1. B'lore + Beijing greater than US - Times of India – India

... "China is the world's largest manufacturing centre in the world. In fact, it is the world's largest factory. India is home to the world's largest software professionals, the world's largest office for information technology.

“I will be very happy if the office and factory can join together," Sun Yuxi, China's Ambassador to India told Indiatimes News Network.

TCS was the first Indian software company to open a wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE) in China.

 

... Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, has been likened to Bangalore, which could be the reason for the Chinese premier's visit to the city.

 

Both have populations of around 6.4 million and a welter of academic institutions.

 

Both cities enjoy a fairly good climate. If Bangalore is Garden City, Hangzhou is the City of the Lake with its legendary West Lake, not only a tourist get-away but an ideal destination for technology firms.

...

The advantage that Bangalore clearly holds over Hangzhou is its supply of quality professionals and technical wizards with fluent English.

...

 

 2. It's a Flat World, After All - New York Times - Apr 3, 2005 - By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

 

In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail for India, going west. He had the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He never did find India, but he called the people he met ''Indians'' and came home and reported to his king and queen: ''The world is round.'' I set off for India 512 years later. I knew just which direction I was going. I went east. I had Lufthansa business class, and I came home and reported only to my wife and only in a whisper: ''The world is flat.''

 

And therein lies a tale of technology and geoeconomics that is fundamentally reshaping our lives -- much, much more quickly than many people realize. It all happened while we were sleeping, or rather while we were focused on 9/11, the dot-com bust and Enron -- which even prompted some to wonder whether globalization was over. Actually, just the opposite was true, which is why it's time to wake up and prepare ourselves for this flat world, because others already are, and there is no time to waste.

...

 

 3. Regionalism key for Midwest - Galesburg Register Mail - Galesburg, IL, USA

Drive 46 miles west on US 34 and you will cross the Iowa state line - a border that Richard Longworth calls a "whim of history."

...

Longworth, executive director of the Global Chicago Center at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, encouraged intellectuals and leaders in Midwestern communities to work together. He believes the concept of the nation-state has diminished in importance and Midwesterners need to stop thinking as individual states or communities and more as a regional unit.

 

He encouraged communities like Galesburg to accept globalization as fact and to use it to the community's advantage.

 

"We can't just throw rocks at Starbucks and McDonald's," he said. "We have to start thinking and planning as a region.

...

 

  4. a) Q&A: Italy regional elections - BBC News - E,UK

More than 42 million Italians are being called to the polls on Sunday and Monday to elect 14 of the country's 20 regional governments, as well as some ...

 

      b) REGIONAL ELECTIONS: THE NEW PARLIAMENT OF GOVERNORS - Agenzia Giornalistica Italia – Italy

Elections results changed the political majority of regions but also the equilibrium in the small parliament of regional governors. ...

 

      c) Berlusconi "massacred" in regional elections - Swissinfo – Switzerland

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has suffered a crushing defeat at Italian regional elections, official resultsshow, a huge boost for centre ...

 

 5. Region will grind to a halt: Mayor - Brampton Guardian - Brampton, Ontario, Canada

 

Brampton will grind regional business to a stop by boycotting meetings if Mississauga is given control of Peel Region, says Mayor Susan Fennell,

 

The threat followed Wednesday's city council meeting where Brampton publicly demanded Premier Dalton McGuinty adopt a provincial facilitator's report that will restructure Peel council.

...
"We will not go back to the region. We will not attend, the region will start to break down, and we will start to take legal steps to be a stand alone city and the region is over because we have to get on with the business of serving our citizens," she said.

...

 

 6. See future, and run with it - Akron Beacon Journal - Akron, OH, USA

 

Retailers want quality roads, bridges, airports Retailers,

 

At the dawn of the industrial revolution, Ohio built its future on the successes of its past.

 

The state's economy blossomed on the strength of its agriculture, waterways and natural resources. And manufacturers that served those businesses sprung up in Ohio's cities.

 

John R. Buchtel, who founded the University of Akron, manufactured farm machinery. Clay companies opened up shop in Akron because the area soil contained clay that was perfect for making sewer pipes, among other things. Cincinnati was called Porkopolis because of its pork processing plants. Steubenville had a state-of-the-art wool mill for nearby farmers.

 

By building on the region's successes and shaping them with an eye on the future, Ohio leaders drew for themselves a vision of a prosperous state.

 

In 2005, as we ease into a new millennium, are Northeast Ohioans using the past effectively to construct a promising future?

....

 

RC: Economic Development Outreach Regions

 

 7. Uri to Put Priority on Elimination of Regionalism - Korea Times - South Korea

Rep. Moon Hee-sang, new leader of the ruling Uri Party, is set to place top priority on, among others, rooting out the deep-rooted regionalism in the country.

 

Moon was elected chairman of the party at the national convention in Seoul Saturday.

...

In his acceptance speech given after the election, Moon said that overcoming regionalism lies at the core of political reform. ...

 

“Regional antagonism makes it impossible for politicians to act rationally. It is an inveterate evil of our society,’’ said Moon. ``It represents the last step toward political reform; regionalism must be done away with at all costs+. For us living in this time, it is a historic responsibility.’’

...

 8. Teliasonera Finland to build regional network in Mikkeli, Pieksämäki - DMeurope.com – Netherlands

 

The municipalities and joint municipal authorities of the Mikkeli and Pieksämäki regions in Finland have decided to build a common regional data communications network, which is to be delivered by telco Teliasonera Finland. ...

 

RCs: The 22 municipalities of Southern Savonia in Finland are divided on four districts.

 

 9. Pakistani FM calls for promotion of regional integration - Xinhua – China

ISLAMABAD, April 5 - Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri on Tuesday called for devising a comprehensive strategy to create conducive environment for promoting regional integration through establishing Asia-wide linkages.

    The Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) should act as the main facilitator in promoting strategic partnerships among Asian countries, Kasuri told the opening ceremony of a day-long high level expert seminar on economic cooperation in Asia, being held here prior to the 4th ACD ministerial meeting.

...

 

10.  a) Counties unite in planning - Longmont Daily Times-Call - Longmont, CO, USA

That's what leaders pushing an interstate regional council of governments say could happen if Laramie County, Wyo., and Larimer and Weld counties work ...

 

       b) Officials mull regional council - Greeley Tribune - Greeley, CO, USA

A Pitkin County commissioner spent 11 hours in the car during a snowstorm Wednesday, bound for Windsor via mountain passes, just so she could share tales of her loyalty to a regional government council.

Patti Clapper, who hails from Aspen, is chairwoman of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, which represents mountain counties and towns as diverse as Walden, Kremmling and Vail.

Clapper said she trusts the organization to help with affordable housing, clean water issues, transportation and other government duties. The group even has an elevator safety inspection program.

"I was a firm believer in staying in my own back yard," Clapper said. But not anymore. Once she became a county commissioner, she realized how helpful a government council can be, she said.

...

 

      c) Northern Colorado alliance a good idea Transportation plan needed for expected growth by 2035 - Greeley Tribune - Greeley, CO,USA

 

Teamwork, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing.

 

Teamwork among governments is even better.

 

In the spirit of such cooperation, we support the idea of a regional council of governments for northern Colorado.

 

Weld and Larimer counties -- and even Laramie County in Wyoming -- are so close physically, it makes sense for them to be close friends, too.

...

      d) Wyoming, Colorado counties consider regional planning - The Casper Star Tribune - Casper, WY, USA

... Commissioners in Laramie County, as well as Weld and Larimer counties in northern Colorado, have begun talking about forming a regional planning commission....

 

11. Tourism report to build momentum for regional cooperation - The Desert-Mountain Times - Alpine, TX, USA

Tourism development in Far West Texas received a big boost this week as the Rio Grande Institute (RGI) of Marathon turned over to tourism promotion turned over to tourism promotion organizations a body of interpretive material outlining 100 sites of special importance to the natural and cultural heritage of the Big Bend and Trans-Pecos. The material represents the fruit of four years work.

 
     Institute President Tyrus Fain has written to the Big Bend & Texas Mountains Tourism Association and the Rio Grande Council of Governments informing them that work has been completed on a professional assessment and interpretive description of core sites that were proposed for incorporation into interpretive driving loops and virtual trails in a border tourism strategy report submitted to the state in 2003 by the RGI and Sul Ross State University.

 
    The focus extends across a range of subjects, including birding, history, wildlife, geology and scenic vistas.  ...

...

12. Group rebuffs report on sprawl - Centre Daily Times, PA [Thanks to reader Shannon O'Connell]

 

A coalition of builders, Realtors and manufacturers argued Wednesday that suburban sprawl is not the primary reason for Pennsylvania's economic stagnation, contrary to the findings of a study by the Brookings Institution.

 

The group known as the Pennsylvania Prosperity Coalition issued its own report, which highlighted factors such as high business taxes, poor-quality city schools and labor costs.

 

The report is based on research by Mike Young, a retired public affairs professor at Penn State Harrisburg who conducted a random telephone survey of 814 Pennsylvanians over a 10-day period in December. The survey found state residents were about evenly divided over whether growth and development are problems.

 

"The biggest issue that is pervasive in Brookings is the thesis that suburban development is the root of all evil," Young said. "It's asserted but not proven."

...

Bruce Katz, director of the Brookings Center on Urban Metropolitan Policy, a Washington-based think tank, said although the business coalition's study "underestimated" the impact of suburban sprawl, the two reports make many of the same conclusions.

 

13. Straight from Google.

 

      a) Wales success no surprise - Cobner - ic Wales – UK

... "I think, with our academy structure and the regional development programme that is going on, we've got as good a structure as anywhere in the world," he said. ...

 

      b)  Howard goes global - Australian – Australia

... The old distinctions between regionalism and globalism were no good any more, he said. Australia needed to operate bilaterally, regionally and globally. ...

 

      c)  Editorial: Working together - Kentucky Post - Covington, KY, USA

 

... Kentucky Post editorial page has banged the regionalism gong for decades. We believe - and many others agree - that Northern Kentucky simply has too much government. There are too many cities and too many agencies and too many districts ...

 

      d) Regional writers set up a guild - New River Valley Current - Christiansburg, VA, USA

... result was the formation of the Appalachian Authors Guild, which was established last year and will launch its Web site, now under construction, at a media event April 8 at Southwest Virginia Community College ... the Appalachian Regional Commission ...

 

      e) Planners seek key to harbor's success - Duluth News Tribune - Duluth, MN, USA

... a compromise between natural preservation and economic development," said Hubley, director of regional planning at the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission ...

 

14. Other U.S. regional communities in news articles.

      a) Region 2020 town hall meetings Daily Home Online - Talladega, AL, USA

... Representatives from the organization will present the first report of "Community Counts: Measuring Progress in our Region.". Robinson ...

 

      b) Strickland meets with area leaders over local funds - Marietta Times - Marietta, OH, USA

 

U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland met with about 25 area government leaders Wednesday at the Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District office discussing concerns about cuts in community development funds.

...

 

15. Other in the news:

      a) Study finds churches important to regional residents - ABC Online – Australia

 

A 70-year-old PhD student has found churches are still important to people living in regional Australia.

 

Rol Mitchell spent six years researching the role churches play in country towns and moved to a central western NSW town to investigate the issue first-hand.

 

Mr Mitchell says less than a quarter of the population actually went to church on Sunday, but many more participated in church-run activities like volunteering.

 

"On the surface there is an apathy, the church these days doesn't make much news, it's not cool any more, you know," he said.

 

"But when I scratched below the surface I found there was so much going on, so many activities operating through the community."

# # #

      b) New Bid To Crackdown On Paramilitary Flags - Derry Journal - Derry, Ireland

 

Police Chiefs and government departments yesterday launched a new offensive against the plague of paramilitary flags across the North.

 

A joint protocol has been signed that will intensify attempts to wipe out illegal banners appearing publicly in towns and estates across the North.

 

The new agreement also involves limiting flag flying to certain dates, with displays for cultural festivals facing time restrictions as well.

 

Organised by the PSNI, the Departments for Regional Development, Environment and Social Development have lined up alongside them.

...

      c) Angels over Los Angeles - FCW.com – USA

 

This summer, the City of Angels will have an archangel watching over it. Los Angeles officials plan to implement a Web-based information collection and analysis system that will provide emergency officials and field commanders with details about facilities' vulnerabilities and protection plans.

 

The information collected by the system, known as Operation Archangel, could include everything from contact information to building plans to maps showing a facility's relationship with other critical assets, officials said.

 

Operation Archangel won Federal Computer Week's 2005 Monticello award.

 

A $3 million Justice Department grant initially funded the intergovernmental system. From the program's beginning, the city and county of Los Angeles, the California Office of Homeland Security, and the federal Homeland Security Department have partnered to support it.

 

Archangel promises to be a national model for sharing information among agencies so they can coordinate efforts to prevent, prepare for, respond to and mitigate critical incidents, said Karen Evans, administrator of e-government and information technology at the Office of Management and Budget.

 

Archangel allows federal, state and local authorities to obtain the best possible information about different sites and align resources in a more effective way, Evans said. Moreover, because it is based on Web technology and open standards, it can be established and adapted to local needs quickly, she said.

...

 

16. Announcements

      a) Alliance for Regional Stewardship’s (ARS) National Forum on Regional Stewardship. May 4-6, 2005 in Washington, D.C.  - “The Next Generation in Collaboration—Linking Economic and Social Issues”  -

Plenary sessions will introduce the Greater Washington Region, highlight regional collaborations around social and economic issues, and discuss the Federal policy and practices that enhance or discourage regionalism.  In addition, breakout sessions will focus on issues such as Workforce Development, Health Care, Homeland Security, Regional Equity, Transportation, Multi-State Regional Issues, and National Associations. Focus on how collaboration, once reached, can address economic and social conditions of the region.

Greater Washington —Social-Economic Collaborations

This moderated plenary will address how issues such as healthcare, homeland security, workforce development, regional equity and innovation are being dealt with in a multi-sector collaborative manner in the Greater Washington Region.

• Moderator:  Terri Freeman, Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
• George Foresman, Homeland Security Advisor, Commonwealth of Virginia
• Jim Gibson, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy
• Bob Templin, Northern Virginia Community College
• Caroline Cunningham, Vice President, Regional Partnerships, Greater Washington Board of Trade

Health Care

Health care is not solely about access, but includes community awareness, education, social and environmental risks, quality provision, and much, much more.  This session will address how regions are addressing the critical issue of health care and all the many aspects involved.

• Moderator: Michael Rogers, Medstar Health
• Pam Troup, St. Anthony North & Central Oklahoma Turning Point
• Parminder Jassal, Greater Louisville, Inc.

Federal Policy Towards Regions

Traditionally, Federal policy has not focused on the region as a geographic or economic entity.  Certain Federal policies, however, have encouraged multi-jurisdiction collaboration to address a variety of issues.  This moderated plenary will discuss the Federal policy and practices that enhance or discourage regionalism.

• Moderator:  Deborah Wince-Smith, Council on Competitiveness
• George Shoener, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Department of Transportation
• David Sampson, Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce
• Geoff Anderson, Acting Chief of Staff to Associate Administrator for Policy, Environmental Protection Agency

To register for the Forum, please visit the ARS website at http://www.regionalstewardship.org/register4forum.html.  For additional information, please contact Amy Carrier, Alliance Manager, at amy@... or (303) 477-9443.

Kick off the Forum by jump-starting your region!

Register today for the Regional Stewardship Boot Camp!  The Regional Stewardship Boot Camp is an intensive, one-day session and 6 months of follow-up coaching aimed at showing participants how to launch a breakthrough regional stewardship initiative in their region. Participants will learn how other regions got started, design a “Regional Stewardship Start-Up Plan” for implementation in their own region, engage in 6 months of follow-up coaching while implementing the start-up plan and have the opportunity to review your start-up experiences with other practitioners at the Fall 2005 National Forum. 

The Boot Camp is designed for individuals and teams who want practical and detailed advice on how to create and implement  collaborative, multi-sectoral, multi-jurisdictional initiatives.

The first Boot Camp will kick off on Wednesday, May 4, 2005, in Washington, D.C. , in conjunction with the Spring National Forum on Regional Stewardship.  Facilitators include Douglas Henton & John Melville, Founders of Collaborative Economics, and John Parr, President & CEO of ARS.  The Boot Camp Fee includes 6 months of follow-up coaching and the opportunity for peer review of your start-up plan at the next ARS Forum in November 2005. Each participant will receive a Regional Stewardship Start-Up Workbook and electronic template for designing their own start-up plan.

For more information or to register for the Boot Camp, visit our website at http://www.regionalstewardship.org/bootcamp.html, or contact Amy Carrier, Alliance Manager, at amy@....

      b) CALL FOR PAPERS

REGIONAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005

THURSDAY 24th NOVEMBER 2005

London Voluntary Sector Resource Centre

Holloway Road

London, UK

SUSTAINABLE REGIONS:  MAKING REGIONS WORK

 

The imperative to create sustainable regions is rapidly rising up the political agenda. As a counterweight to debates about economic growth and productivity, there is increasing awareness of the importance of regional strategies in which social, political and environmental considerations are fully integrated into economic development. The problems of creating regions ‘that work’ is evident across all regions where unbalanced growth is associated with economic ‘hotspots’ alongside areas of continuing social deprivation. Whilst areas such as London and the South East are beset by chronic strains on infrastructure (particularly relating to housing and transport) alongside growing social polarisation, large scale redevelopment and renewal programmes - in the north of England, Scotland and Wales they take place alongside continuing social decay, marked by poor labour market activity rates and massive ‘hidden’ unemployment. At the same time, the growing need to confront environmental problems at both the global and local levels is putting new pressures on those involved in urban and regional development. This context leads to a number of issues about the nature of current forms of economic development and the extent to which they are compatible with a broader agenda of creating sustainable regions. As environmental and social justice become more important, the issues of democratic renewal and community engagement also come to the fore.  In the wake of the failed referendum on the North East Assembly especially, questions about the future direction of regionalism and regional policy in the UK have taken on a particular urgency.

·       To what extent do current regional policy agendas offer a broader and sustainable vision of regions?

·       To what extent are regional agendas genuinely participatory in including citizens and being open to democratic scrutiny?

·       How compatible are regional competitiveness agendas with other policy goals of social inclusion and sustainable development?

·       How attainable are sustainable regions in the context of continuing uneven development and inter-regional competition?

·       What are the lessons for sustainability to be learned from existing devolved regions?

·       What is the role of policy towards transport and infrastructure development in creating sustainable regions? 

 

Trends towards greater global and European integration and multi-layered governance are likely to accentuate the difficulties facing regions in resolving these tensions and pose important strategic and practical challenges for policymakers, academics and communities. This conference aims to explore the issues surrounding creating sustainable regions and invites papers in the following areas:

·       Economic development and alternative regional pathways

·       Issues of regional governance and inter-regional competition in the context of developing sustainable regions

·       The role of transport and transport policy in regional development

·       Environmental sustainability and regional development

·       Creating integrated regional development

·       Case study/policy evidence

 

The conference format will involve several key-note speakers from the academic and policymaking communities along side breakout sessions for workshops. Speakers are required to provide a summary of their paper for inclusion in the conference book which is given to all conference participants on the day. Workshop contributors are asked to provide 1500 word summaries and Plenary speakers, 3000 word summaries by Monday, 12^th September 2005.

 

Please send offers of papers in the form of 200 – 400 word abstracts to Sally Hardy at the Regional Studies Association by Monday 20^th June, 2005.

 

Submissions should include telephone, fax and e-mail details.

 

Proposals will be considered by the Conference Programme Committee against the criteria of originality and interest, subject balance and geographical spread.

 

Regional Studies Association

PO Box 2058

Seaford BN25 4QU

Tel: +44 (0) 1323 899 698

Fax: +44 (0) 1323 899 798

E-mail: rsa@...

 

17. Subscription link

 

Umbrella transit agency long way off - Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - GA,USA

 

A daylong retreat last week shed more heat than light on how metro Atlanta might manage its growing network of transit systems.

 

Long-standing urban-suburban tensions flared when Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, outlined a proposal that would put the ARC in charge of planning, policies and funding for all public transit systems in the 10-county Atlanta area.

 

The umbrella transit management proposed by Olens would consist of MARTA, Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton and the express buses operated by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. Day-to-day running of these systems would remain local.

 

But Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said she remains unconvinced that city leaders should be willing to cede MARTA's current autonomy, even with a commitment to regionwide funding for transit.

 

"I'm not bought into a new governance structure," Franklin said.

...