Voluntarism,defensive localism and spaces of resistance to health care restructuring

This paper examines the evolving role of volunteers and the voluntary sector in shaping community responses to structural change in health care systems. It contributes to the emerging understanding of the different forms voluntarism can take within and among places, including as a space of resistance to contemporary restructuring initiatives such as regionalization. Within the geographies of voluntarism literature, however, little attention has been directed towards interrogating the local dynamics of such voluntarism, especially as it is reflected in public discourse. We address this deficiency through a media-based case study of public reaction to the recent implementation of Ontario’s Local Health Integration Networks (a type of regional health authority). Specifically, we examine a decade of newspaper coverage in a mid-size Canadian city region to document and characterize how the activities of volunteers and voluntary sector organizations in the community are portrayed in light of the structural imperatives to integrate health care services and regionalize health care governance. The media findings reveal a suite of public concerns and related activities, with the voluntary sector called upon in various ways to defend the autonomy of the community against the perceived threats to local services, employment and vulnerable populations. We interpret the evident complexity of voluntary sector resistance as a form of ‘defensive localism’ and discuss implications for developing informed policy on health care restructuring and for advancing knowledge on the local geographies of voluntarism.     

Unsupervised regionalization of the United States into landscape pattern types

We present a pattern-based regionalization of the conterminous US – a partitioning of the country into a number of mutually exclusive and exhaustive regions that maximizes the intra-region stationarity of land cover patterns and inter-region disparity between those patterns. The result is a discretization of the land surface into a number of landscape pattern types (LPTs) – spatial units each containing a unique quasi-stationary pattern of land cover classes. To achieve this goal, we use a recently developed method which utilizes machine vision techniques. First, the entire National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) is partitioned into a grid of square-size blocks of cells, called motifels. The size of a motifel defines the spatial scale of a local landscape. The land cover classes of cells within a motifel form a local landscape pattern which is mathematically represented by a histogram of co-occurrence features. Using the Jensen–Shannon divergence as a dissimilarity function between patterns we group the motifels into several LPTs. The grouping procedure consists of two phases. First, the grid of motifels is partitioned spatially using a region-growing segmentation algorithm. Then, the resulting segments of this grid, each represented by its medoid, are clustered using a hierarchical algorithm with Ward’s linkage. The broad-extent maps of progressively more generalized LPTs resulting from this procedure are shown and discussed. Our delineated LPTs agree well with the perceptual patterns seen in the NLCD map.     

旅游资源非优区的园区化建设探讨——以吕梁山苍儿会旅游经济园区为例

旅游资源非优区主要是在资源质量及其开发条件等方面表现出"非优性"的特征.在区域发展中如果仍然沿用传统的旅游资源开发思路和方法,必然使区域旅游业处于市场竞争中的劣势.因此,对于该类型区域有必要探索出新的经济发展思路.从区域比较优势角度,旅游资源非优区的发展应以资源禀赋特征为基础,以旅游经济园区发展为主体,走产业多样化的道路.以吕梁山苍儿会生态旅游经济区为例,提出加快园区化建设的步伐,促进旅游经济与区域产业经济的良性互动,是避免片面强调旅游经济而抑制其它产业发展,以及促进区域可持续发展的根本战略选择.     

1961—1987年与1988—2014年辽宁省气候区划界线变化及可能气候成因

基于同一区划方法、指标体系,使用1961—2014年辽宁省52站气象观测资料,分析辽宁省气温、气候区划指标、范围及界线的变动特征。结果表明：辽宁省年均气温在1988年发生一次突变,突变后气温开始显著上升;≥10 ℃积温日数比较显著地响应气温突变,而干燥指数、7月平均气温变化不显著。在空间分布上区划指标值均存在不同程度的变化。① 全省≥10 ℃积温日数均出现增加,但在中西部地区显著增加;② 在盘锦-抚顺一线以北（南）,气候总体呈不显著变湿（干）趋势;③ 7月平均气温呈缓慢上升趋势。区划范围及界线位置出现更加显著地变化：① 暖温带范围主要向北向东扩展,中温带向东收缩;② 半湿润区范围主要向北向西扩展,半干旱区向西北方向收缩,湿润区范围基本不变;③ Tb范围显著向北向东扩展,Ta范围向北向东收缩。在此基础上分析了气候格局变化的可能气候成因,发现突变后≥10 ℃积温日数期间500 hPa高度场增加与4月和10月东亚冬季风减弱,4—10月东北冷涡持续天数增加和7月500 hPa高度场增加,可能分别是温度带,Tb区、Ta区和半湿润区、半干旱区变化的原因。     

1985年以来中国大陆沿海集装箱港口体系位序-规模分布及其网络联系

21世纪以来,中国大陆众多沿海城市纷纷转型为港口城市,港口区域化态势明显,港口发展呈现新的竞合关系。运用位序-规模法则与复杂网络模型,从规模结构、航运网络两方面刻画1985年以来中国大陆沿海集装箱港口体系的区域化特征。结果表明：① 港口体系日趋完善,位序-规模分布更加明显;发展演化呈低级均衡,明显集中化及相对分散化三个阶段,围绕世界级枢纽港形成区域集聚和群内扩散的空间格局。② 港口航运网络小世界特征得到强化,不同类型港口航线网络特性变化差异明显。枢纽港以广度上升深度下降、中转功能上升为主;大型港口变化较为复杂,超过一半的大型港口腹地引致特征明显,中转功能较弱;地方港呈现两极分化态势,大部分港口在航线网络深度、广度与辐射能力等多方面得到提升,少部分港口则明显萎缩。③ 以班轮航线为载体的物流网络推动港口区域化内在联系更加紧密,轴-辐特征得到强化,整个网络效率大为提升。从社会网络分析软件（UCINET）呈现的最强联系航线看,沿海集装箱航运网络已由局部网络转变为统一的双层轴-辐网络,全国性的港口网络联系水平大幅提升,区域航运网络与港口群存在空间错位而非一一对应。     

Analyzing Population Density Disparity in China with GIS-automated Regionalization: The Hu Line Revisited

The famous ’Hu Line’, proposed by Hu Huanyong in 1935, divided China into two regions(southeast and northwest) of comparable area size but drastically different in population. However, the classic Hu Line was derived manually in absence of reliable census data and computational technologies of modern days. It has been subject to criticism of lack of scientific rigor and accuracy. This research uses a GIS-automated regionalization method, termed REDCAP(Regionalization with Dynamically Constrained Agglomerative Clustering and Partitioning), to reconstruct the demarcation line based on the 2010 county-level census data in China. The results show that the logarithmic transformation of population density is a better measure of attributive homogeneity in derived regions than density itself, and produces two regions of nearly identical area size and greater contrast in population. Specifically, the revised Hu Line by Hu Huanyong in 1990 had the southeast region with 94.4% of total population and 42.9% of total land, and our delineation line yields a southeast region with 97.4% population and 50.8% land. Therefore, the population density ratio of the two regions is 27.1 by our line, much higher than the ratio of 22.4 by the Hu Line, and thus outperforms the Hu Line in deriving regions of maximum density contrast with comparable area size. Furthermore, more regions are delineated to further advance our understanding of population distribution disparity in China.     

棉花吐絮收获期连阴雨灾害风险区划

为了进一步提高棉花生产中吐絮收获期连阴雨灾害的应对处置能力和水平,采用陕西关中棉区42个气象站1970—2010年的8月下旬至10月中旬逐日降水资料,同期的棉花灾情资料,经济资料和地理信息资料,基于GIS技术,针对影响陕西棉花吐絮成熟收获期的主要灾害——连阴雨进行风险区划研究,以期充分利用气候资源,避开不利气候条件,提高应对连阴雨灾害能力。结果表明:陕西关中棉花吐絮成熟收获期连阴雨灾害的高风险区和中等风险区在宝鸡市和西安南部沿秦岭北麓的周至、户县、长安和蓝田,不利于大面积种植棉花。关中东部渭南市、咸阳大部分区县,西安的临潼、阎良、高陵县,处于棉花种植的低风险区,能够保证棉花正常吐絮成熟收获。     

苏州地域开发适宜性分区

中国经济发达地区在工业化和城市化快速发展过程中,出现的地域开发过密和无序的状况,导致自然生态及农业发展受到较大破坏,可持续性受到威胁。以生态-经济为导向的地域开发适宜性分区,强调让开发成本低、资源环境容量大、发展能力强的地区承担高强度社会经济活动;而让生态价值高、开发难度大的区域承担农业和生态维护功能,以此促进经济、人口、资源、环境相互关系及空间秩序的协调。在借鉴已有区划方法的基础上,讨论了评价单元划分、评价指标选择与处理等技术方法,通过生态和经济重要性指数的矩阵分类分析,将苏州地域划分为优先开发、适度开发、适度保护以及禁止开发等四大类型,并针对不同类型提出分区管制要求。     

冰冻圈服务综合区划理论与方法

冰冻圈是全球气候系统的主要圈层之一,既具有不可替代的气候效应,又维系着寒旱地区社会经济和自然生态系统良好运行,而中国是中低纬度地区冰川、积雪、冻土发育程度最高的国家。长期以来,针对冰冻圈“致害性”的研究众多,而聚焦冰冻圈服务的“致利性”研究则相对滞后,在此背景下着眼于人类福祉的冰冻圈服务识别与综合区划研究成为冰冻圈科学、人地系统可持续发展等的关键科学问题之一,也是目前迫切需要开展的研究方向。首先,确定以地域分异规律理论、人地关系地域系统理论、集合论和信息编码论等跨学科理论为研究基础;尔后,构建面向综合区划研究的冰冻圈服务分类体系,先以供需均衡模型为核心进行单项服务重要性空间识别,再以服务最大化模型为指导,通过区位熵算法判定冰冻圈主导服务的空间分布;最后,以三维魔方展开法为核心制定冰冻圈服务综合区划方案,将研究区划分多重空间层级、彼此独立完整、相互联系密切的冰冻圈服务单元。综上,形成综合自然供给和人文需求因素且适应地区特色的冰冻圈服务空间识别与综合区划技术体系和方法流程,为冰冻圈服务供给与社会经济发展需要架起一座桥梁,是满足国家重大战略需求和合理利用冰冻圈服务的必由之路。     

基于地理探测器的中国亚热带北界探讨

暖温带与亚热带的分界线,是自然区划中一条重要的自然界线,它的划分问题曾引起诸多学科学者的争论。由于早期综合自然区划研究多以定性、专家集成方法为主,同时区划目的、使用指标等多有不同,导致不同学者所划分的自然区多存在一定的差异。本文基于空间分异性思想,使用地理探测器定量探测气候指标对中国亚热带北界的影响,选择其中q值较大的指标如日均温≥0℃天数、最冷月1月均温、年降水和湿润指数等作为主导因子并参考植被、土壤数据探讨亚热带北界界线的位置。结果表明：① 地理探测器法可以快速、准确地筛选自然区划的主要气候指标,并确定分界线的准确位置,提高了自然区划研究的技术水平和区划界线的客观性。② 使用地理探测器划分的新界线在研究区西部位于秦岭南坡1000~1600 m的位置,与以往界线相比略偏南;在研究区东部河南东部、安徽北部比以往界线略偏北。在保持自然要素完整性的同时,新界线具有更大的q值,表明新界线可以很好的反映暖温带与北亚热带2个区划带之间的差异,划分结果具有合理性。