The environmental protection of landscapes in the high semiarid Mediterranean mountain of Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain): Historical evolution and future perspectives

Sierra Nevada is a protected mountain in the Iberian Peninsula classified as a Biosphere Reserve (1986), Natural Park (1989) and National Park (1999). All these environmental protection programmers are a consequence of its unique landscape in the context of the mid-latitude semiarid mountains, with enclaves of exceptional scientific and cultural value. Thanks to its high altitude, Sierra Nevada held the southernmost Quaternary glaciers in Europe, as well as it happened during the Little Ice Age. In turn, Sierra Nevada is also singular thanks to its vast cultural heritage, since very early societies settled on its slopes and valleys and accommodate their lifestyles and economy to the characteristics of this mountain environment. Currently, Sierra Nevada has become an important tourist centre and receives a large amount of visitors. This process of change has conditioned the implementation of a different economic model: it brings benefits to the populations but it involves changes in the landscape as well, sometimes questionable. From this perspective, a critical revision of the legislation is required balancing the sustainable economic development of the population and the preservation and safeguarding of the heritage values of the landscape. With this goal, we suggest creating and implementing the Sites of Geomorphological Interest.     

Spatial Patterns of Migration and Income Change in the Mountain West: The Dominance of Service‐Based,Amenity‐Rich Counties

One of the most recognizable and important changes occurring in the West is rapid population growth. This article intends to address questions associated with whether patterns of population growth and income migration are associated with “new” and “old” West economies. Rural restructuring in the U.S. has created a group of counties with service‐based economies. In the Mountain West, a number of counties with service‐based economies are located in areas with high levels of environmental or natural amenities, creating what has been termed the “New West.” Migration to the rural parts of the Mountain West, and the income transfers associated with migration, are increasingly concentrated within these New West counties. Rapid population growth, the changing characteristics of in‐migrants, and their spatial concentration in New West counties provide a basis for conflicts over what the rural West is becoming.     

Glacial erosion and relief production in the Eastern Sierra Nevada,California

The proposal that climate change can drive the uplift of mountain summits hinges on the requirement that glacial erosion significantly enhances the relief of a previously fluvially sculpted mountain range. We have tested this hypothesis through a systematic investigation of neighbouring glaciated and nonglaciated drainage basins on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, CA. We present a simple, objective method for investigating the relief structure of a drainage basin, which shows noticeable differences in the spatial distribution of relief between nonglaciated and glaciated basins. Glaciated basins on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada have only ∼80 m greater mean geophysical relief than nonglaciated basins. This “extra” relief, though, is attributable principally to the larger size of the glaciated basins, as geophysical relief generally increases with basin size. The glaciers on this side of the range were only responsible for relief production if they substantially increased headward erosion rates into low relief topography, such as an elevated plateau, and thus enlarged previously fluvial basins. We carried out a preliminary morphometric analysis to elucidate the importance of this effect and found that the glaciers of the eastern Sierra Nevada may have eroded headward at considerably faster rates than rivers, but only when they were not obstructed from doing so by either competing larger glaciers in adjacent valleys or transfluent ice at the head of the basin. Our results also suggest that, in temperate regions, alpine glaciers are capable of eroding downward at faster rates than rivers above the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). Although we can rule out significant peak uplift in response to local relief production, in the special case of the Sierra Nevada the concentration of mass removal above the ELA could have contributed to flexural uplift at the edge of a tilting block.     

Property advertising and the representational production of suburbia: “Functional suburbs” and “lifestyle suburbs” in Auckland

This paper joins literature on suburban advertising with Lefebvre's concept of representational space to analyse property advertisements as part of the representational production of suburban space. Based on comparative analysis of advertising material for suburban residential developments on Auckland's “North Shore” in two time‐periods—1950s and 2010s—the paper examines changes and continuities in thematic content. While property advertisements in the mid‐1900s emphasised the “functional suburb,” paying attention to attributes such as quality of utilities and proximity to the central city, more recently advertisements have more strongly emphasised the “lifestyle suburb,” with a focus on middle‐class community and natural amenity.     

深圳农民工集聚空间的演变特征及影响机制

以2000年、2010年人口普查数据和2008年珠江三角洲外来农民工问卷调查为基础数据,以街道为单元,运用数理统计分析和GIS空间技术揭示深圳农民工集聚空间演变特征及其影响机制。研究发现：① 深圳农民工以青年为主体,具有受教育水平高、职业转型模式多样、留城意愿较低和社会空间分异度较高等特征。② 农民工规模呈现西北部最高、中部其次、沿海最低的地带性分布规律,农民工高密度地区主要分布在工业集中区和城市中心区;热点区（高聚集区）集中在西部和北部的宝安区和龙华新区,冷点区（低聚集区）则分布在南部的中心城区,与传统制造业布局相一致。③ 农民工空间演化格局相对稳定,全市农民工分布重心逐步向西北偏移;全市农民工集中度略有上升,热点区基本稳定,冷点区有所扩大;农民工人口密度高值由“1个高中心+1个外围中心”逐步演变为“1个高中心+2个外围中心”;农民工空间变化差异较大,增长演变类型呈多样化。④ 深圳农民工分布的时空演变特征与常住人口存在较为明显的差异。⑤ 农民工集聚空间的分布演变受住房因素、就业机会、交通条件、社会网络、城市规划共同影响。     

中国人口收缩的城乡分异特征及形成机理

在县市尺度上对2000-2010年人口收缩区的城乡分异特征进行分析,划分出城增乡减型、城乡双收缩型和城减乡增型等类型,并建立人口收缩城乡分异的理论分析框架,探讨了不同类型的形成机理,主要的发现如下:①2000-2010年,人口收缩单元占比约为38.6％,城增乡减型单元占据绝对主体,达到34.5％,而"城乡双收缩型"和"...     

Vulnerability to Hurricane Damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast Since 1950

We study hurricane risk on the U.S. Gulf Coast during 1950‐2005, estimating the wind damage and storm surge from every hurricane in this extended period. Wind damage is estimated from the known path and wind speeds of individual storms and calibrated to fit actual damage reports for a sample of Gulf Coast storms. Storm surge is estimated using the SLOSH model developed by NOAA. These models provide the first comprehensive overview of the hurricane storm hazard as it has been experienced over a fifty‐six‐year period. We link the estimated damage with information on the population and specific socio‐demographic components of the population (by age, race, and poverty status). Results show that white, young adult, and nonpoor populations have shifted over time away from zones with higher risk of wind damage, while more vulnerable population groups–the elderly, African Americans, and poor—have moved in the opposite direction. All groups have moved away from areas with high risk of storm surge since 1970. But in this case, perhaps because living near the water is still perceived as an amenity, those at highest risk are whites, elderly, and nonpoor households. Here exposure represents a trade‐off between the risk and the amenity.     

EVIDENCES FROM HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS OF LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION AFTER LITTLE ICE AGE OF A MEDITERRANEAN HIGH MOUNTAIN AREA,SIERRA NEVADA,SPAIN (EIGHTEENTH TO TWENTIETH CENTURIES)

The Sierra Nevada is the highest mountain system on the Iberian Peninsula (Mulhacén 3482 m; Veleta 3308 m) and is located in the extreme SE region of Spain (lat 37°N, long 3°W). Bibliographic resources, particularly from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, provide insights into the changing summit landscape as the effects of cold, ice, snow and wind shaped its morphology. The selected references emphasize the Sierra's evolving climate reflected in the glaciers and snow hollows, and in the sparse vegetation above certain altitudes. Scientists had established bioclimatic conditions for the entire range in the early nineteenth century, and their works reflect the progression of ideas, particularly in the area of natural sciences, that influenced the period chosen for this study. This information, in addition to current knowledge about the morphogenetic dynamics of the Sierra Nevada, provides the basis for a comparison of the dominant environments from the Little Ice Age to the present, using the most significant high mountain morphological features as a guide. The most relevant findings indicate that cold climate processes (soli‐gelifluction, frost creep and nivation) were more predominant during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than they are today.     

Air Pollution Exposure Index for New Zealand

This study proposes a regional air pollution exposure index (RAPEI) for Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Wellington regions. The air pollution index multiplies an emission index (NOx emissions kg/annum), a surrogate for ambient air pollution levels, with a population density index (people per sq km), a surrogate for population exposure. Census Area Units (CAUs), and subsequently defined “key areas” within a region are ranked from 0 to 16. This is one method of investigating the effectiveness of air quality monitoring networks and identifying urban exposure airsheds in New Zealand. Results verified New Zealand's urban exposure airsheds and highlighted areas that may be potential “hot spots” in terms of relatively high ambient air pollution levels and potentially high population exposures. It is possible that these areas should be closely monitored. The GIS‐based maps also show New Zealand's permanent and temporary air quality monitoring stations.     

新时期我国中心城市人口城镇化特征及其空间格局

在新一轮城镇化进程中,以人力资本为核心的创新经济逐步成为推动经济增长的动力引擎,省域中心城市作为人口聚集地的功能日益凸显。人口流动倾向影响着不同规模和行政等级城市之间的城镇体系重构,选取各个省域典型城市作为重点分析对象,通过我国城市人口最新数据统计测算,揭示出近期全国城镇化发展态势与大都市区域格局变化特征。结果发现,我国人口城镇化发展态势逐渐趋于平稳,不同地区、不同规模城市对人口的吸纳能力仍存在显著差异,各类直辖市、省会城市、副省级城市在人口集聚方面表现突出,传统港口城市、工业城市、省域副中心城市的人口吸引力逐步趋弱。其中,一级城市人口吸纳能力超强,二级城市成为人口重要集聚地,三级城市人口增速趋缓,四级城市人口吸引力平稳;可将之划分为“高/低规模”“高/低增长”四种不同组合类型。同时,城市人口的增长变化和人力资本竞争,显著影响了城市区域经济发展,特别是中西部地区省域中心城市实力日益增强,人口增长强劲,进而改变了传统东中西区域经济显著分异的格局,省会城市首位度表现出“高/低位序”“高/低集中”四种不同组合分布特征,且集中于“高位序、高集中”和“低位序、低集中”两种类型,分化格局相对明显。伴随着中国大都市的不断发育成熟,其逐步成为新时代创新经济和人口集聚的引领者。     

北京城市舒适性、差异性与创新能力的关系

城市舒适性对城市创新发展有重要影响,但对大都市区内部舒适性及差异性对城市创新能力的影响研究较少。以北京市为研究区域,利用耦合协调度模型和多元线性回归模型分析城市舒适性与创新能力的关系。研究发现：① 北京市总体舒适性分布特点是以中心城区为核心,随着距中心城区距离增加,城区的舒适性水平逐渐降低。② 北京生态环境舒适性呈现从西北地区向东南地区逐渐递减的特点,而人工环境和社会氛围的舒适性由中心向四周地区递减,各区的舒适性水平在空间分布上呈集聚状态,高-高型聚类集中在东城区、西城区、朝阳区、海淀区及丰台区,形成北京市“高舒适性”区域。③ 结合耦合协调度模型发现北京市除平谷区、密云区和延庆区,其他城区目前均处于高水平耦合阶段,海淀区、东城区、西城区、朝阳区、丰台区的创新能力和舒适性发展耦合协调度较高,但北京市各区也存在舒适性与城市创新之间发展相对滞后问题。④ 北京城市舒适性与创新能力存在正相关关系,但不同舒适性要素对创新能力的作用不同,文化教育条件对城市创新能力的影响强度最大,交通便利性和社会氛围对创新能力的作用次之。政策建议是要推进文化教育、交通条件等人工舒适性水平的相对均衡发展,提高各区的城市舒适性,以城市舒适性推动创新能力的提升。     

Reasons for Returning and Not Returning to Rural U.S. Communities

Population loss persists in nonmetropolitan America, especially in isolated counties with limited natural amenities. Communities in these counties experience high levels of outmigration among high school graduates, but low in-migration is more important in distinguishing declining from growing nonmetropolitan counties, and return migration is a much more prominent component of in-migration to these locationally disadvantaged areas. This research uses a multisited, interview-based methodology to understand the factors that influence decisions of people in their late twenties to late forties to move back to rural communities and the barriers that keep others from making such moves. The life course segment considered here captures a critical “settling down” period when career and family obligations overlap and return migration peaks. Interviews at high school reunions, the only venues where stayers, return migrants, and nonreturn migrants are found together, show that limited rural employment opportunities are barriers for nonreturnees. Others intent on returning find ways to secure or create employment but are primarily influenced to move home by family concerns. Connections to the larger social and physical environment of the community are important as well. Interviews affirm that factors affecting migration decisions work in combination, and ties to both people and place are critical for understanding rural return migration.     

EXPRESSING “LOCAL CULTURE” IN HAWAI'I*

ABSTRACT. Detached from the mainland and with a distinct historical ethnic geography, the conquered kingdom of Hawai'i, now the fiftieth state, is the only U.S. state with an Asian and Pacific Islander majority as well as the highest percentage of racial and ethnic intermarriage. Hawai'i's population reflects the tensions between the culturally pluralistic “spirit of aloha” and the ethnic‐cum‐social stratification that has evolved from its historical economic geographies. In this article I focus on one of these strata—what is referred to as “local” culture—discussing its ethnogenesis and contemporary manifestations, and I apply Jonathan Okamura's 1981 model of situational ethnicity to examine how locals and new immigrants negotiate the ethnic dynamics and social expectations of their daily lives. I also discuss various ways in which “localness” is represented on O'ahu's economic landscape, with an analysis of the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, as a holistic expression of local culture.     

Spatial Patterns of Migration and Income Change in the Mountain West: The Dominance of Service-Based,Amenity-Rich Counties

One of the most recognizable and important changes occurring in the West is rapid population growth. This article intends to address questions associated with whether patterns of population growth and income migration are associated with “new” and “old” West economies. Rural restructuring in the U.S. has created a group of counties with service-based economies. In the Mountain West, a number of counties with service-based economies are located in areas with high levels of environmental or natural amenities, creating what has been termed the “New West.” Migration to the rural parts of the Mountain West, and the income transfers associated with migration, are increasingly concentrated within these New West counties. Rapid population growth, the changing characteristics of in-migrants, and their spatial concentration in New West counties provide a basis for conflicts over what the rural West is becoming.     

Patterns of Growth and Change: Depicting the Impacts of Restructuring in Idaho

Geographers and other social scientists investigating the impact of economic and demographic restructuring have tended to focus on urban metropolitan areas. There has been much less exploration of the local impacts of such change in largely nonmetropolitan locales. Many of these nonmetropolitan regions, however, are some of the fastest growing in the U.S. This article addresses this issue by examining, at the county level, economic and population trends in the state of Idaho. Generally recognized for its agricultural outputs (such as potatoes), Idaho experienced a population growth rate of 18.1 percent during the 1990s, making it one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. However, population growth and the associated changes in the local economy were unevenly distributed across the state. This article develops a typology of growth and change, indicating patterns of growth related to two predominant trends: high–tech footloose capital investment and amenity– and tourism–related residential development. Implications of this analysis for future research are discussed.     

From a mountain-rural to a plains-urban society: implications of the 1981 Nepalese Census

Preliminary results of the 1981 Nepal census are analyzed as to urbanization and population movement to the Terai. Noting the substantial shift in the pattern of Nepal's population distribution occurring between 1971-81, and projecting these rates of change for the future, the paper reports a process of transformation wherein Nepal is shifting from a rural hill and mountain society to an urban-subtropical plains (Terai) state. While the flow of migrants to urban areas and the Terai region is well known, the increase in rate of change poses a serious challenge for the Nepalese government. Economic development planning must readjust its goals and assumptions to take into account the massive metamorphosis that is occurring in Nepal. Development efforts aimed at rural hill and mountain areas may need to be reevaluated in light of the changing distribution of population.     

中国人口老龄化区域差异及驱动机制研究

基于中国第五、六次人口普查数据,分析中国省域人口老龄化的程度、速度、社会经济影响、空间差异及其驱动机制。结果表明：① 2000~2010年中国人口老龄化处于初级老龄化阶段且不断加深,区域差异缩小,东部地区低速增长,中西部地区老龄化与养老负担快速增加。老年人口密度属较低密度区,从东向西呈梯度降低。② 中国省域人口老龄化程度及空间布局是人口自然增长、人口机械增长、经济水平等因素相互调节与空间分异的综合结果。③ 各机制系数空间异质性的综合作用促使老龄化大致由南北向分异转变为东西向分异的空间格局。省际人口迁移从根本上制约如今的中国人口老龄化空间格局。     

广东人口迁移机制、特征与走向

８０年代以来广东省活跃的人口迁移，其主要动因是改革开放中广东省与国内其它地区以及省内珠江三角洲与其它地区之间经济的不平衡发展。广东省人口迁移有其显著特征，而区域经济发展水平的差异、产业结构特征及劳动力供求关系的发展等又影响着未来的人口迁移走向。     

The typology of the American metropolis: monocentricity,polycentricity, or generalized dispersion?

Although the spatial structure of employment in large US metropolitan regions is a well-researched topic, few studies focus on medium-sized and small US metropolitan regions. Consequently, there is no overall typology relating small-to-medium urban form to employment distribution. We address this gap by investigating the spatial structure of employment in 356 metropolitan regions. We conceptualize six typologies based on three categories that have overlapping properties: “monocentricity,” “polycentricity,” and “generalized dispersion.” The study has three main findings. First, the three types of urban form that we identify as “hybrid” outnumber the three “pure” types by almost four to one. Second, job dispersion is a dominant characteristic in almost 70% of all metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) (including the hybrid types), and polycentricity (56.7% of MSAs) is somewhat more common than monocentricity. Third, there is a strong relationship between population size and density. The population of medium-sized metropolitan areas is generally more dispersed than that of small and large metropolitan areas. Polycentricy emerges mostly in large metropolitan regions, while monocentrity is found in both small and large metropolitan regions.     

Gender and Migration Policies in Southeast and East Asia: Legal Protection and Sociocultural Empowerment of Unskilled Migrant Women

This paper is concerned with how existing migration policies affect individual migrant women's choices, in particular, with the advancement, or consolidation, of a migrants' rights perspective. The focus is thereby on those migrants classified as unskilled, who constitute the largest and most vulnerable category among migrants. The analysis of migration policies has conventionally been approached from a state/government‐centred viewpoint that sees states as the key actors. This paper, however, emphasises a larger number of actors ‐ governmental and non‐governmental ‐ as well as the power relations among them to argue that protection through “legal regulation” in the absence of actual implementation is an incomplete solution to alleviate unfair labour conditions that migrants in general, and migrant women specifically, experience. Measures designed to “protect” migrants must be accompanied by measures that empower them, a role that has largely been taken on by existing migrant worker non‐governmental organisations (NGOs). Focussing on intra‐Asian migration flows in which Southeast Asia is the main labour sender and East Asia the receiver of Southeast Asian migrants, the paper explores the nexus between law and civic activism in the specific subject area of international labour migration and its gender implications.