doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01445.x
Urbanisation has proved seemingly inexorable in the island Pacific in recent decades, yet has largely escaped critical attention. Urban growth has been associated with civil unrest, unemployment, crime, poverty, environmental degradation, traffic congestion (and heightened inequality), inadequate formal housing provision, the rise of the informal sector (and repressions of it), pressures on education, housing, health and other services such as water and garbage disposal, rather than with sustained economic growth. Such wide‐ranging issues have posed problems where economic growth is static, structures of urban governance are lacking or weak (or corrupt), land disputes are frequent and urban populations increasingly permanent. Urban development necessitates balanced regional development and sustainable urbanisation or the future will lie elsewhere.
Cramb, Rob; Sujang, Patrick S.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01446.x
In this paper, we use an actor‐oriented perspective to explore the nature and extent of conflict and negotiation with regard to land use and tenure among the Iban of Sarawak. The Iban are shifting cultivators who have long been involved in smallholder cash crops. We argue that the complexity of land‐use change and the major shifts in land law and policy in Sarawak in recent decades, particularly those favouring the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations on both state and customary land, have created a situation of indeterminacy that can be exploited to renegotiate land rights and livelihoods. We present a case history of an Iban community that has ‘shifted ground’ several times over the past century, both geographically and in its strategic position relative to state and private sector actors. We show how, under formidable pressure from these actors, this community has nevertheless renegotiated its access to land and other resources, and opportunistically developed a diversified livelihood system that has enabled it to survive in rapidly changing political and economic conditions. While not necessarily typical, the case sheds light on the limits and modes of negotiability in the context of a strong developmental state.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01447.x
Issues of power and politics are central to the development of the tourism sector and its prospects for contributing to sustainable development. This is demonstrated through a case study of the evolution of tourism in the Maldives, a luxury tourism destination where the government has followed a consistent policy of ‘quality tourism’ that has often been cited as a prime example of sustainable tourism. However, recently concerns have been raised about environmental degradation, human rights abuses, connections between the political and economic elite, and huge economic disparities associated with tourism here. Research on sustainable tourism needs to recognise the state's pivotal role in directing tourism development and consider how states balance the competing interests of other powerful tourism stakeholders.
Byambadorj, Tseregmaa; Amati, Marco; Ruming, Kristian J.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01448.x
Since the early 1990s, Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, has experienced rapid rural to urban migration and population growth resulting in the growth in informal settlements across the city. The informal settlements are known as ‘ger’ districts. In response to these pressures, since the 1990s, the central government has adopted a programme of land reform and metropolitan planning. These new reforms take place in the context of a unique, post‐socialist political, economic and institutional context. The land reform process has attempted to privatise land ownership, which has traditionally resided with the state. The privatisation process was initiated under the new Constitution of Mongolia, which initiated reforms in all sectors of social and economic development, and since 2003, targeted land reform in ger districts. Running parallel, a series of urban land‐use planning schemes have been introduced to frame the development of Ulaanbaatar in the context of an emerging market economy. Although master plans for urban development have been established since the 1950s, urban land‐use planning is a new concept in this emerging market economy. The aim of this paper is to trace the rationales and challenges of implementing master plans and land privatisation processes in Ulaanbaatar. Drawing on interviews with city, national and local government officials conducted in 2009, the paper focuses on the implications of these reforms for both the government and the residents of ger districts.
Hinton, Rachael; Earnest, Jaya
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01449.xpmid: 22073429
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), women's health is addressed by applying biomedical solutions which often ignore the complexity of women's histories, cultural contexts and lived experiences. The objective of this study was to examine adult and older women's perceptions of health and well‐being to identify priority areas for public service interventions. Rapid ethnographic assessment was conducted in the Wosera district, a rural area of PNG from mid‐2005 to early 2006, to examine the health concerns of women. Twenty‐seven adult women and 10 older women participated in the study. Health was not limited to one aspect of a woman's life, such as their biology or maternal roles; it was also connected with the social, cultural and spiritual dimensions of women's daily existence. Participants also identified access to money and supportive interpersonal relationships as significant for good health. A disconnect was found to exist between women's understandings of good health and socio‐political health policies in PNG, something likely to be repeated in health service delivery to different cultural groups across the Asia Pacific region. Health and development practitioners in PNG must become responsive to the complexity of women's social relationships and to issues relating to the context of women's empowerment in their programmes.
Saikia, Udoy; Hosgelen, Merve; Chalmers, Jim
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01450.x
The nation‐building process of Timor‐Leste, the newest nation in Asia, faces significant demographic challenges due to its high population growth, which is the fastest in Asia. The major contributor for this unprecedented growth is the extremely high total fertility rate of Timor‐Leste, among the highest in the world. It is of great concern that if the current fertility rate and its implied population growth continue the population of Timor‐Leste will double in 17 years. The analysis in this paper clearly shows that the current extremely high dependency ratio will decline only marginally in the next 10 years and this will put tremendous pressure on the government to constantly keep up with the increasing number of children entering school every year. However, as the intrinsic value of human resource development feeds back into the overall society and economy, an adequate public investment in knowledge‐producing services at the earliest stages of life and throughout that life has the potential to change the demographic concern of Timor‐Leste into a future demographic dividend.
Sombatsompop, Narongrit; Premkamolnetr, Nongyao; Markpin, Teerasak; Ittiritmeechai, Santi; Wongkaew, Chatree; Yochai, Wutthisit; Ratchatahirun, Preeyanuch; Beng, Lee Inn
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01451.x
This opinion article expresses two key viewpoints regarding the options for Association of South‐East Asian Nations (ASEAN) universities in pursuit of fulfilling the demand for greater research visibility and academic reputation. The first viewpoint outlines the importance of promoting research collaboration among ASEAN researchers and their international peers in increasing the visibility and impact of ASEAN research. The second viewpoint examines the ASEAN research characteristics, the challenges and existing best practices of its journal publishing landscape, the potential role of non‐ASEAN international journals in improving the profile of ASEAN research and explores the needs and benefits of establishing an ASEAN Integrated Journal Publishing Network (IJPN). It is through these combined approaches, we believe, that effective policy change, the standardisation of publishing structure, procedures, and systems to drive journal development, improvement of journal quality, and establishment of a consistent framework for measuring researcher performance will result. This article also includes a proposal for the IJPN structure and implementation plan, and highlights the key benefits of taking a collaborative approach to achieving this common goal.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2011.01452.x
While this article accepts the idea of regional Journal cooperation within the context of establishing an ASEAN Integrated Journal Publishing Network as a positive and pertinent step, it explores three major hurdles that regional universities need to contend with. These include firstly, the dominance of English as the major academic language which puts vernacular languages and communication at a distinct disadvantage and resurrects a neo‐colonial academic mindset; secondly, tertiary education is generally weak in the region and in most cases universities are focused on teaching and service to government rather than academic research. Thirdly, universities in Southeast Asia, both in terms of academic salaries and the research infrastructure (libraries, laboratories) is financially handicapped and poorly supported. Regional academic journals cater to their 'home' informed audiences and respond less to international standards which makes universal or regional benchmarking difficult.
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