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Trust is a key mechanism for explaining the ease and frequency of knowledge spillovers within regions. While the importance of trust is virtually uncontested, there have been few attempts to rigorously disentangle the way in which trust formation is related to space and proximity. The aim of this paper is to advance the understanding of trust formation in terms of its main antecedents within the context of regional studies. This is done by reviewing the rich literature on trust formation from psychology, sociology, and organization studies and connecting it conceptually to different types of proximity. In doing so, the paper maps out a number of avenues for future research on trust and geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses social capital and its relation with space. Three approaches to establish the relation between social capital and space, are discussed. It states that barriers promote the build of bonding social capital but obstruct the build of bridging social capital. Issues that may require further research, are also discussed

Spatial planning in Europe has reached new frontiers. The European Spatial Development Perspective covers the entire European Union and, in spite of having an informal, non-binding status, it is creeping into the regulatory frameworks of the European Union. To stimulate cooperation between the Member States of the European Union, including the accession countries, the map of Europe has been divided into a jigsaw puzzle formed by large transnational areas. In three of these areas, spatial visions have been developed. Bearing in mind the enormous spatial diversity in these new European 'super-regions' and the great variety in planning systems, it is astonishing that these visions came about in the first place. In this respect they should be welcomed. On the other hand, the way in which they have been prepared could be questioned. Although they contain policy frameworks with an intended impact stretching far beyond the domain of spatial planning, they have basically been written by spatial planners acting alone. And although the mere idea of transnational areas was to a large extent to stimulate novel conceptualizations of the spatial position of countries and regions, the development of spatial concepts has proved to be extremely problematic. This paper looks at spatial visions for three transnational areas: 1) the Central European, Adriatic, Danubian and South Eastern European Space, or CADSES (VISION PLANET); 2) the North Sea Region (NorVision); 3) North-West Europe (NWE Spatial Vision). The analysis of these visions, following a common format, leads to some fundamental conclusions about the various principles on which such visions can be grounded and the architecture of the processes to be followed. The paper aims to contribute to research as well as to policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses social capital and its spatial dimensions. It presents theoretical and empirical understanding of the spatial dimension of social capital. "Structuralist" and "Interactionist" approaches are discussed. Function of social capital in context with social relations, is also discussed.

Currently, several theoretical concepts emphasise the importance of socially embedded collaboration for innovation driven regional development. For instance, the notions of innovative milieu and social capital both focus on this factor of economic success. This raises the question of whether they should be regarded as redundant or complementary, the latter case allowing their purposive combination. This article supports the second view and discusses significant distinctions between the two notions, apart from consistencies. The example of the German 'technology region' of Aachen, which has been undergoing substantial industrial restructuring based on regional collaboration, serves to underpin the theoretical arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]