Strategies of Successful Anti-Dam Movements: Evidence from Myanmar and Thailand

Scholars are rarely able to examine anti-dam movements that result in project suspensions or cancellations since these cases are rare empirically. Yet, they are central to understanding how anti-dam movements can succeed. This paper analyzes the movements against Myanmar’s Myitsone Dam and Thailand’s Kaeng Suea Ten Dam. Likely the most successful anti-dam movements in Southeast Asia in recent years, they achieved suspension over 6 and 37 years, respectively. The research is based on 60 semistructured interviews carried out over a period of 8 months. Leveraging thinking from both the constructionist and structural schools within the field of social movement studies, it is found that the framing of the Myitsone Dam as a project threatening the national cultural heritage of Myanmar (in combination with political change in the country in 2010/2011) largely explains the movement’s success. Meanwhile, the set of sophisticated tactics (including inter alia demonstrations, Thai Baan research, 24/7 monitoring of the dam site, and spiritual activities) was decisive for the efficacy of the movement against Thailand’s Kaeng Suea Ten Dam.     

The Matter of Matter: Making Property in the Holland Marsh

This paper explores how characteristics of biophysical nature—specifically the unique properties of the Organic Order of soil—have shaped the conditions of property in what is currently protected agricultural land, in the Holland Marsh, Ontario. Drawing on political ecology and critical property scholarship, I investigate how “nature” conjoins, complicates, and structures property in the Marsh. I start from the premise, as others have, that “things” matter to the dynamics of property, and add to this by demonstrating that matter matters as well. Property in the Holland Marsh—and elsewhere—is a socionatural arrangement. I develop this argument by highlighting three periods in the history of the Marsh; (1) the preagricultural period, (2) the agricultural intensification period, and (3) the conservationist period. I demonstrate how biophysical conditions codetermine parameters of property in the Marsh and show how the dynamics of property change along with the biophysical character of landscapes.     

Green Laboratories: University Campuses as Sustainability “Exemplars” in the Arabian Peninsula

ABSTRACT

Like many universities in the West, universities across the Arabian Peninsula are increasingly home to various conspicuous sustainability initiatives. This article examines this trend at three of the region’s most prominent projects: NYU-Abu Dhabi in the Emirates, Qatar Foundation’s Education City, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Based on the textual analysis and informed by fieldwork in these countries since 2012, this article joins interdisciplinary research in political geography, sustainability experimentation, and laboratory studies to understand their iconic campuses not as enclaves, but as “exemplars” of sustainability and renewable energy futures in the region. Tracing their effects beyond their walls, I argue that they have mostly been limited to symbolically injecting sustainability into public discourse. While more substantial shifts toward sustainable development in the region are underway, these have largely stemmed from market forces rather than a new environmental consciousness promoted by these three iconic universities.     

从地缘关系视角解析“一带一路”的行动路径

“一带一路”倡议是人类历史上最伟大的全球治理工程,开辟了政治地理学研究的新纪元,为地缘关系研究提供了大舞台。地理学是从时间、空间和自然—社会系统三个维度理解陆地表层过程的科学,对地缘关系研究具有独特的功能和作用。因此,从地理学视角研究地缘关系具有其他学科无法比拟的优势。“一带一路”是当前最具挑战的科学和政策命题,从地缘关系视角研究“一带一路”,需要加强四个方面的结合：① 在科学思维上,需要还原论与系统论思维相结合;② 在科学数据建设上,需要社会人文与自然环境数据相结合;③ 在科学问题选择上,需要社会过程、人文过程、政治过程和自然过程相结合;④ 在研究方法上,需要经验方法、实证方法、系统方法与大数据研究方法相结合。中国地理学者应兼顾政治地理学科建设、地缘关系的学科交叉研究和“一带一路”全球实践开展研究。     

中国旅游经济系统失配度空间格局分异与形成机理分析

将中国省级行政区作为分析单元,以旅游资源开发、旅游产业质量、社会系统支持、公共服务投入、生态环境质量五大子系统构建旅游经济系统失配度评价指标体系,对旅游经济失配度进行系统评价和空间格局测度,并用多元回归模型分析影响因素。研究发现：① 中国省级行政区旅游经济失配呈现极差化与相对差异较大的特点,广东省为失配度最低区、宁夏回族自治区为失配度最高区;② 2015年中国旅游经济失配以低度失配为主,主要影响因素有旅游资源丰富度、旅游劳动生产率、等级公路网密度、互联网普及率、森林覆盖率等;③ 旅游经济系统失配空间分异的主要机制：旅游资源禀赋与开发质量是基础动力,旅游市场经济环境是直接动力,旅游目的地公共服务质量是外在动力。     

Regional Economic Efficiency and Its Influencing Factors of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitans in China Based on a Heterogeneity Stochastic Frontier Model

Using a heterogeneity stochastic frontier model(HSFM),we empirically investigated the economic efficiency of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei from 2003 to 2016 and its influencing factors.The key findings of the paper lie in:1)in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,the overall economic and technological efficiency tended to increase in a wavelike manner,economic growth slowed down,and there was an obvious imbalance in economic efficiency between the different districts,counties and cities;2)the heterogeneity stochastic frontier production functions(SFPFs)of Beijing,Tianjin and Hebei were different from each other,and investment was still an important impetus of economic growth in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei;3)economic efficiency was positively correlated with economic agglomeration,human capital,industrial structure,infrastructure,the informatization level,and institutional factors,but negatively correlated with the government role and economic opening.The following policy suggestions are offered:1)to improve regional economic efficiency and reduce the economic gap in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei,governments must reduce their intervention in economic activities,stimulate the potentials of labor and capital,optimize the structure of human resources,and foster new demographic incentives;2)governments must guide economic factors that are reasonable throughout Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and strengthen infrastructure construction in underdeveloped regions,thus attaining sustainable economic development;3)governments must plan overall economic growth factors of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and promote reasonable economic factors(e.g.,labor,resources,and innovations)across different regions,thus attaining complementary advantages between Beijing,Tianjin,and Hebei.     

中国区域性极端降水事件及人口经济暴露度研究

This paper tests the idea of substituting the atmospheric observations with atmospheric reanalysis when setting up a coupled data assimilation system.The paper focuses on the quantification of the effects on the oceanic analysis resulted from this substitution and designs four different assimilation schemes for such a substitution.A coupled Lorenz96 system is constructed and an ensemble Kalman filter is adopted.The atmospheric reanalysis and oceanic observations are assimilated into the system and the analysis quality is compared to a benchmark experiment where both atmospheric and oceanic observations are assimilated.Four schemes are designed for assimilating the reanalysis and they differ in the generation of the perturbed observation ensemble and the representation of the error covariance matrix.The results show that when the reanalysis is assimilated directly as independent observations,the root-mean-square error increase of oceanic analysis relative to the benchmark is less than 16%in the perfect model framework;in the biased model case,the increase is less than 22%.This result is robust with sufficient ensemble size and reasonable atmospheric observation quality(e.g.,frequency,noisiness,and density).If the observation is overly noisy,infrequent,sparse,or the ensemble size is insufficiently small,the analysis deterioration caused by the substitution is less severe since the analysis quality of the benchmark also deteriorates significantly due to worse observations and undersampling.The results from different assimilation schemes highlight the importance of two factors:accurate representation of the error covariance of the reanalysis and the temporal coherence along each ensemble member,which are crucial for the analysis quality of the substitution experiment.     

Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation?

The number of climate change laws in major economies has grown from less than 40 in 1997 to almost 500 at the end of 2013. The passage of these laws is influenced by both domestic and international factors. This article reviews the main international factors, drawing on a powerful new dataset of climate legislation in 66 national jurisdictions. We find that the propensity to legislate on climate change is heavily influenced by the passage of similar laws elsewhere, suggesting a strong and so far under-appreciated role for international policy diffusion. International treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol work in two ways. The impact of the Kyoto Protocol itself is limited to countries with formal obligations under the treaty. In addition, the prestige of hosting an international climate summit is associated with a subsequent boost in legislation. Legislators seem to respond to the expectations of climate leadership that these events bestow on their host.

Policy relevance

A global solution to climate change will ultimately have to be anchored in domestic legislation, which creates the legal basis for countries to take action. Countries are passing climate legislation in a growing number. This article asks to what extent they are motivated to do so by international factors, such as existing treaty obligations. We find that the Kyoto Protocol has been a less important factor in explaining climate legislation outside Annex I than the passage of similar laws elsewhere. This suggests that international policy diffusion plays an important and so far under-appreciated role in global climate policy, complementing formal treaty obligations.     

吉林省东部资源型县域经济与生态环境协调发展分析——以汪清县为例

以吉林省汪清县为研究区域,选取社会经济与生态环境评价指标,建立评价标准与模型,对汪清县社会经济与生态环境的协调度进行了分析和评价。结果表明：汪清县生态环境与社会经济协调度值逐年增加,自2000年初级协调到2002年中级协调的变化,说明社会经济与生态环境基本上同步发展;汪清县社会经济与生态环境是一种低水平的中级协调,且2000～2002年3年间,其协调亚类均为环境滞后型,这与其社会经济发展水平不高、人口少、环境容量大相对应;吉林省东部资源型县域经济可利用其生态环境背景好、自然资源丰富的条件,调整产业结构,发展绿色产业,实现社会经济与生态环境的协调发展。     

“GIS”的多义性相关分析

地理信息系统 (GIS)经 4 0余年的发展 ,它的定义众多 ,但其核心含义只有 4种 ,本文回顾了 GIS的 4种含义产生的历史背景 ,同时说明“技术”和“市场”对 GIS含义演变的影响。通过从英文文献中选取 7个基于不同含义、方式的 GIS定义进行语义分析 ,确定“GIS”这个概念在各种定义中的确切内涵 ,解释 GIS各种含义的相互关系 ,探讨 GIS(Geographical Informa tion Science)作为一个学科的意义和内容体系。然后提出表达 GIS4种不同含义的规范概念。