Washington D.C. and Kansas City are an unlikely pair of U.S. cities when it comes to comparing their respective economies. However, the two regions exhibit striking similarities in the ways in which their biotechnology industry clusters have evolved. While Washington D.C.'s biotech economy is very mature, Kansas City's biotech cluster is emerging. Despite these differences, both regions have managed to root biotech firms and life science research institutions, attract a skilled labor pool, and host specialized support institutions.

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In recent decades women’s participation in the formal labor sector has risen in developed countries. The “feminization of labor” has also diffused throughout Japan with regional variations. Such a trend is accompanied by demographic changes, e.g., late marriage and declining birthrates. This essay outlines the changing conditions and regional diversities of work and life for Japanese women.

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Since 1991 a dynamic housing market has emerged in Russian cities. This is new for a country where housing was a state responsibility in the Soviet era. Today residential quarters can be identified that are clearly marked by their difference in housing prices. In fact, based on a 2005 survey, those price zones reflect a ranking according to the prestige of a residential area. The most dynamic markets with peak prices are found in metropolitan areas with a population of 1 million or more. Two cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, provide a special case as they differ from other big Russian cities.

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The recent debates about gas pipelines in Eastern Europe have moved the issue of "energy security" to the forefront. But what is meant by the term, and what role does it play in the discourses? Here, the politics and discourses of energy security are used to analyse the emerging centre-periphery structures in the enlarged EU. After a brief historical overview of East-West pipeline projects, the article looks at the different roles that "security" plays in the debates about natural gas pipelines in Poland and Germany.

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It is generally agreed that natural disasters have been increasing in number and total losses for a century at least. There is much less agreement over what this means, and the article critiques some prevailing approaches and explores alternatives. Without doubt, enormously lethal and costly disasters continue to happen in the wealthiest as well as the poorest countries. Nevertheless, in most cases, loss of life and damages could have been greatly reduced, even prevented. That is, with well-known and affordable protective measures, often officially mandated but not enforced!

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Supporters of sports stadium construction often defend taxpayer subsidies for stadiums by suggesting that sports infrastructure can serve as an anchor for local economic redevelopment. Have such promises of economic rejuvenation been realized? The City of Chicago provides an interesting case study on how a new stadium, U.S. Cellular Field, has been integrated into its southside neighborhood in a way that may well have limited local economic activity.

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