Place identity and major project deliberation: the contribution of local governments in Australia

ABSTRACT

There is growing recognition of the importance of local governance, for both self-determination and the quality of decision-making. While many authors acknowledge the potential of local governments in providing opportunities for democratic engagement, there is the need for more research into the conditions under which this takes place. The objective of this research is to investigate why, or under what circumstances, local governments enhance participation in and deliberation about major projects in Australia. It does so by analysing two case studies where local governments were highly engaged in advocacy with their communities against large development projects; the East West Link tunnel in Melbourne and the Coal Seam Gas projects of Northern NSW. It finds local governments engaged in these projects due to institutional culture, practices and values, formed after demographic changes in the 1960s and 70s, and associated changes in the place-attachment qualities of residents and the nature and content of their social capital. Through historical instances of community mobilisation, these values became embedded in local governments, enabling them to respond pro-actively to subsequent threats.     

Place and Large Landscape Conservation along the Susquehanna River

Place theory can be used in natural resource sociology as a heuristic for identifying and incorporating differences in human and natural systems into large landscape conservation efforts. This paper draws on theories of place and applies mixed methods to understand the potential opportunities and challenges for a large landscape conservation initiative along the Susquehanna River. The research utilized key informant interviews of 62 conservation officials to develop a grounded theory of regions within the river corridor. These regions were used as the sampling frame for a telephone survey of approximately 1,000 residents. Analysis of attitudes about conservation actors, priorities, and place perceptions were layered with data acquired in key informant interviews to produce an understanding of social, physical, and symbolic aspects of the Susquehanna River landscape as a place. Identifying similarities and differences can aid in the integration of human perceptions and attitudes within large landscape conservation efforts.     

茂名市地名与地形关系

地形是自然环境中影响地名的一个重要地理要素,通过对茂名市88个镇和其下辖1 513个村地名的统计,结合地名志等文献资料中的地名来源,发现茂名市地名与地形的关系密切,且山地地区地名与地形关联性最强,丘陵地区次之,平原台地地区最小。地形影响地名的产生,地名也反映着居住地选择的趋向,显示了茂名的地名文化。通过对茂名市地名与地形各个要素之间关系的分析,得出了山区的聚落多选择建立在山谷中比较低平的区域;丘陵地区的居住地常选择在山坡和山谷、山间的低地;平原台地地区有较多地名与单座山有关。     

Talking whilst walking: a geographical archaeology of knowledge

This paper explores how understandings of the knowledge and lives of individuals can be gained through making geographical context more explicit within qualitative research methods. The paper will focus on 'conversations in place'. More particularly, it will suggest that conversations held whilst walking through a place have the potential to generate a collage of collaborative knowledge. Drawing on the work of Casey, the paper builds upon the notion of the 'constitutive co-ingredience' of place and human identity, and, through using documentary and empirical examples, will argue that 'talking whilst walking' can harness place as an active trigger to prompt knowledge recollection and production.     

Alternative and Virtual Rurality: Agriculture and The Countryside as Embodied in American Imagination

Affection for agrarian livelihoods and rural and small‐town environments has long been held by residents in many of the world's “more developed” countries. Although the rural proportion of the U.S. population has shrunk to a minority over the last century, fondness for rurality continues to manifest itself in a number of ways. Attachment to the rural ideal or rural idyll can be considered as attachment to the idea of a type of place, rather than specific place attachment. Based on literature, field observation, computer searches, and data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture, connections to idea(l)s of rurality apparent in popular culture are identified and illustrated. These include rural and agricultural tourism, small‐scale farming and large‐lot rural subdivisions, urban agriculture, farmers’ markets and community‐supported agriculture, creation of housing developments around farm activities, and rural‐named housing and business developments. Idealized relationships with rurality call upon health and well‐being, connecting to nature, aesthetics, privacy, and respect and nostalgia for rural livelihoods.     

Vulnerable Places: Prison Locations,Socioeconomic Status,and HIV Infection in Texas

U.S. prisons have higher rates of HIV infection and tend to locate in poor areas. Because the geographic concentration of vulnerable peoples creates an environment of heightened vulnerability to disease, and vulnerable places attract vulnerable people (Oppong and Harold 2009), we should expect higher HIV infection rates in areas immediately adjacent to prison facilities. Using deidentified HIV surveillance data, we explore this hypothesis. The results suggest that areas in close proximity to prison units have lower socioeconomic status and higher HIV rates, with clear distance decay, and should be prioritized for increased intervention to reduce HIV incidence.     

城市(营业性)娱乐场所空间结构研究

随着城市居民收入与消费文化的变化,闲暇时间延长,城市内部营业性娱乐场所的数量、类型与结构发生了对应的变化,已引起了国外学术界的关注,但国内地理学者对商业性娱乐场所的空间关注较少。从城市社会地理学的角度、以人本主义的理念为线索,通过对影响城市(营业性)娱乐场所(人本)布局因素的分析,结合当代发达国家研究经验,总结出(营业性)娱乐场所布局几种存在模式以及场所业态间和行业间所表现的空间结构关系,并就娱(乐)圈的结构进行了说明。以期更深入地揭示城市社会生活空间的本质,丰富城市规划的基础理念。     

Place attachment and community activism at the coast: The case of Ngunguru,Northland

The politics of place precipitated by a development proposal for a privately owned sandspit in Ngunguru, Northland, is examined in this article. It centres on residents' place attachment and the ways in which this helped to inform community resistance to development. A framing analysis of 23 stakeholder interviews conducted in 2008–2009 was carried out by the authors. Place attachment was centred on holistic appreciation of the sandspit's special values. A widespread view that exercise of private property rights over the site was deeply problematic was informed by this appreciation. Community ties were enhanced by shared perceptions of a threat to the sandspit.     

Looking back and moving forward: Health geography in Aotearoa and beyond

Health geography in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) has had a major impact on international sub‐disciplinary debates. It is timely to celebrate our domestic health geography achievements and alert ourselves to the challenges ahead. This reflection article provides a brief overview of Aotearoa NZ's maturing health geography community and includes the reflections of a panel discussion held during the bi‐annual NZ Geographical Society conference in 2016. We argue that the eclectism of health geography in NZ and beyond is both the sub‐discipline's major strength and challenge.     

旅游者生态价值观对其环境责任行为的影响——以岳麓山风景区为例

依据自我决定理论,构建以自我决定动机为中介变量、地方依恋为调节变量的调节中介模型,旨在从心理动机层面探讨旅游者生态价值观影响其环境责任行为的作用机制和边界条件。研究发现:生态价值观对内部和外部动机均有显著正向影响,并通过内部和外部动机进一步正向影响旅游者环境责任行为;地方依恋对生态价值观与内部动机之间的关系有显著正向调节作用。在制定景区生态环境保护和可持续发展策略时,应考虑利用旅游者生态价值观、地方依恋和自我决定动机的多层作用关系,以激发旅游者环境责任行为。