Home  About us  Contact
 

Thematic Areas (thematic + area)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences80%

Selected Abstracts

Understanding change in cities: a personal research path

THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 2 2007
LARRY S. BOURNE
At the invitation of the editor, this article offers an overview of my personal research trajectory in one thematic area,the study of urban form, structure and growth. The purpose of the article is not to assign prominence to any particular research style or approach but to illustrate how ideas and priorities in research evolve over a given time period and under specific conditions, as viewed through the lens of my own experience. The article traces the sequential evolution of my research activity and publications from an initial emphasis on understanding change in inner-city land use and built form, through studies of decision making and the behavioural bases of urban form, to analyses of social change, income inequalities and spatial polarization, and then to issues of planning, policy and governance in emerging city regions. The review highlights lessons learned and concludes with an argument for more inclusive and comparative research. À l'invitation de l'éditeur en chef, cet article offre un aperçu de ma trajectoire de recherche axée sur un domaine spécifique,l'étude de la forme, de la structure et de la croissance urbaine. L'article ne vise pas à mettre en valeur un style ou une approche de recherche en particulier, mais plutôt à fournir, à partir de ma propre expérience, un exemple de la manière dont les idées et les orientations de recherche peuvent évoluer au cours d'une période de temps et sous certaines conditions. Cet article présente de façon séquentielle l'évolution de mes activités de recherche et de mes publications qui portaient initialement sur les changements de l'occupation du sol et des formes urbaines dans les centre-ville, pour porter par la suite sur l'étude des processus décisionnels et des facteurs comportementaux liés aux formes urbaines, à des analyses des changements sociaux, des inégalités de revenu et de la polarisation spatiale, et finalement aux enjeux entourant la planification, les politiques publiques et la gouvernance dans les régions urbaines en émergence. Ce bilan permet de dégager des enseignements et se termine par une discussion sur le besoin d'une recherche plus inclusive et comparative. [source]

Urban Festivals: Geographies of Hype, Helplessness and Hope

GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2008
Gordon Waitt
Let's hold a festival! This article explores why hosting festivals has been widely prescribed as a panacea for the contemporary social and economic ills of cities. In this article, this is contextualised in relationship to the urban politics of neoliberalism, and the demise of many urban centres through global shifts in economic production. Boosting of city images through the hype of public,private partnerships re-imagines urban centres as world showcases , places that are vibrant, dynamic, affluent, healthy, tolerant, cosmopolitan and sexy. Focusing on two thematic areas , geographies of helplessness and geographies of hope , this article then investigates how both strands qualify the geographies of hype by revealing how contemporary urban festival spaces, while liberating certain social groups, also constrain, disadvantage and oppress. [source]

Biological images of geological history: through a glass darkly or brightly face to face?

JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2003
Jeremy D. Holloway
Abstract Aim, To explore the implications for historical biogeography of a recent review of island biogeographical theory in three main thematic areas and to suggest ways in which a synthesis between the two approaches might be achieved to the benefit of both. Location, The Indo-Australian tropics. Theme 1, discusses the relationship of species number to area, and how the nestedness of faunas may influence the methodology used for some types of analysis and also the quality of data expected from an archipelago embracing an extreme range of island sizes. Theme 2, examines the way in which the processes of speciation may lead to development of biogeographical patterns through a complex archipelago, illustrated in particular with reference to Sulawesi where biotic enrichment from different lepidopteran groups follows predictions from island biogeographical theory. This also has implications for patterns of endemism in the archipelago, another constraint on the quality of data available for historical biogeography. Theme 3, addresses ecological determinism as an influence in development of biogeographical pattern, focusing on the theme of specificity in insect,plant relationships and the potential for parallel development of pattern in an insect group and its particular plant host group. This theme is developed with particular reference to moth and plant groups that may represent Gondwanan elements in the Oriental fauna, with an analysis of Sarcinodes, a geometrid moth genus associated with Proteaceae. Main conclusions, Prospects are assessed for the synthesis of the two approaches of island biogeography and historical biogeography. Modelling pattern development with the former may complement the methods of analysis of the latter, particularly if some satisfactory method for dating events of pattern development can also be incorporated. [source]

Training Civil Servants for Crisis Management

JOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2000
Laurent F. Carrel
This article describes and reflects upon actual experiences in training leaders in the Swiss government. Five thematic areas that are fundamental to preparing a government for leadership in a crisis are presented. Additionally, planning the training, the use of expertise and factors which facilitate or hinder strategic learning are discussed. The author recommends the development of a model learning strategy for governments, with the assistance of the European Academy for Crisis Management. [source]

Practicing Anthropology in a Time of Crisis: 2009 Year in Review

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2010
Keri Vacanti Brondo
ABSTRACT, The breadth and reach of practicing anthropologists in 2009 suggests that anthropology has entered a new phase of advanced engagement at local, national, and international levels. In this article, I review thematic areas in which practicing anthropologists made significant contributions in 2009, including fiscal crisis and business anthropology; U.S. race relations, civil rights, and policy reforms; human rights, environmental change, and displacement; global health and human rights; and war and peace. New areas of expansion are also discussed in the arenas of public archaeology, museums and heritage, and engaged scholarship. Innovations in anthropological research and communicating ethnographic findings with the broader public are reviewed. [source]