Suchergebnisse

As defined by the European Commission, the Orient/East-Med Corridor is one of the most significant European transport axes. However, it runs through states with low economic performance and poor infrastructural networks; it coincides with the Western Balkan and eastern Mediterranean migration routes; finally, administrative bottlenecks along the corridor are common practice. Despite such a status, it is one of the key areas for international investments in transport hubs and lines. Therefore, in order to find proper solutions for complex problems along the corridor, an overview of the main conditions that influence the corridor development as well as local requirements is given as follows. First, in order to clarify the strategic position of Europe against transcontinental relations, the main trade, economic and demographic statistical indicators are presented. Second, a brief overview of transport and technical conditions relevant for the countries along the corridor are indicated. Finally, a close interaction between transport and spatial development in the cities along the corridor is briefly presented. Such a multi-scalar perspective gives a hint of the dynamics of transnational cooperation, as well as the cooperation process among many stakeholders from various domains, mainly transport and spatial planning.

Mit einer inhaltsanalytischen Untersuchung von drei wöchentlich erscheinenden Magazinen (dem "Spiegel", dem "Focus" und der "Zeit") belegt der Autor die Neubestimmmung der Rolle der Bundeswehr in Deutschland. Die Analyse umfaßte zusammen 308 Artikel, die zwischen Dezember 1990 (erste gesamtdeutsche Bundestagswahl) und Juli 1995 (Entscheidung des Bundestags über den Kampfeinsatz in Bosnien) erschienen sind. Die Befunde zu der Menge der Berichterstattung, zu den Anteilen der Berichterstattung zum Konflikt "out of area", den Begleitthemen und dem institutionellen Rahmen werden vorgestellt. Durch die Analyse konnte die Veränderung der Einsatzthematisierung von friedenserhaltenden zu friedensschaffenden Maßnahmen belegt werden, die durch die Bildanalyse bestätigt wurde. Zusammenfassend konnte festgestellt und gezeigt werden, daß "anstatt über Entmilitarisierung, spürbare Reduktion der Streitkräfte und Zuwendung zu friedlichen Komponenten der Außenpolitik zu reden, Militarismus, Machtpolitik und angeblich vitale deutsche bzw. europäische Interessen in den Vordergrund gerückt wurden". (PT)

As rail represents an efficient and sustainable transport system, the Trans-European railway network has become subject to special attention from European transport policy. The political objectives are to shift 30% of freight to rail by 2030, 50% by 2050, and to reduce passenger trips on road and in the air. These make it necessary to develop the defined TEN-T core network rail corridors as a priority, which means eliminating bottlenecks along the corridors and increasing capacities and operation quality. This concerns the Orient/East-Med (OEM) Core Network Corridor as well. Considerable parts of the infrastructure of the railway network along the OEM Corridor is not compliant with some of the technical thresholds set out by EU-Regulation 1315/2013. In the meanwhile the EU and the affected states have established activities for extending the core network corridors to the Western Balkans states. In 2015, the European Commission adopted a Joint Statement of the Prime Ministers of six Western Balkans states (WB6), which contains a list of specified Core Network links and Priority Projects for the extension of the TEN-T network to the Western Balkans. During additional common summits of the EU and the WB6, an indicative extension network has been more and more concretized. To date the process has led to the establishment of a common EU-Western Balkans Transport Community signed in 2017, which aims to help WB6 countries integrate into the EU by creating closer transport ties or connections. A continuing aspect is the importance of the OEM Corridor for the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative as a hinterland connection between the sea port of Piraeus (GR) and the central and eastern European countries.

Two corridors leading from northwestern to southeastern Europe - the Orient/East- Med and Rhine-Danube Corridors - are key areas for European spatial development. Moreover, sections of them are of special importance for central and southeast Europe. These sections include: 1) the primary axis of the Orient/East-Med Corridor leading from Vienna/Bratislava across Budapest and Sofia to Thessaloniki, 2) the Orient/ East-Med branch from Vienna/Bratislava across Budapest, Novi Sad, Belgrade and Skopje to Thessaloniki, and 3) the Danube river, from its source in Germany to the Black Sea. The area where these sections overlap includes the metropolitan areas of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade and serves as a backbone for integrated infrastructure and spatial development along the Orient/East-Med Corridor, with many and varied connections to northern and southern Europe. Metropolitan nodes and infrastructural links along this backbone need to be further developed in a coordinated and strategic way. Current and future aspects of spatial development in the above-mentioned metropolitan cores - with a specific focus on Vienna - are briefly discussed in this contribution.

In order to strengthen the Orient/East-Med (OEM) Corridor by the means of railway transport, certain measures are necessary. Considering the insights gained from planning and developing the concept of transalpine railway transport in Switzerland, the future capacity of the corridor and plans for the required expansions in time are proposed. This primarily requires the definition of the assumed services and thereafter a determination of the capacities of the sectors in order to define the required expansions. The project should function as a continuous railway network spanning across many country borders so that not much time is lost at border-crossings.

The paper initially elucidates the so-called 'problems-first' planning approach, whereby planners are supposed to start any activity based on a precise definition of the problems that need to be solved. As a result, they become more relevant actors to both citizens and politicians, all of whom are considered important parties in solving complex problems. Following a brief introduction, the 'key seven', i. e. the seven key aspects of problem-oriented planning, are described. Briefly, these are the various elements of a planning task that, when altered, have a disproportionate effect on the range of possible solutions and thus thoroughly affect the outcome of a planning situation. These include: (1) defining the 'socially constructed' problems to be worked on, (2) modifying the (usually provisional) definition of the problem by shifting it back and forth, (3) testing the empirical adequacy of the assumed relationship at the base of how a problem is defined, (4) elucidating the causes of a problem, (5) generating measures designed to solve the problem from these causes, (6) defining key concepts (terms), as well as (7) incorporating various basic approaches to planning. The second part of the paper illustrates the main problems observed along the Orient/East- Med Corridor, including not only infrastructural bottlenecks, but also complex geo-political challenges. Accordingly, the conclusion summarizes the main recommendations for the development of a strategy for the Orient/East-Med Corridor including both the 'planning world' and 'life world' realms.