The declining importance of agricultural employment in East Germany

Agriculture has ceased to be the major employer in the rural areas of East Germany. Far-reaching structural change has resulted in a sharp decrease in employment and the mono-structural character of villages has been lost. Unemployment is now a major problem and women are worst affected. New jobs have been created in construction and elsewhere in the tertiary sector but most people who have found new jobs have to commute to the towns or migrate permanently to the urban areas. A north-south contrast has developed because the more developed network of towns in the latter, combined with a relatively good infrastructure, has enabled many villages to survive as viable communities. An example is Fuchshain near Leipzig where employment with the farming company (the former cooperative with 4200 ha of land) has declined but the population has grown through new housing built for commuters. In the north there has been much depopulation and many houses are used as second homes. Either way there is more conflict occurring now within rural communities because of tensions between the employed and the unemployed and between old and new residents. It is therefore important that land use planning should take into account the changed economic and social profiles and measures should be adopted to ensure that the countryside remains visually attractive and socially cohesive. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国少数民族特色村寨空间结构识别及影响机理研究

以全国1 057个少数民族特色村寨为对象,探究民族村寨空间结构及相关影响机理。研究表明： 民族村寨空间分布上呈凝聚型分布,且空间分异较为明显;核密度格局以湘黔桂交界为单核集聚中心的等级分布特征,呈“山”字形坐落态势; 民族村寨系统分形特征显著,自组织演化中围绕武夷山、峨眉山、长白山等不同山脉地带展开,分形结构复杂;民族村寨正空间相关,冷热点区呈东西两极分化现象;地形起伏及地貌多样的中高海拔山地、主要水系及河流上游等是民族村寨内生发展基础;距离中心城市较远、高素质高技能专业人才、民族文化及民族分布等促进了民族村寨的留存和发展。     

枣庄市山亭区节约集约用地的主要做法与思考

通过舆论宣传、典型示范、政策引导、分步实施等措施,对枣庄市山亭区＂空心村＂的专项治理,村庄布局得到进一步优化,村民居住环境得到了进一步改善,农村有效耕地面积进一步增加。     

Hollow villages and rural restructuring in major rural regions of China: A case study of Yucheng City, Shandong Province

The agricultural land resources of China are relatively limited because of its large population.Therefore,balancing the land use for industrialization,urbanization,and food security is a big challenge.In recent years,rural hollowing in China has resulted in numerous of abandoned rural houses,and the areas with abandoned houses need to be restored into agricultural land with effective land consolidation techniques.This study used the method of benefit-cost analysis and the data collected through field surveys conducted in Yucheng City in the northwest of Shandong Province in March 2009,to examine how hollow villages (HVs) to be created and how to solve the problem.The qualitative and quantitative analyses indicate following results.1) The situation of HVs is becoming increasingly severe under rapid industrialization and urbanization in Yucheng City.2) Poor infrastructure in rural areas and incomplete urbanization are the main factors that have led to the rural hollowing in many major rural regions of China.3) In order to resolve the problem caused by HVs and increase agricultural land,reconstructing rural communities in the countryside is necessary.4) A new mechanism in the provision of compensation funds by developed regions to the villages in less-developed regions must be established.     

徽州古村落开发与保护中的空间信息技术应用探究

徽州古村落在世界文化遗产联合申报和保护中需要新的理论方法和技术手段的支撑,以地理信息系统（GIS）、遥感（RS）、全球定位系统（GPS）为核心的空间信息技术正日益成为历史文化遗产保护管理中不可忽视的技术手段。本文分析了徽州古村落文化遗产保护目前面临的困境,研究了在徽州古村落历史文化遗产保护中应用空间信息技术理论实践,努力结合实践探讨空间信息技术应用的技术路线和方法。     

A Review of “Sitings: Critical Approaches to Korean Geography”

This study examines the spatial distribution and impact of nonroutine accidental releases of hazardous materials relative to the demographic composition of residents in nearby communities. First, atmospheric dispersion modeling methods are used to delineate the impact zones of worst-case accidents in two New York counties over the last ten years. Next, using accidental reports for 1997, GIS and statistical operations are used at the census tract level of the two counties to determine whether these incidents disproportionately affected disadvantaged neighborhoods. The results suggest that the areas of high-impact from accidental releases of hazardous materials are best characterized by a large proportion of families below the poverty line, Hispanics, and other minorities.     

Geographic approaches to resolving environmental problems in search of the path to sustainability: The case of polluting plant relocation in China

This paper applies a spatial perspective to environmental problems in search for the paths to sustainability, using polluting plant relocation in China as a case study. It examines how environmental improvement in one place may lead to environmental degradation in another place, how geographic concepts such as location, distance, spread and backwash effects, and land use models can help understand such phenomenon, and what the implications are for the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and development policies. Field research was conducted from 2006 to 2012 in Chinese cities of Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Ningbo. It involved intensive site observations and in-depth interviews with government officials of environmental protection, economic development, and business recruitment, and grassroots environmentalists. The results indicate that environmental improvement in all these cities has led to environmental degradation in their suburbs and rural areas due to relocation of polluting plants. Environmental spread and backwash effects may help explain the severe intra-regional environmental and economic disparities and environmental injustice. The powerful and wealthy may achieve rapid economic growth and environmental recovery at the expenses of the powerless and poor, leading to environmental poverty and sustainability disparities.     

Residential Satisfaction in China's Informal Settlements: A Case Study of Beijing,Shanghai, and Guangzhou

China's informal settlements—villages inside urbanized areas—are often characterized by local governments as dirty, chaotic, and dangerous places. This negative discourse inevitably leads to recommendations for demolition. A number of criteria have been invoked in state decisions regarding the demolition of informal settlements; however, rarely are these places evaluated from the residents’ perspective. This paper, following a long tradition of residential satisfaction research in Western nations, uses a household survey to examine this topic in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. We find that local contexts not only matter, but may be the principal determinants of residential satisfaction. The residential satisfaction of village dwellers is not necessarily low, and most socioeconomic attributes are not statistically significant determinants of resident satisfaction. Migrants and low-income groups are not less satisfied than nonmigrants or middle-range income earners; the most important determinant is social attachment within the community. The perception of being excluded, or lacking neighborhood social attachment, significantly reduces residential satisfaction. No facilities can compensate for this negative exclusion factor. We conclude that demolishing informal settlements does not help to build a “harmonious society,” which is the purported goal of such programs. Removing the social and institutional barriers for migrant integration into the city is likely the most effective way to enhance residential satisfaction and neighborhood quality.     

古村落景观基因图谱的平台系统设计

我国古代先进的社会经济文化孕育了为数众多的古村落。本文分析了近些年我国古村落研究的基本特点,并以"文化景观基因学说"分析了古村落景观基因信息图谱平台构建的内容与意义,以及其关键技术与解决方案。同时,讨论了该程序的基本框架和主要功能、需求分析、功能模块划分与实现思路。最后,以湖南江永女书为例,对古村落景观基因信息进行了提取实验。     

青岛市城中村土地征用(收)调查

随着全国大部分地区尤其是东部沿海区域城市化发展进入加速期,城区土地资源紧张问题愈发显现。同时城区内大片旧城区和城中村的改造,影响着城市化能否顺利实施,为了破解这一城市发展难题,青岛市国土部门创新思路,探索实施新的城中村土地征用(收)办法,全方位保障被拆迁群众的利益,推动了城市化的顺利实施,促进了社会的和谐和城市经济健康发展。