Military pollution and natural purity: seeing nature and knowing contamination in Vieques, Puerto Rico

Military activities have produced contaminated environments at many sites around the world. This contamination and the associated health risks play a large role in how these places can be redeveloped after military use. In this essay we focus on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico which was used as a bombing range by the US military for six decades until 2003. We examine the ways different groups of people perceive this formerly militarized landscape and the ways that these perceptions legitimatize certain redevelopment options over others. Through participant observation, semi-structured interviews and an analysis of textual materials we found that many local residents view the island as suffering from severe contamination while the large number of visitors, tourism promoters and North Americans now flocking to the post-militarized Vieques view it quite differently. These perceptions of purity and contamination, affected by different knowledges of the island’s history, have led to differing valuation of the landscape and contentious economic, political, and cultural battles over an island often labeled “natural” despite a history of military use and social exclusion.

Visual methodologies through a feminist lens: South African soap operas and the post-apartheid nation

Using a discussion of South African soap operas, I will place the idea of visuality in a discourse analysis that incorporates a feminist epistemological lens, or an epistemology that integrates reflexivity and an acknowledgment of the dialogic nature of visual media. Through this discussion, I will examine the possibilities that dialogism provides for unpacking and exploring the politics of imperfect translation between the visual and the textual. These methodological interventions, I argue, will help enrich discussions of the visual’s role in the contested realm of geographic imaginations and move beyond the distanced position of the masculine gaze.

Mapping flood pressure points: assessing vulnerability of the UK Fire Service to flooding

A vulnerability index for the Fire Service in the UK has been designed to identify vulnerable locations during episodes of severe floods. Taking recent case studies with the UK Fire Service, the patterns of vulnerability, in terms of demand on time and resources, can be explained by investigating the environmental causes and their interaction with the adaptive capacity of the response agencies.

Evaluating the influence of mixture composition on the kinetics of salt damage in wall paintings using time lapse video imaging with direct data annotation

This paper presents an examination of the timescale of phase transition behaviour of a series of salts known to cause damage to wall paintings and other cultural property. The rate of deliquescence and crystallisation of single salts (nitromagnesite and halite) under different RH regimes, and the extent to which this was affected when mixed with other salts (niter, nitratite and gypsum), was investigated. The study was conducted using simple conventional techniques (mass measurements over time) and also using an innovative new method: timelapse video imaging with online data annotation. The results demonstrate the synergy gained from combining video imaging with environmental data in reference to time in the study of salt phase changes: where it revealed new information concerning the kinetics of deliquescence and crystallisation. The implications of these results for the implementation of environmental control measures within historic buildings are discussed.

The discrepancy in PAMINA between the European image of a cross-border region and cross-border behaviour

Subsidizing cross-border regions is a method to close the gap between citizens and the European Union. This analysis of PAMINA, a cross-border region in the Rhine Valley near Karlsruhe, discusses some of the difficulties of this policy. There are structural mismatches between the scales of different cross-border relations. These vertical mismatches are linked to the differences in the horizontal logics of economic and administrative cross-border relations. Especially cross-border commuting, made possible by European economic integration, has improved the daily life of many inhabitants of this region. Paradoxically this regional success of European economic integration is disconnected from the EU funded cross-border region. They not only relate to different scales, but the same spatial asymmetry generating this cross-border behaviour hinders administrative cross-border cooperation in PAMINA.

Melt inclusion formation mechanisms and compositional effects in high-An feldspar and high-Fo olivine in anhydrous mafic silicate liquids

Important aspects of melt inclusion formation and potential compositions effects have been addressed through a series of experiments using anorthite/fosterite saturated anhydrous mafic liquids. Experimental charges were cooled from 1,300 to 1,230 and 1,210°C at rates of 1–10°/min followed by 0–24 h isothermal periods. Hopper and skeletal crystal morphologies with variable degrees of completeness developed during the cooling period. Planar overgrowth of these textures during isothermal periods led to the formation of inclusions, the majority of which formed after 6 h of isothermal run time. We suggest that the change in morphologies is related to a decrease in growth rates and changes in dominant growth mechanisms. In general, inclusion compositions were uniform and similar to the host glass, indicating that with the isothermal times required for most inclusions to form, a boundary layer was not entrapped that could be detected within the limits of our analyses.

---

Environmental concerns of poor households in low-income cities: the case of the Tamale Metropolis,Ghana

The Tamale Metropolitan Area (TMA), as a low-income city in a heavily indebted poor country, is at the first stage of the urban environmental transition where most of the environmental problems tend to occur close to the home. Some of the more severe household environmental problems are poor housing, inadequate potable water supply, unsanitary conditions, uncollected garbage, indoor air pollution and pest infestation. Those usually exposed to these environmental burdens are the less wealthy households who have benefited less from development planning and infrastructure provision. Using questionnaire survey and focus group discussions, this study explored the environmental anxieties of households in the metropolis. A stratified sample of residential areas of the city was employed, and the study is able to examine city-wide disparities. The results indicate that problems of water supply are the concern of all groups. Sanitation and garbage disposal services are problems faced mainly by the poor in low-income areas. Other problems faced by the poor are overcrowding, indoor air pollution and pest infestation, but these problems are not highlighted by the poor reflecting a misplaced lack of concern for these problem areas and ignorance of the health risks posed by these hazards. The finding suggests a considerable demand for improvements in environmental service provision and a general willingness to pay for such improvements.

Government and urban management in the 20th century: policies,contradictions, and weaknesses of the New Right

Throughout the 20th century, government in the U.S. has gone through significant changes; initially responding to the disorder of early capitalism, and later, to the economic crisis of the 1970s. This article will explore the changes in the U.S. political landscape over the last century, as well as the recent rise of neo-liberalism. In addition, with the analysis of the model laissez-faire municipal government, the City of Houston, the article will illustrate how the basic weaknesses of neoliberalism at the national level are also evident at the local scale of government.

Spatial and temporal knowledge representation

Knowledge Representation (KR) originated as a discipline within Artificial Intelligence, and is concerned with the representation of knowledge in symbolic form so that it can be stored and manipulated on a computer. This article surveys that part of KR that is concerned with the representation of space and time, with particular reference to the use of such representations in geographical information science.

Assessment of suffosion-related hazards in karst areas using GIS technology

This paper describes an application of the geographic information system (GIS) technology to a ground stability assessment in the karst area of Dzerzhinsk, Russia. In the stability analysis, the groundwater level changes in the karst aquifer could cause suffosion sinkholes when the gravitational force was greater than the soil strength. The GIS technology was used to combine various data and to delineate the zones of potential gravitational collapse and suffosion collapse in the area.

Predicting environmental conditions to minimise salt damage at the Tower of London: a comparison of two approaches

The paper compares the results of two studies of salt damage at the Wakefield Tower, Tower of London. The first, in 1993, was based on semi-quantitative salt analysis and hygroscopicity measurements. The second was based on quantitative analysis and a thermodynamic model, ECOS. Both studies aimed to predict environmental conditions that would minimise salt damage to the interior stonework. Their predictions are markedly different, and this paper examines the reasons for the differences. It is shown that hygroscopicity alone is not a reliable indicator of crystallisation from mixed salt solutions.

Flood risk management in Central Viet Nam: challenges and potentials

This article explores the impacts of floods on the economy, environment, and society and tries to clarify the rural community’s coping mechanism to flood disasters in Central Viet Nam. It focuses on the social aspects of flood risk perception that shapes the responses to floods. The research findings revealed that flooding is an essential element for a coastal population, whose livelihood depend on productive functions of cyclical floods. The findings also revealed that floods, causing losses and damages, often inhibited economic development. The surveyed communities appeared to have evolved coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of the floods, yet these coping mechanisms are under pressure due to environmental degradation. Integrated flood risk management is considered as a suitable paradigm for coping with flood disasters.

Space Physics Interactive Data Resource—SPIDR

SPIDR (Space Physics Interactive Data Resource) is a standard data source for solar-terrestrial physics, functioning within the framework of the ICSU World Data Centers. It is a distributed database and application server network, built to select, visualize and model historical space weather data distributed across the Internet. SPIDR can work as a fully-functional web-application (portal) or as a grid of web-services, providing functions for other applications to access its data holdings.

Global airline networks and nodal regions

Transportation infrastructure has always played an important role in the economic fate of regions. In particular, airline networks have dramatically decreased the geographic and temporal constraints of moving people, goods and information; all of which are increasingly crucial inputs for the information economy. As a result, regions have become more concerned with both the quantity and quality of airline connections. The purpose of this paper is to examine the emerging global hierarchy of airline network connectivity. Using a proprietary database of nearly 900 airline carrier schedules from 2006, we examine regional connectivity between 4,650 worldwide origins and destinations. Through the use of network analysis and graph theoretical techniques, results indicate an increasingly complex web of nodal hierarchies in North America, Europe and Asia.

Beating words to life: subtitles,assemblage(s)capes,expression

Ostensibly, subtitles in films serve as linguistic approximations of meaning. Expectedly then, much of the debate surrounding subtitling has been concerned with representational accuracy, fidelity and authenticity. In this article I argue that by encountering subtitles as affective bodily expressions, as opposed to approximate representations of pre-existent meanings or intentions, filmic experiences may be(come) transformed and differently transformational. As a result, meaning and accuracy in subtitles as superimposed signifiers or static representations become secondary to subtitles as spatially affective- and expressive-movements intimately part of filmic scapes. The creative use of subtitling in Bekmambetov’s Russian language film Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor; 2006 [2004]) is discussed.

China’s container-related dynamics, 1990–2005

This study seeks to gauge how far China’s container-related dynamics between 1990 and 2005 fit into the wider perspective about transport and development within developing countries. In particular, attention is focussed on the role of specific modes to determine the extent of the penetration of containers within China. Before addressing these key issues extant models relating to an understanding of port and transport evolution in less-developed countries are recalled, synthesized and used as a base upon which an appropriate review of China’s case can be conducted. Applying them to China’s northern, central and southern port ranges not only helps assess the efficacy of these models but also highlights the contribution of individual modes.

Contesting culture: a case study of commodification in Cuban music

After more than three decades of isolation from the West and a paralyzing economic crisis in the early 1990s, Cuba is increasingly globally active in both cultural and economic realms. In this paper I use Bourdieu’s (The fields of cultural production, 1993) fields of cultural production as a general frame through with to inspect the commercialization of Cuban music. Through a case study with Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, the creator of the Buena Vista Social Club, I explore the dialectical relationship of music as an expression of cultural and a cultural asset, and at the same time a commodity for the international market. I show that de Marcos uses his position between the international music industry and the local music scene in order to preserve cultural authenticity and survive economically. In doing so he challenges the all-to-typical place of the artist in the contested space of cultural production between the West and the Third World.

Climate change impacts on groundwater recharge- uncertainty, shortcomings, and the way forward?

An integrated approach to assessing the regional impacts of climate and socio-economic change on groundwater recharge is described from East Anglia, UK. Many factors affect future groundwater recharge including changed precipitation and temperature regimes, coastal flooding, urbanization, woodland establishment, and changes in cropping and rotations.Important sources of uncertainty and shortcomings in recharge estimation are discussed in the light of the results. The uncertainty in, and importance of, socio-economic scenarios in exploring the consequences of unknown future changes are highlighted. Changes to soil properties are occurring over a range of time scales, such that the soils of the future may not have the same infiltration properties as existing soils. The potential implications involved in assuming unchanging soil properties are described.To focus on the direct impacts of climate change is to neglect the potentially important role of policy, societal values and economic processes in shaping the landscape above aquifers. If the likely consequences of future changes of groundwater recharge, resulting from both climate and socio-economic change, are to be assessed, hydrogeologists must increasingly work with researchers from other disciplines, such as socio-economists, agricultural modellers and soil scientists.

Airline data for global city network research: reviewing and refining existing approaches

Information on air passenger flows is potentially a prime data source for assessing spatial patterns in the global city network, but previous analyses have been hampered by inadequate and/or partial data. The ensuing analytical deficiencies have reduced the overall value of these analyses, and this paper examines how some of these deficiencies may be rectified. First, we review the rationale for using airline data to analyse the global city network. Second, we assess the data problems encountered in previous research. Third, we elaborate on the construction of datasets that may circumvent some of these problems. The proposed refinements include the omission of the hub function of major airports and ways to extract relevant business flows from the data.

Tornado shelters and the manufactured home parks market

Manufactured or mobile homes represent a fast growing portion of the housing market but are particularly vulnerable to tornadoes. In the US over 40% of tornado fatalities occur in mobile homes even though they comprise about 8% of US housing units. We examine the market for tornado shelters in manufactured home parks in Oklahoma. Almost 60% of parks in the state have shelters, with 90% of the shelters underground. Parks with shelters are not concentrated in urban areas but spread across the state, with parks with shelters in 32 counties. We find that rents for lots in parks with shelters are 5–8% higher, which generates sufficient revenue to approximately pay for shelters, but the point estimate is statistically significant in only one specification.