Technologies of agency and performance: Tasmania Together and the constitution of harmonious island identity

Baldacchino [Baldacchino, G., 2002. Jurisdictional self-reliance for small island territories: considering the partition of Cyprus, The Round Table, 365, 349-360] has argued that the ‘troika’ of smallness, insularity and peripherality may incline island peoples (rather more than mainlanders?) to question the effects of economic globalization and be especially disposed to innovative approaches to development. He views jurisdictional capacity as integral to that task. Much of the literature on such issues relates to island nations, but this work focuses on Australia’s smallest and only island state of Tasmania, and thus on a sub-national jurisdiction. In what follows I explore the effects of an attempt to enrol Tasmanians in the creation and stabilization of a ‘2020 vision’ meant to be global in its reach, to focus on the particular strengths of the island state, and be innovative in advancing sustainable development. Known as Tasmania Together, the 20-year strategic vision outlines diverse economic, social and environmental goals assembled over two years via widespread consultations with the island’s communities of place and interest. For a time Tasmania Together generated significant debate about what it means to be an island people, and whether and to what extent Tasmanians’ future will be secured through economic globalization or localized endeavours premised on sustainability principles. Important to Tasmanians as well as to island studies, these rhetorics of social and spatial engagement also have salience beyond the borders of the island state, highlighting larger questions about the technologies of governmentality, agency and the performance of identity.     

Developing ecotourism in First World, resource-dependent areas

Ecotourism, an economic diversification tool most commonly applied in the Third World as a means to protect ecosystems, preserve local cultures, and spur economic development, has recently been applied in First World resource-dependent areas. While ecotourism has traditionally focused on Third World ‘undisturbed’ protected lands, it has also been developed in their First World equivalents (i.e., old-growth forests) as well as in First World sites of past resource extraction and in places where current agricultural practices maintain cherished cultural landscapes. Forest County, Pennsylvania, a timber-dependent area, sought to diversify its economy by developing ecotourism based on its unique Allegheny hardwood forests, which are produced by timber harvesting. This ecotourism would encourage amenity-based, locally-driven economic development and maintain timber harvesting. While government and foundation supported ecotourism development efforts in areas dependent on resource extraction have incorporated some of ecotourism’s ideals, these operations have had mixed success. Such isolated areas, which have traditionally drawn visitors independently engaging in traditional outdoor recreation activities, have not been able to draw enough customers willing to pay for natural and cultural history tours. If ecotourism is to be successful, such areas may need further government support and destination branding to increase name recognition in order to counter the global orientation of the nature tour industry. For true community development, local collaborative efforts including resource and environmental interests are also required in which primary production is connected to processing and consumers through value-added and service sector activities such as tourism.     

The political-economy of Blair’s “New Regional Policy”

The “region” and “regional change” have been elusive ideas within political and economic geography, and in essence require a greater understanding of their dynamic characteristics. Trailing in the backwaters of the devolution to the Celtic nations of Britain, the contemporary era of New Labour’s political-economic ideology, manifest through “third-way” governance in England places the region and its functional capacity into the heart of geographical inquiry. Drawing upon a new regionalist epistemology, this paper seeks to recover a sense of (regional) political economy through a critical investigation of the development and formulation of Blair’s “New Regional Policy” (NRP). I address how New Labour has attempted to marry economic regionalisation on the one hand, and democratic regionalism on the other. This paper specifically questions the wisdom of such a marriage of politically distinct ideologies through a critical investigation of the underlying contradictions of their strategy from both a theoretical and empirical standpoint. Demonstrated both in the North East “no” vote in 2004, and in the post-mortem undertaken by the ODPM Select Committee in 2005, the paper illustrates how a loss of political drive gradually undermined the capacity of devolution to deliver in England. Finally, I argue that through the lens of the NRP we can speculate on some of the wider issues and implications for the study of regional governance.     

城乡边缘带时空离心推移的约束及其方法

分析了城乡边缘带时空离心推移的驱动力,认为必须而且可以对离心推移进行适当约束,以促进城乡边缘带的可持续发展;分析了离心推移的约束机制及约束的基本方式,提出了约束的主要原则和主要方法。     

山地灾害研究的发展态势与任务

泥石流、滑坡等山地灾害已成为世界各国十分关注的自然灾害问题。据最近几年的国际学术会议,泥石流、滑坡研究的前沿领域是：泥石流、滑坡活动的地带性与全球气候变化的规律；泥石流、滑坡起动机理、动力学模型；泥石流、滑坡等山地灾害风险分析、发生时间预报；成灾机理与减灾防灾关键技术。国内研究较晚,但发展很快。经过近50 a的研究,涉及上述诸多研究颁域。但研究不深,还存在不少差距。据国内外研究态势,针对山地所实际,提出了在泥石流、滑坡理论创新和防治关键技术等研究方面12条任务。     

粤西地区县域城镇化发展探讨——以广东省高州市为例

受地理条件、经济基础等因素的制约,粤西地区面临着城镇化进程滞后、整体发展层次偏低等一系列问题。加速推进县域城镇化是加快粤西地区经济发展,缩小与发达地区差距的内在要求和必然选择。以高州市为例,全面总结了粤西地区县域城镇化发展的特点及存在的主要问题,并在系统分析其城镇化发展机制的基础上,提出通过完善城镇体系,加强产业集聚,提升建设品位,增强城镇自我发展能力等促进县域城镇化发展。     

楼观台森林公园深层生态旅游开发的模式探讨

提出了深层生态旅游开发的概念,构建了一个“两翼对接”模式。在广泛野外调查的基础上,依据上述理念和开发模型,针对楼观台国家森林公园的景观资源特征,对其深层生态旅游开发进行了系统设计。具体而言,重点突出了自然山水、生物景观和道教文化三方面设计,揭示了三大类60个景物的生态文化主题,设计了相应的开发展示模式和游客生态体验方式。其目的在于,提高森林公园生态文化的展示水平和加深旅游者的生态体验。     

基于芬兰经验的我国森林资源型城市的发展研究--以伊春市为例

资源型城市的可持续发展问题一直是学术界的研究热点,但对于森林资源型城市的研究却不多见。本文概括介绍了芬兰的资源和经济发展情况,系统分析了芬兰这样一个以森林起家的经济发达国家的成功经验;并以伊春为例提出了森林资源型城市经济转型和可持续发展可资借鉴的对策和建议。     

20世纪90年代以来中外区域规划研究的对比分析

区域规划是国家政府进行区域管理的重要手段和方式之一。为了落实科学发展观和对区域发展有效宏观调控,区域规划成为国家“十一五”规划的重要内容。本文对比分析了1990年代以来国外区域规划研究的主要进展、以及我国区域规划研究的特点与不足,以期为推动我国当前新一轮区域规划的理论研究和实践创新提供有益启示。     

草原旅游发展的实践及空间格局研究

草原以其辽阔、坦荡的景观以及风土人情构成一类旅游目的地,世界上拥有大片草原的国家都非常重视草原旅游业的发展。我国草原旅游发展也较快,形成了不同空间类型、不同植被景观类型和不同人文与自然结合类型的旅游发展格局,其中又以内蒙古最为突出。但是,由于草原生态系统的脆弱性,决定了草原旅游发展存在脆弱性,因此,在开发中需要更加严格的科学规划和管理。