Becoming “Hispanic” in the “New South”: Central American immigrants’ racialization experiences in Atlanta,GA, USA

For many migrants from Latin America, “Hispanic/Latino(a)” is an identity that they encounter in the United States with which they were unfamiliar in their home countries and must negotiate in their everyday lives in a new context. Specifically, immigrants from Central America are unlikely to see themselves as “Hispanic” or “Latino(a)” prior to living in the United States, more often identifying with their home country, city, town, village, or neighborhood. This paper draws on racialization theory and twenty-seven in-depth interviews with Central American immigrants in Atlanta, GA to examine this process of identity negotiation across the traditionally black/white racialized landscapes of a “New South” city. Interview participants adopt a racialized Hispanic identity through a complex process involving the interplay between how they think of themselves and their perceptions of how native-born Atlantans view them. The interview analysis presented herein demonstrates that although Central American immigrants actively negotiate a Hispanic racialized moniker, they do so within an urban context dominated by native-born residents whose racialized assumptions lump Spanish-speaking, brown skinned individuals into a monolithic “Mexican” category. Thus the ways in which racialized difference is constructed in contemporary Atlanta for recent Central American immigrants is very much bound up in such false presumptions of national identity and cultural group belonging.     

Dodging alligators,rattlesnakes, and backyard docks: a political ecology of sweetgrass basket-making and conservation in the South Carolina Lowcountry,USA

There is growing recognition among political ecologists of the need to examine shifting natural resource regimes and their effects on livelihoods in “First World” places. This emerging literature has variously examined the “Third World within,” the persistence of “subsistence activities” in the “First World,” and the “reterritorialization” of land tenure and access. However, much of this work has tended to focus on traditional extractive industries in the American West, indigenous claims to lands and resources in the U.S. and Canada, and non-timber resources on public lands. In contrast, we use a case study of African-American sweetgrass basket-makers, associated with the Gullah culture, in South Carolina’s lowcountry to examine the ways in which ongoing amenity-driven residential development is fundamentally reshaping resource access on private lands. Historically, basket-makers harvested the materials (primarily sweetgrass or Mulenbergia filipes) needed for their culturally important art form from accessible, rural, and privately held tracts of land in close proximity to their communities, but development pressures and changes in resident interpretation of property rights has decreased access to basket-making resources. The case is particularly illuminating, as it examines the emergence of ‘conservation subdivisions’ in the region and raises important questions about what “rural uses” and users are being conserved through responses to exurban, suburban, and urban development in formerly rural areas.     

Sophistication at a country pace: community sustainability and amenity-based development

There is a lot at stake in the control of landscapes; not only rights and access to resources, but also the symbolic construction of community identities. Having one’s identity represented in the landscape is critical to understanding one’s position within that community—either as an insider or outsider. This paper examines Great Barrington, Massachusetts as a case study of the links between discourses of landscape and community and their relations to processes of social exclusion during amenity-based development. Building upon conceptions of community as a process of creating boundaries between insiders and outsiders, this paper argues that the sustainability of a town cannot be assessed merely from inside a particular community identity but must situate that town within complex multi-scalar processes to determine if it is merely externalizing its unsustainable aspects, people and practices. I extend this argument by examining the ways to concept of multifunctionality has been used both in Great Barrington and in international discourses to promote sustainability through processes of exclusion. The research for this paper was done in collaboration with the Alliance for a Healthier Great Barrington.     

Developments in storm tide modelling and risk assessment in the Australian region

An overview is provided of some of the significant storm tide modelling and risk assessment studies undertaken over the past few years within Australia and the nearby oceanic regions for government and industry. Emphasis is placed on the need for integrated planning and forecasting approaches for storm tide risk assessment. The importance of the meteorological forcing and the appropriate modelling of each of the storm tide components, namely, astronomical tide, storm surge, breaking wave setup and coastal inundation is discussed. The critical role of tropical cyclone “best track” datasets for risk assessment studies and the potential impacts on design criteria and risk assessment studies is highlighted, together with the challenge of developing credible enhanced-greenhouse climate change scenarios. It is concluded that storm tide modelling needs to be undertaken in a holistic framework that considers the relative uncertainties in each of the various elements—atmospheric, hydrodynamic and data, as well as addressing operational forecasting, design and planning needs.     

Household needs and demand for improved water supply and sanitation in peri-urban ger areas: the case of Darkhan,Mongolia

The lack of adequate water supply and sanitation services is a major issue related to sustainable development in many parts of the developing world. New strategic planning approaches which directly address users’ needs and demand—often referred to as demand-responsive, community-based or household-centred approaches—are regarded as a crucial step towards improving the situation. This paper investigates household needs and demand for improved water supply and sanitation services in peri-urban, low-income settlements, known as “ger areas”, in the city of Darkhan, Mongolia. The paper is based largely on a household survey conducted in a selected ger area subdistrict in Darkhan. The results reveal a complex picture. Even if the existing situation can be regarded as largely “improved” in terms of the definitions stipulated by the Joint Monitoring Programme for water supply and sanitation, it is shown that there is a need for action nonetheless. The paper also argues that the household survey is a useful method for assessing users’ needs and demand and for meeting the requirements of demand-responsive sanitation planning approaches.     

Towards a gender conscious counter-discourse in comprehensive physical planning

This article is based on a research project “Gender perspectives in comprehensive planning” where the aim is partly to ascertain how planners incorporate a gender perspective in comprehensive physical planning, and partly to identify the conceptions of gender/sex held by planners in this area. In our investigation, the question is raised whether comprehensive planning is perceived as neutral in terms of gender, if there are discussions or reflections that question this point of view and if there have been any contributions from a gender equality point of view. The aim is to expose how these discussions take place, examine reflections on this topic and to report and analyse how efforts to achieve gender equality in comprehenisve planning are shaped. To accomplish this goal, the study draws more on feminist theorization than on planning theory.     

Campo Cerrado — forest or savanna?

Today it is undisputed that living systems contain information for the interpretation of the developmental history or the recent growth potential of an area. The decoding of this information, important for the research on landscapes, can only be managed by consequent clarification of the chorological, population-genetic and autecological particularities of the organisms in the landscapes (MüLLER 1976, 1977). The importance of this biogeographical concept for the evaluation of our landscapes can be shown using the example of the Campos Cerrados, which are increasingly being considered for exploitation and which were defined either as “forest formations” or “savanna types” from the turn of the century until recent days.     

Flood risk perception in lands “protected” by 100-year levees

Under the US National Flood Insurance Program, lands behind levees certified as protecting against the 100-year flood are considered to be out of the officially recognized “floodplain.” However, such lands are still vulnerable to flooding that exceeds the design capacity of the levees—known as residual risk. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, we encounter the curious situation that lands below sea level are considered not “floodplain” and open to residential and commercial development because they are “protected” by levees. Residents are not informed that they are at risk from floods, because officially they are not in the floodplain. We surveyed residents of a recently constructed subdivision in Stockton, California, to assess their awareness of their risk of flooding. Median household income in the development was $80,000, 70% of respondents had a 4-year university degree or higher, and the development was ethnically mixed. Despite the levels of education and income, they did not understand the risk of being flooded. Given that literature shows informed individuals are more likely to take preventative measures than uninformed individuals, our results have important implications for flood policy. Climate-change-induced sea-level rise exacerbates the problems posed by increasing urbanization and aging infrastructure, increasing the threat of catastrophic flooding in the California Delta and in flood-prone areas worldwide.     

Carlin-type gold deposits in Qinling and some related problems

The sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposits in the Oinling region are of sedimentation-slight-metamorphic origin superimposed by hydrothermal reworking at moderate-low temperatures and are well comparable with the typical Carlin gold deposits in the United States.In view of the confusing concept concerning the “sediment-hosted”and “Carlin-type” gold deposits,the authors propose that the term“sediment-hosted gold deposit”should be used in a broad sense which encompasses at least the four subtypes,i.e.,the Carlin type,the metamorphic fine clastic type,the hydrothermal sedimentary type and the vein type.In oter words,the “Carlin-type”should not be used as a synonym for “sediment-hosted”but is recommended as a subtype under the general category of “sediment-hosted gold deposits”     

Chemodynamics of trace metal fractions in surface sediments of the Pandoh Lake,Lesser Himalaya,India

The seasonal variation in the trace metals’ concentrations (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were investigated in surface sediments of the Pandoh Lake. The horizontal distribution of TC, TN, and TP reflects spatial and temporal differences in sedimentary organic production. The chemical sequential extraction of heavy metals was carried out by seven-step fractionation scheme (Leleyter and Probst in Int J Environ Chem 73:109–128, 1999). The significant concentrations of Ni and Cd were associated with “water soluble (Eua)” fraction in the monsoon and winter, respectively, while “exchangeable (Exch)” and “carbonate-bound (Carb)” fractions for Ni and Cd were abundant in winter and summer. The Cd, Cu, and Pb associated with “Exch” fraction in the summer season support their availability on exchange sites due to oxidized nature of surface sediments. Enrichment of Co, Fe, Mn, and Zn in “AFeO” fraction showed poor bioavailability, while Cd, Cu, and Mn in the monsoon, Co in the winter and summer, and Zn in the winter season showed significant “organically bound (Org)” fraction. The ANOVA was significant for chemical fractions of trace elements except “Carb” fraction of Pb and Zn and “CFeO” fraction of Pb. Factor analysis revealed that the “Eua”, “Exch”, and “Carb” fractions together control the metal enrichment of “MnO”, “AFeO”, and “CFeO” fractions in the summer season.     

Producing regionalism: regional movements, ecosystems and equity in a fast and slow growth region

Urban development pressures, preservation of environmentally sensitive areas and regional planning are the focus of current debates on regionalism in both fast and slow growth regions. Based on two cases—a campaign to preserve ecological integrity and reduce sprawl on the Oak Ridges Moraine in the Greater Toronto Area and Rochester’s anti-sprawl campaign for regional equity—the paper examines how two anti-sprawl campaigns brought to the fore alternative constructions of regionalism. In the fast growing Toronto region, citizen mobilization and upper tier intervention resulted in a legislative base for regionalism. In the slow growth Rochester region, the city had limited success in gaining regional redistribution. Such divergent outcomes relate to differences in intergovernmental relations, the city’s influence on the region, receptivity of suburbs to smart growth, and the potential for values of nature preservation and justice to mobilize regional coalitions.     

The use of the useless

The Human population suffers from a serious and paradoxical misunderstanding of its own place and importance within Nature: Unable or unwilling to control its own growth, being faced by overcrowding with resulting loss of productive land, and lack of food both in quantity and quality, alternative ways of feeding Mankind and his domestic stock have to be found. In the present paper examples and suggestions are given to illustrate how weeds—the generally considered “useless” elements of the Plant Kingdom—could become accepted as alternative food-providers. Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub; It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful. Therefore profit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what it not there. LAO TSU, in Tao te Ching     

What kind of countryside do the public want: community visions from Wales UK?

This paper assesses how far community led rural visions accord with the current thrust of rural planning policy delivery in the UK. Adapting conventional visioning methods, qualitative techniques were used on eight different communities across urban, exurban and rural Wales to elicit views relating to the kind of local countryside(s) that were desired. The results show that the communities’ visions reflect an emerging consensus around local countryside priorities: multifunctionality, integration, wider countryside protection, development based on need, and local distinctiveness according with the thrust of current planning policy at national and local levels. However, there is a clear dichotomy between this and the reality of what communities actually experienced in developments affecting their countryside. Here, universal criticism was encountered over the type, pace and scale of development, the lack of rural specificity and the failure to take account of local community needs and priorities. It is hypothesized that tensions between national and local politics and stakeholder power relations are playing a crucial role in distorting the delivery of town and country planning. It is recommended that rural policy delivery must become more “joined up” and rural proofed at national and local levels concomitant with a change in the operational culture of agencies at the forefront of rural delivery. Essentially, effective engagement of top down approaches synergising with bottom up community led ideas is long overdue.     

Predicting Lahar-Inundation Zones: Case Study in West Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

This paper demonstrates techniques for pre-eruption prediction of lahar-inundation zones in areas where a volcano has not erupted within living memory and/or where baseline geological information about past lahars could be scarce or investigations to delimit past lahars might be incomplete. A lahar source (or proximal lahar-inundation) zone is predicted based on ratio of vertical descent to horizontal run-out of eruptive deposits that spawn lahars. Immediate post-eruption distal lahar-inundation zones are predicted based on “pre-eruption” distal lahar-inundation zones and on spatial factors derived from a digital elevation model. Susceptibility to distal lahar-inundation is estimated by weights-of-evidence, by logistic regression and by evidential belief functions. Predictive techniques are applied using a geographic information system and are tested in western part of Pinatubo volcano (Philippines). Predictive maps are compared with a forecast volcanic-hazard map through validation against a field-based volcanic-hazard map. The predictive model of proximal lahar-inundation zone has “true positive” prediction accuracy, “true negative” prediction accuracy, “false positive” prediction error and “false negative” prediction error that are similar to those of the forecast volcanic-hazard map. The predictive models of distal lahar inundation zones have higher “true positive” prediction accuracy and lower “false negative” prediction error than the forecast volcanic-hazard map, although the latter has higher “true negative” prediction accuracy and lower “false positive” prediction error than the former. The results illustrate utility of proposed predictive techniques in providing geo-information could be used, howbeit with caution, for planning to mitigate potential lahar hazards well ahead of an eruption that could generate substantial source materials for lahar formation.     

Soil liquefaction susceptibility and hazard mapping in the residential area of Kütahya (Turkey)

This study presents the results of both field and laboratory tests that have been undertaken to assess liquefaction susceptibilities of the soils in Kütahya city, located in the well-known seismically active fault zone. Liquefaction potentials of the sub-surface materials at Kütahya city were estimated by using the geological aspect and geotechnical methods such as SPT method of field testing. And, the data obtained have been mapped according to susceptibility and hazard. The susceptibility map indicated “liquefable” and “marginally liquefable” areas in alluvium, and “non-liquefable” areas in Neogene unit for the magnitude of earthquake of M=6.5; whereas, liquefaction hazard map produced by using of liquefaction potential index showed the severity categories from “very low” to “high.” However, a large area in the study area is prone to liquefy according to liquefaction susceptibility map; the large parts of the liquefable horizon are mapped as “low” class of severity by the use of the liquefaction potential index. It can be said that hazard mapping of liquefaction for a given site is crucial than producing liquefaction susceptibility map for estimating the severity. Both the susceptibility and hazard maps should be produced and correlated with each other for planning in an engineering point of view.     

Monitoring of the urban sprawl using geoprocessing tools in the Shenzhen Municipality,China

Shenzhen, located in South China has experienced rapid urbanization over the past three decades. This paper focuses on the urban sprawl integrating remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). The overlay of the urban area maps for two adjacent study years was used to generate the sprawl categories map. The three main sprawl categories of infilling sprawl, edge-expansion sprawl and outlying sprawl were calculated and analyzed in regard to their distribution and change throughout different counties during the study years. The result showed that the urban area in the study region had increased dramatically from 19.55 km² in 1979 to 894.31 km² in 2005. The urban area centroids over the six study years transferred from southwest to northeast from 1979 to 2005. Among the study counties, the patterns of sprawl categories were markedly distinctive over different study periods. From 1979 to 2005, Shenzhen’s chief spread was outlying sprawl. Bao’an experienced the maximum sprawl within the three study counties. The findings show that studying urban sprawl can provide a method of monitoring urban area change, which, in turn, gives us a clearer perspective of urban sprawl patterns over a longer period of time. This would prove invaluable to those researchers such as land and urban planners.     

Women and the access to knowledge and new technologies: The case of Pisa

Emphasis has been given to a number of aspects which characterise technological development in today's economic systems and which have an impact on the working environment and on gender differences. Technological change is leading to a strong divide between knowledge “producers” and “users”. The possibility of access to one or both knowledge systems indicates the extent of women's participation in the economic and spatial transformations brought about by the new technologies. This research aims to analyse the development of new technologies and the presence of the female workforce in the field of new knowledge generation, and also to verify gender-related conditions in learning and using new technologies. In particular, an analysis has been carried out of the empirical case study of Pisa, a point of reference for comparisons with other Italian and European cases. The research focuses on: the examination of women's capabilities in the field of new technologies through the analysis of University training courses; the analysis of women's presence and status among the university staff, especially in science and technology; a detailed survey of female employment in innovative sectors. The results of the research emphasise the gender perspectives of inclusion — as regards the application of technologies — and exclusion — as regards the generation of knowledge — of women in or from new technologies. At the same time, the research stresses the growth of women's roles in this sector during recent years and, by reconstructing life histories, underlines the conditions and difficulties that have been met by women entering these new types of employment. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

National policy of watershed management and flood mitigation after the 921 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan

Registering a 7.3 magnitude on the Richter scale, the 921 Chi-Chi Earthquake that struck central Taiwan on September 21, 1999 left the island nation with fragile soils, frequent floods, and debris flow, further weakening homeland resources. Taiwan’s dense population had forced its residents to use mountain hills for agriculture and development. The 92-Flood in 2004, which incurred vast monetary losses and human casualties, caused the government to rethink its strategy for land use. In order to use land in a more efficient and in an eco-friendly manner, the Council for Economic Planning and Development, Executive Yuan of the Taiwanese government proposed the “Land Recovery Strategy and Action Plan” in 2006. Its core concept was aimed at “respecting, and adapting to, nature.” To achieve this goal, a hillside watershed management and flood mitigation policy was proposed. Factors of safety, economy, and ecology were included in the policy. Both strategies and practical measures to be implemented were organized in a chart for better understanding and for reference by other countries with similar conditions.     

Thunderstorm Hazard vulnerability for the Atlanta,Georgia metropolitan region

Most U.S. metropolitan regions have experienced urban “sprawl,” or the outward spreading of urban development from city centers. For cities lying in areas prone to severe weather, the sprawl phenomenon exposes greater numbers of developed areas and inhabitants to a variety of thunderstorm hazards. This study’s principal goal is to determine how urbanization growth patterns affect a region’s vulnerability to severe weather events. To assess how sprawl may impact vulnerability to tornadoes, hail, and convective wind events, an analysis examining potential loss may be utilized. This study employs two distinct approaches to examine how the Atlanta area’s rapid and extensive development during the latter half of the twentieth Century has affected its overall potential exposure to thunderstorm hazards. First, archived census data are used to estimate overall impacts from hypothetical significant tornado, nontornadic convective wind, and hail events occurring at different time periods throughout several locations in the Atlanta metropolitan region. Second, economic factors are integrated into the analysis, which assists in determining how these hypothetical severe event scenarios may have changed from a cost standpoint if they were to occur in 2006 as opposed to 1960.