Boris Braun

• Diploma, PhD
• Professor at University of Cologne

Coastal communities in the Global South face significant challenges due to urbanization, population growth, and climate change-induced sea level rise. This paper contributes to the study of community adaptation in these contexts by emphasizing the critical role of community leaders in developing, maintaining, and activating community adaptive capac...

Global and regional agri-food value chains feed societies and are an income source for hundreds of millions of farmers around the world. They are also target areas for action to achieve a global sustainability transformation. Agri-food chains are highly vulnerable in the context of multiple crises, including the global environmental crisis, geopoli...

Migration und soziale Netzwerke als Anpassung an dynamische Umweltveränderungen Große Teile der rund 550 km langen ghanaischen Küste sehen sich mit einer dramatischen Küstenerosion konfrontiert, welche die dort lebenden Menschen einem enormen Anpassungsdruck aussetzt. Besonders ausgeprägt ist dies im Südosten des Landes. Der Beitrag analysiert die...

Environmental change and sea level rise challenge urban coastal communities, especially in the Global South. Existing hazard research emphasises the vital role of social capital in adaptation but often overlooks translocal social capital, which encompasses social support and resources that extend beyond local boundaries and connect people at differ...

Societal Impact Statement In the context of multiple crises, policymakers and practitioners prioritize the solving of certain challenges above others. In this context, supposedly purely environmental challenges like biodiversity loss have often been deprioritized and solutions to tackle them are publicly or quietly postponed (again and again). An e...

Environmental stressors, potentially aggravated by climate change, pose significant challenges to households whose livelihoods rely primarily on crop production in agriculture or aquaculture, particularly in countries of the Global South. In this context, diversified farming systems, or crop diversification, have been discussed as one adaptation st...

Tidal flooding is a significant threat to salt farming regions, but this issue has not received much attention in the academic literature. Furthermore, the limited availability of data hinders further analysis of the economic impact of these recurrent flooding events. To address these challenges, this study proposes a practical method for assessing...

The food system plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. Even if fossil fuel emissions are halted immediately, current trends in global food systems may prevent the achieving of the Paris Agreement’s climate targets. The high degree of variability and uncertainty involved in calculating diet-related greenhouse gas emissions limits the abi...

Cirebon has been recognized as a major salt production center in Indonesia, where salt is harvested by Cirebonese using their traditional technique. Along with this sustainable practice, the local economic activity is also threatened by coastal hazards, especially extreme tidal flooding, which is rarely discussed in global or regional context. This...

Aerotropolis is an urban development concept characterised by the concentration of land uses fostering economic activities around airports. However, limited empirical evidence exists about the formation of aerotropolises and their effects on the productivity of airports. This study addresses the gaps by examining changes in land use patterns around...

Tidal flood risk threatens coastal urban areas and their agriculture and aquaculture, including salt farming. There is, therefore, an urgency to map and portray risk to reduce casualties and loss. In the floodplain of Cirebon, West Java, where salt farming dominates the landscape, this type of flooding has frequently occurred and disrupted the loca...

Sea level rise (SLR) is among the most pressing challenges for urban coastal areas. While geocentric (eustatic) SLR receives widespread attention in politics and media, relative SLR at the coast, mainly caused by land subsidence, is still comparatively under-researched despite much higher rates. This paper introduces a combined natural and social s...

The main objective of this paper is to measure the level of household resilience to cyclone and storm surges in the coastal area of Bangladesh. We draw on four general disaster frameworks in terms of addressing household-level resilience to cyclones and storm surges. We use a composite indicator approach organized around four components: (1) househ...

Tidal flood implications for agricultural areas have been relatively neglected in research due to their relatively low economic values. Nevertheless, many rural coastal communities are facing these types of floods regularly, especially salt harvesters. Based on a synthetic approach using damage functions and the Geographic Information System, this...

Around a quarter part of Bangladesh is flooded for several months a year, affecting agriculture in particular - this has far-reaching consequences for the lives of the rural population. Especially during the monsoon season, many people in water-rich areas suffer from food shortages and nutrient deficiencies, mainly due to crop failures and lower in...

Melbourne ist von einem außergewöhnlichen Bevölkerungswachstum und einer rasanten Ausbreitung in die Fläche geprägt. Seit den 1980er-Jahren wird versucht, den urban sprawl und den Energieverbrauch im Verkehr durch Nachverdichtung zu begrenzen. In den letzten Jahren sind weitere ökologische Themen, wie der Klimawandel und der Verlust an Biodiversitä...

Social capital is used widely by households in the Global South as a collective response mechanism to natural hazards. It is argued that these processes serve as substitutes for scarce financial and human capital in poor communities. To date, the majority of studies on social capital in the Global South has framed these processes in place-based way...

High tide event has been acknowledged as a major cause of inundation in urban coastal area. This event is expected to increase in the future as an impact of global climate change. Meanwhile, there is still a gap of interest on tidal flood impact of marginal land use such as salt production with its traditional process. This study aims to identify h...

The number of tidal flood events has been increasing in Indonesia in the last decade, especially along the north coast of Java. Hydrodynamic models in combination with Geographic Information System applications are used to assess the impact of high tide events upon the salt production in Cirebon, West Java. Two major flood events in June 2016 and M...

This slide was presented in Advance Remote Sensing Workshop organized by Baltic Earth and University of Tartu, Estonia

This paper analyzes the relationship between the urban form of neighborhoods and collective bottom-up adaptation processes. The adaptive capacity of urban populations in marginal settlements of the Global South is critically related to social capital, as manifested through social networks, self-organization, and collective action. We analyze these...

This study aims to assess the impact of high tide upon salt production areas in north part of Java, Indonesia. Single case in June 2016 was applied using MIKE 21 in salt production area of Cirebon. The inputs are tidal height records, bathymetry, digital elevation model (DEM) from Geospatial Information Agency (GIA), and wind data from OGIMET. Peak...

Responding to coastal hazards is a daily challenge for populations in low-lying coastal areas all over the globe. How local communities develop accommodating strategies for these hazards remains largely under-emphasized. Filling this knowledge gap is vital to connect the big picture science of sea-level rise with the adaptation needs and capabiliti...

Despite the importance of local ecological knowledge of forage plants, there has been little discussion on how local agro-pastoralists perceive forage species diversity, abundance trends, habitat distributions and ecological drivers influencing changing abundance trends over time in rural West Africa’s savannas. In estimating, assessing and investi...

Discussions of climate migration have recognized the need for probabilistic, systematic, and empirical analyses. We examine the importance of environmental stressors in migration using a multi-leveled analysis of a household survey of the climate-stressed rural communities of coastal Bangladesh. We find that a relatively small share (6.5%) of rural...

Socio-technical transitions towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption are receiving increasing attention in the academic world and also from political and economic decision-makers. There is increasing demand for resource-efficient technologies and institutional innovations, particularly at the city level. However, it is widely un...

"Dynamics in an unequal world" is the motto of the 5th Global Conference on Economic Geography, which will be hosted by the University of Cologne in July 2018. Spatial aspects of inequality on different scales are central to many discourses in economic geography. Economic and social disparities are closely linked to forces of globalisation and have...

This methodological chapter argues for a multisited approach to urban green building transitions driven by the objective to understand different drivers of and barriers behind green building innovations rather than a directed comparison between cases. The approach offers a broader scope of analysis without neglecting the in-depth analysis of the si...

The building sector has been identified as one of the largest contributors to human-related greenhouse gas emissions but also as one holding great potential to lower its emissions. Due to the concentration of built structures in urban areas, green building has become a major part of urban climate change strategies, but approaches differ considerabl...

The environmental dimension and sustainability related issues have increasingly gained momentum in Economic Geography. This paper argues that integrating the inequality perspective into Environmental Economic Geography (EEG) and trying to disentangle the manifold interrelationships between economic, social, and environmental disadvantage could be w...

Sea level rise and flooding on the north coast of Central Java. Physical causes and social adaptation Coastal floods and their causes and consequences can be understood as coupled socio-ecological systems. The pattern of regional sea level rise in Indonesia is highly divergent, showing rates from -5 to more than +10 cm per annum. In Semarang, the...

Coastal floods and their causes and consequences can be understood as coupled socio-ecological systems. The pattern of regional sea level rise in Indonesia is highly divergent, showing rates from -5 to more than +10 cm per annum. In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, GNSS-corrected tide gauge data show a strong rise of the local sea level of 10...

Cities are suggested as being the key level for shifts towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The building sector with its significant carbon footprint plays an important role in urban climate change adaptation strategies. Using the case study of Brisbane (Australia), the paper examines the place-specific contextualisation of...

This paper examines the urban contextualisation of sustainability transitions in the building sector by analysing the interplay of building practices, actors and policy regulation. The ‘Green City’ of Freiburg (Germany) is used as a case study to illustrate how the transitions pathways of energy-efficient building and construction are distinct resu...

The coastal region of Bangladesh is affected by climate Abb. change in multiple ways: flooding occurs frequently in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, and sea level Stud rise is above global average, leading to river blocking, erosion and salinization. Our international research team including natural and social scientists has developed an integr...

This paper aims to evaluate the localised effects of major airports on urban economies. We analyse employment change at privatised Australian airports, adjacent employment areas and major metropolitan employment centres. Time series employment data from 2001, 2006 and 2011 has been used to identify 61 employment centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisba...

Studies have shown that land users’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) on forage resources is of critical importance for their adaptive rangeland management. Notwithstanding, there has been little discussion on how smallholder farmers perceive forage species diversity, habitat distribution, abundance trends and associated ecological drivers in the ma...

Vor dem Hintergrund des menschlichen Bedürfnisses nach einem lebenswerten Wohnumfeld einerseits sowie der fortschreitenden Flächenzersiedelung und einem Rückgang der Artenvielfalt andererseits sind Erhalt und Neuschaffung von möglichst naturnah erscheinenden Gebieten auch im städtischen Raum wichtige Themen. Aber welche Natur soll wie und warum in...

Knowledge coproduction between practitioners and scientists offers promising opportunities for the emerging research field of the geography of sustainability transitions. Drawing on experiences from an international research project on urban green building transitions, this article explores the potentials and challenges of interactive and collabora...

There is still no consensus in academic debate about the impacts of food price changes on smallholder farmers' food and nutrition security. This paper aims to show how food price changes affect food and nutrition security of smallholder households in the Rajshahi district in north-western Bangladesh. To better understand smallholders' adaptive capa...

Abstract: Vocational education and training (VET) is a pivotal component for gaining human capital (HC). This paper aims to examine the contribution of vocational education and training to enhance household resilience to cyclone and storm surges in the coastal area of Bangladesh. The empirical findings are based on a household survey (sample size 1...

The internationalization of value chains and the broad proliferation of different public and private standards have led to a formalization and standardization of value chains, production systems and their constitutional actors and linkages in the Global South. Recent studies on the integration of Southern production systems in international value c...

Based on experiences from the GreenRegio research project that investigates framework conditions for innovations in sustainable/green building, this working paper explores the potential of interactive and collaborative methods for knowledge generation and co-production. Engagement with local practi-tioners, private industry, academics, political de...

Monitoring and tracing product and process qualities along global supply chains have become increasingly challenging tasks for companies at the downstream end of the chain. High levels of uncertainty in trade coordination arise among importing companies in the face of these developments. The conceptual aim of this paper is to show, by the example o...

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is regularly threatened by natural hazards. Risks associated with these natural hazards (mainly floods and cyclones) are expected to increase in the future because of global climate change and rapid urbanization. Our interdisciplinary research project focuses on social and economic adaptation strategies of urban po...

Since Muhammad Yunus first began launching joint ventures with multinational corporations such as Group Danone (2006) and Veolia Water (2008) in Bangladesh, his social business concept has received international attention. With reference to empirical findings from a comprehensive field study in rural Bangladesh, this paper suggests that Yunus' earl...

Airports are increasingly important foci of urban and regional development. They not only act as catalysts for economic growth, new employment and property development, but also evolve into multifunctional activity centers in their own right. Several planning-oriented models exist to capture these developments and corresponding spatial patterns, na...

Bangladesh's urban poor face numerous obstacles, especially during times of disastrous natural events. The effects of global warming will pose new threats for them as frequencies and magnitudes of natural hazards are likely to increase. Thus, current and formerly successful coping and adaptation strategies will be challenged in the future. The urba...

Since Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus first began launching joint ventures with multinational corporations such as Danone [2006) and Veolia Water (2008), his social business concept has received international attention. What is social business and how can it contribute to poverty reduction? Using the example of Grameen Danone and Grameen Veolia...

Lagos/Nigeria and Dhaka/Bangladesh boost a rapidly growing stum population and are constantly threatened by floods and other natural calamities. Since state institutions and international organizations are largely unable to secure people's livelihoods in times of crisis, slum dwellers in particular have to rely on social networks and informal arran...

Recent processes of restructuring in the European automobile industry have been less driven by radical change and basic innovations. Change has rather been gradual, incremental and linked to existing technological and organizational trajectories. Restructuring has been mainly concerned with the internationalization of markets and production network...

Slum dwellers are often exposed to natural hazards. While their high vulnerability seems to leave them unprotected to face these hazards, current research points to the fact that slum dwellers in particular are able to deal with crises remarkably well due to their high social capital. Using the example of extreme floods in the megacity Dhaka, we st...

Going green - environmental upgrading and value chain coordination in the Indian automotive industry. Previous debates have linked environmental upgrading processes in global value chains above all to the influence of powerful lead firms from developed countries. In this paper, we argue that the Indian automobile sector, too, shows a growing tenden...

Australia's major cities are growing rapidly. Most greenfield development still consists of detached dwellings, continuing the low density tradition of Australian urban expansion. Metropolitan areas are, however, undergoing a fundamental transformation in terms of relative economic growth and decline as well as an intensification and consolidation...

In recent years, positive legacy claims have become crucial elements of Olympic cities' candidate files. This paper investigates the chances of London realising its ambitious legacy claims especially with regard to the regeneration of the economically and socially deprived East End and the [re-]branding of London as a "diverse, creative and welcomi...

Diese Einführung in die Wirtschaftsgeographie wendet sich an Studienanfänger der Geographie sowie angrenzender Disziplinen und eignet sich zudem hervorragend zur Prüfungsvorbereitung am Ende des Studiums. Das Lehrbuch vermittelt einen aktuellen Überblick über Konzepte, Forschungsansätze und Themen der Wirtschaftsgeographie, wie sie derzeit an deuts...

Previous debates have linked environmental upgrading processes in global value chains above all to the influence of powerful lead firms from developed countries. In this paper, we argue that the Indian automobile sector, too, shows a growing tendency for more environmental protection. However, the decisive impetus is often not given by internationa...

In many megacities of the global south, the combination of rapid population growth and high pressure on space for housing, results in urban growth taking place in areas particularly prone to natural hazards. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is no exception to this rule. Many marginal settlements or slums are located on low-lying land at high risk...

Ecological rehabilitation of rivers and streams has become a common practice in environmental planning and water management throughout Europe. With regard to rehabilitation projects public participation and bottom-up planning processes are favoured by state and local regulations alike. However, there are mixed experiences about public support of re...

By means of a case study on brickfields around Dhaka, this paper seeks to explore the potential of a technologically backward and largely informal economic sector to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The empirical analysis is conceptually based on neo-institutional organisation theory and population ecology approaches. Rather surprisingly, Dh...

The relationships between the environment and trade, and the environment and globalization are highly complex. Globalization critics argue that international trade spurs a regulatory race to the bottom and will lead to the formation of so-called pollution havens in the South. Whether these pollution havens actually exist has been the subject of muc...

n this paper we aim to show that stakeholder theory can enrich analysis in (environmental) economic geography. By applying and modifying the stakeholder salience model from management studies, we analyse which factors influence company managers in their environmental decision-making and which priorities they give to competing stakeholder claims....

This article attempts to study Chinese visitors' intention to visit world cultural heritage sites in the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), with the additional constructs of past experience and cultural tour involvement. The survey data were collected by a self‐administrated questionnaire in Suzhou, which is one of the cities with w...

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ' came into force. It was agreed between Canada and the U.S., two industrialized countries, and Mexico as an emerging economy. Civil society expressed strong concern during the negotiations. Polluting industries were expected to move from the northern countries to Mexico, as ; the country wou...

Similar to many megacities in the world, Dhaka is regularly threatened by natural hazards. Risks associated with floods and cyclones in particular are expected to increase in the years to come because of global climate change and rapid urbanization. Greater Dhaka is expected to grow from 13.5 million inhabitants in 2007 to 22 million inhabitants by...