L’Espace géographique 1/09

Without summaries


A successful example of transnational regionalisation in East Asia: the corridors of the Greater Mekong Subregion (2 fig., 1 tabl.)

The Greater Mekong Subregion is the most dynamic transnational integration programme in East Asia. Supported by the Asian Development Bank since 1992, it seeks to promote regional integration through the expansion of trade in the peninsula, disrupted by decades of colonisation and war. The recreation of regional links through economic corridors, both north-south and east-west, encompasses five nations in the Indochinese Peninsula and two provinces of southern China. Thanks to the regionalising process of globalisation, these links, which have a peripheral and multipolar reticular configuration, operate as an integrated regional network. As evidence of their success, the corridors have become so important that they are now crucial to the control strategies of peninsular and regional powers.

keywords: CROSS-BORDER CITIES, ECONOMIC CORRIDOR, INDOCHINESE PENINSULA, TAX-FREE BORDER ZONE, TRANSNATIONAL REGIONALISATION


The geography of Internet access points. Conditions of public access and models of usage in large Chinese cities (2 encadrés, 5 fig., 1 tabl.)

China’s regulation of the Internet concerns network architecture, operators, content and access points. This paper analyses the interplay between regulation and the ecosystem of Internet cafés and its spatial dynamics as a social construct. Three empirical studies of five cities show how the connection between regulation and local policy is shaping the market of Internet cafés, and segmenting it. The authors interpret the urban geography of Internet cafés as a spatial translation of compromises between the actors, a joint social construct, which highlights the important role of users at the forefront of the authorities’ normalising drive.

keywords: CHINA, CITY, INTERNET CAFÉ, REGULATION, USE


Salloum (Egypt), a small Bedouin town on the routes of globalisation (2 fig., 2 photos)

Salloum is a small, isolated Bedouin town located on Egyptian territory. Salloum is nevertheless an essential link on a transnational trade route that connects Egypt to Libya and the Arab world to China. This paper seeks to understand how the spatial circulation of people and goods between Libya and Egypt was constructed and how the local populations profit from the border economy, which often offsets the shortcomings of public action; and to highlight the local, national and global connections intertwined in a small place of transit such as Salloum.

keywords: BORDER, EGYPT, GLOBALISATION, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, LIBYA


Networked Master’s degrees: towards a new territoriality of higher education in France (1 encadré, 6 fig., 4 tabl.)

This paper focuses on networked Master's degrees in France, considered as spatial vectors of a knowledge economy. The article first sets out the spatial distribution, at French university towns, of Master's degree courses, in particular courses that are jointly supervised by at least two higher education institutions. It then examines the various drivers that give structure to these networks. The study clarifies the role played by various forms of proximity within these structures. It also discusses the way these networking configurations of Master's degrees have driven choices that have led to the creation of “Research and Higher Education Clusters”.

keywords: HIGHER EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY, MASTER’S DEGREE, NETWORKING, URBAN AREA


Prostitution, an issue of moral geography in the entrepreneurial city. Readings by English-speaking geographers

The constitution of a corpus of texts that take a spatial approach to prostitution and the sex trade makes it possible to draw up a summary of places, in particular red light districts, that allow supply and demand for sexual services to meet. The evolution of the techniques involved in this meeting of supply and demand has been accompanied by the construction of a mature sex economy. his evolution has implied an evolution of locations, and has notably called street prostitution into question. Action by residents, together with policies aimed at regulating prostitution and sex-related commerce can be interpreted as a wish to restore moral order in the city but can also be analysed from the angle of gentrification and revitalisation of city centres.

keywords: ANGLOPHONE GEOGRAPHY, GENTRIFICATION, MORAL GEOGRAPHY, PROSTITUTION


Works and days. Natural history and human history

Human beings tend to overlook the work that is performed in their environment. The social logic of this phenomenon is illustrated by showing how the ideal of the detached house close to nature was created by the leisure class (Veblen). Here, “nature” (as a representation) has come to destroy nature (as an environmental fact). This paradox of human history stems from the relationship between living organisms and their environment, i.e. from evolution.

keywords: ECUMENE, EVOLUTION, HISTORY, NATURE, TIME, WORK, WORLD


Book reviews


In this issue of l’Espace géographique, you will find critical reviews of the following books

ARLAUD S., JEAN Y., ROYAUX D. (coord.) (2005). Rural-Urbain, nouveaux liens, nouvelles frontières. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 506 p. (Yves GUERMOND, université de Rouen)

BRETON R. (2006). Horizon & Fontières de l’esprit. Comprendre le multiculturalisme. Marseille: Le Mot et le Reste, 344 p. (Jean-Paul FERRIER, université d’Aix-Marseille 1)

COLLECTIF (2006, 2e éd.). Atlas du Liban. Beyrouth: Presses de l’université Saint-Joseph, 122 p. (Henri CHAMUSSY, université Joseph Fourier)

COUTARD O., HANLEY R.E., ZIMMERMAN R. (dir.) (2005). Sustaining Urban Networks: The Social Diffusion of Large Technical System. Londres, New York: Routledge, 239 p. (Catherine CARRÉ, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

DEBIÉ F., PIETER D. (2003). La Paix et la crise: le Liban reconstruit? Paris: Presses universitaires de France, coll. «Géographie», 284 p. (Henri CHAMUSSY, université Joseph Fourier)

GRATALOUP C. (2007). Géohistoire de la mondialisation. Le temps long du monde. Paris: Armand Colin, coll. «U. Géographie», 256 p. (Jean-Paul FERRIER, université d’Aix-Marseille 1)

GUÉRIN-PACE F., FILIPPOVA E. (dir.) (2007). Ces lieux qui nous habitent. Identité des territoires, territoires des identités. Paris, La Tours d’Aigues: INED, Éditions de l’Aube, 276 p. (Thérèse SAINT-JULIEN, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

JAGLIN S. (2005). Services d’eau en Afrique subsaharienne. La fragmentation urbaine en question. Paris: CNRS Éditions, 244 p. (Frédéric GIRAUT, université de Genève)

LASRY F., BLANC-PAMARD C., MILLEVILLE P., RAZANAKA S., GROUZIS M. (2005). Environnement et pratiquespaysannes à Madagascar. Paris: IRD Éditions-CNRE, coll. «Atlas Cédérom» (Yves POINSOT, université de Pau)

MATHIEU N., DE LAFOND V., GANA A. (2006). Toward New Responsible Rural/Urban Relationships: A Sustainable Territorial-Oriented Comparative Analysis. Nanterre: Université Paris X-Nanterre, UMR Ladyss, 80 p. (Yves GUERMOND, université de Rouen)

PELLETIER P. (dir.) (2004). Identités territoriales en Asie orientale. Paris: Les Indes savantes, 388 p. (Augustin BERQUE, EHESS Paris)

PICOUET M., SGHAIER M., GENIN D., ABBAB A., GUILLAUME H., ELLOUNI M. (2004). Environnement et sociétés rurales en mutation. Approches alternatives. Paris: IRD Éditions, coll. «Latitudes 23», 392 p. (Yves POINSOT, université de Pau)

REY V., GROZA O., IANOS I, PATROESCU M. (2006, 1re éd., 2001). Atlasul Romaniei. Bucarest: Enciclopedia RAO, 196 p. (Thérèse SAINT-JULIEN, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

REY V., GROZA O., IANOS I, PATROESCU M. (2007). Atlas de la Roumanie. Paris: La Documentation française, coll. «Dynamiques du territoire», 208 p. (Thérèse SAINT-JULIEN, université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

SLOTERDIJK P. (2006). Le Palais de cristal. À l’intérieur du capitalisme planétaire. Paris: Maren Sell Éditeur, 384 p. (Jean-Paul FERRIER, université d’Aix-Marseille 1)

VERDEIL E., FAOUR G., VELUT S. (2007). L’Atlas du Liban. Territoires et société. Paris: Institut français du Proche-Orient, CNRS, 208 p. (Henri CHAMUSSY, université Joseph Fourier)


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Last modified: May 29, 2009