Dictators and their capital cities: Moscow and Berlin in the 1930s

Stalin and Hitler planned major changes in the townscapes of their capital cities. These plans were part of their effort to install highly mobilized despotic regimes that needed a wide-ranging set of symbols to focus allegiance and to impress awe. These plans remained to some extent paper exercises but part of it left significant traces in the contemporary cities, particularly in Moscow. The intended changes showed similarities in their megalomania expressed in plans for a gigantic dome surrounded by a huge public square in the core of the city. There were also differences as regards the type of symbols used due to both dictotors' different roles within their regimes, the degree of didactic intent due to the nature of the commanding ideologies and the level of modernization of both countries, and the diverging versions of antimodernist building style (which they shared with many others elsewhere at the time).     

Anti-poverty politics in Toronto and Mexico City

In recent years, governments at different scales in both North and South have been experimenting with alternative methods of alleviating poverty, and redesigning social welfare regimes. While these changes are not entirely congruent across regimes in North and South, there are interesting points of overlap and intersection. The article lays out three broad alternatives to “roll-back” neoliberalism: intrusive liberalism; inclusive liberalism, and a renewed version of social citizenship. It then lays out how these alternatives have played out in anti-poverty politics in Toronto and Mexico City, two sites where creative strategies contesting neoliberalism have been pursued. While both cities occupy a critical place within their respective political economies, they are not usually compared because of their very different positions in the North American division of labour. Yet, as we argue, they face similar challenges in the form of poverty reduction strategies at the national scale that are based on neoliberal principles that do little to meet the needs of their inhabitants. In response, both cities have provided a site for mobilising resources behind alternative anti-poverty policies, inspired by the principles of social citizenship.     

非开挖地下管线修复与更换技术在中国的应用前景

改革开放以来,我国大部分城市抓住发展契机都在搞建设,但计划赶不上变化快,地下管道在建设过程中缺乏长远考虑,遗留了诸多问题。当前,部分管道老龄化,破损严重,急需修复与更换。我们国家多采用明挖法进行施工,而国际上很多国家则运用非开挖地下管线修复与更换技术,与明挖法相比有保护环境,不影响交通,施．Y-隐蔽,社会效益高,技术先进等优点。这项技术在我国还处于初级阶段。技术经验不足,大多需要借用国外的设备。由于我国大城市管道陈旧和道路交通拥堵现象日趋严重,发展该技术迫在眉睫。国际上常用的修复技术有内衬插入法,模压内衬法,折叠内衬法,螺旋缠绕法等。这些方法各有优点,而“刮痧法”和“穿衣法”能兼并其中几种方法的优点。在我们国内市场,运用以上方法成功的案例也有,但并未得到推广。非开挖地下管线修复与更换技术出了应用于市政工程外,还可用于石油管线工程,地质工程等,在国内有巨大市场前景。     

Moscow and St. Petersburg, a sequence of capitals, a tale of two cities

From early modern times until the present, Russia (temporarily extended to the USSR) had two capital cities: Moscow and Petersburg. Moscow was the original capital, it was succeeded by Petersburg from the beginning of the 18th century. From the early 20th century onward Moscow again became the capital, but it became a different kind of capital at the end of the 20th century. The paper describes the evolution of the representation of the state function in the appearance of the capital cities by way of the state buildings, the monuments, the street names. In addition it analyses the fate of the former capitals (first Moscow, then Petersburg) in terms of their symbolic functions. Petersburg originated as a capital turned to the outside emphasizing Russia's European vocation, while Moscow was at first the inward looking capital city representing the distinctive spiritual values of Russia. Changes had to do with the changes in the nature of the successive political regimes and with the changing roles of the two cities within those regimes.     

Anthropization of groundwater resources in the Mediterranean region: processes and challenges

A comprehensive overview is provided of processes and challenges related to Mediterranean groundwater resources and associated changes in recent decades. While most studies are focused thematically and/or geographically, this paper addresses different stages of groundwater exploitation in the region and their consequences. Examples emphasize the complex interactions between the physical and social dimensions of uses and evolution of groundwater. In natural conditions, Mediterranean groundwater resources represent a wide range of hydrogeological contexts, recharge conditions and rates of exploitation. They have been actively exploited for millennia but their pseudo-natural regimes have been considerably modified in the last 50 years, especially to satisfy agricultural demand (80% of total water consumption in North Africa), as well as for tourism and coastal cities. Climate variability affects groundwater dynamics but the various forms of anthropization are more important drivers of hydrological change, including changes in land use and vegetation, hydraulic works, and intense pumpings. These changes affect both the quantity and quality of groundwater at different scales, and modify the nature of hydrogeological processes, their location, timing, and intensity. The frequent cases of drastic overexploitation illustrate the fragility of Mediterranean groundwater resources and the limits of present forms of management. There is no easy way to maintain or recover sustainability, which is often threatened by short-term interests. To achieve this goal, a significant improvement in hydrogeological knowledge and closer collaboration between the various disciplines of water sciences are indispensable.     

The latin American city and the symbolic impact of built environment

Cities as crystalisations of civilizations represent symbolic impact in their layout and architecture. Built environment in this sense has an symbolic impact. Intending to understand a civilization it can be helpful to look at these symbols. This article tries to demonstrate the changing symbols in different historic periods of Latin America. Symbols were to be found in the urban morphology of even the precolumbian cities. They changed within the colonial era, and again during the different influences of French, British or North American domination. Today there can be noticed a decline of the traditional symbolic elements of towns. On the other hand there are certain symptoms of a crisis of self-identity of the Latin Americans. So even the diverse ideas how to define a new image are to be seen in the built environment of main cities of various states. shortened version of a presentation to the Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers at Eugene, Oregon, September 12, 1986 I wish to thank my friend William S. Preston, Department of Geography, Calif. Polytechnic State Univ. San Luis Obispo, for his patience helping me to translate this article. It was a pleasure to have a competent translater and partner of discussion.     

Rural development and rural to urban migration in China 1978–1990

Economic reforms since the late 1970s have brought about significant changes in rural China. A large number of surplus rural labourers have been released from the agricultural sector and there has been a massive transition of rural residents from agricultural to non-agricultural employment. These changes will be analyzed by examining the changes in the employment structure of rural residents. Rural to urban migration is another important option for many rural labourers. The size of China's urban population and the scale of rural to urban migration continue to be an ‘enigma’ due to several changes in the definition of the urban population. Several data sources will be used to provide more realistic estimates of rural to urban migrations on a set of comparable though different bases. Data on the new entries into urban employment and the urban ‘non-agricultural population’ will be used to illustrate the scale of migration by rural residents to the formal urban sector. This may only record those migrants who have changed their registration status from ‘agricultural population’ to ‘non-agricultural population’ which is tightly controlled by the government. The 1990 Census data provide some evidence on the rural to urban migration by the registered ‘agricultural population’. The 1987 1% population sampling data will be used to analyze the actual migrations among cities, towns and counties over the period 1982–1987. It is found that town and county populations tended to move to towns at the intra-provincial level, but to cities at the inter-provincial level. Out-migrants from cities tended to move to cities at both the intra- and inter-provincial levels.     

Urban planning in Rome from 1870 to the first world war

City plans are political documents and changes in the content of plans often reflect changes in the urban political environment. At the time of its annexation into a newly unified Italy in 1870, divergent views abouth the future development of Rome began to emerge. The politically dominant views were expressed in city development olans adopted in 1873 and 1883. These plans stressed eastward expansion and the opening up of the pre-1870 portion of the city with new wider streets. The plans, however, were circumvented by building speculators who developed in areas beyond their boundaries. By the turn of the 20th century a reaction to speculative growth emerged resulting in the adoption of the 1909 plan which stressed core area preservation and peripheral open space protection.     

Spatial plans and urban development trajectory in Kumasi,Ghana

This research uses empirical data to explore the link between spatial plans and ‘actual development’ occurring in Kumasi, Ghana. The research found that urban development is determined by both spatial plans and spontaneous informal development patterns (i.e. self-organisation). However, self-organisation is more widespread compared to spatially planned neighbourhoods. This phenomenon was expressed in a context of uncertainty created by weak institutional planning system which promote and reinforce haphazard development disregarding urban planning requirements. These findings provide a perspective on urban development that differs from that occurring in cities of developed countries, where planning institutions in consultation with urban residents determine the patterns of urban development. Unfortunately in Kumasi, self-organisation is not viewed as important in mainstream planning system. The paper concludes that more needs to be done in terms of understanding self-organisation processes, and the way they could be integrated into mainstream planning process to respond more fully to the urban development challenges in Kumasi.     

Regional planning in the U.S.S.R.: Methodological principles and practice

Regional planning in the U.S.S.R. is part of a comprehensive and hierarchical spatial and sectoral planning system. Four levels are described: (a) the national level, involving the total settlement system; (b) the major regional level, handling major development schemes; (c) the minor regional level, with plans for administrative districts; and (d) the urban level, where city master plans are produced. The amount of detail and scale of working increased downwards through the hierarchy. The most pressing problem is planning for the emergence and growth of cities of 100,000 population or more. Moscow city-region is used as an illustration.     

The cities of Russia: some recent trends and experience of regional and urban planning

The author examines the recent situation in the development of cities in Russia. Recent trends include a lack of growth and even a decrease in population; extensive economic restructuring; a grave ecological situation in cities; and recent peculiarities in the geopolitical situation and population migration. Due to the new economic, demographic, geopolitical and social situation in Russia it is necessary to re-evaluate the prospects for the development and growth of the big cities in this country. The system of basic documents for regional and city planning in the former USSR and in Russia includes different stages: from The General Scheme for the Settlement Systems of the Country and The Regional Territorial Complex Schemes of Environmental Protection in different regions to the detailed plans for the different parts of cities and towns. The shortcomings of this system and in the process of the realization of the schemes of regional planning and general plans for cities are documented.     

Cultural policy and place promotion: Swansea and Dylan Thomas

As former industrial cities have experienced radical changes to the bases of their economies, the imperatives of finding new roles and functions has often led to the adoption of cultural policies. These are diverse and partial but have become part of place promotion policies designed to attract visitors and investors. The connection with a literary figure offers one exploitable quality and this paper explores the adoption of Dylan Thomas, poet and writer, as an icon for Swansea. What emerges is the existence of a diversity of interested individuals and groups, who start from different positions but work towards a common goal. The tensions about the life and works of the poet, evident over the 50 years since his death are still there but the key players, including the City and County of Swansea, are finding ways of reconciling their differences in the ‘production’ of Dylan Thomas. This use of a writer and his local connections forms part of the more general process of making a cultural policy for the city.     

黄河流域近期水沙变化及其趋势预测

针对黄河水沙近期发生显著变化的现象,利用黄河上中游干支流水文泥沙定位观测资料,综合"水文法"、"水保法"和数学模拟等多种方法,对黄河流域1997-2006年水沙变化情势进行了评估,分析了水沙变化机制,并预测了未来的变化趋势。分析表明,与多年平均相比,黄河河源区径流量年均减少43.90亿m3,其中降雨等自然因素的影响量占92.26%,人类活动影响量占7.74%;与1970年前相比,黄河实测径流量年均减少112.1亿m3,其中水利水土保持综合治理等人类活动作用占76.50%,因降雨影响占23.50%;实测输沙量较1970年以前年均减少11.80亿t,其中水利水土保持综合治理等人类活动的作用为49.75%,降雨的影响为50.25%;人类活动与降雨变化对水沙变化的影响差异较大,就黄河中游地区总体而言,人类活动的减水作用远大于降雨的影响,人类活动的减沙作用与降雨影响基本相当,不宜笼统说黄河中游水沙变化主要是人类活动所致或主要是降雨变化所致; 2050年以前黄河来水来沙量总体呈平偏枯趋势,但不排除个别年份或短时段仍会发生丰水丰沙的可能性。     

Link of intensity of heat-island effect of a city with its size and population

Possibly the formation of the heat-island effect of cities (especially megapolises) is the most evident is consequence of man’s impact on the climatic regime. The intensity of the heat-island effect in a city, which is characterized by a surface air temperature drop between the urban core and its peripheral region, reaches several degrees. In this study, by means of power function, the model connecting the intensity of the heat-island effect in a city with the size of the population and/or city area is proposed. Qualitative model analysis, in comparison to the statistical data, allows us to allocate and classify various regimes of cities and their dynamics.     

辽宁省海岸带地质环境综合评价研究

对近20年来辽宁省海岸带地质环境调查成果进行全面的分析,系统梳理了辽宁省海岸带地质资源与环境条件及其变化,以及海岸带自然与人类活动引起的不良环境地质问题.根据地壳稳定性、活动断裂、地面沉降、地面塌陷等地质因素,对辽宁沿海6个城市进行了地质环境条件评价,结合国家政策与地方发展规划,为地质资源保护与开发利用提出建议.     

Importance of Experimental Testing for Damage Identification of Existing Buildings in Egypt

Population increase and development plans in Egypt require the establishment of many new cities near Cairo. One of these cities is the 15th of May City located about 30 km south of Cairo. The site of this city is very near from two quarries belonging to two cement companies. The inhabitants used to complain from the blastings in these quarries. At a certain stage some buildings have suffered different levels of damage. Upon the request of official authorities a study program has been performed to identify the causes and the safety of five chosen buildings. The program included experimental testing to measure the vibration of the chosen buildings during blasting operations. Three-dimensional structural analysis has been also performed. Results have showed that the damage was due to Dahshour Earthquake of Oct. 12th, 1992 and not due to quarry blastings. Many other useful conclusions have been obtained.     

Adaptation of climate variability/extreme in arid environment of the Arabian peninsula by rainwater harvesting and management

Water management in Saudi Arabia is facing major challenges due to the limited water resources and increasing uncertainties caused by climate change. The rainfall and temperature records of the Saudi meteorological data for more than three decades were analyzed for policy suggestions in water sectors based on the changing rainfall patterns. The trends in the annual aridity and rain indices were also examined to define the changing climate conditions and for determining the dry months in different cities of the Kingdom. An increased annual and maximum rainfall was observed for six cities while a decreasing trend in both annual and maximum rainfall was observed for the same number of cities highlighting the variability of rainfall in the whole region. An increasing maximum rainfall with decreasing annual rainfall was observed for the rest of the cities signifying the more extreme rainfall evens and resulting floods of short durations. The changing rainfall trends were also observed for different months during 31 years of the recorded period in addition to the varying climate pattern for different cities within the same district. Finally, these preliminary assessments of any systematic changes in view of the increased rain intensities and extreme climate events are viewed to demonstrate the value rainwater harvesting and management as a local adaptation to the climate variability and extreme in the Kingdom.     

War and the commons: Assessing the changing politics of violence, access and entitlements in Sri Lanka

There are two antagonistic, but equally influential traditions in the study of the nexus between resource use and violent conflict. One works through a Malthusian frame linking resource scarcity with violence, the other school of thought establishes a nexus between resource abundance and the incentives to use violence for rent monopolisation in a political economy of war or markets of violence. The tacit essentialism inherent in both schools of thought has increasingly come under critical scrutiny by geographers and anthropologists. To escape such essentialism requires a more detailed study of the dynamism of the political economy of (civil) war and its spatial dynamics, the political geographies of violence. In this paper, we study endowments and entitlements of people depending on common-pool or open-access resources in war-affected areas of Sri Lanka. Rural spaces in the war-affected areas became both a strategic retreat for fighters and an important common-pool resource on which a large part of the rural populace depended for their survival. Our research illustrates how the political geographies of war affect access regimes and entitlements to common-pool resources and thereby confine the livelihood opportunities of resource users. These dynamics of the political economy of war cross different scales and go beyond simple place-based struggles, for they are rooted in broader spatial dynamics of warfare creating place-space tensions in the sense that spatial dynamics of military control impinge changing access regimes upon specific places.     

Using Volunteered Geographic Information to measure name changes of artificial geographical features as a result of political changes: a Libya case study

Over the past few years, political systems have changed in several countries of the Middle East as a result of citizen revolutions on the ruling regimes. These geopolitical changes have had effects on the names of artificial geographical features, such as roads and schools. Many of the names, especially those that were associated with previous regimes, were changed to become associated with the revolutions, their dates, their leaders, or their martyrs. The recent change in the paradigm of Web use towards data sharing and crowd-sourcing in the Web 2.0 provides new opportunities to get insight into a local community’s perception of political events. Crowd-sourced spatial data, often referred to as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), can be contributed and accessed through various websites and data repositories. These data can supplement traditional data sources, such as road maps hosted by governmental offices. Libya’s governmental maps of urban infrastructure are scarce and incomplete. This provides an incentive for citizens and grassroots groups to collect and generate spatial data on their own and to express changed realities of feature names by the means of crowd-sourced mapping. Using two districts in Libya this study evaluates for five Web 2.0 platforms (OpenStreetMap, Wikimapia, Google Map Maker, Panoramio, and Flickr) to which extent VGI reflects name changes of geographical features as a result of the revolution in 2011. Other data sources, such as school directories posted by teachers on Facebook, serve as additional information for feature name change detection. Results show that the extent to which VGI reflects name changes based on the 2011 revolution in Libya varies strongly between VGI data sources. VGI provides a useful supplement to limited governmental resources to better understand how names of artificial geographical features are affected by changes in political systems.     

Linking Hydrogeomorphology and Food Webs in Intertidal Creeks

Intertidal creeks are shallow, photic ecosystems that potentially serve as sources of prey for many predators within estuaries. In a previous study, the link between nekton community structure and hydrogeomorphological variables for eight intertidal creeks was assessed for North Inlet estuary, South Carolina. Herein, we advance their findings through ecological network analysis of foodweb structure within two creeks and infer nekton trophic relationships to geomorphology and potential influences of hydrological condition and change. A summer network of a shallow, wide creek demonstrated greater carbon recycling, trophic efficiency and flow through consumers than that of a deep, narrow creek representing the same period. We infer greater export of nekton carbon from the former creek. These results were supported by analyses of nekton effective trophic levels and guilds across the eight creeks. Shallow, wide intertidal creeks appear to provide both physical and foodweb attributes that promote good nekton habitat relative to deeper and narrower creeks. Human alterations to flow regimes and sea-level rise have the ability to affect geomorphology of individual creeks and the landscape as a whole. These changes in turn have the potential to alter food webs of intertidal creeks and their ability to serve as sources of food for the larger estuary.