Urban development and urban geography in Romania: The contribution of Vintila Mihailescu

Urban development has been a dramatic consequence of modernisation in Romania over the last hundred years. Although there are some differences between the periods of capitalism and socialism — notably the socialist emphasis on the central planning of industrial growth rather than the development of a well-rounded urban society — the population resident in towns has increased inexorably from 2.08 million in 1912 (16.3% of the total population to the country) to 3.71 million (23.4%) in 1948 and 10.49 million (47.3%) in 1980. The scope of Romanian geography has plainly altered in response to the shift in the rural-urban balance, all the more so in view of the long-standing concentration of effort on domestic issues. The paper examines the relationship between urban development and urban geography during this century: urban geography has become an integral part of the discipline whereas in 1900 interest was negligible. The transition has not been entirely smooth but considerable coherence arises from the work of Vintila Mihailescu (1890–1978) : a complete geographer but one who always emphasised the importance of urban geography. Since his death new leaders have emerged to ensure a continued commitment to what is now a fundamental element of Romanian geography.     

The demographic responses to famine: The case of China 1958–61

Pre-1949 China was The Sick Man of Asia, The Land of Famine. In 1949 Mao brought the communists to power and in the re-ordered world, all such problems were supposedly overcome — but not so. Thirty years ago China suffered one of the world's worst famines. Over the four years 1958–61, China suffered some 25–30 million more deaths and experienced some 30–35 million fewer births than might have been expected under normal conditions. Yet for almost a quarter of a century there would be few, outside of China, who were aware of the existence let alone the dimensions of the disaster. Access to Chinese census data since the mid-1980s has permitted a preliminary analysis of the demographic impact of the famine.Abbreviations JPRS-CEA-81-128 Joint Publications Research Service, China Economic Affairs Report 128, 1981 - JPRS-CPS-85-028 Joint Publications Research Service. China Report, Political, Sociological & Military Affairs 28, 1985     

Investment and regional development in Post-Mao China

This paper investigates China's changing investment systems, investment patterns and their impact on regional development. It reveals that the reforms have brought profound changes to Mao's investment system and investment allocation. Investment decentralization has given localities considerable autonomy and incentives in economic development. Budgetary investment has declined dramatically while enterprise funds, bank loans and foreign investment have increased significantly in China. An increasing amount of these new sources of fixed investment have been channeled to more profitable non-state sectors. In terms of regional changes, China's coastal provinces, particularly Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang have recorded more rapid investment growth and have much higher per capita investment than many interior provinces. In addition, investment in the coastal provinces relies less on the state and is more profitable than that in the poorer interior. The sectoral and regional unevenness of fixed investment has significantly contributed to the uneven regional development in China. This research also has important theoretical implications, as it shows that regional investment is neither a cumulative causation process nor a convergent process, but influenced greatly by government policy, local states and local conditions, and foreign capital. An analysis of these factors should improve the understanding of investment allocation and regional development, especially for the transition economy in which the control and capacity of the central state has declined, while local and global forces have emerged as equally important forces shaping spatial change.     

Foreign Joint Ventures in the People's Republic of China, 1979 to 1985

The motivation of alluring foreign investment is an important landmark of post Mao's economic policies, and has made a great contribution to China's current economic growth. One of the major types of foreign investments in the People's Republic of China has been Foreign Joint Ventures (FJVs). Analysis of FJVs helps us understand the impacts of China's economic reforms. This paper thoroughly scrutinizes the statistics of Foreign Joint Ventures during the period of 1979 to 1985. It concludes that the spatial distribution of foreign joint venture investment indicates three locational considerations: (i) the locational advantages of the eastern coastal region where over 90% of joint venture investment has occurred; (ii) the presence of a well-established industrial and commercial infrastructure, as China's largest industrial and commercial centers have also been the largest receivers of foreign investment; and (iii) historical Sino-foreign economic and cultural relations before 1949, as post 1979 foreign investments have often been concentrated in the foreign countries' former spheres of influence. It has also been found that differences exist in the type and location of investment among the major Western investors.     

X-ray determination and equilibrium composition of clinopyroxenes in the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2

Ternary clinopyroxenes have been synthesized in the plane Di-CaTs-En. The variation of their crystallographic parameters has allowed the development of three determinative grids, which utilize b-, 2 _22¯1–2 ₃₁₀ and 2 ₃₃₀ –2 ₂₀₂ respectively. These grids show significant differences in comparison with the previously proposed ones. Present results have been used to review some data on clinopyroxenes equilibria in the system CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ (CMAS) (Biggar 1969; Bruno and Facchinelli 1978; Herzberg 1978; O'Hara and Schairer 1963; Boyd 1969). In particular the petrogenic grid correlating P, T and CaTs content of clinopyroxenes in spinel-lherzolite assemblage (Herzberg 1978) has been revised, and consequently equilibrium temperatures rise by one hundred degrees.     

Retrospective of China's urbanization and regional development in the era of economic reforms

Great changes have taken place in China's urban and regional development since the economic reforms were launched at the end of 1978. Four phases are distinguished according to major policy changes. During the agricultural reforms and the initial stage of open door policy (Phase I), there was a rapid growth of small cities and towns and regional emphasis shifted from the interior to the coast. Phase II was characterized by urban reforms and the increasing involvement of foreign capital. Cities, especially large cities, grew fast and economic activities became concentrated along the coast. The economic rectification (Phase III) witnessed retarded growth and stagnant urban development. In the new surge of economic reforms (Phase IV), opening-up to the outside world became the first priority. The previously restricted opening-up of coastal regions has been replaced by a full-dimensional opening-up. The torrent of capturing foreign capital is moving towards China's remote hinterlands along its great rivers.     

Economic benefit risk assessment of controlling land subsidence in Shanghai

Land subsidence, a major and well-known geological hazard in Shanghai, has caused serious losses. Based on past studies, the cost and benefit of the Shanghai's land subsidence hazard control were assessed and forecasted by risk assessment. An economic benefit-risk assessment was taken in order to control completely land subsidence and make rational safety elevations of the flood control wall. The result of risk assessment shows that the present 6.9-m elevation of the floodwall is not sufficient for the standard of occurring only once in a thousand years. After 200 years, the spring tide hazardous risk losses caused by land subsidence would amount to 49.73 million yuan per year. The proportion of expense in thoroughly controlling land subsidence to the economic benefit is 1:41.44; to construct the flood control wall to an elevation that would prevent inundation from a flood event, to reach the standard of occurring only once in a thousand years, and to avoid tide losses, the ratio of the investment of reducing tide hazard to the economic benefit should be 1:53.24.     

A participatory approach to integrated aquifer management: The case of Guanajuato State,Mexico

Guanajuato State, located in central Mexico, with less than 2% of the countrys area, has almost 17,000 deep water wells, from which nearly 4,000 cubic hectometers (hm³) per year are being extracted, more than 1,000 hm³ over the estimated renewable yield. Since, in Mexico, water is administered under federal jurisdiction by the National Water Commission (CNA, for its Spanish acronym), the state government faces the challenge of ensuring its populations economic development without formal means of intervention. Being thus limited to apply mandatory policies and measures, the state water program has focused on the implementation of a two-sided strategy. First, basic hydrogeological studies and mathematical groundwater hydrodynamic models were developed upon a comprehensive survey of existing wells and a general revision of the states geological framework. Second, a structure for water users participation in water management actions was promoted (from the dissemination of information to the implementation of pilot efficient water use projects) with financial, technical and political support from the state. Simultaneously, a coordinated effort towards the completion of the water users registry was performed with the federal authority along with other supporting measures such as training and monitoring programs. In this paper, a general overview of the projects achievements and challenges is presented.To make direct contact with the water-user associations mentioned in this paper, please write to Eng. Aurelio Navarrete of the State Water Council at: cehgto@prodigy.net.mx.     

Post-socialist identity,territoriality and European integration: Serbia’s return to Europe after Milošević

This article explores the spatiality of post-Miloevi Serbian identity in the context of European integration. The fall of the Miloevi regime has prompted Serbias political rehabilitation in Europe, paralleled by its pursuit of European integration. The article posits that European integration of post-socialist newcomers is a two-sided spatial process. It includes a rediscovery and reassertion of the European identity as a form of symbolic spatial repositioning in Europe and a transformation of state territoriality as European integration relaxes the states absolute control over territory. The article shows that a symbolic Europeanisation of Serbian identity, underpinned by contested meanings of Europe, has not led to substantial transformation of state territoriality. Furthermore, European integration has been used as a justification for the pursuit of deeply territorial national politics, hindering the transition from modern to post-modern state territoriality.     

Ecotourism and mass tourism in Southern Thailand: Spatial interdependence,structural connections,and staged authenticity

The desire to spend leisure time in natural settings represents a key factor behind the recent and rapid growth of ecotourism. A search by ecotourists for remote landscapes and locations has shaped the way in which geographers have defined ecotourism, but few scholars have explored, in detail, the mechanics of the spatial relationship between ecotourism and mass tourism, two forms of travel usually considered mutually exclusive in spatial terms. Using the island of Phuket — southern Thailands premier resort destination — as a case study, this paper investigates the spatial overlaps and connections between ecotourism and mass tourism and tests the assumption that ecotourism and mass tourism must exist spatially apart in order for the former to succeed. Despite Phukets association with mass tourism, and the small physical distances between built-up mass tourist areas and natural ecotourism settings, the communicative staging of natural authenticity allows ecotourism companies to convey geographical remoteness to tourists. Although ecotourism in Phuket must struggle constantly to overcome the perceptual impact of spatial proximity to resort locations, the tourist markets and business networks of the existing mass tourism industry remain crucial to the survival of ecotourism in this region. Thus, contrary to conventional notions that ecotourism and mass tourism must exist as separate entities, this paper argues that an interconnected, symbiotic, and spatially-contiguous relationship between the two is necessary in the case of Phuket.     

Tokaido — megalopolis of Japan

The Tokaido east coast road has been the main road of Japan since Mediaeval times, and the journey from Tokyo at one end to Kyoto or Osaka at the other, which used to take a fortnight, can now be completed in about three hours by bullet train, and an even faster linear-motor car is likely to be in operation in the near future.Already during the 18. cent., Edo (Tokyo) was the largest city in the world, with a population over a million, and the rapid urbanization of Japan's population since Meiji times, and particularly during the post-WW II period, has been quite unprecendented. In 1950, the median size of place was 13,000 and by 1975 it was 140,000. About 60 million lived in the Tokaido zone.The Kanto, Nobi and Osaka plains, adjacent to the good harbours of Tokyo, Ise and Osaka bays, enjoying the relatively mild climate of the Pacific coast, and being within 600 km of each other, have been the focii of urban and industrial development in Japan. The emergence of Tokaido megalopolis was boosted by capital investment in this zone, and was contingent upon the industriousness and high level of education of the people.The concept of megalopolis in Japan is popularly associated with rapid urbanization, poly-nuclear and linear form, and concentration of population, capital and information, all of which elements are typified by the Tokaido zone. The linear megalopolis pattern has been postulated as a more efficient growth form for high-dense society than the radial metropolitan pattern. It has even been suggested that megalopolis is a concept perceived by the intellect, its physical structure determined by information networks, metropolis being perceived by the eye and its physical structure being determined by transport and energy networks.Quite irrespective of the concept of megalopolis, there can be no denying that Japan's society is a high-dense society. In 1975, 57% of the population lived in Densely Inhabited Districts (DIDs) at minimum densities of 40 persons per hectare, and these DIDs covered only 2.2% of the land area of Japan. The current trend is for more and more people to live in DIDs, but for overall DID densities to decrease. During the past 25 years, there has been a huge influx of population into the Tokaido zone, and while until 1960 the greatest increases were in the three main metropolitan centres, as these became saturated, rapid urbanization spread into the neighbouring prefectures. Since the mid-sixties, the central metropolitan wards have begun to lose residents, but the daytime population has continued to increase, giving rise to increasingly complex commuting patterns. To give an example, the commuting field of Yokohama includes almost all the prefectures of Tokaido megalopolis.Like the image of megalopolis itself, life in Tokaido megalopolis has its good and bad aspects. Although per capita space in dwellings is increasing somewhat, housing is extremely expensive and people commute long distances. Incomes are high but environmental problems persist. There is a U-turn phenomenon, but metropolitan suburbs remain a popular choice of residence.Central management functions and knowledge and information oriented occupations are predominantly concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka, the two main nodes of Tokaido megalopolis. In the intermediate cities, new employment opportunities are stimulated by the expansion of second-level managerial functions. The transport and communications networks of Tokaido are becoming congested as mobility and information flow increase.Planning in the eighties will be affected by the switch from industries dependent on raw materials to knowledge intensive industries; from investment in production to investment in public facilities and pollution control. Within Tokaido megalopolis, there is room for local governments to expand efforts to improve the existing situation, and at its fringes to avert some of the less desirable consequences of rapid urbanization.     

Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig

In the early 20^th century, the East German city of Leipzig seemed well on its way to become a metropolis of international importance. The city was expected to grow towards over one million inhabitants in 2000. Seventy years later, Leipzigs population has shrunk to less than 500,000 inhabitants instead. The German partition after World War II took away most of its national administrative and economic functions and much of its hinterland. The socialist GDR regime worsened the long-term development perspectives and living circumstances of the city. The German reunification brought new development chances, but like most East German cities, Leipzigs hopes soon became disappointed. The local politicians faced a difficult redevelopment task: apart from the question how to revive the local and regional economy, they also had to deal with a housing vacancy rate of 20%, a huge need for renovation in the older neighbourhoods as well as in the socialist high-rise areas, the negative effects of urban sprawl on the city core, and various environmental pollution problems. After briefly describing the development path of Leipzig until the 1990s, the paper will discuss the current attempts of the city government to give Leipzig a more positive post-industrial future. On the one hand, Leipzig is developing a strategy to downsize the citys built environment and infrastructure to adapt to a probably lastingly smaller population. On the other hand, many growth instruments well known from the international scientific and political debate are tried to put Leipzig back on the (inter)national map. The paper will discuss these development strategies in the light of the international debate on the question how to fight the shrinking city, with specific attention for post-socialist cities.     

Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig

In the early 20^th century, the East German city of Leipzig seemed well on its way to become a metropolis of international importance. The city was expected to grow towards over one million inhabitants in 2000. Seventy years later, Leipzigs population has shrunk to less than 500,000 inhabitants instead. The German partition after World War II took away most of its national administrative and economic functions and much of its hinterland. The socialist GDR regime worsened the long-term development perspectives and living circumstances of the city. The German reunification brought new development chances, but like most East German cities, Leipzigs hopes soon became disappointed. The local politicians faced a difficult redevelopment task: apart from the question how to revive the local and regional economy, they also had to deal with a housing vacancy rate of 20%, a huge need for renovation in the older neighbourhoods as well as in the socialist high-rise areas, the negative effects of urban sprawl on the city core, and various environmental pollution problems. After briefly describing the development path of Leipzig until the 1990s, the paper will discuss the current attempts of the city government to give Leipzig a more positive post-industrial future. On the one hand, Leipzig is developing a strategy to downsize the citys built environment and infrastructure to adapt to a probably lastingly smaller population. On the other hand, many growth instruments well known from the international scientific and political debate are tried to put Leipzig back on the (inter)national map. The paper will discuss these development strategies in the light of the international debate on the question how to fight the shrinking city, with specific attention for post-socialist cities.     

Investigation into Factors Affecting Roadway Deformation in the Selby Coalfield

The introduction of roofbolting in the UK coal mining industry has been well documented and is an example of reinforcement design utilizing a design by measurement or observational approach. This has involved detailed monitoring of rock strata movements and rockbolt loads at a large number of sites. Analysis of roadway deformation monitoring information from across the Selby coalfield provided an ideal opportunity of assessing how geological and stress variations affect the stability of reinforced coal mine roadways. Statistical analysis of this data has confirmed the detrimental effects of maximum horizontal stress direction and relatively weak roof geology on the magnitude of roof deformation. Further analysis has led to the development of a roof lithology index for assessing the quality of the immediate roof geology and the use of geological hazard analysis for providing useful information for the development of a stability index for assessing support requirements of existing and future roadways. This investigation has also verified previous observations regarding mechanisms controlling roadway deformational behaviour and highlights the importance of the site-specific nature of reinforcement design.     

The economic impact of Cardiff University: Innovation, learning and job generation

This paper discusses two economic functions of the University of Wales Cardiff (Cardiff University) in relation to local and regional economic development. The first concerns its direct and indirect impact as an economic force in its own rights in the locality and the wider city-region of South East Wales. Through the application of impact analysis it shown that the University is responsible for generating a gross local output of approximately £100 million a year and sustaining over 3,000 jobs. The second aspect of the paper concerns the knowledge impact of the University and its contribution to the development of regional industrial clusters in the automotive and electronics industries, and enhancing the learning capacity of the locality.     

Statistical Properties of Ideal Rock Textures: Relationship Between Crystal Size Distribution and Spatial Correlation of Minerals

The concept of an ideal rock texture, in which crystals are distributed randomly in space, is proposed for use in general analysis of rock textures. The spatial correlation function for the ideal rock texture was examined and the function, a specific kind of spatial correlation function, is related to crystal size distribution and to some extent to crystal boundaries. The function is unity at distance zero, and monotonically decreases with increasing distance for the ideal texture. This behavior of the function is observed for any size distribution. In an ideal texture, the function is directly related to crystal size distribution and crystal shape. It is important in stereology because the crystal size distribution in three dimensions may be deduced from analyzing a function that is obtained from analyzing two-dimensional section images. Crystal shape is also related to the function. If crystals are concave in shape, or have inclusions of other phases, the function may show a hump or plateau when plotted against distance. However, the crystal shape effect cannot produce values smaller than zero. If values become negative, the texture is no longer considered ideal. The ideal textures for two model size distributions—step and delta functions—are considered. The rate of decrease of values is more strongly dependent on size distribution than on system dimension.     

“Progressive port Elizabeth”: Liberal politics,local economic development and the territorial basis of racial domination, 1923–1935

The growth of state capacity with respect to African people in South Africa's cities, while an ambition of many local and central state managers, was secured only in the face of conflicts within the state and between the state and the people. This paper examines some of the specific social processes which shaped the segregated form of African settlement and administration in Port Elizabeth between 1923–35. The aim is to interpret how the unique configuration of social and economic conditions in Port Elizabeth both fed into and depended upon an as yet imperfectly implemented strategy for the government and control of the city's African populace. Issues of concern include the nature of the administration in the New Brighton Location, the influence of liberal politics on Location strategy and the impact of the local council's efforts at place entrepreneurialism on residential development and urban government.     

Radon in soil anomaly observed at Los Azufres geothermal field,Michoacan: a possible precursor of the 1985 Mexico earthquake (Ms = 8.1)

A radon anomaly in a nuclear track detector placed on a fault was detected prior to the destructive (Ms = 8.1) Mexican earthquake of 19 September 1985. The fault is a structural feature of the geothermal field Los Azufres, 260 km NE of the epicentral area. Since no other phenomenon can be found as a possible cause for the radon anomaly, it is proposed that preseismic regional stress perturbations may produce changes in the fluid transport patterns at the fault, suggesting that radon measurements in similar conditions could provide a good precursor in high seismic risk areas.     

Rural industrialization in China's lower Yangzi delta: Institutionalizing transactional networks

Understanding the nature of spatial economic change in China's most rapidly developing regions requires a conceptual and methodological shift away from the conventional macro-perspectives. An analysis of the processes and mechanisms which underlie the unique patterns of transformation in China's lower Yangzi delta is undertaken. The paper focuses on the emergence of small scale institutional and transactional activities as they relate to the location of nonagricultural enterprises in the countryside. The way in which networks of interactions and interrelationships are embedded within specific local exigencies and opportunities for development reveals much about the wider regional spatial economic patterns and trends. The historical, administrative, and territorial contexts and some detailed examples of the resulting institutional frameworks are also highlighted. The paper proposes a framework whereby spatial economic transformation in China is reconceptualized in relation to intensely localized place-based institutional structures. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Erosional processes, topographic length-scales and geomorphic evolution in arid climatic environments: the ‘Lluta collapse’, northern Chile

The Lluta collapse of northern Chile is one of the oldest recognizable landslides (>2.5 Ma) in a hyperarid continental setting. This paper develops a conceptual landscape evolution model of the Lluta collapse and analyzes the controls of mass wasting and erosion/sediment transport in channels on the topographic development. The data presented here imply that high relief along a topographic scarp, surface fracturing, elevated groundwater table during a more humid climate and an aquitard underlying permeable ignimbrites are preparatory causal factors for landsliding >2.5 Ma ago. A strong seismic event then possibly resulted in the displacement of ca. 26 km³ of mass. Subsequent modification of the landslide scar occurred by backward erosion, resulting in the establishment of a dendritic drainage network and the removal of an additional ca. 24 km³ of material. It appears that this mass was produced by mass wasting in the headwaters, and exported by high-concentrated debris flows in channels. In addition, morphometric information suggest that whereas the geometrical development of the Lluta collapse has been controlled by gravitational mass wasting, the rates of the development of this geomorphic unit have been limited by the export rates of mass and hence by the transport capacity of the flows.