Areas of intensive livestock agriculture as emerging alternative economic spaces?

The ideal of the intensification of agriculture has vanished in developed market economies as the outcomes of conventional production have caused growing environmental problems, in particular in areas with a high concentration of livestock. There is also a growing concern notable about animal welfare issues, accompanied by the belief that agricultural production needs to move away from an conventional agriculture towards one that is loosely defined as ‘alternative’. This paper uses the concept of multifunctionality as a lens for describing and explaining the nature of rural change in Germany. I argue that the case study example of the Oldenburger Münsterland illustrates that multifunctionality rates weakly as agricultural practice in production systems dominated by a conventional food regime and – hence – a transition towards diversity and resilience has to occur within conventional agriculture. In spite of the popularity of the idea that areas of intensive livestock farming might have been gradually transformed into emerging alternative economic spaces, the principle of coexistence between ‘productivist’ and ‘non-productivist’ practices poses major challenges. In particular the scarcity of agricultural land hinders the transition into ‘alternative’ food futures in the Oldenburger Münsterland, while the doubts about conventional agriculture and the industrialized food industry rise in an unprecedented way in German society.     

Is the world's economic centre of gravity already in Asia?

This paper proposes a novel and simple measure of the world's economic centre of gravity. Over the recent decades, this centre has shifted towards Asia, but is still located in Europe.     

Spain. Regional differences in population density in 1986: the end of a process of increasing internal disequilibrium?

This is an analysis of regional differences in population trends in Spain during the twentieth century. Data are from a variety of official sources, including the censuses of 1900, 1960, 1970, and 1981. The author notes that up until 1975, interregional migration flows had acccentuated regional economic differences. However, the economic problems that have occurred since 1975, coupled with the political changes associated with greater regional autonomy, have resulted in new trends in internal migration that could have significant effects on the future distribution of the country's population.     

Suburban gentrification? Examining the geographies of New Urbanism in Atlanta’s inner suburbs

Since the 1990s, Atlanta’s inner suburbs have experienced rising rates of poverty alongside growing racial/ethnic diversity. ? Meanwhile, on the built landscape, high-end (re)development projects incorporating New Urbanist features such as pedestrian accessibility, compact densities, and mixed land uses have become increasingly common. Although practitioners suggest that these developments promote social inclusivity and enhanced “livability,” individual cases suggest that some New Urbanist projects may be gentrifying underserved communities of color. This paper tests the extent of this concern by examining Atlanta's inner-suburban geographies of New Urbanism using a logit model. Results indicate that neighborhoods with older housing stock, more renters, lower incomes, lower rents relative to home prices, and higher Latino populations in close proximity to inner-suburban downtowns are most likely to be targeted for New Urbanist (re)development. Thus, despite the optimistic language, New Urbanism in this region appears to be serving as the inner-suburban face of gentrification.?     

Southern urbanism or a world of cities? Modes of enacting a more global urban geography in textbooks,teaching and research

Despite growing attentiveness to cities in the global south, questions remain as to how to enact a more global urban studies. We analyze five contemporary textbooks as a lens into how southern cities ought to be incorporated in teaching as well as the field of urban geography. We find both separate chapters for southern cities (southern urbanism), and southern cities integrated into existing thematic chapters (a world of cities). We further show that i) the global south is 2–33% of the content; ii) information about the south is typically more general than the north, but never as universal trends iii) representations differ not just in content but in style and iv) the south is exemplar or exception rather than as a source of theory. We suggest that geographers must continue their efforts in thinking about how southern cities should be incorporated in urban geography in and outside the classroom.     

The role of money in China’s urban production: the local property industry in Qujing,a fourth-tier city

What has made the urbanization of capital possible in China since the late 1990s? A major strand of literature in urban geography has pointed out land as the main trigger of urbanization. Scholars have highlighted the empowerment of local governments and their subsequent role in implementing China’s national urbanization objectives because of substantial revenues from the commodification of land. Other scholars have looked beyond the supply side, emphasizing the role of demand in stimulating urban development in China. In terms of demand, the speculative rationale of urban households aided land and property development during the 2000s, when property became a main alternative financial asset. However, this still raises the question of how urban production is financed. Based on a case study of the fourth-tier city of Qujing, in Yunnan province, this article investigates the financing of urban production from the perspective of the development industry. For the time being, little is known about how these companies finance their operations.     

Do Siberian marmots influence toad-headed agama occupancy? Examining the influence of marmot colonies and three steppe habitats in Mongolia

The Siberian marmot is a large, endangered rodent and often considered a keystone species because of its perceived effects on steppe ecosystems. However, few studies have examined the effects of marmots on other species. We examined the influence of marmots on toad-headed agama occupancy probability in an arid steppe region of Mongolia. We modeled the influence of marmot colonies and three habitats, including rocky outcrops, open plains, and shrubland using an occupancy modeling framework based on three surveys of 122 sites from June to August 2010. We detected agamas during 64% of surveys and at 85% of sites. Marmot colonies and their interactions with other habitats had little influence on occupancy probability at a given site. The amount of surrounding open plains and shrubland also showed little influence. Our results indicated toad-headed agama occupancy was inversely related to the amount of surrounding rocky outcrop. Rocky outcrop may be less suitable to agamas because of its sparse vegetation, lack of burrows, and heat-absorbing qualities. Although marmots affect the distribution of other species, our results suggest they exert little influence on toad-headed agamas. We also suggest that the creation of rocky habitat by mineral mining will negatively impact toad-headed agamas.     

Fishing in a congested sea: What do marine protected areas imply for the future of the Maltese artisanal fleet?

Inshore artisanal fishing in Malta is under intense spatial competition as the coastal zone is fragmented by multiple uses and designations including maritime transport, infrastructure, industrial fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and recreation. This research, adopting a grounded visualization methodology, explains how the artisanal fishing sector has undergone and been affected by ‘spatial squeezing’. Our results show that artisanal fishermen have been forced to give up fishing grounds or co-exist with other uses to the point where the ability to fish is becoming increasingly challenging. These difficulties might escalate with the advent of the marine protected areas (MPAs) which encompass nearly half of the inshore fishing zones. Since there does not seem to be effective MPA consultation mechanisms that elicit the real social, cultural and economic value of artisanal fishing grounds, fishermen feel threatened, alienated and disempowered. This study urges for a more holistic approach to spatial marine planning and accentuates the need of realizing the dependency of the artisanal sector on the inshore zones in the implementation of conservation measures, such that the prolonged existence of the coastal fishing communities is not jeopardized.     

Does the invisible hand have a green thumb? Incentives, linkages, and the creation of wealth out of industrial waste in Victorian England

'Loop closing', that is, the creation of waste recycling linkages between different industries, has been hailed as a means of simultaneously achieving improved economic and environmental performance. As a result of the widespread assumption that traditional market incentives and institutions are not conducive to such an outcome, however, there remains a fair amount of scepticism as to what the capacity of business self-interest to promote this behaviour actually is. This article challenges the dominant negative perspective by discussing by-product development in one of the most market-oriented societies in human history, Victorian England. Building on nineteenth and early twentieth century writings on the topic, as well as a more detailed analysis of the development of valuable by-products from highly problematic iron and coal gas production residuals, a case is made that the search for increased profitability within the context of private property rights often simultaneously promoted economic and environmental progress in the long run, as well as on different geographical scales.     

What are the transitions of woodlands at the landscape level? Change trajectories of forest,non-forest and reclamation woody vegetation elements in a mining landscape in North-western Czech Republic

This study answers the following research questions: 1) What are the change trajectories of woody vegetation elements at the landscape level? 2) What are the differences in change trajectories amongst the various categories of forest, non-forest and reclamation woody vegetation? 3) How do the change trajectories differ in mining and non-mining landscapes? The study area, measuring 209.6 km², is located in the north-western part of the Czech Republic and may be broken down into 76.8 km² of mining landscape and 132.8 km² of non-mining landscape. Brown coal mining began in this region during the second half of the 18th century and led to the radical transformation of the landscape, including woodlands, during the second half of the 20th century. The source data for this study was obtained from the original stable cadastre maps (1842) and the landscape field mapping performed in 2010. The various woody vegetation elements (forest, non-forest, and reclamation woody plants) and land use/cover (LULC) categories were identified. The GIS symmetrical difference tool was subsequently used to perform an overlay analysis for the individual woody vegetation elements in order to study the change trajectories and to obtain information about the woodlands that have remained unchanged (continuous), the ones that have disappeared (extinct), and the ones that have newly appeared in the landscape (recent). In the case of the non-mining landscape, the total proportion of woodlands has increased (from 17 to 32%), but there has been a decline in the overall volume of forest woody plants found in these areas (from 93 to 74%). As far as the mining landscape is concerned, there has also been an increase in the area covered by woodlands (from 10 to 20%), however, the proportion of forest woody plants has decreased to a much greater extent (from 90 to 31%). From the perspective of extinct woody vegetation, 23.3% of all types of woodlands in the mining landscape may be classified as such, as compared to 10.8% in the non-mining landscape. The primary causes of this decline are mining activities and newly built-up areas. More continuous woody vegetation may be found in the non-mining landscape (42.1%) as compared to the mining landscape (15.4%). Recent woody vegetation, which has primarily replaced grasslands and partially arable land, prevails in both the mining (61.3%) as well as the non-mining (47.1%) landscapes. Different categories of woodlands (forest, non-forest, and reclamation woody vegetation elements) exhibit various change dynamics due to their different structure and the functions they serve. At the most basic level, there has been an overall increase in the occurrence of woodlands in the studied areas. However, once GIS spatial analysis is applied it is possible to see more complex processes in the development of woodland areas as characterised by gains and losses, and it is possible to identify mining and agricultural extensification as the two most significant factors behind the historical changes. Mining leads to a direct decrease in the area of woodlands; conversely, the spontaneous succession of vegetation resulting from agricultural extensification and forest reclamation facilitates woodland recovery. Forest reclamation and reforestation are essential on order to ensure the time continuity of woodlands in both types of landscape, i.e. mining and non-mining. The study presented in this paper proves that it is relevant to analyse the changes occurring in different woodland categories separately. The same methodology may be applied when studying the change dynamics of other important landscape elements, such as wood pastures and wetlands.     

Who owns the name? Fandom,social inequalities and the contested renaming of a football club in Timişoara,Romania

ABSTRACT

Recent scholarship in critical toponymy has raised questions about the impacts on urban residents of selling naming rights and the possibility of contesting the commodification of urban place names. This article examines these issues using Poli Timi?oara, the major football team of Timi?oara, Romania, as a case study. The cash-strapped local authority sold the naming rights for the team to raise revenue. However, when the club’s private owner was unable to finance the team, the local authority reacquired the naming rights of Poli, now under the name Asocia?ia Club Sportiv Poli (a new team with a small fan base). Drawing on the everyday narratives of fans, this article explores how the commodification of a local club name can cause social tensions. This is important for understanding urban residents’ access, or lack thereof, to social capital resources and how this leads to the manifestation of social inequalities which co-determine fans’ reactions and responses to the change in the name of a sports team. The findings suggest that commodifying names can mobilize serious contestations among partisan groups about who owns the name, although such contestations appear to be on uncertain ground because of post-communist urban practices of delayed economic restructuring.     

“Is there a bubble to burst?”-college students’ spatial perception of campus and the city,a case study of rhodes college in memphis,TN

ABSTRACT

This paper builds on the study of student geography by critically examining college students’ perceived space of a university campus and the surrounding urban space. Rhodes College is a liberal arts college situated in the city of Memphis. As a campus with a majority white population located in a predominately black city, Rhodes College exists within but often separate from the city. It serves as a perfect case study to investigate how the college students build relationships with the environment within and beyond the campus. By using mental mapping and focus groups, this research unpacks four spatialities that shape college students’ perception of the urban space: (in)activity space, (im)mobility, boundaries, and center. This research demonstrates that student geography can be gendered, classed and racialized. The perceived space is socially constructed, and is reinforced by the lived and material space. Finally, this paper provides implications to facilitate deeper connections between students, the campus, and the city.     

How to identify transitional geospace in mountainous areas? An approach using a transitional index from the perspective of coupled human and natural systems

The coupling of humans and nature differs in terms of distribution and intensity, thus producing a gradient of synthetic geographical environments. Within this variety of gradients, the transitional zone represents a complex space where dynamic processes and unstable conditions are observed. Based on the concepts of ecotone and transitional zone, we propose a conceptual framework for the transitional geospace of coupled human and natural systems and a quantitative identification method for the z...