Willingness to pay for improved residential waste management in a developing country

In most developing countries policies and frameworks that govern solid waste management strategies have often been directed at the waste management service providers and less attention is often given to the demand side of the problem. This paper reports a study regarding householders’ willingness to pay for improved residential solid waste management. The data for the study originated from a contingent valuation survey that was conducted in 236 households in Ilorin city in Kwara State, Nigeria. A binary logit model was used to account for some factors influencing the respondents’ willingness to pay. The results show that more than 80 % of the respondents were in support of the residential waste management. The respondents were willing to pay an average of 3,660 Nigerian Naira (US $24) each year. Income, education, dwelling type and whether the respondent is satisfied with private sector participation in provision of waste management service positively influenced the respondents’ willingness to pay. The price, gender, household size and activities of sanitary inspectors had negative influence. The findings from this study could contribute to the knowledge regarding the design of a more sustainable residential waste management strategy in Nigeria and other countries that have similar conditions.     

Heavy metals contamination in water and sediments of an urban river in a developing country

Water and sediment samples were collected from 20 location of the Buriganga river of Bangladesh during Summer and Winter 2009 to determine the spatial distribution, seasonal and temporal variation of different heavy metal contents. Sequential extraction procedure was employed in sediment samples for the geochemical partitioning of the metals. Total trace metal content in water and sediment samples were analyzed and compared with different standard and reference values. Concentration of total chromium, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, nickel, cobalt and arsenic in water samples were greatly exceeded the toxicity reference values in both season. Concentration of chromium, lead, copper and nickel in sediment samples were mostly higher than that of severe effect level values, at which the sediment is considered heavily polluted. On average 72 % chromium, 92 % lead, 88 % zinc, 73 % copper, 63 % nickel and 68 % of total cobalt were associated with the first three labile sequential extraction phases, which portion is readily bioavailable and might be associated with frequent negative biological effects. Enrichment factor values demonstrated that the lead, cadmium, zinc, chromium and copper in most of the sediment samples were enriched sever to very severely. The pollution load index value for the total area was as high as 21.1 in Summer and 24.6 in Winter season; while values above one indicates progressive deterioration of the sites and estuarine quality. The extent of heavy metals pollution in the Buriganga river system implies that the condition is much frightening and may severely affect the aquatic ecology of the river.     

Design and implementation of a voluntary collective earthquake insurance policy to cover low-income homeowners in a developing country

Understanding and evaluating disaster risk due to natural hazard events such as earthquakes creates powerful incentives for countries to develop planning options and tools to reduce potential damages. The use of models for earthquake risk evaluation allows obtaining outputs such as the loss exceedance curve, the expected annual loss and the probable maximum loss, which are probabilistic metrics useful for risk analyses, for designing strategies for risk reduction and mitigation, for emergency response strategies and for risk financing. This article presents, based on probabilistic risk models, the design and implementation of a risk transfer instrument to cover the private buildings of the city of Manizales, Colombia. This voluntary collective instrument provides financial protection to both, the estate tax payers and the low-income homeowners through a cross-subsidy strategy; besides, it promotes not only the insurance culture but also the solidarity of the community. The city administration and the insurance industry are promoting this program using the mechanism of the property tax payment. This collective insurance helps the government to access key resources for low-income householders recovery and improve disaster risk management at local level.     

Zimbabwe: a country rich in geological history

A holiday in Zimbabwe provided the opportunity to examine some of the rocks, many of Archaean age, in one of the geologically most interesting parts of the world. Here, a great deal of the Earth's geological history can be unravelled.     

Office dispersal in metropolitan areas 1: a review and framework for analysis

Policies advocating restraint on the growth of office activity in central areas, and the dispersal of that activity to suburban centres have become increasingly popular in large metropolitan areas in Britain and Australia in recent years. This is the first of two papers which explore the implications of such a policy in detail. For these policies have been based on rather subjective judgements and on conventional wisdom; it has simply been assumed that they would solve growing problems of central congestion, environmental disamenity and job access. Little attention has been paid to the full range and distribution of costs and benefits that might arise. Experience to date has suggested that while an office dispersal policy has the potential to reduce problems in the central area, it can also give rise to serious problems of congestion, increased energy consumption and inequities of access in suburban areas. These problems which stem from the likely switch from public transport to cars for work journeys have generally been ignored by those advocating dispersal policies, and have received little attention in the few academic studies of this area. The paper concludes by outlining the assumptions and methodology adopted for a comprehensive case study of the cost and benefits of an office dispersal policy within the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia.     

Quantifying the spatio-temporal patterns of settlement growth in a metropolitan region of Ghana

Retrospective understanding of the magnitude and pace of urban expansion is necessary for effective growth management in metropolitan regions. The objective of this paper is to quantify the spatial–temporal patterns of urban expansion in the Greater Kumasi Sub-Region (GKSR)—a functional region comprising eight administrative districts in Ghana, West Africa. The analysis is based on Landsat remote sensing images from 1986, 2001 and 2014 which were classified using supervised maximum likelihood algorithm in ERDAS IMAGINE. We computed three complementary growth indexes namely; Average Annual Urban Expansion Rate, Urban Expansion Intensity Index (UEII) and Urban Expansion Differentiation Index to estimate the amount and intensity of expansion over the 28-year period. Overall, urban expansion in the GKSR has been occurring at an average annual rate of 5.6 %. Consequently, the sub-region’s built-up land increased by 313 km² from 88 km² in 1986 to 400 km² in 2014. The analysis further show that about 72 % of the total built-up land increase occurred in the last 13 years alone, with UEII value of 0.605 indicating a moderate intensity of urban expansion. Moreover, the metropolitan-core of the sub-region, being the focal point of urban development and the historical origins of expansion, accounted for more than half of the total built-up land increase over the 28-year period. Over the last decade and half however, urban expansion has spilled into the neighbouring peripheral districts, with the highest intensity and fastest rate of expansion occurring in districts located north and north east of the sub-regional core. We recommend a comprehensive regional growth management strategy grounded in effective strategic partnerships among the respective administrative districts to curb unsustainable urban expansion.     

Choosing a site for the capital of Europe

The European Union has achieved internal cohesion and international economic recognition, but economics alone has not yet led to a united Europe. Although this cohesiveness strongly influence regions and cities, and cities have started to refer to their European background, the member nations continue to hold regional and urban planning power. Forced to take unanimous decisions, the European Council of Ministers maintained the doctrine of a unique capital for 40 years, provoking numerous urban and architectural visions while simultaneously accepting the existence of three provisional headquarters, Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. The host nations, Belgium, France and Luxembourg meanwhile oriented these cities to both European economic considerations and local needs.This article analyzes the logic that led to decentralization of the capital city functions, the reasons why cities were interested in hosting the European Communities, what individual cities and nations suggested and why the most obvious solutions were not adopted. The Maastricht Treaty, the ongoing strengthening of European and regional institutions, and the choice of the provisional headquarters as definite capitals in 1992 gives cause for hope that concepts based on European and regional necessities beyond the nation-state will now be elaborated. A European network of cities and regions including the three political capitals of Europe, as revealed by their infrastructures and buildings, seems to be the best expression of the meaning of European unity.     

The real country and the legal country: Spanish Ideals and mayan realities in colonial Guatemala

Conquest by imperial Spain forced the Maya of Guatemala to contend with a dizzying array of European values and culturally-impregnated modes of geographic thought. Fundamentally different notions of where and how to live were thrust upon Maya communities by the policy of resettlement known as congregación. Imperial legislation evokes a utopian existence nowhere attained in the realm of actual practice. Archival documents, many of them penned by disenchanted clergy and concerned Crown officials, portray a lived experience quite unlike that enshrined in decrees and ordinances, edicts and commands. For the colonial Maya, as for natives throughout the Americas, the geography of everyday life bore little resemblance to the idealized arrangements of people in place promoted by imperial rhetoric.     

岩溶塌陷发育机理模式研究

岩溶塌陷是我国岩溶区常见的地质灾害.目前,关于岩溶塌陷发育机理模式主要以力学分析为主.文章以岩溶塌陷过程为基础,探讨分析岩溶塌陷发育机理模式.依据地下水埋藏条件,土体分为包气带非饱和土体、潜水层饱和土体及承压水层承压性土体.根据"水-土"相互作用,在包气带、潜水层和承压水层分别建立崩解作用、潜蚀作用和水力裂隙作用三种岩溶塌陷发育机理模式.     

The deterioration of the Nigerian environment: Problems of solid wastes disposal in the metropolitan Lagos

Proper management of solid wastes is a key to environmental sanitation. In recent times the quality of life in most of the cities of the developing world is being deminished by uncontrolled and poorly managed solid wastes in the urban environment. Lagos urban is a typical example. It must be acknowledged that although wastes from homes, businesses and institutions make up a small part of the total load of solid wastes generated in any urban environment they are certainly the most offensive and most dangerous to health when they accumulate near residential points. The quality of life in urban Lagos, Nigeria, with respect to indiscriminate dumping of uncollected solid wastes approximates an aesthetic disaster. This study is therefore designed to examine the problems of solid wastes disposal in Lagos, Nigeria and to provide data base against which effective solid wastes disposal system in the Nigerian capital city might be monitored and tested.Acknowledgement: I wish to thank members of the Environmental Problems and Effects class (1978/9 Session) Geography Department, University of Calabar for their assistance in collecting data for this study.The Year of the last valid population census in Nigeria.     

Social-geographical problems of a metropolitan region within a Soviet Republic (a case study of the Tbilisi metropolitan region, Georgia, U.S.S.R.)

While the capital city and its surrounding territory often forms the most important nodal region in any country, this very nodality may give rise to social problems. In the case of the Tbilisi metropolitan region, Georgia, U.S.S.R., social development has been conditioned by such factors as the Soviet centralized economic management system, administrative control of population in-migration, state ownership of land, and the tendency towards hyperurbanization. For most Georgians Tbilisi is the republic's most attractive city, and it is in actual fact the leading city in terms of material welfare. Nevertheless, the metropolitan region suffers from a number of concrete social problems whose significance is analysed by means of an opinion poll of metropolitan region inhabitants and a comparative poll conducted in a rural area. While some problems such as retail trade deficiency and the low quality of consumer goods appear to cause universal concern, others such as housing provision and design, ecological problems and social pathology (crime, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution) cause greater anxiety among metropolitan residents. It is hoped that recent policies of decentralization and economic reform will help solve some of these difficulties.     

The daily travel of villagers to the city in a case study of Northern Iran

Rural urban migration can often result in decreased agricultural output in countries with scarce land resources. It also can hasten the socio-economic problems associated with the overcrowded cities of the developing world. As only 10% of Iran is arable it is particularly vulnerable to threats to food security and self-sufficiency. This paper examines the daily flow of villagers to a major city near the vital staple crop producing rural district of Lakan, where out-migration is already occurring. Although most discussions of daily travel to cities is typically relegated to commuting, this paper aims to analyze travel for the purpose of access to a variety of facilities and services that villages in the rural district of Lakan lack including secondary schools, post offices, banks, and even telephones and newspaper stands. The paper emphasizes that daily journeys make permanent moves to the city more likely because of the major inconvenience that results from the scarcity of basic facilities within Lakan villages. Travel to a distant city for staple foods at grocery stores or for access to secondary schools, for example, could intensify future out-migration because the heavy inconvenience of constant travel might eventually outweigh the benefits of maintaining residency in villages. The paper utilizes information about daily travel to Rasht to recommend various government construction projects and initiatives to improve the quality of life for villagers and avert future rural–urban migration and the reduction in staple crop production that might result.     

Foreign direct investment in European manufacturing industry: the changing position of the United Kingdom as a host country

The position of the United Kingdom as a host country for foreign direct investment in manufacturing is examined in the European context. Several trends are identified which suggest that the United Kingdom's relative position is changing. In particular, the balance of United States manufacturing investment has been shifting away from the United Kingdom and towards mainland Europe while the United Kingdom's membership of the EEC enables European countries to serve the United Kingdom market by exporting rather than by direct investment. As yet, the volume of Japanese investment in United Kingdom and European manufacturing is small. In the competition between nations for internationally mobile investment. Ireland has captured a good deal of new manufacturing investment, some of which may have been ‘diverted’ from the United Kingdom. The apparent decline in the attractiveness of the United Kingdom as a host country for foreign manufacturing investment could have serious consequences for employment in the peripheral regions of the United Kingdom particularly in the light of developments in the organization of multinational enterprise and the impending enlargement of the EEC.