Conference Report: Prague, Czech Republic, September 19-20, 2003

"Territorial Administration and Public Policy: Restructuring Big Government, Welfare State and Local Economies"

A recent conference of the IGU commission was organized by Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development. Local organizers were Petr Dostál (dostal@natur.cuni.cz) and Eva Kuželová (kuzelova@natur.cuni.cz).

Although the meeting was intended to break a new ground through papers and exchanges, it has been sought to keep size of the meeting small (13 papers) in order to facilitate effective plenary discussions. There is also a key aim of the conference to produce a collection of main papers in the form of a book or a special issue of a geographical journal. An outline of the collection will be circulating when the shape of the main contributions is clear.

Friday, September 19, 2003:
The first panel was concerned with theoretical and conceptual issues and chaired by Pieter Saey (Belgium). The panel discussed the following three papers:

Max Barlow (Canada): Metropolitan government re-considered: some reflections on recent developments in the government and administration of large cities;

B. Smith (United Kingdom): Poverty, empowerment, and decentralization;

and Petr Dostál and Martin Hampl (Czech Republic): Geography and territorial administration in the Czech Republic: issues of fragmentation and rescaling.

The second panel was orientated on experiences in different contexts and chaired by Brian Smith (United Kingdom). The panel included papers by

E. Razin (Israel): The agenda of territorial restructuring of local government in Israel: myths and realities;

A. Christopher (South Africa): Metropolitan integration and ghettos in South Africa;

and P. Saey (Belgium): Mismatch of geographical development and governmental space: the case of Brussels.

The chair of the Commission Doris Wastl-Walter informed the conference participants about the activities of the commission and the structure and intentions concerned with IGU Congress in Glasgow to be held in August 2004. Conference reception and dinner took place on the first day of the meeting.

 

Saturday, September 20, 2003:

The third panel was concerned with globalization, identity and border issues and chaired by Max Barlow (Canada). The panel debated papers by

T. Herrschel and P. Newman (United Kingdom): Globalisation and the need for developing "workable" forms of city regional governance: a North American - European perspective;

J. Markusse (The Netherlands): Trans-national border interregional alliances in Europe: are national boundaries of regional identities fading away?;

and Doris Wastl-Walter (Switzerland): Territorial administration and local self-government in Kosova.

The last two panels were focused on Czech and Slovak experiences. Slovak developments was chaired Petr Dostál (Czech Republic). Delivered paper were by

Pavol Korec and Marcel Hornak (Slovakia): Regions in depression in Slovakia;

and Ján Bucek (Slovakia): Changes in local public economy in Slovakia.

Czech developments were chaired Ján Bucek (Slovakia), including papers by

Jirí Blažek and Petr Brož (Czech Republic): Czech municipalities and regions and EU economic and social cohesion policy;

and R. Perlín (Czech Republic): Actors of local development in the Czech Republic: mayors of municipalities in rural areas.

The conference ended with a summary of the conference (Petr Dostál) and a plenary discussion.

 

Petr Dostál