdido in Spain. The theoretical framework used in this essay is based upon border theory, focusing on the different factors that influence the behavior of the border dweller and how the different social conceptions of nature influence the way it is managed. The results in this study result from researching published and private documents from the national parks and interviews carried out with staff from the park administrations from both countries. The collaboration between these two national parks dates back twenty years and the cooperation has been carried out in many small projects. Historical ties between the villages in the border region, which also shares a common culture and lingual heritage, have inspired the cooperation. There are also economical benefits that influence the collaboration, such as the European Union’s regional policy that provides funds for transboundary cooperation. A mutual world heritage site, Pyrénées – Mont Perdu, is also situated within the parks’ territories, which should be managed conjointly by the national parks. However, an in-depth and well-integrated cooperation has not been found, as difference in the nature and how the organizations themselves are managed and regulated has generated a long and complicated course for decisions regarding cooperation. It appears that even if nature itself might be boundless, the national jurisdictions that prevail over nature are clearly adhered to and there are no available transboundary structures designed to handle a cooperation of this kind. / Gränsöverskridande naturvård är ett relativt nytt koncept som alltmer ökat i popularitet och även inlemmats i flera stora internationella organisationers naturvårdspolicy. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka gränsöverskridande naturvård mellan två angränsande nationalparker, Parc National des Pyrénées i Frankrike och Parque Nacional Ordesa Monte Perdido i Spanien. Uppsatsen har utgått ifrån gränsteoretiska utgångspunkter i form av vilka faktorer som påverkar gränsbeteendet och med särskilt fokus på hur föreställningar om naturen påverkar hur denna förvaltas. Samarbetet har granskats genom dokument publicerade av parkerna samt genom intervjuer med personal i de båda parkerna. Nationalparkerna har under drygt tjugo år haft en viss samverkan som konkretiserats genom flera småskaliga projekt. Samarbetet har inspirerats av en historisk samverkan mellan byarna i gränsregionen som har ett gemensamt språk och kulturarv samt ekonomiska incitament i form av den Europeiska Unionens stöd för samverkan mellan gränsregioner. Inom nationalparkernas område återfinns även ett gemensamt världsarv, Pyrénées – Mont Perdu, som skall förvaltas av nationalparkerna tillsammans. Studien visar dock att en fördjupad samverkan mellan parkerna inte har kunnats implementeras i praktiken, eftersom naturen förvaltas och regleras på olika sätt i de båda nationalparkerna. Skillnader mellan Parc National des Pyrénées och Parque Nacional Ordesas förvaltningsstruktur och administrationssätt gör att beslutsvägen för samarbetsfrågor blir lång och komplicerad. Även om naturen själv är gränslös, visar studien att de bestämmelser som råder över den, är starkt bundna till den nationella organisationsformen och att det i nuläget inte finns någon gränsöverskridande struktur som kan hantera frågor av detta slag.

The last years trends of increasing globalisation and the decreasing importance of the nationstate has led to rising flows of travellers and information throughout the globe. This has affected the competition between destinations; they are now competing in a global market. The importance of placemarketing and representing a place identity, is today essential to attract customers from around the world. The purpose of this essay was to examine how Iceland as a place is represented through the photographs in horse tourism. The research questions asked were: How is the Icelandic landscape represented in photographs? How is people and horses represented in the landscape? And how can the horse be analysed as a part of the Icelandic landscape? The method used for research was image-analysis, a qualitative approach where horse tourism-websites and photographs on these websites were strategically selected. Theories used to analyse the result were concepts like place, nature and wilderness, described as social constructions. The research showed that Iceland as a place is represented through a selection of myths. The role of the Icelandic landscape might be explained as a dichotomy of two contrasting representations, the dramatic and untamed landscape, and the idyllic and romantic landscape. The Icelandic horse is represented as a powerful, mythological, and divine creature, interacting with humans but not fully tamed. It is also represented as free, wild and a part of the Icelandic nature. In the photographs people are represented as active in an adventure. They become integrated with nature by the connection to the Icelandic horse. In conclusion this study shows that Iceland is represented as a place with a powerful and romantic landscape. Where people can get access to nature by the horse, they become part of an adventure but they never fully control either the horses or the landscape. People are depicted as humble participants, being part of something more powerful then themselves, the great Icelandic nature.

The aim of this study is to analyze the choice of living in a peri-urban area as part of a livelihood strategy. The method used for collection of primary data for the study was in-depth interviews and questionnaires, undertaken with residents of Mbezi Luisi, a peri-urban area in Dar es Salaam. In order to analyze this material, a theoretical framework consisting of both livelihood frameworks and migration theories was used. In addition, previous research made on migration patterns and livelihoods of the people living in peri-urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa was reviewed. The result of the study shows that people make active decisions in order to obtain a better life. From a livelihood perspective it was found that the peri-urban areas present unique livelihoods opportunities in comparison to urban and rural areas. I also found that a livelihood perspective may help urban and regional planners in their work.

This dissertation deals with the multi-faceted phenomenon of knowledge conceptions. The aim is to describe the meaning of “academic knowledge” in today’s knowledge society from the perspective of “education” (a term used here in relation to the ‘liberal arts’ tradition as used in the English language or in German ‘bildung’) and “commodisation”. These two perspectives create a field of tensions in higher education. The study analyses the flow of knowledge in the process of commodisation - partly through a network of relations between societally-relevant actors, partly through career geography. The actors studied are: the state, the university, the university departments and the graduates/students. The research ‘design is a descriptive case study of Karlstad University during the years 1997-2007. The theoretical approach combines two perspectives; commodisation of academic knowledge and career geography. Commodisation is studied by the developments in higher education seen from a wider national and international perspective. Career geography entails both a geographical mobility and a social mobility of the students. The results show that there are different conceptions about academic knowledge from the different actors. Two different perspectives of commodisation of academic knowledge have been found, one from the “top down” perspective and one from the “bottom up” perspective. The top down perspective means that commodisation is driven mostly by the state and then is followed by the university and the university departments. In the bottom up perspective, commodisation is driven by the students. Furthermore, the results from the study of the Swedish state reveal an increasingly clear commodisation of academic knowledge with emphasis on economic growth, regional development and international competition.  However, Karlstad University’s and the university departments’ view of knowledge differs somewhat from that of the state’s, and aims instead to combine ‘commodisation of knowledge’ with ‘knowledge as education’ in its efforts to be a ‘learning university’. It is also shown that students appreciate this combined view. On a general level, the main argument from this dissertation is that it is necessary to place more attention on how to obtain a balance between the commodisation of academic knowledge and knowledge as “education” in today’s higher education system.

<p>The aim of the thesis is to quantitatively study the driving forces and mechanisms for regional growth from an endogenous and exogenous perspective and reveal the most important factors contributing to regional growth, by focusing on three aspects: local labour market, the supply side and the demand side of the labour market. The thesis is designed to use Swedish micro register data to develop spatial models with higher spatial resolution. It was found that endogenous factors are important and probably explain about at least one third of total regional economic growth. Among the endogenous factors, localised demographic composition, labour force and labour market, firms, and business environment have the strongest influence on regional economic growth. The findings from the Swedish context were briefly compared to China’s economic growth in the last fifty years.</p><p>The thesis consists of three related papers. The first paper studied the endogenous and exogenous factors in 108 Swedish LA regions during the 1990s. By using the SNI92 code, individual longitudinal data and an improved shift-share analysis method, it was found that the endogenous factor is important for regional economic growth because it is able to accelerate, decelerate or reverse the impact from exogenous factors during the period studied.</p><p>The second paper studied regional growth from the supply side of the labour market by focusing on population redistribution and place attractiveness. A ‘floating grid’ approach was developed to understand the factors shaping place attractiveness. The approach disregards administration zones by focusing on a small spatial unit—vicinity which is one kilometre square. Each unit has a unique set of surrounding zones that are local area and hinterland. By constructing spatial models, the total explained variance in place attractiveness was decomposed into partial explanatory effects that are assigned for physical attraction, demographic, service and labour market factors over the spatial scales. The finding is that the spatial scale of vicinity and demographic factors contribute most to place attractiveness.</p><p>The third paper studied regional growth from the demand side of the labour market by focusing on workplace and its economic performance. The ‘floating grid’ approach was once more applied while the basic analysis unit is a constructed workplace that holds working-square, local area and hinterland as surrounding zones. The economic performance of the workplace was attributed to external demand, local demand, business environment and labour force factors over different spatial scales. A method was developed to quantitatively identify intervals of partial explanatory effects that are components of the total explained variance. It was found that working-square and labour force factors contribute most to workplace economic performance.</p>

<p>Gentrifiering pågår idag ständigt i vårt samhälle. Det är en social förändringsprocess som består i att människor med hög socioekonomisk status flyttar till områden som traditionellt sett har dominerats av människor ur lägre sociala klasser och från etniska minoriteter.</p><p>Den här studien undersöker teorier och bakomliggande faktorer till varför människor väljer att gentrifiera och vilka likheter det finns mellan dem som väljer att gentrifiera. Genom en litteraturstudie visar pekar undersökningen på tidigare forskning och för en diskussion om ämnet.</p><p>Resultat av den här studien visar att anledningarna till varför människor gentrifierar idag ser väldigt olika ut, man har alltså inte kommit fram till vad den gemensamma nämnaren som får gentrifierarare att gentrifiera är. Vad man har ringat in är vad som sker, vilka det drabbar och vilka som har bra förutsättningar att bli gentrifierare.</p><p>Studien visar också att man måste sätta in gentrifiering i ett större samhällsperpektiv i vidare forskning för att finna nya svar och att inte bara studera den gentrifierande sidan, de som flyttar in i dessa områden.</p> / <p>Gentrification is something that is constantly going on in our society. It is a social change that consists of people with high socioeconomic status that are moving to areas which traditionally have been dominated by people from lower social classes and ethnic minorities.</p><p>This is a study which examines theories and underlying factors of why people choose to gentrify and what similarities exist between them. Through a literature study I examine previous research and I undertake a discussion of the topic.</p><p>The results of this study show that the reasons why people gentrify today are very different, they have not figured out what the common denominator is which make gentrifiers gentrify. What it has identified is what happens, what it affects and which individuals has good potential to become gentrifiers.</p><p>The study also shows the need to deploy gentrification in a broader societal point of view in further research to find new answers and to think not only of the gentrifiers, those who move into these areas.</p>

The aim of the thesis is to quantitatively study the driving forces and mechanisms for regional growth from an endogenous and exogenous perspective and reveal the most important factors contributing to regional growth, by focusing on three aspects: local labour market, the supply side and the demand side of the labour market. The thesis is designed to use Swedish micro register data to develop spatial models with higher spatial resolution. It was found that endogenous factors are important and probably explain about at least one third of total regional economic growth. Among the endogenous factors, localised demographic composition, labour force and labour market, firms, and business environment have the strongest influence on regional economic growth. The findings from the Swedish context were briefly compared to China’s economic growth in the last fifty years. The thesis consists of three related papers. The first paper studied the endogenous and exogenous factors in 108 Swedish LA regions during the 1990s. By using the SNI92 code, individual longitudinal data and an improved shift-share analysis method, it was found that the endogenous factor is important for regional economic growth because it is able to accelerate, decelerate or reverse the impact from exogenous factors during the period studied. The second paper studied regional growth from the supply side of the labour market by focusing on population redistribution and place attractiveness. A ‘floating grid’ approach was developed to understand the factors shaping place attractiveness. The approach disregards administration zones by focusing on a small spatial unit—vicinity which is one kilometre square. Each unit has a unique set of surrounding zones that are local area and hinterland. By constructing spatial models, the total explained variance in place attractiveness was decomposed into partial explanatory effects that are assigned for physical attraction, demographic, service and labour market factors over the spatial scales. The finding is that the spatial scale of vicinity and demographic factors contribute most to place attractiveness. The third paper studied regional growth from the demand side of the labour market by focusing on workplace and its economic performance. The ‘floating grid’ approach was once more applied while the basic analysis unit is a constructed workplace that holds working-square, local area and hinterland as surrounding zones. The economic performance of the workplace was attributed to external demand, local demand, business environment and labour force factors over different spatial scales. A method was developed to quantitatively identify intervals of partial explanatory effects that are components of the total explained variance. It was found that working-square and labour force factors contribute most to workplace economic performance.

Consumption forms and is formed by the city. How, when and where commodities are transacted is essential in this urban drama of mutual relationships. This thesis explores how consumption and everyday life in cities are interrelated. The specific objective is to analyse how commodity transaction situations are configured and constrained in time and space, and, how consumer service spaces are formed in and are part of city formation. Transactions are conceptualised as economically and socially situated material projects constituted by consumers, commodities and producers. Commodities and values are transferred and created through transaction spaces. The theoretical perspective is framed around consumption and production of spaces, and particularly informed by Hägerstrand’s time-geographical thinking and Lefebvre’s work on urban space. Methodologically different examples of consumption projects and spaces are used to discuss configurations and formations for commodity transactions. The thesis stresses material and time-spatial constraints for commodity transaction and it discusses the blurring of boundaries between what conventionally has been separate social and economic activities and places. Changing transaction configurations and the formation of consumer service spaces in the city are explored through analysis of different consumption places and commodities such as books, coffee and clothes and property development projects in Stockholm city centre. Transaction configurations display geographical and historical continuities and changes as well as time-spatial flexibility and spatial fixity. Transactions spaces are continuously formed and reformed through processes embedded in the global cultural economy, urban development and politics, as well as through people’s everyday life. Producers’ strategic production and consumers’ tactical appropriation of transactions spaces are accentuated as crucial in the spatial practice of transactions, places and city formation.