Transformation processes in Moscow and intra-urban stratification of population

Major trends of social restructuring of Moscow population and processes of intra-urban segregation are discussed. The article comprises two main parts. The first part deals with differences between the population of Moscow and that of Russia based on the main socio-economic indicators. In the second part, emphasis is placed on the urban processes of social stratification of the population on the basis of analysis of the demographic and employment patterns of the population and peculiarities of the functioning housing market. The merging of top government officials and new business elites is stressed. A conclusion is drawn about the variation of the character of urban population differentiation and its transition to a stage of property-based spatial segregation.     

Dynamics of land use/cover changes and the analysis of landscape fragmentation in Dhaka Metropolitan, Bangladesh

Rapid urban expansion due to large scale land use/cover change, particularly in developing countries becomes a matter of concern since urbanization drives environmental change at multiple scales. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has been experienced break-neck urban growth in the last few decades that resulted many adverse impacts on the environment. This paper was an attempt to document spatio-temporal pattern of land use/cover changes, and to quantify the landscape structures in Dhaka Metropolitan of Bangladesh. Using multi-temporal remotely sensed data with GIS, dynamics of land use/cover changes was evaluated and a transition matrix was computed to understand the rate and pattern of land use/cover change. Derived land use statistics subsequently integrated with landscape metrics to determine the impact of land use change on landscape fragmentation. Significant changes in land use/cover were noticed in Dhaka over the study period, 1975–2005. Rapid urbanization was manifested by a large reduction of agricultural land since urban built-up area increased from 5,500?ha in 1975 to 20,549?ha in 2005. At the same time, cultivated land decreased from 12,040 to 6,236?ha in the same period. Likewise, wetland and vegetation cover reduced to about 6,027 and 2,812?ha, respectively. Consequently, sharp changes in landscape pattern and composition were observed. The landscape became highly fragmented as a result of rapid increase in the built-up areas. The analysis revealed that mean patch size decreased while the number of patches increased. Landscape diversity declined, urban dominance amplified, and the overall landscape mosaics became more continuous, homogenous and clumped. In order to devise sustainable land use planning and to determine future landscape changes for sound resource management strategies, the present study is expected to have significant implications in rapidly urbanizing cities of the world in delivering baseline information about long term land use change and its impact on landscape structure.     

The urban political ecology of plastic bag waste problem in Nairobi, Kenya

Over 24 million plastic bags are consumed in Kenya monthly. More than half of the bags end up in the solid waste stream. Plastic bags now constitute the biggest challenge to solid waste management in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and home to three million people. As a result, plastic bag waste has attracted great political and public attention, especially because the waste has myriad unique environmental problems. This paper seeks to unravel the problem of plastic bag waste in Nairobi through an urban political ecological perspective. Urban political ecology has done much to excavate economic, political, and cultural processes, as well as ecological dynamics that create and re-create urban environments. Little has been done in this context with respect to urban solid waste problems, with the exception of urban political ecology of environmental justice. However, research done within the context of urban political ecology of environmental justice has mainly focused on solid waste problems in the Western World, particularly USA. Drawing on research conducted in Nairobi, as well literature on business and politics, and solid waste management in Kenya, this paper examines the nature of plastic bag waste problem, its political–economic roots and implications for environmental justice.     

The economic restructuring of Moscow in the international context

This paper deals with the trends of economic restructuring in Moscow in the 1990s under globalization and reforms. The comparison of structural shifts in Moscow with the largest cities of the West gives an idea about the position of the Russian capital on the trajectory of post-industrial transformation. The analysis covers three dimensions: a) general trends of post-industrial restructuring, b) the role of large cities in national economies, and c) universal and special trends of intra-urban transformation. The reforms of the 1990s initiated many new developments in the economic life of Moscow, making it more similar to the Western cities, both in general sectoral structure and intra-urban landscape. Nevertheless, Moscow still lags far behind the world cities as regards the stage of the most important post-industrial processes. The conflict between new market developments and the inherited patterns of the socialist city becomes one of the driving forces of the economic transformation in Moscow as a whole and in different types of its districts.     

The nature of urbanization in the gulf countries

This paper analyses the urban process in the oil producing countries of the Gulf. The mode of urbanization is identified as one characterized by an extreme case of primacy but with rates varying among the countries of the region. This pattern is related to the historical evolution of human settlements as affected by the local environmental qualities and the recent large scale development of urban infrastructures which favoured the already existing capital cities. The relative city growth rates are among the highest in the world but with a declining tendency which reflects expenditure patterns and the nature of the regional economies. The high growth rates are essentially due to massive foreign migration into the region and to extremely high natural increase rate — an abnormal condition in an urban process approaching saturation point. The role of these primate centres in the development of the region is undeniable and, furthermore, all indications suggest that this pattern of urban development will continue in the furture as it is, perhaps economically and politically less costly.     

海绵城市建设下城市地质调查工作方向与支撑作用——以徐州市为例

海绵城市——低影响开发雨水系统构建是一种新型的城市建设理念,是基于城市雨洪管理的一种可持续的城市建设模式,已被认为是破解水生态与城市发展失衡的最佳方式。在此背景下,城市地质调查工作需转型发展,应围绕海绵城市建设规划目标及低影响设施建设可能面临的地质问题,开展相应的调查工作。本文在分析海绵城市建设途径的基础上,提出了城市地质调查工作的发展方向,并以徐州城市地质调查工作为例,阐述了城市地质调查工作在海绵城市建设中的支撑作用。     

Research Progress on the Impact of Urbanization on Climate Change

The world has been undergoing a remarkable process of urbanization, especially in developing countries in recent years. The urbanization process has brought about great urban development and large population agglomeration, changes in production and lifestyle, and man-made disturbances such as greenhouse gas and pollution emissions. As the global urbanization process continues to advance, its impact on climate change continues to strengthen significantly. This paper mainly reviewed and summarized relevant researches from two aspects: the influence of urbanization on climate change and the mechanism of influence of urbanization on climate change. Urbanization causes regional warming and urban heat island effect, extreme events such as high temperature, heat wave and heavy rainfall increase in frequency, and also leads to increased urban flood risk. The increase of pollutant emission in the process of urbanization is the main cause of air quality deterioration. Urbanization also has an indirect impact on air quality by changing urban climate. Urbanization has an important impact on climatic factors such as relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine and cloud cover. The impacts of urbanization on climate change are mainly realized through underlying surface changes, greenhouse gas and pollution emissions, anthropogenic heat emissions and urban high heat capacity. Urbanization not only directly affects the regional/local climate, but also indirectly affects the regional/local climate by promoting global climate change. Therefore, the impact of urbanization on climate change has a global and regional multi-scale superposition effect.     

The changing economic environment for spatial policies in the third world

The prospects for economic growth among the developing countries of the world over the next two decades are not as promising as the experience of the last two decades. Aspects of the current world economic environment have implications for the pattern of urban growth in developing nations, and hence for the role of spatial policies. This paper outlines the U.N. projections for the growth of urban populations in the world. It then reviews the current external economic situation of the developing countries, faced by world economic recession and high levels of international indebtedness, before considering some of the implications of this situation for urban growth.     

北京城市洪涝问题与成因分析

利用社会经济统计数据和水文气象资料,探讨城市化背景下北京城市洪涝特征、形成机制及影响因素。近50年来城市内涝逐渐成为北京洪涝灾害的主要类型,随着城市化迅猛发展,城市内涝积水点数量在时间上表现为显著增加趋势,在空间上呈现出由内环逐步向外环扩张趋势,与城市化发展空间格局关系密切。从水循环的角度分析城市洪涝形成机制,指出区域气候变化和城市化发展改变了城市降水格局,汛期降水量和极端降水事件呈现下降趋势,但城区短历时强降水事件呈现增加态势;城市化发展改变了区域下垫面条件、城市流域产汇流特性和城市排水格局,进而影响了区域水循环过程和水量分配,在一定程度上增加了城市洪涝灾害风险;同时城市基础设施建设水平不足、排水排涝标准偏低、应急管理能力不足等因素,导致城市洪涝发生风险增加,降低了城市洪涝综合应对能力。     

苏南地区城乡聚落空间演化过程及其格局特征

当前,城乡聚落空间正由自然和经济社会条件存在差异的等级体系转变为密切联系的网络化结构,城乡融合已经成为中国城乡聚落空间演化发展的重要方向。以苏南地区为例,对20世纪90年代以来的城乡聚落空间演化过程及其格局特征进行分析,发现2000年以后城镇聚落扩张强度远高于乡村聚落,城乡聚落空间结构可进一步归纳为集中、双心、多核和密集4种基本格局。该研究对乡村振兴背景下的城乡聚落空间优化布局具有一定指导作用。     

Contested places: Squatting and the construction of `the urban' in Swiss cities

This paper examines urban social movements through a case study directed toward housing and urban culture in Berne, Switzerland. Urban movements set the stage for ways of understanding, interpreting, and challenging unspoken norms in city life. Taking an actor-oriented perspective, I focus on subjective motivations in forming a collective movement and relate these to a wider context of social change. The study is based on qualitative interviews with former squatters and participants in the movement.     

Water transport and urban development: Some geographical perspectives and propositions

This paper considers the water transport/urban development interface against the background of factors involved in urban transport systems and in the context of the broad field of transport geography. A typology is introduced to distinguish between land-based and water-based forms of transport, and between inter- and intra-urban systems. The paper also reports on responses to four propositions concerning transport and cities on water made to transport specialists in a variety of locations around the world.     

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality in Moscow

Doklady Earth Sciences - The results of an analysis of changes in the atmospheric air quality in Moscow during the lockdown period and the decline in business activity caused by the COVID-19...     

Blending in for a life less ordinary? Off the beaten track tourism experiences in the global city

Cities worldwide are becoming tourism destinations and tourism is at the centre of urban economic production built around networks and connections. Attractions within the city are driving regional economies. However, there is little information about the practices of the city by tourists and residents and how they change the understanding of the place as city and destination. Research still focus on reasons for tourists to be attracted to a city and their impacts. Yet, how this infusion is conceptualized in the touristified city remains unanswered. The objective of this paper is to conceptualize specific tourism trends in the urban context, where boundaries are becoming less visible and where network hospitality is an enabler of urban infusion. This concept paper is structured to correspond with the research propositions, an investigation of the infusion in the global city.     

城市景观格局动态及其规划的生态学探讨

城市作为人类的主要栖居地,其景观格局和生态效应直接影响到世界人口的生存质量。从景观生态学的视角出发,以国内外近年来关于城市景观格局动态及其生态效应的理论和实证研究为材料,整理并总结了城市景观格局的特征、研究方法和演变机制。在文献综述和具体案例分析的基础上,尝试性地提出城市景观格局动态的“类库兹涅茨曲线”现象,即在从城市化初期到城市发展相对成熟的一个周期内,景观破碎化程度呈现“快速增加—增速减缓—平稳下降”的过程,并探讨了这一规律的适用性和特征。在此基础上,进一步讨论了城市景观及其格局变化对生态环境的影响,指出在城市景观规划中充分结合生态学原理,是实现城市可持续发展的必经之路。     

上海城市地质信息化工作新模式初探

在知识经济时代,用信息技术来改变传统城市地质工作模式,这是城市地质工作发展的必然趋势.新形势下的上海城市地质信息化工作模式,是围绕城市地质数据中心,建立城市地质数据采集与处理、城市地质数据管理维护、城市地质数据分析应用、城市地质信息共享与服务、城市地质成果汇报与展示等几个主要信息化环节.城市地质信息化新工作模式的建立,将进一步推动城市地质调查工作的进展.     

Rank-size distribution and primate city characteristics in India — A temporal analysis

This paper is an analysis of the historical change in city size distribution in India from the perspectives provided by Zipf and Jefferson. Rank-size distribution at national level and primate city-size distribution at regional levels are examined. India's national urban system is gradually evolving towards Zipf's rank-size distribution. But primate cities have persisted in three of the four macro-regions in India. The paper also examines, in the Indian context, the relation between rank-size distribution and an integrated urban system, and the normative nature of the latter as a spatial organization of human society. Finally, we have made a modest attempt to locate the research on city-size distribution, especially Berry's system-theoretic interpretation of rank-size distribution, on the realm of the political economy of urbanization.     

近15a乌鲁木齐市城市用地扩展动态及其空间特征研究

以乌鲁木齐市为例,在遥感和GIS技术的支持下,对干旱区城市土地利用结构、空间格局动态变化与城市扩展的空间特征进行定量分析.采用1987年、2002年两期陆地卫星影像为基础数据源,提取了研究时段内乌鲁木齐城市土地利用变化信息;结合景观生态学原理和方法,对研究区城市景观的动态变化进行定量分析.并引入建成区空间密度作为定量指标,分析总结了乌鲁木齐市扩展变化的空间特征.结果表明,1987-2002年间乌鲁木齐城市土地利用状况发生了较大的变化:城市建成区和绿地面积增长,水体面积减少;景观斑块分离度增强,边界构成曲折化,整体格局趋于复杂;在空间上,城市扩展主要沿西、西北及东北3个主要方向进行,并形成了建成区密度由内而外递减的空间分异特征.     

Modelling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based cellular automata and SLEUTH models: the case of Sana’a metropolitan city, Yemen

An effective and efficient planning of an urban growth and land use changes and its impact on the environment requires information about growth trends and patterns amongst other important information. Over the years, many urban growth models have been developed and used in the developed countries for forecasting growth patterns. In the developing countries however, there exist a very few studies showing the application of these models and their performances. In this study two models such as cellular automata (CA) and the SLEUTH models are applied in a geographical information system (GIS) to simulate and predict the urban growth and land use change for the City of Sana’a (Yemen) for the period 2004–2020. GIS based maps were generated for the urban growth pattern of the city which was further analyzed using geo-statistical techniques. During the models calibration process, a total of 35 years of time series dataset such as historical topographical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imageries was used to identify the parameters that influenced the urban growth. The validation result showed an overall accuracy of 99.6 %; with the producer’s accuracy of 83.3 % and the user’s accuracy 83.6 %. The SLEUTH model used the best fit growth rule parameters during the calibration to forecasting future urban growth pattern and generated various probability maps in which the individual grid cells are urbanized assuming unique “urban growth signatures”. The models generated future urban growth pattern and land use changes from the period 2004–2020. Both models proved effective in forecasting growth pattern that will be useful in planning and decision making. In comparison, the CA model growth pattern showed high density development, in which growth edges were filled and clusters were merged together to form a compact built-up area wherein less agricultural lands were included. On the contrary, the SLEUTH model growth pattern showed more urban sprawl and low-density development that included substantial areas of agricultural lands.     

Reconstructing South African cities: Contemporary strategies and processes in the urban core

In the 1990s, South Africa and its cities have entered an unprecedented era of change. This transition has been characterised by a burgeoning of civil society and negotiation processes around the key policy and development challenges facing the country. Within this context, the beginnings of a new post-apartheid urban reconstruction era has been marked by the dual challenges of neutralising the damaging anomalies created in cities by apartheid urban engineering, and of shaping efficient, functional and well-managed cities for the future. The core areas or central city zones of the major metropolitan complexes — comprising inner city residential components and central business district economic sectors — are now emerging as a priority area in urban reconstruction. This paper briefly outlines the evolution of the South African central city within the context of overall metropolitan morphology, before considering several of the key issues and processes currently shaping inner city and CBD zones.