Using GIS for analysis of urban systems

It is recognized that the spatial organization of urban system can be abstracted as three main components: a set of points, which describes the structural characteristics such as social and economic properties of individual city; a set of lines, which indicates the patterns of interaction among the cities; a set of spheres, which indicates how and to which extent each city affects the area around it. Even if such substance of urban system coincides with the main purpose of GIS for spatial or geometric data types such as point, line and region, little attention has been given to this point. By an evidence analysis of China, the application of potential analytical capabilities of GIS for urban system is attempted in this study. We find GIS acts as an efficient tool not only for the spatial structure analysis of urban system, which including potential distribution of cities, extraction of principal linkages among cities, and delimitation of subsystems; but also for the verification of socio-economic attributes and dynamics of urban system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Complications for traditional land consolidation in Central Europe

An integral part of post-socialist transformation under the Washington Consensus has been the privatisation of previously state owned and/or co-operative farms. In many instances, there have been attempts at ‘turning back the clock’ to pre-War conditions, including land ownership structures. Frequently, the result has been the division of large, economically efficient units into numerous, small and economically barely viable private plots. Following accession to the European Union, these re-constituted peasant-scale structures pose a major challenge to the Union’s agricultural policy. As this paper demonstrates, a simple transfer of western European practices, such as land consolidation, is not possible. The particular legacies of the communist system have given land ownership particular values, legitimacy and personal identity, and emotional bonds. Simple technocratic solutions, as applied in the West earlier, are thus not feasible. Consequently, the paper points out, new forms and instruments of tackling disadvantageous agricultural structures need to be found.     

美国全球变化数据共享的经历对我国数据共享决策的启示

美国对国家投资获取的科学数据采取"完全与开放"的共享政策。这一政策分两步落实：第一步侧重于数据中心建设。由NASA在全国优选 9个数据中心组成国家级分布式数据中心群（DAACs）。第二步侧重于法规和网络共享建设。由白宫设立总统长期专项---美国全球变化研究项目（USGCRP）,其中包括"全球变化数据信息系统"（GCDIS）。历经十年,建造了世界上最强大的科学数据共享体系：GCDIS。在此过程中,政府主持总体规划,并通过预算、法律法规,以及管理条例使规划得以实施。美国在科学数据共享方面的经验表明：公益性科学数据共享的工作应由国家负责;国家综合使用行政、经济和法律手段执行对该工作的领导;分布式国家级数据中心群是实现科学数据共享经济有效的途径;科学数据与科学研究的结合是科学数据发展的动力。这些对我国科学数据共享工作总体方案的确定和战略方针的选择具有一定的启发和借鉴作用。     

The Baltic Sea environment and the European Union: Analysis of governance barriers

The EU enlargement brought the Baltic Sea into the sphere of EU environmental policymaking, making the sea, with the exception of Russia, an EU inland sea. Yet, the state of the Baltic Sea environment is deteriorating at an alarming pace. This paper describes the evolution of the EU governance of the Baltic Sea environment, focussing on governance barriers. The findings demonstrate how the choice of analytical lens influences the construction of governance barriers and the respective intervention strategies. Such understanding can help policy practitioners in their search for successful measures to improve the governance situation in the Baltic Sea region.     

我国海洋产业结构分析及产业优化对策

利用海洋统计数据分析我国海洋产业结构的现状与变化趋势,采用相关分析、灰色相关分析等计量经济学方法,确定影响海洋产业发展的相关因素,根据《海洋经济发展规划纲要》的要求,应用产业经济理论、产业关联理论、区域经济和海陆经济一体化理论系统分析目前我国海洋产业结构中存在的问题并提出海洋产业的优化对策。     

气候变化影响和适应认知的演进及对气候政策的影响

通过分析IPCC第二工作组的5次评估报告对气候变化影响、适应的主要结论和方法的演进、原因以及对国际适应谈判和国家适应政策的影响,指出由于文献的迅速增加,影响评估方法和适应技术手段的不断成熟,以及思维的转变和意识的逐渐增强,IPCC进一步确认了气候变化已经并将继续对自然生态系统和人类社会产生广泛而深刻的影响;未来社会经济发展路径、适应和减缓行动以及风险治理将影响气候变化带来的风险。IPCC报告极大地推动了国际和各国适应气候变化科学研究和政策实践的进程。尽管中国各级各部门已逐渐将适应融入到相关政策中,但仍然存在认识、能力、体制机制等问题,需要进一步推进国家和各地的适应工作。     

世界天然气水合物研究开发现状和前景

回顾了世界天然气水合物研究历史,分析了世界气水合物研究现状和开发前景,评价了全球天然气水合物资源潜势,提出了我国对天然气水合物的研究策略。     

Emerging trends in urbanizing Palestine: neglected city-builders beyond the occupation

In this article, we draw attention to trends in land transformation in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, after which a surge of investment from Gulf countries entered Palestine, almost exclusively in the West Bank. The occupied Palestinian territories have attracted a great deal of attention from media and academics, yet the vast majority of scholarship focuses on the conflict and the variety of social, economic, and political repercussions of the on-going Israeli occupation. While the occupation has undeniably serious impacts on every aspect of life for Palestinians, the near-exclusive focus on the conflict means that significant new trends, such as urban mega-developments and emerging market-based urbanisation processes, have been largely overlooked. We outline three directions for future research: the assemblage of “neglected city-builders” shaping current urbanization processes in Palestine; the ideas, policies, and norms circulating in the West Bank; and the social, spatial, economic, and other impacts of these new urban developments.     

Effects of demand estimates on the evaluation and optimality of service centre locations

Public service systems, such as emergency health care, police or fire brigades, are critical for day-to-day functioning of the society. To design and operate these systems efficiently much data needs to be collected and properly utilised. Here, we use the OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to model the demand points (DPs), which approximate the geographical location of customers, and the road network, which is used to access or distribute services. We consider all inhabitants as customers, and therefore to estimate the demand, we use the available population grids. People are changing their location in the course of the day and thus the demand for services is changing accordingly. In this paper, we investigate how the used demand estimate affects the optimal design of a public service system. We calculate and compare efficient designs corresponding to two demand models, a night-time demand model when the majority of inhabitants rest at home and the demand model derived from the 24-hour average of the population density. We propose a simple measure to quantify the differences between population grids and we estimate how the size of differences affects the optimal structure of a public service system. Our analyses reveal that the efficiency of the service system is not only dependent on the placement strategy, but an inappropriate demand model has significant effects when designing a system as well as when evaluating its efficiency.     

It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures

Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in European high-income countries. It uses theoretical thinking and some core results from the HOPE research project, which investigated household preferences for reducing emissions in four European cities in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The paper makes five major points: First, car and plane mobility, meat and dairy consumption, as well as heating are the most dominant components of household footprints. Second, household living situations (demographics, size of home) greatly influence the household potential to reduce their footprint, even more than country or city location. Third, household decisions can be sequential and temporally dynamic, shifting through different phases such as childhood, adulthood, and illness. Fourth, short term voluntary efforts will not be sufficient by themselves to reach the drastic reductions needed to achieve the 1.5 °C goal; instead, households need a regulatory framework supporting their behavioral changes. Fifth, there is a mismatch between the roles and responsibilities conveyed by current climate policies and household perceptions of responsibility. We then conclude with further recommendations for research and policy.