Developing Canada's Arctic Region

Canada is the second largest country in the world, but also one of the least populated with a population density of 3.4 persons per sq. km. Much of what makes Canada so big and so sparsely populated is it's great white northern arctic region. While this region has always been a part of the Canadian psyche it has until recently remained largely undeveloped due to all that dang snow and ice. But global warming has changed all that and plans are afoot to spur economic development in the region.


The region is rich in minerals and undersea oil deposits, the latter of which have sparked a few diplomatic disagreements between Canada, the US, Russia, and even the Danish! In order to stake its claim on the arctic Canada is eager to invest in regional infrastructure. It's spending $140 million to build a 140-kilometre all-season road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in order to open up access to the Arctic. Investments are also being made in infrastructure further south in Churchill, Manitoba through the so-called Arctic Bridge project to increase port traffic between the Port of Churchill and Russia as well as Northern Europe. A deep-sea port is also being refurbished in the Arctic town of Nanisivik.



But perhaps the greatest arctic trade issue is that of the fabled Northwest Passage. Researchers from the U.S. have estimated that the arctic waterways will be ice free by 2030 due to global warming and this presents both opportunities and challenges for the region as it attempts to improve the regional economy. While increased port traffic and easier importing and exporting of supplies and goods will help the economy there are disputes over whether the passage is Canadian territory or should be considered an international gateway.


With the dangers posed by potentially hundreds of ships traveling through the passage, particularly oil tankers, there are concerns the fragile arctic environment will be under increasing threat and that the remoteness of the region will hinder the ability to respond to potential oil spills. Balancing economic development with environmental concerns, as always, remains a tricky matter.

Call for editors - New Journal

The Regional Studies Association is launching a new journal in 2013 entitled 'Territory, Politics, Governance'. It will be distributed to all its members together with the two existing journals 'Regional Studies' and 'Spatial Economic Analysis'. However, before the big launch, we are seeking to appoint a team of editors (including an early career editor) that will help us shape this journal into a high quality academic outlet. For more information please check this link (pdf document).

As explained in the call for editors, Territory, Politics, Governance will engage with topics at the interface between the analysis and practice of territorial development, including:

• Theories of socio-spatial relations, such as territories, places, scales and networks;
• Analyses of territorial governance, politics and policies;
• Globalisation, borderless worlds and geopolitical imaginations;
• States, political economy and territorial interventions;
• Social and political constructions and mobilisations of territorial identities;
• Methodological perspectives on territorial politics and policy.

If you feel that you are up to this challenge and wish to know more about what it would involve read the document above or contact Professor Martin Jones (Chair, Journals Management Committee) msj@aber.ac.uk, Professor Gordon Dabinett (Journals Management Committee) g.e.dabinett@sheffield.ac.uk, or Sally Hardy (CEO of the Regional Studies Association) sally.hardy@regionalstudies.org.

World University Rankings Revisited

Previously we here at the Regional Studies Blog have written about World University Rankings. As many Regional Studies folk work in academia we thought we'd revisit this idea given that the Academic Ranking of World Universities was just released for 2011. This ranking system is often considered to be one of the most reliable as it does not rely on surveys for data collection and has a fairly transparent ranking process. It was also among the very first to start ranking universities back in 2003.

As is often the case with these rankings the United States again dominates with eight out of the top ten universities in the world, led by Harvard, with Cambridge and Oxford in the UK being the other two.

The good thing about this index is that it also gives a break down of the top 100 universities by both field and broad subject area. While Harvard is number one in the fields of Science, Life and Agriculture, Medicine and Social Science - MIT gets first place for Engineering. One of the biggest criticism of this particular ranking is that it is overly focused on the natural sciences. This becomes apparent in that the only subjects for which universities are ranked are Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computers and Economics.

For those of you interested in rankings, you should also check out this older post on journal rankings.

Remittances and Regional Development

Global remittances, money sent by migrants back to their home country, play a key part in the economies of many countries. Estimates suggest anywhere from $250 to $300 billion is sent home in remittances every year and in many developing countries they are one of the largest sources of financial aid. Given the stability that remittances offer, they are increasingly being studied as a regional development tool.

Some of the largest providers of remittances are the United States, Canada and Germany. A great interactive visualisation of remittances is provided here, have a look!

National Geographic World Championship

The National Geographic Society has organised since 1993 a biennal competition with students from different parts of the world, where they have to answer questions on physical, cultural and economic geography. The 2011 meeting was sponsored by Google and held at their headquarters in Mountain View, California.

This year's competition was won by the Russian team (see picture below). Canada took 2nd place and China was 3rd.

Teachers interested in having their students compete next year should follow this link: www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/

Cycling in Europe

Being bike friendly isn't always easy, especially when when it's pouring rain or you have a small blizzard to contend with, but a number of European cities are trying to make that cycling commute a bit easier by signing onto the Charter of Brussels. The European Cyclists Federation urges cities to sign onto the Charter and in doing so commit to promoting cycling as an integrated mode of transportation by setting measurable targets related to modal share and promoting bicycle safety. Take a look at the Google Map below to see if your city has signed the Charter.

View Charter of Brussels Signatories in a larger map

Apart from being one of the most sustainable forms of transportation around, a bike is also a great way to explore a city, region or even country, whether it's your own or you are there as a tourist. The OpenCycleMap is a great resource for finding those nearby bike paths, it shows European cycling networks for tons of countries at the local level (blue) as well as that all important regional (light blue) and national level.


So the next time you feel like taking your car to buy some bread and milk, why not take your bike instead?

UK High Speed Rail Two

While the train ride from London to Beijing takes over a week, at the moment it takes you about four and half hours to go from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh. The UK Government aims to decrease that journey time to three and half hours through the development of High Speed Rail Two (HS2).
HS2 aims to link London to Scotland via a Y shaped train line that connects to Birmingham (in 49 minutes) and then breaks off one way towards Manchester (in 1 hour 20 minutes, down from 2 hours and 8 minutes) and the other way to Leeds (in 1 hour 20 minutes, down from 2 hours and 20 minutes) at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour.

It's estimated to cost £32 billion to construct but also estimated to generate economic benefits of approximately £44 billion and revenue of £27 billion. While only the proposed route from London to Birmingham has so far been released there has already been a lot of opposition voiced against the plan. A national You Gov poll found that 48% wanted the scheme cancelled compared to 34% in support (click here for additional polls on HS2).

While expensive, the line would also connect to Heathrow Airport as well as the Eurostar high speed line with the aim of reducing short-haul flights between London/Manchester/Leeds/Glasgow/Edinburgh. The development of high speed rail in Europe has seen some airlines abandon short haul flights in France and Germany as customers switched to rail, suggesting the environmental benefits of HS2 are strong. But in a world of government deficits the cost of HS2 seems too high for many.

The first phase of the project to Birmingham is scheduled for completion by 2026 with the branches to Manchester and Leeds expected to be completed by 2033.