Optimum versus reality in Israel's town system

Israel's town system consists of 37 towns of different size, 28 development towns, and 24 semi-urban Jewish and Arab settlements, most of them consisting of 5,000–10,000 inhabitants. In the existing town system there is an exaggerated concentration of large towns in the Tel Aviv region; an excessive number of development towns; slow urban growth in the Negev and the Galilee; failure of semi-urban settlements to attain urban status; and the absence of urban settlements in many regions where they would be needed.A proposal to outline an optimal system of Israel's town development is discussed. It was found that the existing urban system in Israel shows a distortion which is four times bigger than the optimal one. A comparison between the optimal lay-out of towns and the real one uncovers the gaps where new towns should be established in the future, and points out the locations where no further urban development should be encouraged.     

Division into economic districts,regional planning and urban planning,the Soviet case

Research of the interrelation between regional planning, division into economic districts and urban-planning, division into economic districts and urban planning is here emphasised. In the USSR development of a network of territorial economic complexes, economic districts including subregions of the II and III order, economic subregions and microdistricts is continuous. The outlook of regional planning is defined by the elaboration of its scientific theory including the geographical concept of regional planning. The use of geographical methods widens the scientific basis for the development of a systems approach and improves forecasting, the choice of aims and strategy of developing production, population distribution and the solution of ecological problems. The efficiency of regional planning depends not only on purely economic advantages, but on a more sensible use of nature. Regional planning is concerned with bio-economic systems, and must avoid conflict between the most important subsystems, natural and anthropogenic. Preservation of ecological balance has become the most important task of regional planning. When locating industrial enterprises in the process of regional planning, ecological factors are taken into account to an ever-increasing degree. The main tasks of regional planning concerning the distribution of agriculture stem from the aim of interrelated development of all elements of the agrarian and industrial complex. During the scientific and technical revolution the distribution of production orientates more and more and not towards individual towns but towards a system of populated areas. Systematic improvement of conurbations and their transformation into group systems of populated areas, regulated according to plan and having a broader economic and territorial base, are the most important task of regional planning and urban development.     

Urbanization and spatial structure in Hungary

The last four decades have brought fundamental changes in Hungarian urbanization. The number of towns has increased from 54 to 166 and the number of settlements with a population over 100 000 has grown from 3 to 8, and the number of small towns with a population just over 30 000 has increased four times compared to the situation at the beginning of the century. While urban concentration has been growing, there has been a degradation of rural settlements, especially in the category of less than 500 inhabitants. This study deals with the spatial structure of Hungarian settlements, categorizing the towns according to their regional roles, population and dynamics of growth. The changes of their social and economic spheres influence their internal structures. The study attempts to summarize all the territorial, regional consequences of the recent social and economic changes that have been defining or modifying the urban development in Hungarian settlements.     

The distribution and growth of urban settlements in Saudi Arabia

This paper examines the distribution characteristics of urban settlements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through major dimensions such as settlement regularly, degree of primacy and polarisation at the national and geographic regional levels. The paper points out that the settlement pattern at the national level has transformed from a primate distribution during the pre-plan period (< 1970) to an intermediary distribution during the period of development planning (1970 >). At the geographical regional level the settlement distribution, however, has shown diverse pattern. While the regional settlement distribution of Western and Eastern Region have shown trends of increasing polarisation, settlements in the Northern and Southern Regions are more log-normal in character. This is explained by the increasing growth of small and intermediary towns in the Northern and Southern Regions. The paper concludes that the national trend of decreasing urban primacy, induced by the decentralised national development strategies, is less pronounced due to the absence of a balanced regional investment policy. Since the government expenditure and settlement population growth rates are not related, slow growing primate cities continue to receive a larger share of public expenditure, enabling them to retain their primacy. This calls for a balanced regional investment policy to fully realise the national strategy of regional balance and multi-polar settlement pattern.     

Spatial transformations in a “loosening state”: South Africa in a comparative perspective

This study explores the spatial transformation of urban South Africa since the ending of Apartheid rule two decades ago. It places this experience within the context of countries which have also gone through a “loosening” of political control and of related controls over spatial arrangements. The paper provides a discussion of South Africa’s spatial trends between 1996 and 2011, focusing on urbanisation; urban form; and socio-spatial segregation, and exploring the extent to which changes identified are shaped by the state, private sector investment, and the everyday actions of households and individuals. It shows that South Africa’s urban spatial transformation, post-Apartheid, is both idiosyncratic and comparable. The consequences of spatial controls, and of their loosening, have been diverse across countries, but also within countries. Loosening has led to differing relationships between state, citizenry and private enterprise, and to complex new crossing points between these groupings, affecting spatial change. In South Africa, significant trends have been: movement to the major cities where employment growth is stronger; levels of racial desegregation; and densification of parts of cities and towns, along with peripheral growth and employment decentralisation. Many of the changes however are differentiated across space and between settlements. While proactive state policies have had some impact (not necessarily in the direction of desired spatial transformation), and there are complex interrelationships, our empirical studies suggest that the major weight of evidence is towards the roles of private enterprise and people in shaping spatial change, enabled in part by forms of state loosening.     

The southern agglomeration zone of the GDR — Regional structure and development

Agglomeration areas in the GDR are those regions, which are characterized by an above average level of regional concentration of productive forces and their conditions of reproduction. The economic potential concentrated in these regions represents a large part of the national economy. It is possible to describe the territorial structure of these agglomeration areas by general indices (agglomeration core — agglomeration field — agglometation fringe; polycentric node-band-structure), but also the individual features of each one of these regions are to be attended. They are expressed for the first time by several forms of localization of plants and by the structure of settlements and settlement networks. The present main tendencies in the development of the agglomeration regions are:

They succeeded in minimizing the regional disparities of productivity between different agglomeration regions and within them, and in stabilizing the economic position of these regions by systematic measures for investment and rationalization and the hereby influenced structural changes.

At present and up to 1990 the completion of housing programme is of foremost importance by which the main activities will shift from the urban fringe to the centres of the cities; provincial towns and smaller settlements will also participate in this programme.

The main target of these activities is to remove imperfect structures and other burning problems of the agglomeration regions step by step. Geographical Institutes are dealing with the management of these tasks too.     

Urban settlement program and land dispute resolution: The State of Israel versus the Negev Bedouin

Geo-political changes and the drive to higher standards of living induce growing numbers of nomad populations to give-up their special way of life. The Bedouin of the Israeli Negev are no exception. Gradually, they settled down in scattered, unauthorized clusters of tents and shacks in the open lands of the northern Negev. Governments of Israel were unsatisfied with the emerging unplanned spontaneous settlements. Consequently, governmental planning agencies came up with a program to house the Bedouin population in seven new towns. The government's initiative in establishing the towns had two main objectives. First, urban settlements were viewed as conduits for the provision of modern utilities and social services that were very hard to supply and distribute among the many small and scattered spontaneous settlements. Second, Bedouin put forward claims over much of the lands they arguably were using in their former way of life as nomads. Although the claims were not – and could not be – supported by legal documents, the government offered the Bedouin subsidized developed urban land in exchange of their claims over the undeveloped dry desert lands. Currently, more than 60 per cent of the Negev Bedouin population reside in the seven planned urban settlements. Nevertheless, only a small proportion of the land claims has been settled. This paper argues that the attempt to achieve both goals via the urban settlement program was too ambitious. While the goal of providing better services in urban areas has been partially accomplished, the goal of removing the claims over the lands is far from being resolved. The paper argues that the link between the two goals should be reconsidered. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evaluation of the risk of the formation of karst-related surface instability features in dolomite strata occurring in the Lebowakgomo area, Republic of South Africa

Recent engineering geological studies conducted in the vicinity of the important residential, legislative and industrial town of Lebowakgomo has revealed that the area may exhibit a potential for sinkholes and subsidence formation. A regional study is proposed to evaluate the risk of the formation of these features in an area underlain by dolomite and chert formation extending between the towns of Potgietersrus and the border between the Northern and Mpumalanga Provinces of the Republic of South Africa. Several mines, industries, agricultural development, residential settlements and a portion of an important highway are located in this area. This document serves to define the scope, necessary project actions and proposed end-products of the study, and highlights the envisaged advantages of the implementation of the results. A preliminary study has shown that karst-related surface instability features are indeed present at localised positions throughout the study area, with some of these features already impacting on human activities and the natural environment. The results of a preliminary field survey, which included the evaluation of a number of existing sinkholes and a visit to caves located in the Makapans Valley near Potgietersrus, are discussed in detail, and the way forward is sketched.     

Gated communities of the Moscow green belt: newly segregated landscapes and the suburban Russian environment

The transition from the Soviet to the post-Soviet period in and near Moscow manifested itself in increasing production of segregated space both in the urban core and suburban areas outside of the beltway to accommodate the preferences of the new Russian business and governmental elite. This paper focuses on the residential single-family housing inside old and new settlements, which are frequently gated. Approximately 260 of such suburban communities have been developed within 30 km of the beltway during the past few years, of which a majority have some form of exclusion mechanism in place, typically tall solid fences, gates, closed-circuit video surveillance and guarded entry checkpoints. The difference in exclusivity varies from the most exclusive older communities inside Moscow Serebryany Bor enclave and Rublevskoe highway mansions to less exclusive new developments along Novorizkhskoe and Dmitrovskoe highways. Despite high rates of construction, based on sociological surveys in 2003, only about 11% of Russia’s upper class claimed to live in such new “cottages,” with the rest owning condos and luxury apartments in the inner city or older detached homes in villages and small towns. Therefore, not all the needs have been accommodated and more development is certain to take place. The environmental impact of such developments is profound. Based on preliminary LANDSAT image analysis, almost 22% of suburban “green belt” forested land within 30 km zone has been converted to new construction from 1991 to 2001. New construction is now focusing on the remaining fragments of natural vegetation, which will likely lower air quality and water quality available for the city. Ironically, the new developments advertise themselves as “clean and green” with massive investments in unnatural landscaping (seeded lawns, exotic shrubs, river and lake shore “improvements”). This investment highlights the well-known paradox of development in which people move out of town to live near nature, while destroying the wild nature they come to enjoy. “We left city for the weekend It was raining, saw no stars There were fences everywhere Our chiefs behind the bars.” Gennady Shpalikov     

Outstations to primacy: Economic policy,class formation and growth in the towns of Papua New Guinea

Most towns in Papua New Guinea are small and the hierarchy comprises many isolated outstations and small towns. As a response to changes in economic policy the largest towns are growing rapidly at the expense of the small service centres. Changes in the population structure of these large towns have resulted in high rates of natural increase, while rural urban migration is steadily bringing in newcomers, to face urban unemployment and a lack of adequate housing. A secondary urban problem arises from the colonial legacy of urban zoning, which exacerbates the housing shortage and has created artifical socioeconomic residential areas. Although social differences are relatively small, the policy of economic growth will increase the gap between rich and poor, while urban unemployment and lack of housing have reached a crisis level in the rapidly growing big towns.     

New controversies on Columbus' “cosmographic” ideas

This paper examines the spatial distribution of the functional systems in the different belts of settlements around Budapest. The surburban belts have an important role in the capital's labour market, places of employment and recreation with 45 settlements. The paper reviews the structure of the Budapest agglomeration from the core to the three inner, middle and outer belts comprising the suburbs, the semi-urban settlements, the suburban villages, the satellite towns, and the satellite villages. Then the system of the functional urban centres are reviewed, The author establishes the concept of the main, the division, the district and the settlement group centres in the Budapest agglomeration. The different levels of attached functions, such as international, national, regional and local are also described with each centre type. The areal distribution of the centre system of Budapest is shown in maps too.     

Spatial patterns and residential densities in Israeli “moshavot” in process or urbanization

In the process of development of the Israeli Moshavot into towns a number of factors have created specialized pattern of residential land-use and a typical pattern of densities. Private and ownership, private and public housing agencies and a housing policy have all been the cause of a clear dichotomy between the center and the outskirts of the settlements during their growth. The outskirts received their form during thirties and the forties and finally in the fifties. From that time most of the development has taken place in and around the center.     

The 1979 Census and some demographic trends in the Soviet Union

Recent demographic trends in the USSR are analyzed using preliminary 1979 census results that were published by the Soviet press in a central report issued on April 22, 1979, and in regional reports issued between April 25 and May 25, 1979. Topics discussed include regional patterns of change in the total population; urban and rural population; trends in the growth of major cities; changes in the sex ratio, particularly in urban areas; and trends in inter-regional and inter-republic migration.     

Patterns of urban settlements in Somalia

In this research paper attempts have been made to analyze the distribution of 68 urban settlements in 14 regions of the country. The value of near-neighbour statistic (R) shows nearly random pattern of urban settlements in some regions and approachingly uniform distribution of urban settlements in other regions. Regional distribution of urban settlements and their growth have been explained in context of region's geographical, economic and industrial frameworks.     

喀斯特地区不同岩性上农村居民点分布特征——以平果市为例

以典型喀斯特地区广西平果市的农村居民点为研究对象,运用GIS空间分析方法、Voronoi图和景观格局指数分析方法,揭示平果市喀斯特地区不同岩性上农村居民点的空间分布特征。结果表明:（1）平果市农村居民点总面积为4 825.15 hm2,喀斯特地区与非喀斯特地区的农村居民面积比值约为2.8:1;（2）平果市的农村居民点属于聚集型,形态复杂且不规则,非喀斯特地区农村居民点的聚集度相较喀斯特地区表现更为突出,二者变异系数（CV值）比值约为1.2,喀斯特地区崎岖不平的地表使得农村居民点形态更加复杂;（3）同一岩性上的农村居民点在不同乡镇呈现出相似的分布特征,岩石主要从硬度、含水性等方面影响地基的稳定性,不同岩石的性质影响农村居民点的选址。      

Brutal presence or convenient absence: The role of the state in the politics of flooding in informal Accra,Ghana

This paper argues that human vulnerability to flood hazards in urban slums in developing countries is greatly affected by the positioning and activities of their city governments. As a result, the paper explores the central role of city authorities in the production of flood vulnerability in selected informal settlements in Accra, Ghana. Using a case study research design, the study draws on multiple qualitative methods to gather evidence including: document review, focus group discussions, flood victims’ interviews, institutional consultation and field observation. The paper reveals two main positions of state and city authorities in Accra’s perennial floods: first, being present and complicit in informal urbanization through their involvement in the politics of land management in flood prone zones; and second, being absent through their inaction in informal growth in flood-risk areas. To each of these positions of the urban state, there are emerging responses from residents and other non-state actors operating within and outside these informal communities. The paper proposes a re-examination of the current structure and processes of urban governance, state-community engagements and urban citizenship in informal communities.     

Searching for core area growth

Until recently the world economy was focused on four core areas: in western Europe, North America, the Soviet Union, and Japan. Beyond them was the periphery. The economic growth of the periphery depended on core-periphery trade. Since the existing core areas were too few to absorb the periphery's potential production, much of the periphery was producing below capacity. Currently more core areas are coming into existence in Brazil, South Korea, and India. They promote economic development by enlarging the market for peripheral products, drawing resources from the remaining periphery, and providing competition to existing core areas. Latent potentials for core area growth exist in the Near East and southern Africa, but their realization presumes political settlements. The west European core area has expanded onto the Iberian Peninsula and may expand soon beyond the erstwhile Iron Curtain.     

河西地区城镇体系特征及未来发展构想

河西地区城镇体系在空间地域结构上,表现出绿洲城镇的特点;在职能类型结构上,以综合性城镇为主;在规模等级结构上,具有经济不发达地区城镇体系的共性. 未来城镇体系建设,必须从区域整体发展的宏观思路出发,统一构建与绿洲环境相协调的城镇体系格局,使水资源能够支持重点城镇的发展,围绕酒泉市、张掖市、武威市和敦煌市4个区域中心城市,有意识地利用"点-轴"结构,积极培育次级中心,形成空间分布合理、职能类型多样、规模等级协调的城镇体系网络,促进河西地区社会经济的持续发展.     

Large-scale water transfers in the USSR

In order to counter water shortages in the agricultural regions along the lower Volga and in Kazakhstan and Central Asia and to alleviate falling water levels in southern seas, the Soviet Union proposes to transfer substantial quantities of water south from its northern Arctic-flowing rivers. We describe the background to these proposals, the need for greater agricultural production in the Soviet Union, current irrigation practice, and the development of schemes for large-scale water transfers. We discuss the Soviet philosophy of the transformation of nature, the problems encountered in implementing irrigation schemes, and the likely time scale of larger water transfers. The Soviet authorities consider the transfers essential. Even if the efficiency of existing irrigation schemes is improved, demand will surpass supply in many southern agricultural regions within the next 10 to 15 years. Work is to proceed on the first of the second, the Siberian scheme, is unlikely to be taken until any problems encountered in the implementation of the European scheme are assessed. Finally, we consider the potential impact of the diversions. There will certainly be local ecological and environmental consequences and it is considered that the net impact will, on balance, be adverse. There is also concern that the diversion of water away from higher latitudes may affect the Arctic ice cover and, possibly, global climate.     

A review of Holocene avulsions of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and possible effects on the evolution of civilizations in lower Mesopotamia

The role of avulsion in the evolution of civilization in lower Mesopotamia is widely recognized. Ancient settlements are closely associated with abandoned courses of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. This paper discusses avulsion history, controls of avulsions, their effects on civilization evolution from 7000 to 1000 yr B.P., and interactions between human activity and channel‐network evolution based on previous archaeological and geomorphological surveys, analysis of cuneiform texts, maps, satellite photos, and limited geological data. Settlement distribution in ancient Mesopotamia is modeled in relation to avulsion styles, as well as channel and sedimentation patterns. Avulsion belts are suggested as places where urban settlements emerged and were sustained. Multiple channel networks and avulsion belts created large, naturally irrigated areas, fostering the efficient agriculture needed to sustain dense rural and urban settlements. After channel networks were abandoned during delta evolution, largescale canal construction was required to sustain settlements but still could not prevent their decline. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.