Geography of advice seeking

Despite limited research on access to advice services, it has long been assumed that access is related to geographic proximity [e.g. Blacksell, M., 1990. Social Justice and access to legal services: a geographic perspective. Geoforum 21 (4), 489–502]. The current study uses data from the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Survey, a large-scale nationally representative survey of respondents’ experience of and response to civil and social justice problems [Pleasence, P., 2006. Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice, second ed. TSO, Norwich], to examine the impact of proximity to mainstream advice services on awareness and utilisation of services. In general, proximity of advice services had a relatively modest impact on both awareness and advice seeking. However, proximity did impact upon mode of contact and there was some evidence of difference in strategy (particularly more inaction) for isolated individuals without use of motorised transport. The suitability of different modes of advice provision for particular demographic groups are discussed, as well as implications for service delivery.     

Local Governance for Social Sustainability: equity as a strategic response to neoliberal constraints in food security initiatives

Scholarly literature recognises the importance of social sustainability as part of the wider sustainability agenda. A wide array of concepts such as equity, social justice, democratic government, social inclusion, social capital and quality of life are thought to constitute social sustainability. Local governments are charged with delivering social programs and services to their constituency, but market logics and performance-based institutional cultures, along with limited authority and funding, constrain their capacity to respond to new initiatives. We analyse two case studies in Victoria, Australia, to explore how elements of social sustainability are articulated and operationalised within local government. Each case study involved State-level and local government partnerships in health-promotion initiatives to improve food security. Analysis was conducted on 50 primary policy documents, 22 secondary data documents and 27 interviews. Findings reveal that a systems-based or integrated approach to social sustainability was not workable but not completely ineffective. Equity was prioritised by local government in both case studies, and well acknowledged as interconnected with other social goals. Although constrained in its capacity to deliver new initiatives, local government responded to neoliberalising ideologies, as well as its constituency, by strategically focusing on a particular goal, such as equity.     

Environmental Policies Can Buttress Conservation Norms

In an attempt to solve large-scale environmental problems, government agencies often resort to formal sanctioning systems: market-based incentives or command-and-control regulations, to promote cooperation. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the presence of these formal sanctioning systems impacts informal sanctioning systems for environmental protection. Study 1 used an experimental game to explore the influence of market-based and regulatory programs on informal sanctioning in a laboratory setting. Study 2 was a quasi-experimental field survey that compared informal sanctioning among Massachusetts residents living in towns with voluntary, mandatory, and pay-as-you-throw recycling programs. Results showed that in the presence of a formal sanctioning system, individuals felt guiltier for not engaging in the cooperative behavior and expressed more disapproval for non-cooperators. Combined, these results show that environmental policies can buttress conservation norms.     

基于战略性新兴产业的长江三角洲城市网络结构演变研究

基于2004~2013年战略性新兴产业上市公司跨区布址数据,运用社会网络分析法对长江三角洲城市群空间结构演变规律进行了分析。研究发现：① 长江三角洲城市网络的主要联系流由 “Z”字形空间结构演变为“金字塔”形结构。② 高行政级别城市在网络要素资源配置中占据主导地位,省会城市的中介能力呈现“倒U”型发展趋势。③ 沪杭宁甬苏合6城市构成了长三角城市网络的核心层,核心-边缘层联系成为占据主导地位的联系方式;城市网络凝聚子群具有明显的地理粘着性,沪宁和杭州凝聚子群分别是群内联系和群际联系的标杆。     

变化发展中的中国人文与经济地理学

学科方向与研究领域的确定是学科发展的灵魂。人文与经济地理学是研究领域乃至研究方向均处于变化中的学科,重新认识人文与经济地理学的研究领域与学科方向至关重要。通过梳理几十年来中国人文与经济地理学主要分支学科发展阶段,总结了人文与经济地理学对转型发展社会背景的响应,一方面要坚持学科交叉的性质,以“人-地系统”为理论方向和走理论与实践相结合的道路,另一方面人文与经济地理学者要以新的心态、新的视野,来思考未来发展的重点领域、发展理念以及理论与方法的创新。对长期以来学科涉及到的主要问题,战略性、咨询性、预测性甚至总结经验性（成果表现为发展学科理论）的工作将会逐渐增加,重要性将逐渐显现。阐述了信息化与社会空间经济组织、区域经济新格局与新型城镇化等重要研究领域的发展变化趋势,就“国际热点”与“国际前沿”、理论研究及理论与实践的关系等重要问题的研究理念以提出了新设想,并提出将“人文地理学”改称为“人文与经济地理学”的建议。     

自然的社会建构：西方人文地理学对自然的再认识

自然的社会建构作为西方人文地理学界对自然的再思考,渐成为理解自然与社会互动的重要理论框架,并逐步成为推动人地和谐、可持续发展研究的新范式。通过梳理自然的社会建构研究理论源起并对西方涉及自然的社会建构的研究文献进行全面梳理发现,自然的社会建构并非单纯指基于建构主义视角考察自然的知识生产或价值与意义,还应该关注自然被生产与形构的商品化过程。现有议题主要聚焦于政治与自然、商品化与自然、社会情感与自然以及日常生活与自然四大方面。在此基础上,进一步提出了国内未来研究需要关注的重要方向。     

The return of confiscated land and property in the new Länder: The process and its geographical implications

The unification of Germany has led to claims for the restitution of more than 2.47 million pieces of property confiscated under the auspices of either the Third Reich or the East German government. The legal and administrative taks of restitution is a huge challenge for the new Germany, with far-reaching implications for the country's social and economic fabric. This paper examines the nature and scale of restitution claims and how they are being settled across the five new German states (Bundesländer) and Berlin. It reveals a picture of considerable progress overall, but with substantial regional variations.     

中国农民工聚居区研究进展

作为快速城市化、工业化、相关制度和文化背景等多种因素影响下形成的一种聚落形态,中国农民工聚居区诞生于20世纪80年代。本文在梳理相关研究的基础上,将农民工聚居区研究划分为起步阶段、扩展阶段、社会空间转向和社区治理3个阶段。总体上看,对农民工聚居区的研究,在空间形态方面从静态走向动态,社会网络方面从群体走向空间,形成机制方面从传统的社会学、城市地理学视角转向制度经济学、文化地理学和空间生产视角,聚居区从改造管理走向合作治理,研究方法日益多元化。论文从研究思潮、研究视角、研究重点等方面比较了中国农民工聚居区与西方移民聚居区的差别,并对未来研究作了展望。     

Using an unbaited stationary video system to investigate the behaviour and interactions of bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas under an aquaculture farm

Bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas are common along the coast of Reunion Island (South-West Indian Ocean) and were suspected to aggregate in the vicinity of an aquaculture farm in Saint-Paul Bay on the west coast. In order to understand the behaviour and interaction of bull sharks near aquaculture cages at Saint-Paul Bay, we deployed an experimental unbaited stationary video camera. From 175 hours of recording during daylight hours from March to April 2012, eight individual female bull sharks (seven adults and one immature) were identified based on their natural markings. These sharks were resighted between 3 and 45 times. Residency analysis revealed site attachment under the aquaculture cages for at least three individuals over the course of the study. Recorded behaviours included intraspecific social interactions such as synchronised swimming. Social interactions and relatively strong paired associations for two pairs of females suggest some level of sociality among bull sharks around Reunion Island. Overall, our results demonstrate the utility of unbaited video systems to monitor the behaviour of adult coastal sharks.     

Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus group dynamics,site fidelity,residency and movement patterns in the Madeira Archipelago (North-East Atlantic)

The bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus is one of the most frequently sighted cetacean species in the Madeira Archipelago (North-East Atlantic); however, little is known about its population ecology in these waters. Photo-identification undertaken during systematic, non-systematic and opportunistic surveys conducted between 2001 and 2012 was used to assess group dynamics, site fidelity, residency and movement patterns of bottlenose dolphins in the archipelago. Three different patterns of residency were assigned, based on individual sighting histories. Group size ranged between 2 and 90 individuals (median 12), with no significant monthly difference in group size. All resident dolphins formed a core, complex network with migrant and transient dolphins. In contrast, satellite clusters were formed exclusively by transient individuals. The lagged identification rate (LIR) model indicated that a dolphin remained in the area for an average of 90 days, whereas the average time an individual spent outside the study area was approximately 313 days. The Madeira Archipelago appears to be only a section of a much larger home range for this population, with the dolphins exhibiting three different patterns of occurrence that associate with each other. The information gained about this poorly studied population contributes to the overall knowledge of bottlenose dolphins in insular oceanic habitats.