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A quantitative analysis of European port governance P a t r i c k Ve r h o e v e n a, b a n d T h o m a s Va n o u t r i v e a, c

In this paper, we challenge the so-called orthodox sustainable transport vision, by confronting it with two possibly troublesome issues; (1) the urge for growth, and (2) the question of social justice. On the basis of seven cases from Belgium, a country with a strong commuting culture and a traditional tendency towards multimodality, we show that the conversion of a sustainability discourse into policy actions often leads to realizations which are essentially to be labelled as non-sustainable. On the one hand we discuss a number of cases where additional travel is unintentionally stimulated, with an unforeseen contribution to global warming as a result. On the other hand, we refer to cases where subsidies for sustainable transport modes seem to be geared towards wealthier groups, while poorer groups are exposed to additional expenses. The cases cover different steps of the policy process: (1) problem definition and selection of indicators, (2) the choice of a particular solution, and (3) the design of the chosen plan or programme, and illustrate the mechanisms underlying goaldisplacements.

This article explores the relevance of combining multiple understandings of democratic politics to analyse the ambivalent and contentious dynamics of citizen participation in spatial planning. Building forth on the ongoing efforts in critical planning theory to overcome the deadlock between collaborative and agonistic oriented planning approaches, we argue for the refraining from ‘over-ontologising’ the question of democratic politics in planning processes, and start from the assumption that participatory planning processes as an empirical reality can accommodate radically different, even incompatible views on democracy. In addition, it is argued that while current planning scholars predominantly focus on the applicability of the collaborative and (ant)agonistic approach to democratic politics, a third approach – based on Jacques Rancière’s notion of political subjectification grounded in equality – may be discerned. By mobilising an empirical study of a contentious participatory planning initiative in Ghent (Belgium), that is, the Living Street experiment, we illustrate that while different approaches to democratic politics do not necessarily align with each other, they are often simultaneously at work in concrete participatory planning processes and indeed explain their contentious nature.

As the sources of commuting traffic, companies have an important role in the mobility debate. In recent years, they have developed a variety of initiatives to improve the mobility of their employees. Though, their visions and actions are often neglected in the research literature. This paper aims at identifying the "good practices" of mobility policies of workplaces located in Belgium. To achieve this objective, existing researches and two large-scale Belgian surveys of commuting are analysed. First, a classification method is applied to the data in order to identify the workplaces where the alternative modes of transport which are promoted by the policy are popular among employees. Then, quantitative analyses are performed to find out what the good practices of mobility policies are.The results show that the best way of promoting an alternative mode of transport depends on the company's characteristics. The promotion of bicycles suits small workplaces best, while larger workplaces and those located in built-up areas or city centres suit the promotion of public transport best. Financial incentives, provision of facilities, diffusion of information, and parking management play all an important role in mobility management.

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Firm financing literature has been dominated by a relatively 'undersocialized' and 'aspatial' view. We approach this gap by applying a social capital and economic geography informed lens to financial transactions. We explore if and how the early growth performance of venture capital backed organizations varies with the structural and physical location of their investors in syndication networks. Drawing on longitudinal data of Belgian firms and their venture capital investors, it is demonstrated that inter-firm relational ties and, especially cross-border linkages expand organizational outcome. In that, we show that not only social relations shape financial activity, but that also spatial patterns of co-investment networks deserve notice.JEL classification: R1, G24, L26, Z13

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