Moscow and St. Petersburg, a sequence of capitals, a tale of two cities

From early modern times until the present, Russia (temporarily extended to the USSR) had two capital cities: Moscow and Petersburg. Moscow was the original capital, it was succeeded by Petersburg from the beginning of the 18th century. From the early 20th century onward Moscow again became the capital, but it became a different kind of capital at the end of the 20th century. The paper describes the evolution of the representation of the state function in the appearance of the capital cities by way of the state buildings, the monuments, the street names. In addition it analyses the fate of the former capitals (first Moscow, then Petersburg) in terms of their symbolic functions. Petersburg originated as a capital turned to the outside emphasizing Russia's European vocation, while Moscow was at first the inward looking capital city representing the distinctive spiritual values of Russia. Changes had to do with the changes in the nature of the successive political regimes and with the changing roles of the two cities within those regimes.     

Risky bodies: Public health, social marketing and the governance of obesity

The inclusion of obesity within public health rests on a proven and accepted biomedical link between body weight and health status. Drawing on the 2005 controversy over annual death rates attributable to obesity in the US, this paper contends that uncertainty as to the causal mechanisms linking body weight and health are undermining the development of effective obesity prevention policies. Consequently, this also weakens the justification of the inclusion of such policies within public health. This work draws on recent interest in ‘critical geographies of public health’ and the continued attention to the recursive relations between people and places in the context of health which may offer a useful theoretical viewpoint from which unpack such aetiological uncertainty. Without an agreed or universal risk from obesity, the paper argues that public health obesity prevention through social marketing should be geographical in outlook. The three examples of 5 a day, Jamie’s School Dinners and Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster are discussed to illustrate the effectiveness of communicating risk in a manner that allows intention to be effectively translated into risk-minimising behaviour within the dictates of locale.     

Disaster warning response: the effects of different types of personal experience

In this paper, we seek to resolve the conflicting findings in literature about the effect of past hazard experience on response to warning. We find that different definitions of past experience in different studies are at the root of these conflicting findings. We disaggregate past experience into different types, identifying three types of past experiences that are most relevant in terms of affecting response. We test the relevance and importance of these three proposed types of past experience in an empirical context of warnings issued and response to these warning for two cyclonic events in India. We then provide the implications of the most relevant aspects of past hazard experience for emergency managers seeking to improve target audiences’ response to warning.     

Disaster education for landslide risk reduction: an experience in a public school in Rio de Janeiro State,Brazil

Public policies for reducing the disaster risk associated with landslides in Brazil, based almost solely on the implementation of engineering works to stabilise hillsides, have proved ineffective, with this type of disaster becoming more common and more severe. There is therefore an urgent need to form a culture that encourages the public to participate directly in disaster management and develops community capacity, which requires a broad disaster education programme on formal, non-formal and informal levels. Given the recent approach to the topic, this study aims to contribute to the development of a disaster education methodology for landslides, based on an experience that was coordinated by the authors within formal education. The experience was implemented in a state school in the city of Niterói (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil) which is recurrently affected by disasters associated with landslides. The issue of disasters associated with landslides was addressed in a one-semester course, using the theory of meaningful learning and a range of pedagogical tools in both theory and practical classes, for a total period of 16 h. The educational activities were preceded by a landslide risk perception survey and teacher training. The study concluded that the course promoted interactive and participatory learning, a connection to the real problem in the field and an affective relationship with the issue.     

Brussels: Five capitals in search of a place. The citizens, the planners and the functions

The paper describes the different capital city functions that are accomodated in Brussels. There are in fact five different capitals in Brussels in search of a place. Their locations are conditioned by Brussels' eventful history. The analysis subsequently focuses on the rather negative relation between the local public intellectuals and the city's European capital functions. The location of the European headquarters within the existing urban fabric – unlike Luxemburg and Strasbourg – has caused residential expulsion and further confrontations with the local community during all expansions.Brussels has the most politically decisive institutions. The competition with Luxemburg and Strasbourg has in the past given rise to dubious building processes and hidden agendas regarding the further construction of the necessary space for Europe.Unlike most other capitals Brussels has a low degree of esteem from its citizens. The After-May 68- Movement reacting initially against the CIAM-realisations during the 1970s, continues its activities up until today against two highly symbolic projects: the North Station area called the Manhattan Quarter and the European Headquarters. The movement launched the term Brusselization on the international forum and continues to promote the negative image of its city – notwithstanding the complete change of the official urban planning.The article is a plea for the integration of the actual one-sided advocacy planning within a more comprehensive urban planning approach where strong and soft functions are more in balance. This can also improve the quality of the new European campus now under consideration to accomodate the entry of the East European states in the Union.     

The perceptions of social responsibility for community resilience to flooding: the impact of past experience,age, gender and ethnicity

Community resilience to flooding depends, to a large extent, on the participation of community members to take more responsibility for enhancing their own resilience. The perception of social responsibility (SR) which is argued to be one of the antecedents influencing individual’s willingness to undertake resilient behaviours can significantly contribute to community resilience through individual and collective actions. Understanding of factors influencing the perceptions of SR of individuals within community might help with developing strategies to increase the perceptions of SR. This research explores perceptions of SR in relation to flooding for householders and local businesses and establishes their relationships with experience of flooding and demographic factors of age, gender and ethnicity. The data were obtained via a questionnaire survey of three communities in Birmingham and one community in South East London, UK, three with experience of flooding and one without. A total of 414 responses were received and used in the multiple regression analysis. The analysis identified ‘experience of flooding’, ‘age’ and ‘South Asian’ ethnic group as significant variables, suggesting that older individuals from South Asian ethnic groups with previous experience of flooding are likely to be more socially responsible than others without these attributes.     

Disaster vulnerability: Scale,power and daily life

The author gratefully acknowledges the stimulation over a number of years of his co-authors in a project about to appear in 1994 under the title,At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters, Routledge, London & New York — Piers Blaikie, Terry Cannon, and Ian Davis.Earlier versions of this paper were discussed by session on disasters organized by Tony Oliver-Smith at the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, March, 1992 and at the Famine and Food Systems Study Group of the International Geographical Union, convened at Tufts University, July, 1992, by John Field and Hans Bohle. My thanks as well to colleagues who participated in these two discussions.     

试论矿井水灾害的预测及预防

矿井水灾害给矿山造成生命,财产的巨大损失,可据矿山积累的矿井水动态观测资料,采用数学方法预测降雨量或地表水流量超过正常值的未来年份,对可能发生的矿井水灾害进行预报,及早采取预防措施,并以恩口煤矿为例,预测1995年6月或1996年6月可能发生灾变。     

Disaster Risk Science Development and Disaster Risk Reduction Using Science and Technology

Based on a series of international conferences for establishing HFA2 framework, this paper analyzed key issues of frontier of disaster risk science, integrated disaster prevention and mitigation strategies and integrated disaster risk governance. The future direction of disaster risk science was comprehensively discussed according to the widely discussed Post 2015 Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA2). It was proposed to deepen the cognition of the complexity of disaster system in terms of recognizing the complexity of disaster system from the interaction among various elements of the system, recognizing the complexity of climate change risk from the regional characteristics and formation mechanism of the global climate change and recognizing the complexity of the catastrophe risk from the regional development levels and patterns. Furthermore, it was suggested to make integrated disaster risk reduction strategies and countermeasures from the perspective of the complexity of the disaster system, including the establishment of regional integrated disaster risk governance framework to face climate change, the establishment of integrated disaster risk governance system in multi-spatial scale, the establishment of disaster risk governance financial system integrating the insurance, bonds and lottery, the establishment of consilience mode in integrated risk governance considering multi-stakeholder and the establishment of modeling and simulation platform integrated disaster risk information services and disaster risk reduction strategies. Finally, it was pointed out that the assessment of disaster risk levels for different regions in multi spatial scale can provide robust scientific support for integrated disaster risk governance of the world and regions, industries and enterprises so as to improve response to global change and guarantee a global and regional sustainable development.     

京津冀区域地面沉降灾害防治思考

本文基于京津冀区域一体化发展这一重大国家战略背景,针对在京津冀平原地区广泛发育的地面沉降灾害问题,分析灾害发育现状及危害,回顾既往灾害防治工作成果,解读京津冀区域地面沉降灾害防治工作存在的问题以及面临的挑战,从宏观上提出全面实施大区域地面沉降灾害防治基础性研究工作、加大京津冀联合水资源管理力度、落实区域地面沉降联防联控制度以及全力推进相关管理、标准体系建设工作等京津冀区域地面沉降灾害防治工作设想,并对后续工作开展提出建议。     

Disaster management and the military

The increasing range and occurrence of disasters has generated global concern. At the same time, the end of the Cold War has resulted in a re-orientation of military thinking. As the role of the military is being redefined, one focus has been upon the potential contribution of disaster relief. In this paper, the complexity of disasters is examined and then the military capability is discussed and illustrated.     

Earthquake Disaster Management and Insurance

As one of the most powerful tools to reduce the earthquake loss, the Earthquake Disaster Management [EDM] and Insurance [EI] have been highlighted and have had a great progress in many countries in recent years. Earthquake disaster management includes a series of contents, such as earthquake hazard and risk analysis, vulnerability analysis of building and infrastructure, earthquake aware training, and building the emergency response system. EI, which has been included in EDM after this practice has been done for many years, include these contents: insurance model, financing. This paper presents the development of china in EDM and EI. The main contents include: (1) the statue and trend of earthquake disaster management and insurance in china; (2) the progresses and new methods about the seismic risk zonation and vulnerability analysis, and the future developing trend, the application of GIS in earthquake disaster assessment is introduced; (3) the way and illustration in building the earthquake disaster e     

减灾增益, 强化地下水的研究和人才培养

本文简要介绍了我国地下水开发利用的成就;分析了日显突出的涉及地下水的灾害性问题;提出了进一步合理开发利用地下水、除害兴利而应当进行的11个方面的科学研究;强调了培养地下水领域高级人才的必要性.     

对未来防洪减灾形势和对策的一些思考

简要介绍了20世纪90年代我国大江大河的防洪形势。重点指出:河道萎缩,江河泄洪能力下降,行洪水位抬高,城市水灾突出,洪涝矛盾加重和水灾损失急剧增加的特点。探讨了防洪减灾的目标和标准,在进行防洪策略历史回顾的基础上,阐述了防洪减灾对策和基本措施方向。