Same as it Ever Was? Stability and Change Over 15 Years in a Rural District in Southeastern Australia

Using longitudinal survey data, this paper explores stability and change in values, beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge among rural landholders. Existing theories predict varying degrees of stability in these constructs. This paper tests these assumptions through data collected by four cross-sectional surveys of rural landowners (>10?ha), completed in one region between 2002 and 2016. The study area includes a mix of social landscapes but agriculture is the dominant land use. Results reveal significant change in measured constructs over time. Nearly all of the items assessing values changed significantly across the study period (seven of eight held values, ten of eleven assigned values). Most belief items (three of five), half of the attitude items (two of four), and all eleven knowledge items also experienced change. While statistically significant, most of the identified changes were relatively modest in scope. Findings suggest the value of longitudinal research to better understand dynamic psychological and social constructs.     

Ageing research in Australia: reflecting on Graeme Hugo’s four decades of contribution

ABSTRACT

Globally, population ageing is one of the most pressing social and policy issues faced today. Over the next two decades, Australian society will face dramatic increases in the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over, as the baby boomers move into older age and fertility levels remain low. Yet population ageing is not a surprising or new trend—demographic changes in the age profile of a population tend to occur incrementally rather than suddenly. As a demographer and geographer, Graeme Hugo drew attention to this trend in Australia’s population more than three decades ago. Throughout Graeme Hugo’s vast breadth of work over the past 40 years, there has been a consistent thread of demographic analysis and academic thought associated with the ageing of Australia’s population. This paper focuses on Hugo’s contributions to academic thought and policy on Australia’s ageing population and the challenges associated with this for both service delivery and health policy as Australian society moves into an unprecedented era of population ageing.     

Mobility Patterns of Overseas Human Capital in Australia: the role of a ‘new’ graduate visa scheme and rural development policy

In 2007, the Australian federal government introduced a ‘new’ graduate visa scheme, the 485 visa sub-class. This visa facilitates the transition from student to worker for overseas graduates from Australian higher education institutions, with the potential to significantly increase their numbers in the country. At the same time, local governments have introduced various policies designed to attract and retain human capital in rural areas to address the shortfall of highly skilled individuals. This paper redresses the current lack of research into the spatial dynamics of overseas human capital in Australia and their relation to the new visa scheme in combination with shifts in rural development policies. Drawing on survey data of graduates describing the ‘before’ (2005) and ‘after’ (2008) periods of the introduction of the 485 visa scheme, this paper shows that the propensity of overseas graduates to move between Australia's regions has increased substantially. In particular, there have been an increasing proportion of overseas graduates moving to major cities despite rural development policy efforts to attract human capital to rural areas. However, these policy efforts appear to have attracted overseas graduates with particular qualifications (education and health) to work in such locales.     

Perceptions of Environmental Change and Climate Concern Among Idaho’s Farmers

Climate change public opinion research has identified conservative political ideology as the primary predictor of skepticism about climate change’s anthropogenic causes. Most farmers in Idaho are politically conservative, but they are also a unique group for whom observing their environment is part of daily life and work. We use data from in-depth interviews with 30 Idaho farmers to examine the relationship between observations of specific environmental changes and climate concern. We find that while most farmers report noticing changes in precipitation patterns, growing season length, and winter temperatures, few farmers connect these with long-term global climate change. These findings have two important implications: 1) direct experience, even in the form of disruption to an individual’s economic security, is not enough to overcome the influence of political ideology on climate change beliefs, and 2) acknowledging climate variation is not sufficient to convince individuals that the changes are produced by human activities.     

Meeting the Challenge of Systemic Change in Geography Education: Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s Young Geographers

The history of K–12 geography education has been characterized by recurrent high hopes and dashed expectations. There have, however, been moments when the trajectory of geography education might have changed to offer students the opportunity to develop a thorough working knowledge of geography. Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s geography program developed in the 1920s and 1930s was brilliant in its conception and execution but it did not lead to large-scale systemic change. Analyzing the origins, development, and outcome of her program suggests the conditions that facilitate and inhibit systemic change, and therefore perhaps we can learn to capitalize on comparable moments in the future.     

Seeds for Change? Attaining the benefits of community gardens through council policies in Sydney,Australia

Modern industrial systems of food production cause a wide range of detrimental impacts to the environment, human health and society. Integrating community gardens into local food systems is one way to counteract some of those impacts. This research looks at the elements that community garden policies should contain in order to best promote community gardens and attain their benefits. Focusing on Sydney, the research evaluates and compares the quality of the community garden policies with the distribution of community gardens in local councils and across broader geographic regions. Councils or regions that might benefit from greater access to community gardens are identified and ways in which councils, and the Sydney Region as a whole, might improve their community garden policies are discussed.     

Population development in rural areas of the United States in the 1980s: turnaround of trends or continuity?

"The article analyses the population growth in rural counties of the U.S.A. for 1970-80 and 1980-86. The growth rates are examined on different levels of aggregation (individual counties, subregions and regions) and in relation to several possible determinants of growth. The main objective of the study is to examine whether the growth patterns in the eighties support the hypothesis of a turnaround in the population development of rural areas.... The results reveal a diversity of growth patterns and significant regional differences. Rural counties within the daily urban system of a metropolitan area have significantly higher growth rates than peripheral rural counties. The results do not support the notion of a turnaround of long established trends. The trends in the eighties bear more resemblance to traditional growth patterns of rural areas." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

‘Let this forest for ever rest’:* tracking protest and identity in Australia’s forests

ABSTRACT

Exploitation of natural resources has long been a flashpoint for contention in Australia. This is clear in the case of forest management, where groups advocating protection have faced off against state and industry actors. The move towards multifunctionalism that recognises different values in the management of natural resources has led to a search for alternative solutions. In the case of forestry, introduction of Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) in the 1990s sought to devolve responsibility to the States, while striking a balance between economic and environmental considerations. The aim of this paper is to identify how forest activism has developed since the RFA process began and its significance in relation to changes in land use. The paper draws on a protest event catalogue of forest-related events over the 1997–2017 period to identify the intensity, tactics and location of such actions. The findings suggest that state action has reduced the intensity of contention, in line with changes in resource management practices. However, they also point to the importance of identity and its link to the social construction of resources in determining the ability of actors to de-escalate and find solutions.     

Community Conflicts and Armed Militancy in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: Change and Continuity?

This article explores the complex relationship between communal conflicts and antistate armed militancy in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Based on fieldwork in rural communities, the research found that individuals who emerged as dominant actors as a result of their involvement in communal conflict were at the forefront of antistate militancy. The article highlights the role of antistate militancy in the Niger Delta in the emergence of new elites in local communities. It argues that antistate militants who became new elites in local communities are now being integrated into the network of Nigeria’s ruling class. Meanwhile, ordinary civilians that were not involved in antistate militancy continue to contest the dominance of these new elites in local communities. This situation tends to perpetuate community conflicts in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.     

A study of provincial differences in China’s eco-compensation framework

In this study, we developed a theoretical framework to analyze the provincial differences in eco-compensation and selected appropriate measurement methods to investigate these differences in the operation of the eco-compensation framework. Via the use of the coefficient of variation, Atkinson index, and Gini coefficient, we investigated the overall differences in Chinese provincial eco-compensation time series data from 2004 to 2014 and studied the driving mechanism underlying these differences. The results showed that: (1) The provincial eco-compensation standard has geographical features. For example, the provinces crossed by the “HU Huanyong Line”, or located to its northwestern side, have obtained extensive eco-compensation. (2) There was a trend for differences in eco-compensation to increase over time, but with some fluctuations in 2006, 2009, and 2014 as shown by the coefficient of variation, in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014 as shown by the Gini coefficient, and in 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012 as shown by the Atkinson index. (3) Time series curves indicated that while the signals from the three metrics (coefficient of variation, Atkinson index, and Gini coefficient) differ in a short-term analysis, they show the same tendency in the longer term. The results indicate that it is necessary to evaluate the differences in eco-compensation at the provincial level over a long period of time. (4) Via the calculation of the virtual Gini coefficient, we found that among the factors that influence provincial differences in eco-compensation, the economic value of eco-resources played the decisive role, explaining more than 73% of the difference. The cost of environmental pollution abatement was the second most important factor, accounting for more than 19% of the difference. The input to environmental pollution abatement had the least influence, accounting for less than 8% of the difference. The results agreed with those obtained from other studies, and could be used as a reference by policy makers.     

Progress of economic geography in China’s mainland since 2000

Economic geography in China’s mainland has developed in a different way from that in many other countries. On the one hand, it has been increasingly active in participating in academic dialogues and knowledge development led by Anglophone countries; on the other hand, it takes practice-based and policy-oriented research, i.e. satisfying the demands from the Chinese government and society, as the linchpin of research. Since there has been a lot of literature reviewing the development of economic geography in the country before the new millennium, this paper will make a comprehensive analysis of the discipline in 2000–2015, based on a bibliometric survey and research projects done by Chinese economic geographers. The analysis indicates that (1) economic geography research in China’s mainland is unevenly distributed but concentrated in several leading institutions; (2) traditional research fields like human-nature system, regional disparity, industrial location and transportation geography remain dominant while new topics such as globalization, multinational corporations and foreign direct investments, information and communication technology, producer services, climate change and carbon emission emerge as important research areas; (3) Chinese economic geography is featured by policy-oriented research funded by government agencies, having considerable impacts on regional policy making in China, both national and regional. To conclude, the paper argues that the development of economic geography in China’s mainland needs to follow a dual track in the future, i.e. producing knowledge for the international academic community and undertaking policy-oriented research to enhance its role as a major consulting body for national, regional and local development.     

Modelling population retention in Australia’s Northern Territory – how do current forms of migration contribute to population turnover and retention?

ABSTRACT

In the past, population growth in Australia's Northern Territory, as in other peripheral parts of high-income countries, has been driven by internal labour migration and migration from outside of Australia. These have been contributing to the high population turnover experienced in peripheral areas. Since 2010, the Northern Territory has experienced low (and even negative) population growth, and public policy is currently focused on migration as a lever to reverse this trend. However, the extent to which the characteristics of migrants influence the potential for longer-term population growth is poorly understood. This paper uses a new method to analyse the contributions of various types of migrants to both population turnover and retention. Two major sets of findings emerge: First, the significance of separating newer in-migrants from longer-term residents when analysing migration patterns; and secondly, the contribution of age, gender, Indigenous status, international origin, wages and industry of employment to the Northern Territory's population turnover. The research suggests that current forms of migration favour people who are likely to stay for only short periods, and have high wage demands. The main policy inference is that long-term population growth will likely not eventuate unless new forms of migration can be stimulated.     

Population distribution and urbanization on both sides of the Hu Huanyong Line: Answering the Premier’s question

In late November 2014, while attending a science exhibition on human settlement at the National Museum, Premier Li Keqiang posed a question to society and scientists regarding the Hu Huanyong Line, which the media subsequently dubbed “the Premier’s question”. This increased awareness and interest in the Hu Huanyong Line and launched a lively debate which provoked a variety of views. In an attempt to address the Premier’s question, this paper firstly reviews the origins of the Hu Huanyong Line, named after the famous population geographer who proposed it in 1935 as part of a wider debate on domestic overpopulation. Using demographic data from China’s first, fifth and sixth censuses, as well as the ArcGIS platform, we analyze the size, proportion and density of populations in the areas southeast and northwest of the Hu Huanyong Line, showing that urbanization and migration have not changed the pattern of population distribution observed by Hu Huanyong. Based on this, we suggest that the pattern of a dense population southeast of the line and sparse population northwest of the line will not fundamentally change for a relatively long time, nor will the situation of urban agglomerations being mainly found in the southeastern region. We also argue that climate and other physical geographic conditions determine that the Hu Huanyong Line shall remain in place. We believe that the question posed by Premier Li Keqiang is solvable, and that with positive policy guidance and rational spatial organization, the northwestern region can achieve more modernization and better quality urbanization, while the same is true for the central region.     

The consequences of Brazil’s lack of transport planning is written in the blood of sparrows

The medium-sized cities of Brazil are those with populations of between 100,000 and 500,000 inhabitants. These cities are growing rapidly, and are characterized by poor urban planning, a loss of biodiversity and decreasing health prospects for residents. Historically, urbanization in Brazil has been associated with incentives to increase the use of private vehicles for local transport. The air pollution resulting from this “car dependency” has been quantified in some major cities in Brazil, such as the megacity of São Paulo. In this paper, we demonstrate through a bioindication study carried out in the Brazilian city of Rondonópolis, that atmospheric pollution resulting from vehicular emissions is also a measurable reality for medium-sized cities. Most Brazilian cities lack air quality measurement equipment, and we used an inexpensive and easy to apply bioindication assay to measure air pollution, and this approach could be easily implemented in those cities and beyond.     

Embodied land in China’s provinces from the perspective of regional trade

With the continuous enhancement of regional connectivity, the indirect use of land resources through the pathways of trade in goods and services plays an increasingly important role in the overall utilization of land resources. Despite this, relevant research in this field is still in its infancy, and few papers have addressed this issue. This paper uses a multi-regional input-output model to calculate the embodied land in the 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and eight regions of China from the perspective of regional trade and further analyzes the spatial pattern of characteristics associated with embodied land flows. The results show that the amount of embodied land occupied by China’s inter-regional trade accounts for 21.39% of the country’s total land, and an average of 38.54% of China’s provincial land demand is met by land exports from other provinces. More than 80% of land consumed by Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai is from other provinces. The provinces of Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Hebei are the largest net exporters of cultivated land, forest and grazing and aquatic land, fishery land, and built-up land, respectively (the outflows account for 42.26%, 27.53%, 38.66%, and 35.28% of the corresponding land types in the province); and Guangdong, Shandong, and Zhejiang are the main net importers. The flow of agricultural land (cultivated land, forest land, grazing land, and aquatic land) generally shows a shift from west to east and from north to south. The regions in northeast and northwest China have the largest scale of agricultural land outflows, mainly into East and South China. In addition, 8.43% of cultivated land, 7.47% of forest land, 6.41% of grazing land, 6.88% of aquatic land, and 18.35% of built-up land in China are provided for foreign use through international trade. This paper provides feasible ideas and a theoretical basis for solving the contradiction between land use and ecological protection, which could potentially help to achieve sustainable land use in China.     

Fast-growing firms as elements of change in Canada’s headquarters city system

This research explores the factors that shape the evolving geographic distribution of business headquarters (HQ) activity. We address an understudied influence on HQ geographies: metropolitan HQ changes driven by the process of small, rapidly expanding businesses growing into mature companies. This investigation focuses on the developmental paths followed by fast-growing firms (FGFs) and the geographic distinctions that can be observed in a FGF tracking study of Canada’s metropolitan regions from 1987 to 2005. Our research findings indicate that geography plays an important role in this development, as FGF tracking records throughout Canada’s metropolitan areas diverge sharply. We find that most FGFs that emerged in Vancouver and Toronto continued as ongoing businesses following their rapid growth phase, while a high proportion of FGFs based in Montréal and Calgary did not. These results contribute to a greater understanding of metropolitan economies, business development, and HQ location in Canada     

The drivers and spatial distribution of economic efficiency in China’s cities

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This study analyzes cities in China at the prefecture level and above to calculate indices for “urban economic efficiency” (the relationship between...     

Macassan/Indigenous Australian ‘sites of memory’ in the National Museum of Australia and Australian National Maritime Museum

For over two centuries people from Makassar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi came to northern Australia with the onset of the northeast monsoon winds. They came in search of trepang that, with the help of Indigenous Australians, they collected and traded on to China. Their impact on the Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land was considerable. Along with sharing language, technology and culture, they built relationships, many ongoing, that are celebrated in Yolngu art, song and stories. These stories of contact are well known to many archaeologists and anthropologists but for many Australians the only place where they come into contact with these stories is in a museum display. In this paper I examine the ways in which these stories are disseminated by two national museums, the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. As important ‘lieux de mémoire’ or ‘sites of memory’, they tell of Macassan visits to northern Australia as part of Australian history. In both cases not only are the stories situated in the past but both Macassan and Indigenous Australian voices are largely absent.