Apologies for cross-posting.
Papers are invited for the IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces Residential Conference, August 10-13 2004, to be held at the University of Birmingham.
Full details are provided in the attached First Call document. Following is a summary.
Rationale
Services now permeate every economic sector and a new space economy is in process of development. Among other things, it inextricably combines information, services, movement, and goods. As the role of services in economies from the global to the local increases and diversifies, significant changes to the way in which they (and goods) are produced and consumed are under way. Continual change and evolution is one of the primary features of capitalist economies; it is driven by technological innovation and by the introduction of new forms of management, organization and work in response to the forces of competition. Symptomatic of these changes is the transformation of employment away from manufacturing to services. This shift does not necessarily imply that all economies are moving away from manufacturing into services, but there is an ongoing 'blurring' of the long established distinction between the two. The extending global reach of services and their engagement with the processes of globalization is accompanied by continual evolution of the division of labour. This on-going transformation has stimulated new support functions that feed into the production process (manufacturing and services) as well as increasingly driving it. This is an important adjustment to the operation of the capitalist system. Meanwhile, the less tangible aspects of the production process are performing an ever more important role in the design, production and sale of goods and services. A new economic geography that incorporates production and consumption is developing in which service industries are amongst the key players. They are also important in promoting local economic growth in different national settings, with substantial and different impacts in developed, developing and transition economies
It is timely to bring together diverse international perspectives on how these changes have affected (and have been affected by) technology, organizations, production, consumption, and employment (to name but a few). The Commission seeks to build a fuller appreciation of the multi-faceted impacts of services (including those on manufacturing) on global, regional, and local growth potentials at the start of the 21st century.
There is a wide range of issues that can be addressed, including:
* Understanding changes in the production and consumption of services and the impacts on economic development
* Information technology and the regional/global redistribution of service work
* Local growth and its relationship with finance, cultural services, place marketing, knowledge broking
* Globalization of services and the dynamics of city/regional systems
* The changing nature of work, especially in services
* Internationalization of advanced business and professional services: organizational drivers, trade patterns, foreign direct investment
* Implications of the breakdown of the services-manufacturing dichotomy
* Impacts of innovation in, and on, services
* E-working, e-commerce, e-tailing: consequences for places and spaces of production/consumption
* Embeddedness of service enterprises in local economies and their ability to generate local social capital
Papers that address these and related issues are invited, along with investigations of other important issues associated with changing economic spaces.
Abstract Submission
One-page abstract of papers should be sent by e-mail or fax to the Chair of the Commission, Professor Sam Ock Park, Department of Geography, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea (E-mail: [log in to unmask]; Fax: +82-2-886-4556) no later than March 15, 2004. A maximum of 36 papers will be accepted for presentation at the conference.
Further Information
The Conference is being organized on behalf of the Commission by the Service Sector Research Unit (in association with the Mercia Institute of Enterprise), School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES), The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
Outline Programme:
Monday 9 August - Delegates arrive in Birmingham. Evening (Welcome Reception: hosted by the University of Birmingham)
Tuesday 10 August - am/pm Conference sessions. Evening: social event (possibly canal cruise in central Birmingham [the city has more miles (32) of canals than Venice!], buffet, drinks)
Wednesday 11 August - am - Conference sessions, pm - visit to a Heritage Site that demonstrates the traditional skills and enterprise that sustained the heart of industrial Britain. Evening: TBA
Thursday 12 August - am - Conference sessions, pm - visit to an automotive industry plant (probably Rover MG). Evening: TBA
Friday, 13 August - am - Conference sessions, pm - Workshop on the service/knowledge economy and local/regional development (Conference delegates plus delegates from local authorities, professional associations, regional development agency, local businessess etc. from the City of Birmingham and the West Midlands region (pm)). Evening: Conference Dinner, Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
Saturday, 14 August - Delegates depart for main IGU and RGS/IBG Meetings (Glasgow).
Accommodation, Conference Venue, Indicative Conference Registration Fee:
Conference residential accommodation (en-suite rooms) has been arranged at The University of Birmingham Conference Park which is located some 2 miles from the city centre and within five minutes walk of the main University campus. The Conference sessions will probably be held on the campus and the Workshop on the afternoon of Friday, 13 August at a venue in the city centre. It is likely that the Conference Registration (to include all conference documentation, lunches and refreshments during the conference sessions, excursions, conference dinner, local conference-related transport, access to internet services) will be £350. Accommodation (Bed and Breakfast) will be in the region of £50 per person/per night). An accompanying persons programme will be arranged depending on demand (cost to be advised).
Details
If you wish to receive further information about the conference arrangements, please contact the:
Conference Administrator: Mrs Jazz Jemahl, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom (email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>; tel: +44 (0)121 414 8144; fax: +44 (0)121 414 5528)
or the:
Local Organiser, Professor Mike Taylor, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom (email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; tel: +44(0)121 414 5535; fax: +44 (0)121 414 5528).
Mark your enquiry "IGU Service Worlds"
Further information can also be found on the Commission website (<http://prome.snu.ac.kr/~igucom>) and on the GEES website (<http://www.gees.bham.ac.uk/research/ssru/iguserviceworlds/>)
<<IGU Birmingham 2004 First Call.doc>>
Dr. Andrew Murphy
Lecturer
Programme Director, MSc Research in Human Geography / World Space Economy
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Tel: (+44 121) 414 8095 Office: (+44 121) 414 5543/44
Fax: (+44 121) 414 5528 email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.gees.bham.ac.uk/people/murphy.htm
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