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Der Berliner Bezirk Köpenick hat im Rahmen seiner Lokalen Agenda (LA 21) eine Städtepartnerschaft zur Gemeinde Cajamarca in Peru aufgebaut. Die Autoren dieses Beitrags, Mitglieder der Berliner Nichtregierungsorganisation KATE e.V., unterstützen den Aufbau dieser Partnerschaft seit 1994 und präsentieren hier eine Bestandsaufnahme der bisherigen Aktivitäten, Schwierigkeiten und Perspektiven dieser besonderen Art kommunaler Zusammenarbeit über die Nord-Süd-Grenzen hinweg. (DED Brief/DÜI)

Until the 1970s, the few interactions between Sderot and the
neighboring kibbutzim in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council revolved
around the kibbutzim's economic and political dominance. As political
resistance to this control increased, kibbutz members became worried
about the consequences of segregation and economic exploitation and
wished to alter these problematic relations. Thus, the Sderot–Sha'ar HaNegev
partnership program, which aimed to create a shift in the relational
structure, was established. This article analyzes the power dynamics
between Sderot residents and the kibbutzim during the program's operation.
The partnership, although expected to reduce segregation and
change the power relations between the communities, did not bring about
a transformation from paternalism to partnership, but rather evolved
from dominance to hegemony. Although the hierarchical relations are still
in place, the interaction between spatial, class, and identity elements has
created new ways in which the relationship operates up to the present day.

In 2012, the South African Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) initiated a study: Continuation of the Northern Planning Region's All Towns Reconciliation Strategies: Phase 1. This study reviewed, prioritised and updated the rudimentary All Towns strategies initially developed by DWS in 2011. The purpose of the strategies was to reconcile water requirements with available resources for the 2011–2035 planning horizon by estimating the projected water requirements, determining available water resources (surface and groundwater) and developing a water balance. Recommendations were made to conserve, manage and administer local water sources as well as to augment water supplies from other sources if required. The recommendations provided actions and options for implementation by the relevant Water Services Authorities and the DWS at a local and regional level, providing the opportunity for integrated and coordinated planning. Bulk and reticulation metering, the implementation of water conservation and demand management programmes and recommendations on the updating of water use allocations were prioritised. Detailed studies required to determine the most feasible water resource augmentation options to ensure a positive water balance were identified. The study coordinated efforts by officials and stakeholders representing both the water resources and water services sectors. The prioritised strategies defined the deficit or surplus of the water resources per water source on a technical level, but also highlighted the need for planning and coordination between the water resources and water services sectors. The strategies are not legally mandated documents, but represent some of the best efforts spanning across various sectors to realise coordinated water infrastructure planning in DWS' Northern Planning Region. The use of the documents in the local, district and national planning environments should be promoted for integrated planning, and it may be fitting to incorporate the All Towns Reconciliation Strategy documents as a valuable resource to inform the water legislation currently being reviewed

Interactions between villages & towns in India are examined from the existing research perspectives of cultural, administrative, political, & economic dimensions. Underscored is the importance of the roles of village broker & networks in linking Ur & Ru areas. Network research has focused on Ur-Ru relationships from the viewpoints of the Ur center, the Ru unit, & the interconnections between the two. Theory & methodology problems are elucidated, & suggestions for further research outlined. D. Abrahams.

Abstract This contribution deals with the relationship between town planning, architectural design and landscape in the foundation of "new towns" in Italy. In doing so, I shall focus on the Pontine Marshes, giving due consideration to then emerging theories about the fascist corporate state, whose foundation act may be traced back to Giuseppe Bottai's "Charter of Labour". This political-cultural "model" purported a clear hierarchy between settlements, each bound for a specific role, for which specific functions were to be assigned to different parts of the city. Similarly, cultivations in the countryside were to specialise. In the Pontine Marshes, Littoria was to become a provincial capital and Sabaudia a tourist destination, Pontinia an industrial centre and Aprilia an eminently rural town. Whereas the term "corporatism" may remind the guild system of the Middle Age, its 1930s' revival meant to effectively supports the need for a cohesive organization of socio-economic forces, whose recognition and classification was to support the legal-political order of the state. What was the corporate city supposed to be? Some Italian architects rephrased this question: what was the future city in Italy of the hundred cities? Bringing to the fore the distinguishing character of the settlements concerned, and based on the extensive literature available, this contribution discusses the composition of territorial and urban space, arguing that, in the Pontine Marshes, this entails the hierarchical triad farm-village-city, as well as an extraordinary figurative research at times hovering towards "classicism", "rationalism" or "picturesque". Composition and figuration are therefore not homogeneous, nor mere expressions of the fascist regime. They show instead a constant research, between aesthetics and practice, of an idea of modern city, of public space, of balance between city and countryside.

AbstractThis article highlights the efforts of two rural communities located in Central Appalachia to address the conflicts and economic and social challenges that have arisen in each as a result of the decline of coal mining. Documenting and analyzing the processes and narratives gleaned from the authors' long-term interaction with stakeholders in the two communities through field tours, community meetings, individual conversations, and group workshops revealed specific social and economic forces, including neoliberal ideology and the realities of its assumptions and public policies, as key forces shaping current community challenges. This article assesses the effectiveness of cross-sectoral partnerships constructed in both case communities aimed at addressing resource dependence, social legitimation, exchange needs, and strategic collaboration imperatives. We used Meadows' systems thinking construct to identify the system elements that informed this analysis and to assess the efficacy of cross-sector partnership building in questioning dominant imaginaries and creating novel ways of being within communities undergoing transition from what have otherwise been economically and socially oppressive conditions. We found that stakeholders within the two communities have often struggled to maintain the cross-sectoral partnerships they have sought to create, let alone understand fully the outcomes of any intervention they might launch, despite their best intentions and plans. A lack of continuing communication among relevant stakeholders, limitations to encouraging citizens' agential activities, and adopting strategies within the assumptions of the dominant neoliberal paradigm were among the main hindrances to realizing effective partnerships in the communities we analyzed.