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Call for Papers: American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, 29 March - 2 April 2016, San Francisco Session Title: Geographical political economies of Infrastructure (Working Title) Session Organisers: Gordon Clark (University of Oxford), Peter O'Brien (Newcastle University, UK), Phil O'Neill (University of Western Sydney, Australia), Andy Pike (Newcastle University, UK) and Yin Yang (University of Oxford)
Sponsorship: Economic Geography Speciality Group
As a longstanding and integral element of the capital stock in the economy, the critical importance of infrastructure to productivity and output growth has been accentuated in the context of globalisation, climate change and the challenge of sustainability, technological advances and shifting social demands. The global financial crisis and economic downturn have focused attention on the role of infrastructure renewal and development in economic recovery and stimulus. New and adapted funding and financing models are emerging, shaped by the 'financialisation' of infrastructure as an alternative asset class. Fiscal consolidation has reinforced the efforts of governments to reduce expenditure and indebtedness, attract private sector capital, and reduce taxes to stimulate economic activity. Central dilemmas in this emergent context are how infrastructure will be funded and financed, and how it will be governed, planned and regulated given the uneven state and institutional restructuring and moves toward decentralisation across countries in the global North and South. Such challenges of infrastructure renewal and development are being grappled with by public, private and other actors in different ways in different geographical settings internationally.
This session aims to convene an international dialogue and debate about how we conceptualise, theorise and research empirically the emergent geographical political economies of infrastructure. Papers are invited to contribute towards several key themes including:
. Conceptualising and theorising the geographical political economies of infrastructure
. Governing, funding and financing infrastructure in 'global' cities
. Green infrastructure
. Infrastructure financialisation
. Supra-national institutional innovations and emerging markets (e.g. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank)
. State restructuring and strategies (e.g. U.S. White House Initiative)
If you are interested in presenting a paper, please send a title and an abstract of around 250 words to Peter O'Brien ([log in to unmask]) and Yin Yang ([log in to unmask]) by Friday 23 October 2014.
Dr Peter O'Brien
Research Associate
Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS)
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU, UK
tel: +44 (0) 191 208 3255
email: [log in to unmask]
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