Urban consolidation and house prices: a case study of Melbourne 1990–2004     

Sun Sheng Han  Kevin O’Connor 《GeoJournal》2008,73(4):285-295

This paper explores the links between a strategic policy, urban consolidation, and house prices by examining the changes in the mix of housing and in house price for the period 1991–2004. We contend that urban consolidation could be seen as a source of additional supply, (which might be expected to be felt in lower prices and so contribute to a local policy objective) but also as a stimulus to demand (by developers who could bid up the price of lots where it was understood more housing could be built). Analyses were carried out at the metropolitan and sub-regional scales using correlation tests. The research finds very weak statistical connections, and concludes that this policy has not been associated with price changes.  相似文献   

How a court, a commissioner and a lobby group brought European transport policy to life in 1985     

Marco te Brömmelstroet  Tobias Nowak 《GeoJournal》2008,72(1-2):33-44

Until the mid-1980s, transport policy was considered by many as one of the least successful domains of the European integration project. However, from the early 1990s onwards, there are clear signs of a single European transport policy, along with the accompanying implementation of infrastructure projects. What is the explanation for such a change in pace? This paper aims to offer insight in these processes by looking at the mechanisms which form and transform this policy domain. To understand the state of a policy domain and its dynamics over time an institutional approach is taken. Two concepts in political science, ‘policy arrangements’ and ‘supranational governance’ are combined and used as a framework to analyse the European transport policy domain. This analysis describes the development of several elements: organisations, rules, the transnational society, power, resources, and the central transport discourse. It demonstrates that all of these elements have developed from an intergovernmental setting towards a more supranational one. This development was slow in the first decennia when European transport policy was rather passive, but it picked up speed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the pivotal year of 1985, pressure from the transnational society resulted in a rapid change of the rules, the resources and the discourse.  相似文献   

Euro-politics of scale: competing visions of the region in eastern Germany     

Corey Johnson 《GeoJournal》2008,72(1-2):75-89

As John Agnew (Political geography: a reader, 1997) has argued, political and economic change often occasions competing visions of the scales that are appropriate for organizing particular political and economic activities. Nowhere is this more evident than in the European Union, and eastern Germany offers compelling evidence of the contested nature of contemporary scalar politics. Yet a recent debate in human geography (see, e.g. Marston et al., Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 30:416–432, 2005) calls into question the very concept of scale and rejects its hierarchical conceptualization. In light of this debate, it is appropriate to draw on real-world case studies to examine the ways in which geography figures into policy. Drawing on field work in Saxony, evidence is offered in the form of competing visions of regionalism in the EU context. The evidence presented complicates both hierarchical and flat notions of scale. The current process of querying space to identify those scales that are best-suited for the globalized economy offers insights into both the socially constructed nature of scale as well as the ways in which scalar lenses help to illuminate the geographical aspects (and consequences) of strategies for coping with structural changes.  相似文献   

Drought events in Southern Portugal from the 12th to the 19th centuries: integrated research from descriptive sources     

Afonso Do Ó  Maria J. Roxo 《Natural Hazards》2008,47(1):55-63

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Methodology for preliminary assessment of Natech risk in urban areas   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Ana Maria Cruz  Norio Okada 《Natural Hazards》2008,46(2):199-220

Concern for natural hazard-triggered technological disasters (Natech disasters) in densely populated and industrialized areas is growing. Residents living in urban areas subject to high natural hazard risk are often unaware of the potential for secondary disasters such as hazardous materials releases from neighboring industrial facilities, chemical storage warehouses or other establishments housing hazardous materials. Lessons from previous disasters, such as the Natech disaster during the Kocaeli earthquake in Turkey in 1999 call for the need to manage low frequency/high consequence events, particularly in today’s densely populated areas. However, there is little guidance available on how local governments and communities can assess Natech risk. To add to the problem, local governments often do not have the human or economic resources or expertise to carry out detailed risk assessments. In this article, we propose a methodology for preliminary assessment of Natech risk in urban areas. The proposed methodology is intended for use by local government officials in consultation with the public. The methodology considers possible interactions between the various systems in the urban environment: the physical infrastructure (e.g., industrial plants, lifeline systems, critical facilities), the community (e.g., population exposed), the natural environment (e.g., delicate ecosystems, river basins), and the risk and emergency management systems (e.g., structural and nonstructural measures). Factors related to vulnerability and hazard are analyzed and qualitative measures are recommended. Data from hazardous materials releases during the Kocaeli, Turkey earthquake of August 17, 1999 are used as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the methodology. Limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed as well as future research needs.

Norio OkadaEmail:

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Natural background levels and threshold values of monitored parameters in the Cambrian-Vendian groundwater body,Estonia     

Andres Marandi  Enn Karro 《Environmental Geology》2008,54(6):1217-1225

The Cambrian-Vendian groundwater body plays an important role in drinking water supply of capital Tallinn and other settlements in northern Estonia. Water quality in this deep-seated confined groundwater body is influenced by the intrusion of present-day seawater and pumping-induced upward migration of deeper saline groundwater. The aim of this study is to evaluate the threshold values applying the methodology worked out within the EU 6th FP project “Background criteria for the identification of groundwater thresholds (BRIDGE)” and to compare the results with the values proposed by local authorities. A database containing 250 monitoring points was completed and used for the calculation of natural background levels (as the 90 and 97.7 percentile) in groundwater. The calculation of threshold values is based on natural background levels and reference values. In case of Cambrian-Vendian groundwater body the receptor is drinking water, thus limit values set by Estonian drinking water standard were used as reference values. The threshold values proposed by local authorities are more or less the same as calculated by BRIDGE methodology. Exceptionally different values are derived in case of chloride and ammonium.  相似文献   

Detection of free vertical convection and double-diffusion in groundwater monitoring wells with geophysical borehole measurements     

Susann Berthold  Frank Börner 《Environmental Geology》2008,54(7):1547-1566

Two algorithms for in-situ detection and identification of vertical free convective and double-diffusive flows in groundwater monitoring wells or boreholes are proposed. With one algorithm the causes (driving forces) and with the other one the effects (convection or double-diffusion) of vertical transport processes can be detected based on geophysical borehole measurements in the water column. Five density-driven flow processes are identified: thermal, solutal, and thermosolutal convection leading to an equalization, as well as saltfingers and diffusive layering leading to an intensification of a vertical density gradient. The occurrence of density-driven transport processes could be proven in many groundwater monitoring wells and boreholes; especially shallow sections of boreholes or groundwater monitoring wells are affected dramatically by such vertical flows. Deep sections are also impaired as the critical threshold for the onset of a density-driven flow is considerably low. In monitoring wells or boreholes, several sections with different types of density-driven vertical flows may exist at the same time. Results from experimental investigations in a medium-scale testing facility with high aspect ratio (height/radius = 19) and from numerical modeling of a water column agree well with paramters of in-situ detected convection cells.  相似文献   

Soil erosion susceptibility assessment and validation using a geostatistical multivariate approach: a test in Southern Sicily   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Christian Conoscenti  Cipriano Di Maggio  Edoardo Rotigliano 《Natural Hazards》2008,46(3):287-305

A certain number of studies have been carried out in recent years that aim at developing and applying a model capable of assessing water erosion of soil. Some of these have tried to quantitatively evaluate the volumes of soil loss, while others have focused their efforts on the recognition of the areas most prone to water erosion processes. This article presents the results of a research whose objective was that of evaluating water erosion susceptibility in a Sicilian watershed: the Naro river basin. A geomorphological study was carried out to recognize the water erosion landforms and define a set of parameters expressing both the intensity of hydraulic forces and the resistance of rocks/soils. The landforms were mapped and classified according to the dominant process in landsurfaces affected by diffuse or linear water erosion. A GIS layer was obtained by combining six determining factors (bedrock lithology, land use, soil texture, plan curvature, stream power index and slope-length factor) in unique conditions units. A geostatistical multivariate approach was applied by analysing the relationships between the spatial distributions of the erosion landforms and the unique condition units. Particularly, the density of eroded area for each combination of determining factors has been calculated: such function corresponds, in fact, to the conditional probability of erosion landforms to develop, under the same geoenvironmental conditions. In light of the obtained results, a general geomorphologic model for water erosion in the Naro river basin can be depicted: cultivated areas in clayey slopes, having fine-medium soil texture, are the most prone to be eroded; linear or diffuse water erosion processes dominate where the topography is favourable to a convergent or divergent runoff, respectively. For each of the two erosion process types, a susceptibility map was produced and submitted to a validation procedure based on a spatial random partition strategy. Both the success of the validation procedure of the susceptibility models and the geomorphological coherence of the relationships between factors and process that such models suggest, confirm the reliability of the method and the goodness of the predictions.  相似文献   

National flood discharge mapping in Austria   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Ralf Merz  Günter Blöschl  Günter Humer 《Natural Hazards》2008,46(1):53-72

This article presents the approach and the results of a study in which 30, 100 and 200 year return period flood discharges were estimated for 26,000 km of Austrian streams. Three guiding principles were adopted: combination of automatic methods and manual assessments by hydrologists to allow speedy processing and account for the local hydrological situation; combination of various sources of information including flood peak samples, rainfall data, runoff coefficients and historical flood data; and involvement of the Hydrographic Services to increase the accuracy and enhance the acceptance of results. The flood discharges for ungauged catchments were estimated by the Top-kriging approach with manual adjustment to the local flood characteristics. The adopted combination approach proved to be very efficient both in terms of the project time required and in terms of the accuracy and acceptability of the estimated flood discharges of given return periods.  相似文献   

Environmental hydrogeology of the southern sector of the Samborombon Bay wetland,Argentina     

Eleonora Carol  Eduardo Kruse  Jorge Pousa 《Environmental Geology》2008,54(1):95-102

The Samborombon Bay wetland is located on the west margin of the Rio de la Plata estuary, in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This paper analyses the geological, geomorphologic, soil and vegetation characteristics of the southernmost sector of this wetland and their influence on surface water and groundwater. The study area presents three hydrologic units: coastal dunes, sand sheets and coastal plain. Coastal dunes and sand sheets are recharge zones of high permeability with well-drained, non-saline soils, and a few surface water flows. Changes in the water table are related to rainfall. Groundwater in coastal dunes is Ca–Mg–HCO₃ to Na–HCO₃, and of low salinity (590 mg/l). Groundwater in sand sheets is mainly Na–HCO₃ with a salinity of about 1,020 mg/l. The coastal plain exhibits medium to low permeability sediments, with submerged saline soils poorly drained. Groundwater is Na–Cl with a mean salinity of 16,502 mg/l. A surface hydrological network develops in the coastal plain. Surface water levels near the shoreline are affected by tidal fluctuations; far from the shoreline water accumulates because of poor drainage. Both sectors have Na–Cl water, but the former is more saline. Human intervention and sea level rise may affect the wetland severely.  相似文献