The EU Water Framework Directive stipulates the principle of cost recovery, including environmental and resource costs, for European water services. Yet a definition of member states’ precise obligations is highly controversial. This particularly holds true for the question whether the request...

The European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on the award of concession contracts has sparked vigorous public debate and intense opposition. This Directive is controversial because of the nature of the policy it proposes and because the sectors involved are highly sensitive. This Forum...

Ports and shipping have been in the spotlight in 2021 with surging demand, skyrocketing freight rates and week-long queues. This development stands against the background of the current global COVID-19 pandemic. Amid these disruptive waves, the North Range ports (Le Havre to Hamburg) face...

In developing countries the urbanisation process poses one of the most serious problems, for it creates unemployment, utmost poverty and aggravates the general situation. In this article the case of indonesia is discussed and possible strategies for a future improvement of such a situation are...

The presence of some 4,000 delegates from about 150 countries showed what great interest the Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat) held by the UN in Vancouver from May 31 to June 11, 1976, had evoked in many countries. This conference in Canada which was the largest ever to be arranged by...