Abstracted/indexed

This paper analyses two master plans of the canton Ticino from a philosophical point of view – the first one from 1990, Keynesian, and the second one from 2009, neoliberal. This type of analysis, by showing the political and moral concepts and criteria underlying a master plan, favours their political discussion and thus, ultimately, the implementation of a more inclusive planning process.

The essay combines the concept of social cohesion with Rudolf Stichweh’s system-theoretical concept of world society. These two approaches are combined hereafter with questions of spatial differentiation. The aim is to embed empirical micro-studies in macro-theoretical terms and to make them useful for empirical research in social geography and spatial science. The construct of “cohesive region” demonstrates this by using the example of urban neighbourhoods.

The article analyses the role of detention centres within refugee camps. Why is it important for the functioning of the refugee camp? How is the detention centre linked to other elements within and outside of the camp through certain practices? The former refugee camp of Moria serves as an example. It turns out that mostly asylum seekers with low recognition rates are detained in order to prevent the provision of information and help from outside in order to make a negative decision more likely.

Migrant domestic workers develop psychosocial well-being, based on their subjective embodied positioning, which can analytically be grasped through the concept of ontological (in)security. The women perceive and produce ontological (in)security through the spatial dimensions of visibility and belonging. Experiencing visibility and belonging benefits their sense of security and well-being. The results show the relevance of implementing regulations for more possible whereabouts of the women.

Exposure ages make it possible to determine the time of weathering of a rock surface. They can be determined from rebound values measured with the Schmidt hammer and calibrated on surfaces of known age, defined in this study thanks to historical cartography and two mule tracks built in 300 and 1250 CE, which allowed us to reconstruct glacier fluctuations over the last 3 centuries in Val Scaradra and to define the time of deglaciation and rock glacier development in the Splügenpass region.

In mountain environments, active geomorphological processes have a strong influence on plant diversity because they act as renovators for habitats of pioneer species. In this paper, we propose criteria to assess the ecological value of dynamic mountain geomorphosites. We show that the interest of plant communities and the influence of geomorphological processes on plant communities are fundamental criteria for assessing ecological value in an exhaustive and objective way.