DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin
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Ideal city from the perspective of children through participatory planning – Duhok City in Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Full text linkAs urban expansion proceeds rapidly world-wide, challenges to urban planning and public participation become more conspicuous. Urbanization, and particularly rapid urban expansion, has serious implications for children. While this age group is most vulnerable to the environmental hazards of cities, their needs are rarely given a special focus. Children are seldom involved in planning and decision-making on matters that touch their lives. The focus of local governments is rather on how to provide enough employment opportunities, transport, housing and other basic services to meet the growing needs. This article aims to capture the perceptions of children from two schools in Duhok city, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) about the desired spatial environment in which they want to live. For this purpose, participatory mapping was used as a tool, whereby the children were able to express their needs and preferences through drawing/mapping their ideal cities. In preparation for the drawing exercise, the children had acquired a basic understanding of city planning and the basic elements that constitute the image of a city, based on Kevin Lynch’s (1960, 1977) theory of the elements of a city image. The contents of the children’s drawings were subsequently analyzed, based on Roger A. Hart’s (2011) classification of eight city models. The results show that the majority of the city maps drawn by the children have the characteristics of the safe and accessible city. This study does not only explore children’s perceptions of their existing and future urban environments, but also constitutes a unique initiative to encourage the involvement of school children of a Middle Eastern country in an informal city planning practice
A political ecology of green territorialization: frontier expansion and conservation in the Colombian Amazon
Full text linkAfter decades of civil war, the Colombian government has recently declared the Amazon as a model region for green growth and low carbon development. The Amazon Vision programme, launched by the Colombian government in 2016, seeks to contribute to forest conservation, climate mitigation, poverty reduction and peace building. The Amazon Vision fundamentally reframes the Colombian Amazon from a ‘narco frontier’ that needs to be liberated from guerrilla influence, organized crime and peasants destroying forests for coca cultivation, to a net CO2 sink with enormous potential for green growth and poverty reduction. Drawing on historical and empirical qualitative research in Guaviare and complemented by a quantitative land cover classification, this article builds on the concept of ‘green territoriality’ to investigate the extent to which the shift towards conservation affects property rights and the ability of indigenous groups and peasants to access land and natural resources. We illustrate how the reframing of peasants from protagonists of development and frontier expansion to villains, and of indigenous communities from underdeveloped forest dwellers to environmental guardians, has created land conflicts and affected the legitimacy of their respective property rights. In both cases, the Amazon Vision strengthens conservation policies and challenges existing land rights but also creates new windows of opportunity for the land claims of indigenous communities while reinforcing conceptualizations of social differentiation among dwellers of the Amazon
Justice as relationality: socio-ecological justice in the context of anti-hydropower movements in Turkey
Full text linkBy introducing a notion of socio-ecological justice, this article aims to deepen the relationship between environment and justice, which has already been firmly established by environmental justice movements and scholarship. Based on extensive fieldwork on local community struggles against small-scale run-of-river hydropower plants in Turkey, it expands the justice frame of environmental justice scholarship by going beyond the established conceptions of environmental justice as distribution – of environmental hazards and benefits, recognition and representation. Drawing on ethnographical fieldwork conducted in the East Black Sea region of Turkey, the article introduces the notion of socio-ecological justice to translate the relationality of the social and the ecological, of human life and non-human world, to the vocabulary of justice. It aims to extend the strictly humanist borders of social justice by maintaining that our intrinsic and intimate relations with the non-human world are an essential part of our well-being, and central to our needs to pursue a fair, decent life. It also seeks to contribute to the broader debate to facilitate a ‘progressive composition’ of a common, more-than-human world
Struggling against the consequences of bioethanol production. Narratives of a local environmental justice movement in Córdoba, Argentina
Full text linkDie Produktion von Bioenergie und besonders von Agrotreibstoffen ist sowohl auf lokaler als auch auf globaler Ebene stark umkämpft. Während ein Großteil der Forschung hierzu ländliche Räume und Nachhaltigkeitsfragen fokussiert, analysiert unsere Fallstudie einen Konflikt um Bioethanolproduktion im städtischen Raum: der Stadt Córdoba in Argentinien. Durch die Analyse der Entstehung der lokalen Protestbewegung im Viertel neben der Bioethanolfabrik sowie ihrer Narrative möchte der Artikel zur Debatte um die Folgen der Bioenergieproduktion aus einer Umweltgerechtigkeitsperspektive beitragen.
Der Beitrag zeigt, wie aus Sorge um die Unsicherheiten hinsichtlich Gesundheitsfolgen und Explosionsgefahr einer Ethanolfabrik eine lokale Umweltgerechtigkeitsbewegung entstanden ist. Die Aktivist*innen der Bewegung verstanden sich anfangs nicht als Umweltschützer*innen oder Öko-Bewegte. Sie haben das Thema Umweltverschmutzung nicht gewählt, sondern aus der Notwendigkeit heraus aufgegriffen, ihre Körper, ihr eigenes Leben und ihr Viertel zu verteidigen.
Da die lokalen Autoritäten die Forderungen der Anwohnerschaft ignorierten, sich den Problemen anzunehmen, sah sich die Protestbewegung selbst mit zahlreichen sozio-technischen Kontroversen konfrontiert, kümmerte sich um kritische epidemiologische Studien und suchte die Zusammenarbeit mit medizinischem und chemischen Expert*innen. Im Laufe des Konfliktes stellte die Bewegung die Erzählung des Bioethanol-Unternehmens in Frage, dass letzteres „grüne“ und „nachhaltige“ Energie produziere. Die Bewegung entwickelte ein eigenes Umweltgerechtigkeitsnarrativ, in Resonanz zu anderen Umwelt- und Menschenrechtsbewegungen Argentiniens.The production of bioenergy and especially of agrofuels is highly contested, both on a local and global scale. While most research has focused on rural areas and sustainability, our case study explores a conflict around bioethanol production within an urban context: the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Describing the emergence and narratives of a local protest movement within the neighbourhood next to the ethanol factory, our article aims to contribute to the debate on the externalities of bioenergy from an environmental justice perspective. The article shows that the struggle against bioethanol production in the neighbourhood emerged as a local environmental justice movement concerned about the uncertainties regarding health risks and the danger of explosions. At the start, the activists did not define themselves as ‘environmentalists’ or ‘ecologists’. This is not an environmentalism of choice, but an environmentalism ‘of obligation’, starting from their struggle to defend their bodies, health, lives and territory. The authorities ignored their claims, and so, facing sociotechnical controversies, the movement invested huge efforts into critical epidemiology and created alliances with health and science professionals and institutions. Through their struggle, they developed their own narrative, questioning the enterprise’s narrative of ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ energy. The movement fully developed its own understanding of environmental justice in unison with other environmental and human rights movements in the country
Assessing the implications of temperature extremes during the period 1959-2014 on the Inner Mongolia Plateau to sustainable development
Full text linkThe study sought to foster a better understanding of the nature of extreme temperature events and variations, and their implications to sustainable development, based on 16 indices of extreme temperature obtained from 43 meteorological stations on the Inner Mongolia Plateau (IMP). By using linear trend and Mann-Kendall abrupt change tests to investigate temporal variation trends, coupled with spatial distribution patterns and abrupt changes of extreme temperature events, the study revealed that the IMP has experienced extreme warming during 1959–2014 with warm extremes increasing significantly (p < 0.01) and cold extremes apparently decreasing (p < 0.01). The most significant increasing trends of warm extreme indices occurred in the desert steppe area (DSA) and sand desert area (SDA), suggesting that warming trends for night-time indices were larger than for daytime indices, while the most significant decreases in cold extreme indices were detected in forest area (FA) and forest steppe area (FSA). In addition, the significant cold day and cold night indices showed a decreasing trend, while warm day and warm night indices showed an increasing trend across the entire study area. Moreover, the study identified that topography has a large impact on the spatial distribution of extreme temperature indices, as does the type of grassland, and the ubiquity of the heat island effect in constructed urban regions. Finally, the study posits that to mitigate the effects of extreme temperatures, it is imperative to foster adaptive actions based on the principles of sustainable development
Environmental justice at the intersection: exclusion patterns in urban mobility narratives and decision making in Monterrey, Mexico
Full text linkDieses Papier stellt die städtische Umwelt von Monterrey, Mexiko, in den Mittelpunkt unserer Forschung und untersucht die urbane Mobilität im Wechselspiel mit Geschlecht und Umweltgerechtigkeit, indem es ein interdisziplinäres Team von Wissenschaftlerinnen, Künstlerinnen und Aktivistinnen zusammenbringt, um Recherchen zur Untersuchung von urbanen Mobilitätsnarrativen und Entscheidungsfindungen durchzuführen. Die Auswirkungen der sozialen Ausgrenzung in den von uns diskutierten Entscheidungsprozessen aufarbeiten: -Wie die dominante Narrative der Inclusive Mobility und der Human City soziale Praktiken einer auto-zentrierten Stadt reproduziert, indem sie geschlechtsspezifische Mobilitätsmuster ignoriert und eine unkritische Haltung zu Mobilitätsplänen und -maßnahmen einnimmt. -Wie die dominante Narrative Gentrifizierung Prozesse verstärkt. - Und wie die dominante Narrative die allgemeine Machtasymmetrie zwischen politischen Entscheidungsträgern auf Staats- und Gemeindeebene verstärkt, im Gegensatz zu zivilen Gruppen, die sich für alternative urbane Mobilität einsetzen. Anhand von offiziellen und medialen Berichten und sozialen Netzwerkdaten werfen wir einen Blick auf ineinandergreifende Themen, die die gegenwärtige Situation der urbanen Mobilität in Monterrey bestimmen: Dominanz mächtiger politischer und wirtschaftlicher Eliten bei der Planung und Durchführung von Wohn- und Verkehrsentscheidungen, weitgehend unterversorgte Wohngebiete mit hoher Dichte, Ausgrenzung von Menschen, die in den Stadtrandzonen leben, und Unterschiede in der sozialen Verwundbarkeit, die durch intersektional verknüpfte Aspekte wie Geschlecht, Rassismus, sozioökonomischer Status und Alter abgegrenzt werden. Wir kommen zu dem Schluss, dass Umweltgerechtigkeit nur mit einer umfassenden und erreichbaren städtischen Mobilität verwirklicht werden kann. Zudem müssen Mobilitätsmuster und Vernetzung von Stadtteilen und Gemeinden in den Randzonen priorisiert werden, um eine weniger verschmutzte, nachhaltige und gerechte Stadt zu erreichen. Diese Ziele können nur durch Mechanismen der Transparenz, der Inklusion und einer Geschlechterperspektive erreicht werden; wir sehen diese Mechanismen als eine Konterkarierung des bestehenden hegemonialen Systems von Unterdrückung und Ausgrenzung.Placing the urban environment of Monterrey, Mexico at the center of our research, this paper examines how urban mobility intersects with gender and environmental justice. As a transdisciplinary team of scholars, artists, and activists, we examine the urban mobility discourses and discuss how transportation and urban narratives such as sustainable mobility and human cities reinforce: - a car centered dominant narrative that maintains environmental and mobility injustices, - the socio-spatial segregation, exclusion, and accelerated gentrification processes in Monterrey. And, we discuss how these narratives exclude queer and feminist perspectives and their bodies. Using official and media reports we look at how the political and economic elites use narratives to prop up an imaginary of urban equality as part of a walkable and/or cycling city. These narratives maintain a status quo that includes new housing and transportation construction as part of an ongoing unjust system that we refer to as intersectional, in regards to gender, racism, socio-economic status, and age. We conclude environmental justice can only be achieved with mobility justice and that to achieve mobility justice we need to queer the city. To queer a city is when mobility patterns and connectivity of neighborhoods in the periphery are prioritized; when transparency mechanisms, gender perspectives and embodied experiences are the norm, and when aspiration includes achieving a less polluted, sustainable and equitable city.
 
Justice of compensation for spatial flood risk management – comparing the flexible Austrian and the structured Dutch approach
Full text linkIn view of the anticipated climate change, many countries face increasing risks of flooding. Since the end of the 20th century, the traditional hard flood protection measures have been increasingly complemented with spatial flood risk reduction measures. These measures, though in the public interest and as such, benefitting many people, almost inevitably affect landowners adversely. In other words, spatial flood risk reduction measures affect private land. The impact may extend from mere decreases in property values as a result of changes to zoning plans and to obligations to tolerate certain acts related to the construction or maintenance of water defence structures. Most of the time, implementation of spatial flood risk reduction measures thus discriminates between landowners, as some profit from better protection but others are affected negatively by the measures. Spatial flood risk reduction measures thus raise issues of social justice. Compensation plays a crucial role in flood risk management to mitigate the impact on land. How and in which cases this compensation is paid differs from country to country. Some national jurisdictions compensate for loss as a result of lawful administrative acts if and to the extent that it is considered unreasonable for this loss to be the full responsibility of the affected party. In this paper, we compare two different legal compensation frameworks in two European countries: Austria and the Netherlands. Based on a comparative analysis, we discuss how these different compensation schemes affect social justice, both in terms of substantive distributions but also in terms of procedural justice
Spatio-temporal variations and impacting factors of vegetation NPP in the Junggar Basin, China
Full text linkThe Junggar Basin investigated in this study has seen significant land cover and climate change. However, the spatiotemporal relationship between net primary productivity (NPP) and environmental factors remain unclear. Thus, we applied trend analysis and correlation methods to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of NPP and its relationship with driving factors using remotely sensed data and measured climate data from 2000 to 2015. During the study period, high values of NPP mainly occurred in the forests of the mid-elevation mountain areas. The NPP values showed an increasing trend in the different vegetation types, most likely due to climate change in combination with other factors. The annual trend of NPP in the study area varied in the range from –12.4 to 11.3 g C m–2 a–2. The desert area exhibited no significant trends, but most of the mountain areas showed a significantly increasing trend. NPP was significantly correlated with temperature and precipitation. The dominant factor affecting NPP was temperature, mainly in the Ili river watershed and the Tien Shan mountain range. However, human activity and land cover changes were also important factors affecting the fluctuations in NPP. The results of this study highlight the need for appropriate land-use strategies for managing vegetation resources in arid land ecosystems
A novel way to present flood hazards using 3D-printing with transparent layers of return period isolines
Full text linkThis paper examines the 3D printed results of a floodplain analysis usually used for hydrological studies to calculate the probabilities in high water stage features. The analysis was performed using probability distributions, including Pearson type III distribution, Log-Pearson type III distribution, Gaussian (normal) distribution, Gumbel distribution, and Log-normal distribution. The maximum theoretical stages of best fitting distribution for different return periods were mapped to the Vardar and Boshava rivers in the Tikvesh Valley. Data to create the model were extracted from digital elevation models of the Vardar river target area. The extracted 3D surface model was covered with a map showing all the flooded areas in the relevant territory for different return periods as transparent layers. The data were converted into a physical model (relief map) using 3D printing methods for visualisation
