The high wire act: a comparison of British transatlantic foreign policies in the Second World War and the war in Iraq, 2001–2003

Drawing upon ideas from critical geopolitics, this paper compares the role that the British government plays within the contemporary transatlantic alliance with that played by Churchill's government during the Second World War. It argues that the Blair government's approach to foreign policy has parallels with Churchill's – that it should act as a bridge between the US and European governments. From this basis the paper reflects upon geopolitical change since 1945, re-evaluating the reasons for foreign policy failures during the Iraq War. Belying the assumption that these were caused by Blair's failures at diplomacy, it argues that failure was the result of an outdated geopolitical strategy.     

In-situ assessment of the dynamic properties of municipal solid waste at a landfill in texas

An understanding of dynamic properties of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is essential for seismic response analysis of MSW landfills in areas of moderate to high seismicity. A field testing program aimed at characterizing the dynamic properties of MSW was executed at two locations in a Subtitle D landfill in Austin, Texas. Shear and primary wave velocities were measured using small-scale crosshole and downhole seismic tests. The combination of these seismic methods allowed an assessment of the effect of waste composition on dynamic properties, anisotropy, and Poisson׳s ratio of the MSW. In addition, steady-state dynamic testing was performed using two mobile vibroseis shakers to evaluate in-situ the nonlinear relationship between shear modulus and shearing strain. Horizontal steady-state shaking at increasing stress level generated shearing strains from 0.001% to 0.2% allowing evaluation of shear modulus reduction curves over a wide shearing strain range. The effect of confining stress on the dynamic properties of the MSW was also evaluated using the substantial weight of the vibroseis as reaction to apply surcharge vertical loads at the surface of the MSW.     

中国风电设备制造业发展与空间格局研究

区域新兴产业的发展是经济地理学的关注重点。尤其在全球气候变化和能源危机背景下,新能源产业的发展和区位特征备受关注。本文选取风电设备制造这一战略性新兴产业作为研究对象,根据2005-2012年《中国风电装机容量统计》整理了中国风电设备制造企业数据库,发现中国的内资风电设备制造企业大多由相关装备制造业企业投资设立,并位于投资企业所在城市;外资风电设备制造企业倾向于布局在装备制造业基础雄厚的城市。风电设备制造业企业的空间扩展即子公司主要集中在三北(东北、华北和西北)和东部沿海等风力资源丰富和风电场重点建设的地区。在实证部分,利用零膨胀负二项模型探讨中国风电设备企业及其子公司区位选择的影响因素,结果表明：①风力资源禀赋主要影响风电设备企业子公司的区位选择,风力资源丰富的地区城市风电设备企业子公司个数较多;②产业基础主要影响风电设备企业母公司区位选择;③地方政府支持主要影响风电设备企业子公司的区位选择;④风力资源禀赋、产业基础和地方政府支持同时作用时,产业基础是最重要的影响因素。研究结果对风电设备企业的区位选择和地方政府有针对性的产业政策制定有指导意义。     

Applications of GIS to urban planning and management: Problems facing Japanese local governments

Japanese local governments consist of about 3,380 municipalities in 2000. The total survey undertaken in 1997 says that GIS was implemented in 455 (14.3%) out of 3,182 municipalities that answered to the survey. This paper considers GIS utilization, especially focusing on urban planning and management in Japanese local government. Typical GIS applications in the urban planning and management are divided into three businesses: inquiry on the content of urban plan decision, register management, and planning. The most successful GIS application in the local government is an inquiry system on the content of urban plan decision. ‘Mappy’, Urban Plan Information Inquiry System developed by Yokohama City, is introduced as an example. The register management treats the registers for urban planned road, urban park, and urban open space, and the receipt book for development permission application. GIS can systematize their management based on maps. District diagnosis system using GIS performed two analyses in Ichikawa City. One is the calculation of area and ratio for land-use. The other is the measurement of land-use purity. GIS can calculate the degree of purity (namely occupancy rate) of specified land-use in the land-use zoning system. Most of Japanese local governments implement GIS and obtain moderate results. However, it is reported that some municipalities that paid huge amount of budget to implement GIS hardly used them. The final section will consider various issues in the use of administrative GIS. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Langzeitprognosen zum Sickerwasseraustrag von Schwermetallen aus Deponien von Müllverbrennungsschlacken

Long‐term Assessment for the Leachate Release of Heavy Metals from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Bottom Ash Monofills Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash was investigated by chemical, mineralogical, and microbiological methods as well as leaching‐ and laboratory lysimeter tests. Compared to geological material bottom ash shows a high content of soluble salts, organic carbon, and heavy metals. The heavy metals are mainly bound in alloys and glas. Addition of oxic and acetic solutions quickly oxigenize the metal‐phases and alloys. Only fixation in newly formed phases like carbonates or hydroxides prevents heavy metal release till pH 7 in case of pH‐reduce. In the long‐term the acid buffer is reduced by the environmental acid input in combination with the release of buffering phases (mostly calcite). Internal acid producing processes like decay of organic matter or oxidation of sulfides are not important for the pH‐decrease. Cu, Ni, and Zn are first released between pH 7 and 6 (mainly Zn) and a second time at pH values below 5 (mainly Cu). Pb is significantly released at pH values below 5, Cr only at pH < 4. Mainly metals, alloys, and the rims of glas are destroyed by leaching. Phases like metal hydroxides (mainly Fe‐phases) or amorphous, water bearing Fe‐Al‐Si‐oxides are finally formed. Long‐term leaching by acetic fluids increases the total availability of heavy metals (except Cr) with increasing time. Kinetic effects including changing of metal binding forms seem to be responsible for this development. Within deposit conditions of limited gas exchange (closed system) the pH of the carbonate buffering zone can drop below pH 7 in case of very strong acid input and quickly cause an enhanced metal release. But in reality such a strong acid input is not to be expected. Calcite will buffer between pH 8 and 7 for a long time. Depending on the environmental conditions (water balance, acidity of rain) and landfill design (compaction, permeability, cover, thickness) it can take hundreds till thousands of years until metal release will start. The long‐term metal release of matter with an acid buffer like carbonates can be approximately determined only by short‐term tests with powder (e.g. pH_static tests at pH 4).     

Identifizierung von Stickstoffverbindungen niederer molarer Masse in Abläufen einer kommunalen Kläranlage mit biologischer Reinigungsstufe

Identification of Nitrogen-containing Compounds of Low Molecular Weight in Effluents of Biologically Treated Municipal Wastewater Enriching methods based on reversed phases were developed for the investigation of low-molecular compounds containing nitrogen in municipal wastewater effluent. The enriched mixtures were treated gas chromatographically without derivatization under different conditions. By application of the PBM-algorithm to the GC/MS spectra of the enriched samples (concentration factor 1000...20000), 133 nitrogen-containing compounds could be identified with a probability of occurence of at least 30% put out. Seventeen of these compounds were identified with > 90% probability and another ten with 80...90% probability. 9-Methylacridine was found in nine of ten processed samples investigated. The nitrogen content of the 133 identified compounds was estimated at about 20% of the low-molecular fraction of DON (dissolved organic nitrogen).     

论电子政务的GIS保障问题

该文在强调了地理空间数据和GIS技术对电子政务的保障作用之后,重点对电子政务GIS保障的层次性、地域性和阶段性进行了深入分析。与国外发达国家相比,我国电子政务的发展水平及其GIS的保障水平已跨越"初级发展阶段"并进入"中级发展阶段阶段",面临的任务还很艰巨,在地理空间数据保障、GIS技术支撑、信息共享和运行机制等方面还有许多问题亟待解决。     

Review of progress with integrated coastal management in South Africa since the advent of democracy

Worldwide, coastal environments are recognised as complex systems of immense biophysical, socioeconomic and cultural value. In South Africa, the promulgation of the Coastal White Paper in 2000, and the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) Act of 2008, signalled a significant paradigm shift in coastal management and governance. This article reports on progress with ICM in South Africa from 1994 to the present time, and draws on information gathered from a comprehensive review of the published ICM literature, as well as various technical reports, an online survey, and information gleaned from participation in various meetings and workshops. Here, we review the enabling legal and institutional framework for ICM in South Africa, examine the various programmes, plans, strategies and guidelines developed to support implementation of the ICM Act, discuss institutional developments, and reflect on preconditions for effective and sustained ICM implementation. Despite significant progress, key challenges to implementing this progressive ICM agenda include lack of political support, inadequate institutional capacity, lack of human and financial resources, uncertainty regarding ICM functions across different spheres of government, conflicting policy frameworks, lack of clarity regarding the application of ICM provisions on private and communal land, limited civil-society involvement in decision-making, and persistence of state-centric approaches. Issues requiring urgent action are the establishment of a National Coastal Committee with broad representation, revitalisation of public interest in the coast, declaration of coastal public property and coastal access land, improved cooperation across relevant government agencies, allocation of funds for ICM, and greater commitment to a more deliberative and collaborative style of governance.     

基于主体利益博弈分析的土地制度与政策初探

当前,部分地方政府为了大幅提高当地财政收入,加快地方经济的快速发展,通常会运用自身优势去违背中央所制定的土地相关制度及政策的初衷。这就会使中央制定的土地制度与政策很难发挥保护耕地和粮食安全、保护农民自身利益等作用,从而导致了中央与地方政府在土地制度与政策制定与实施上的博弈现象。基于决策与执行主体利益的视角对当前的土地制度与政策的制定与实施中出现的问题进行了分析,并通过博弈论对其进行了探索与研究,得出结论:应严格落实和加大国家土地督察制度的执法力度,严格控制地方政府行为,合理完善政策执行机制,提高公民对其相关政策的认同程度。     

政务应用驱动下的地理空间大数据建设实践

随着大数据建设的快速推进,推动政府治理现代化成为大数据应用的热点。本文结合浙江省地理空间大数据应用示范工程建设,重点分析了政务应用中对时空大数据的需求,并结合现有地理信息公共服务中的瓶颈问题,提出了地理空间大数据建设的总体框架、主要内容及关键技术,并通过政务示范应用进一步验证了项目建设成效。