12. Announcements

 

      a) Executive Director Search –

 

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), a 9 county bi-state Agency headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeks Executive Director to lead a 108 full-time employee organization with $21.2 million annual budget to serve an 18 Member Board composed of state, county, and municipal government representatives from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and serving a population of 5.8 million. The current Director is retiring after 25+ years of service as Director and 35+ years with the Agency. ...

 

      b) Global Gateways Telecast - 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm EDT - February 14^{th -} Economic Development Administration, International Economic Development Council and the National Association of Regional Councils.

 

“Global Gateways” are areas in the U.S. that are critical corridors to world markets. To compete in an inter-connected world-wide economy, America’s regions must be linked within as well as externally throughout the world. Cities and towns along these critical corridors must focus on managing the links between transportation, critical infrastructure investments and economic development. This requires new institutional arrangements for interstate and international relations, accessing federal funding and the building of international relationships. Panelists will address challenges and opportunities; issues faced by ocean and inland ports; unexpected outcomes from new technology; and lessons learned on transportation, economic development, tourism and international trade. This telecast is FREE.  Questions? -  contact Peggy Tadej

 

 

      c) Regional Collaboration: Learning to Think and Act Like a Region - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy - The University of Montana

March 16-17, 2006 - Seattle, Washington – Registration link

 

Sessions: A Framework for Regional Collaboration; The Challenges of Convening Regional Initiatives; Tools to Map Regional Problems and Opportunities; Regional Collaboration

in the Pacific Northwest: Lessons Learned; Common Problems, Best Practices; Regional Approaches to Federal Public Land Planning; Adapting and Sustaining Regional Collaboration; and Problem-solving Clinic.  AICP CPDP credits  for up  to 13.5  Registration deadline is March 10, 2006.

 

For a PDF with program details contact:  Shawn Johnson, Associate, Public Policy Research Institute, The University of Montana, 406-493-6059

 

 

      d) "Creating Competitive Regions" National Forum on Regional Stewardship - Chicago, Illinois, May 3-5, 2006

 

Sessions will highlight initiatives in the Chicago region; explore the role that neighborhoods play in regional competitiveness and the importance of the business sector. There will be an interactive workshop for participants to develop strategies for improving their region's competitiveness.  Regions are encouraged to bring multi-sector teams to the Forum to participate in this workshop.

 

13. Other in the news:

 

      a) As China's economy soars, so do kidnappings
Houston Chronicle - United States
... China is joining a booming kidnapping industry that stretches across Central Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. "Kidnapping is an old business, but in the last 10 years it has exploded," said Tom Clayton, founder of San Diego-based Clayton Consultants, ...

 

      b) "Slow Cities" movement arrives in Portugal with the adhesion of four Algarvian cities
Regiao Sul, Portugal
... It is also the basic presupposition of the philosophy of the "Slow Cities", a movement which arose in Italy, in 1999, and which has now arrived in Portugal ...

 

      c) Report: State and local outsourcing to grow 75 percent by 2010
Washington Technology - Washington, DC,USA
... 2006, after which pronounced growth will materialize as economic and workforce factors serve to outweigh the political pressure and risk aversion of governments ...

 

      d) The Chocolate City and Vanilla Hypocrisy
Louisiana Weekly - New Orleans, LA,USA
... As usual with "Chocolate Cities," Black people occupy most of the political offices because of their numerical superiority, but whites control the economy. ...

 

      e) Quebec expects more money, power
Ottawa Citizen - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
When Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier sits down with Stephen Harper's new Conservative government, he'll be asking for nothing less than a major overhaul of the way governments tax the public, and spend their money. ...

 

      f) Interview with Thomas PM Barnett
TCS Daily - Washington, DC,USA
... Blueprint for Action. It's a follow-up to the phenomenally successful The Pentagon's New Map. Welcome, Tom. Borders: Before getting ...

 

      g) A bad new map
Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow, UK
... and reinterpreters of Fourth Generation war, the bad is most powerfully represented by Thomas Barnett`s two books 'The Pentagon`s New Map' and 'Blueprint for ...

 

      h) New Moldova talks make no progress on rebel region
Reuters AlertNet - London, England, UK
... leadership of the two sides showed some political good will, a settlement could be achieved relatively quickly compared to other conflicts in this region.". ...

 

      i) Regional approach necessary
Pacific Daily News - Hagåtña, GU,USA
Why does Guam need to develop a regional crime laboratory? ... A regional approach to policing is necessary and a regional crime laboratory is essential. ...

 

      j) ITTA, 1994 RENEGOTIATION HIGHLIGHTS: WEDNESDAY, 25 JANUARY 2006
Earth Negotiations Bulletin - Canada
... On Membership of IGOs, WGI Chair Attah proposed use of "Governments" rather than "Intergovernmental Organizations" and deletion of a paragraph on EC ...

 

      k) Calls grow for new regional cull
BBC Sport - UK
The Welsh Rugby Union has been advised to consider scrapping one of Wales' four regions to concentrate resources. Five regions were ...

 

     l) The Best of The Best of Everything, Anywhere!  Exhibitor Magazine

Destination management companies are the event industry's experts in everything regional and city-specific. ...

Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME) is the only global non-profit association dedicated to increasing the professionalism and effectiveness of destination management through education, promotion of ethical practices, and availability of information to the meetings, convention, and incentive travel industries, as well as the general public.  ...

 

      m) Warning on Trade in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
World Bank Group, DC 
The study, From Disintegration to Reintegration: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union in ... The study finds the most prosperous countries of the ...

 

      n) EADT readers reject regionalism
East Anglian Daily Times - Suffolk, England, UK
KEEP them local, Mr Prescott. That's the overwhelming message from EADT readers to the Deputy Prime Minister whose regional agenda may spell the end of county councils and the amalgamation of county police forces....

 

      o) Protecting America's Competitiveness
Emediawire (press release), WA - Jan 27, 2006
Competitive Intelligence Analysts are worried at the rate of decline in America's Competitiveness and proposed new legislation, supported by President Bush ...

      p) Pacific Plan meeting seeks cooperation
Xinhua - China
... The first meeting of the Pacific Plan Action Committee (PPAC) on Tuesday discussed national policies on regionalism, the value of partnerships and wide ...

14. Density

 

      a) Malta joint fourth for highest population density
Malta Independent on Sunday - St. Julians, Malta
Popular online knowledge resource Wikipedia has released a report in which it says Malta has the fourth highest population density in the world. ...

 

      b) A fifth of Greeks live in poverty
International Herald Tribune - France
...  follows from the above finding that there is an higher likelihood of poverty in lightly populated areas (41.3 percent) than in areas of medium- and high-population density, where the poverty rate is 25.4 percent and 13 percent respectively. However, the study distinguishes between rural and urban areas rather than between areas of high and low population density in urban centers. On the other hand, no high-density urban ghettos have emerged yet, despite the concentration of poor immigrants in certain neighborhoods. ...

 

      c) Mayor set to expand developer density bonuses
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
... programs over the last year in exchange for the right to build bigger and taller projects, Mayor Daley said Tuesday, vowing to extend "density bonuses" beyond...

 

      d) Slow-growth group, building trying to compromise in Loma Linda
Redlands Daily Facts - Redlands, CA,USA
... The five-member group favors lower density and circulated petitions for an initiative to be added to the ballot for the upcoming June election. ...

  

      e) Court rules against board
Bethel Beacon - CT, USA
... "Controlling density of population or density of housing units is fundamentally and statutorily a function of a planning or zoning commission," the judge's ...

 

      f) Maitland project raises concerns about density
Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, FL,USA
... condominiums. The height and density of the project will raise some of the issues that stalled seven-story Uptown Maitland West for months. ...

 

      g) Project blocked: About 250 residents opposed a developer's plan...
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
... "Nobody wants high density of any kind on that land," said Melba Taylor, a homeowner who turned in the signatures of 250 residents opposed to the zone change.

 

      h) Roseville plan cuts sprawl - Subscription
Sacramento Bee - CA, USA
... The Sacramento Area Council of Governments' "Blueprint" for how the region should grow, calls for building more homes on less land to rein in sprawl and keep ...

 

 

15. Google News for “Regional Community”

 

Other menu sections available from this link include: Regional Development; Regional Council;  Regional Commission; Local Regional; Regional America; Regional Asia; Regional Europe; Regional Competition; Regionalism; Intergovernmental and other search terms. They can be sorted by date or relevance. These are among the 50 search terms I use to produce this newsletter.