Scientific Annals of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi
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LONG TERM VARIABILITY OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION IN ARMENIA IN THE CONTEXT OF CHANGING CLIMATE
Get PDFThis study concerns the analysis of temporal and spatial variability of precipitation in the Republic of Armenia in the second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty–first century. The study area includes Armenia where long–term measurements and observations of weather conditions have been performed within the national meteorological services of Armenia (43 meteorological stations). Their monthly data of precipitation taken from the measuring period of 1961–2012 will be implied in the study. The presence of trends in annual precipitation will be assessed by means of the Mann-Kendall test and autocorrelation function, as well as Khronostat program, including someparametric and non parametric tests
A NOTE ON ATTRIBUTES DESCRIBING AND MEASURING THE POLYCENTRIC DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL – A REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Get PDFEven though polycentrism has gained its popularity in the late ’90, it still remains a fuzzy concept; its meaning is elusive because of the lack of a consensus regarding its definition no matter the scale of analysis. The scientific literature provides studies that approach this theme both from a normative and analytical point of view; the former case refers to polycentrism as a spatial planning vision promoted by policy documents and academic literature, while the latter addresses the concept as an analytic construct providing a way to study the spatial organizational patterns of different networks. In this paper, we propose a common classification of the attributes that define the potential of an area to become a polycentric system and of the spatial variables used to measure polycentricity
POLYCENTRISM, STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
Get PDFEver since polycentrism was promoted by the EU in ESDP as an a-priori view valuable to adopt it gained popularity and it has been included in policy documents of the Member States. The paper will explain the context of European, national and regional policies and also the visions of regional development regarding urban polycentric regions to highlight their relevance as a distinct spatial level of planning. For the national context we chose the example of the German federal state; its objectives regarding spatial planning are still marked by the contradiction between the principal of balanced spatial development across the country and the promotion of an European alternative model of development. This case also highlights the changes induced by the shift of the political views and inclusion of new development directions in policy documents. Polycentrism on regional level is being exemplified on Randstad scale by pointing out the way the development of this region is promoted by superior administrative tiers and how different forms of governance have emerged. Finally, the paper examines how a model of spatial interaction and residual analysis can provide useful information in pointing out the intensity and direction of the relationships among urban centres, becoming thus a measure of polycentricit
OPERATION CLEAN UP IN JOHANNESBURG INNER CITY: PERSPECTIVES ON THE RIGHT TO THE CITY AND THE POLITICS OF ENCOUNTER
Get PDFThis paper deploys Henri Lefebvre`s concepts of the right to the city and encounters to analyse the contestation between street traders and the City of Johannesburg. This clash arose as a result of the decision by the City of Johannesburg in September 2013 to destroy and remove street trading stalls belonging to both African immigrant and South African street traders. The interviewees with both African immigrant and South African traders who were affected by the actions of the City of Johannesburg seem to suggest that the politics of encounter more than the right to the city can be used as an explanatory framework of the dynamic of the contestation. Although the right to the city, which street traders either do not fully understand or understand in a limited context, gives some insight into the conflict, interviews seem to suggest that it was too lofty a struggle, in which they do not have an active interest. This evidence seems to move beyond a casual and simplistic understanding of Henri Lefebvre` s right to the city and thus expand the application of the concept to a setting like the Johannesburg inner city
SPATIAL DISPARITIES OF POPULATION EVOLUTION IN PLAIN BIRDA-MORAVITA
Get PDFThis study aims to present the causes of unequal population developments over a long period of time (1880-2011), and the social and economic repercussions it may have on the studied area. Setting population trends in villages of Moraviţa Birda Plain aims to identify a general trend in the area that is being analyzed .The evolution of the population in the territory is directly related to the impact of its natural movement
ASSESSMENT OF BIOTHERMAL CONDITIONS FOR URBAN TOURISM IN THE SELECTED EUROPEAN CITIES
Get PDFUrban tourism has become very popular in the last years, so the crucial problem in bioclimatology is to elaborate proper methods for evaluation of climatic conditions in the cities, which are popular tourist destinations. This paper presents results of the assessment of biothermal conditions in Madrid, Stockholm and Warsaw. For this purpose biometeorological indices (PST and UTCI) based on human heat budget models as well as tourism climatic index TCI were used. The calendars of bioclimates’ suitability for urban tourism in these cities were designed using WSI index. Applied research tools were appraised and recommendations for future evaluations of climate in terms of urban tourism were given.
TRAPPED IN A GARDEN OF GREENER PASTURES: THE EXPERIENCES OF ZIMBABWEAN TEACHERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDF Most immigrants from African countries choose Johannesburg as a migration destination. They all perceive it to be location with many opportunities that would enable them to make a fresh start to a life outside their home country, and Zimbabweans are no exception. In South Africa, Johannesburg has a large percentage of foreigners at any given time, hence its inner city was chosen as a suitable location to investigate the extent and manner in which the experiences of migrant Zimbabwean teachers matched their expectations. The results revealed a paradox of economic satisfaction accompanied by fear and social unhappiness in the lives of these Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa. The Zimbabwean migrant teachers have two juxta-positioned problematic situations: wanting the money, their initial reason for migrating and motivation to continue working; and feeling imprisoned, unsafe and unwanted, an incongruous reality, in South Africa. This paper examines the dynamics of these contradictions by presenting the two-pronged dilemma from both an economic and a social point of view. They want to be and not to be in South Africa at the same time – they are trapped in a contradictory existence, in a city and country to which they chose to migrate.
USE OF TERRITORIAL IDENTITY MARKERS IN GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCHES
Get PDFTerritorial identity is a complex of social and cultural relations of local or regional community with the territory of residence, and is considered as an important criterion of regionalization. Nowadays, territorial identity studies are conducted using different scientific approaches. This study represents an attempt to use territorial identity markers, such as names of enterprises, institutions and some kinds of urban place-names. The findings revealed the transformation of historical-geographical regions of Ukraine at the present historical stage, resulted in regionalization scheme and can be used to solve different theoretical and practical problems, including optimizing the administrative division of the state. The method of territorial identity markers appears to be reliable and effective; therefore it can be widely used both as independent approach and in combination with other methods, especially socio-geographical and historical-geographical
The ENSO Influence in the Mexican Regional Precipitation during the Instrumental Period
Get PDFA long-term high quality precipitation database has been developed to assess the changing climate of Mexico during the instrumental period. Time-series with more than thirty years of information and less than ten percent of missing data were accepted for the extraction. Day to day data comparisons were made among the different constituent databases used in the development. The final network used in this study has 175 stations (168 in Mexico and 7 in the USA) with monthly rainfall from 1931 to 2001, i.e., 71 years of precipitation data. Oblique-rotated Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied to the monthly dataset to regionalise groups of stations that vary coherently. Linear (Kendall’s tau-b) correlations have been applied to establish relationships between three different ENSO indices and the regional precipitation averages (resulting from PCA). A clear latitudinal transition is observed when the annual and rainy (May-Oct) seasons for the regional precipitation averages and derived extreme rainfall indices are correlated with the ENSO indices: wetter conditions are observed north of the Tropic of Cancer and below normal precipitation is dominant in the southern part of the country (during El Niño conditions). Meanwhile, a national climatic picture of wetter conditions is observed when standardised versions of the dry (Nov-Apr) season of the regional precipitation averages are correlated with the ENSO indices
TREND OF URBANISATION AND GROWTH OF SMALL TOWNS IN BARDDHAMAN DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
Get PDFAs per the census of India 2011, Barddhaman district (22o56' N to 23o53'N and 86o48' E to 88o25' E) holds 4th position in percentage share of urban population in West Bengal, India. The district shows an increase in rate of urbanisation from 1971-2011. Level of urbanisation is high than the state and national averages. There exists wide intra district variation in level of urbanisation. Interestingly, much of the share comes from Western Barddhaman, comprising Asansol and Durgapur subdivisions. Town spacing is also low here, indicating high concentration. The present work intends to study trend of urbanisation and growth of small towns in Barddhaman district, West Bengal, India. Census of India data (1971 to 2011) have been used for the analysis. There is an uneven development of the small towns and the number of them obviously high in Western one than the Eastern part