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Urban Settlements (urban + settlement)
Selected AbstractsLocation, Location, Location: Gender and the Archaeology of Urban SettlementJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2002Sharon Haar The word community describes both organizations of individuals with a shared identity and discrete spaces shared by these individuals. The elision of the two definitions,one social, the other spatial, contains a contested condition. Typically conceived as separate and gendered spheres, domesticity and urbanity have been crucial to the changing physical definition of modern space. The destruction of the Hull House Social Settlement and the building of an urban campus, the University of Illinois at Chicago, is a case study in the nature of the often gendered and continuing contest over the public space of the city. [source] Mobility, Residential Location and the American Dream: The Intrametropolitan Geography of Minority HomeownershipREAL ESTATE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2008Stuart A. Gabriel This article applies data from Washington, DC, Chicago and Los Angeles to estimate three-level nested multinomial logit models of household mobility, residential location and homeownership tenure choice. Model simulation indicates that shocks to income can significantly elevate the homeownership attainment of minority households; however, their urban settlement and homeownership patterns remain substantially more concentrated than those of whites. Simulated equilibration of black economic status with that of whites results in an approximate doubling of homeownership rates among black movers to central city areas. In contrast, homeownership rates among black movers to suburban and outlying areas lag far behind those of whites. [source] Determinants of preferred intertidal feeding habitat for Eastern Curlew: A study at two spatial scalesAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2007PAUL G. FINN Abstract Broadscale habitat use by Eastern Curlews (Numenius madagascariensis) in their non-breeding range in eastern Australia was assessed using low tide surveys on feeding grounds, where 60 skilled volunteers made repeated counts of the birds on intertidal flats, across 41% (9500 ha) of the intertidal habitat within Moreton Bay, Australia. We analysed 32 defined sections of intertidal flat, of roughly equal area (mostly 200,400 ha), which varied greatly in their curlew density (2,47 birds per 100 ha) and also in substrate and other environmental features. Sites with the least resistant substrates had densities three times those with the most resistant substrates. Of 10 environmental characteristics measured for each site, substrate resistance was the best predictor of curlew density (r2 = 0.45). Characteristics that were poor predictors included distance to the nearest roost, level of human disturbance and distance to urban settlement. For a finer-scale assessment, microhabitat use and feeding behaviour were recorded during low tide within 12 intertidal flats, which varied in size (23,97 ha), substrate, topography and other features. Across all flats, curlews strongly preferred to feed relatively close (0,50 m) to the low-water line. They fed on a variety of substrates (including sand, sandy-mud, mud and seagrass) in broadly similar proportions to their occurrence in the habitat. There was a statistically significant preference for sand, although its magnitude was not strong. These results indicate that curlews select habitat most strongly at a between-flat rather than within-flat scale. [source] Urban ecological footprints in AfricaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Joy S. Clancy Abstract Africa's rate of urbanization is the highest in the world. This is relevant to ecologists working in Africa because urban growth is strongly associated with habitat destruction, and also creates new fields of study. The ecological footprint concept is used to illustrate how urban settlements in Africa impact on rural ecosystems. At an aggregate level, African countries have the lowest ecological footprints in the world. However, there is little available data for individual cities, so evidence is fragmented making concerted policy initiatives difficult. Wood fuel continues to be a major source of energy for urban households and there is a long running debate as to what extent providing wood fuel for urban use damages forest ecosystems. Growing evidence contests the assertion that urban wood fuel markets are responsible for forest degradation. Although there are other options available, the social consequences of switching energy sources need to be taken into account. Outright bans, for example on charcoal, would lead to a loss of livelihoods in rural and urban households, and may not solve deforestation as well as increasing fossil fuel use would increase the ecological footprint. Résumé Le taux d'urbanisation de l'Afrique est le plus élevé du monde. Cela concerne les écologistes qui travaillent sur ce continent parce que la croissance urbaine est étroitement liée à la destruction des habitats, et cela ouvre aussi de nouveaux champs d'étude. Le concept d'empreinte écologique est utilisé pour illustrer comment les installations urbaines en Afrique ont un impact sur les écosystèmes ruraux. Pris tous ensemble, ce sont les pays africains qui ont la plus légère empreinte écologique du monde. Cependant, nous disposons de peu de données pour des villes individuelles, de sorte que les renseignements sont fragmentés et qu'il est difficile de prendre des initiatives politiques concertées. Le bois de feu continue àêtre une des principales sources d'énergie pour les ménages urbains, et il existe un débat de longue haleine quant à savoir dans quelle mesure l'approvisionnement en bois pour la consommation urbaine endommage les écosystèmes forestiers. Des preuves de plus en plus évidentes remettent en question l'assertion selon laquelle les marchés urbains de bois de feu seraient responsables de la dégradation des forêts. Bien qu'il y ait d'autres options possibles, il faut prendre en compte les conséquences sociales du passage à d'autres sources d'énergie. Les interdictions totales, par exemple du charbon de bois, entraîneraient la perte des moyens de subsistance de ménages ruraux et urbains, et pourraient ne pas résoudre le problème de déforestation, tout comme l'utilisation accrue des combustibles fossiles augmenterait l'empreinte écologique. [source] Simulation of the mean urban heat island using 2D surface parameters: empirical modelling, verification and extensionMETEOROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, Issue 3 2009Bernadett Balázs Abstract The spatial distribution of the annual mean urban heat island (UHI) intensity was simulated applying empirical models based on datasets from urban areas of Szeged and Debrecen, using simple and easily determinable urban surface cover variables. These two cities are situated on the Alföld (Great Hungarian Plain) and have similar topographic and climatic conditions. Temperature field measurements were carried out, Landsat satellite images were evaluated, and then one- and multiple variable models were constructed using linear regression techniques. The selected multiple-parameter models were verified using independent datasets from three urban settlements. In order to obtain some impression of the mean UHI patterns in other cities with no temperature measurements available, the better model was extended to urban areas of four other cities situated in geographical environments similar to Szeged and Debrecen. The main shortcoming of typical empirical models, namely that they are often restricted to a specific location, is overcome by the obtained model since it is not entirely site but more region specific, and valid in a large and densely populated area with several settlements. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Homegardening as a panacea: A case study of South TarawaASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 3 2009Andrew J. East Abstract The Republic of Kiribati is a small, highly infertile Pacific Island nation and is one of the most challenging locations to attempt to support dense urban populations. Kiribati, like other nations in the Pacific, faces an urban future where food insecurity, unemployment, waste management and malnutrition will become increasing issues. Homegardening is suggested as one way to address many of these problems. However, the most recent study on agriculture production in urban centres in Kiribati shows that, in general, intensive cultivation of homegardens is not a common practice. This disparity between theory and practice creates an opportunity to re-examine homegardening in Kiribati and, more broadly, in the Pacific. This paper examines the practice of homegardening in urban centres in Kiribati and explores reasons why change has or has not occurred through interviews with homegardeners and government/donor representatives. Results show that homegardening has increased significantly in the past five years, largely because of the promotion of homegardens and organic composting systems by donor organisations. While findings further endorse homegardening as an excellent theoretical solution to many of the problems that confront urban settlements in Kiribati and the Pacific, it raises additional questions regarding the continuation of homegarden schemes beyond donor support programmes. [source] Stable isotope variation in wool as a means to establish Turkish carpet provenance,RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 22 2005Robert E. M. Hedges The problem of establishing the provenance of carpets of artistic and historical importance is well known. We have addressed this by investigating whether there is sufficient geographical variation in the stable isotopes in wool (namely C, N and S) between key areas of Turkey to be able to recognize the different regions where carpets were made. Here we report results from modern wool samples taken from the winter growth of sheep in 2003/2004 from 13 carpet-producing sites. Although each site has a characteristic composition, most sites cannot be distinguished from each other, and the overall isotopic pattern is unexpectedly complicated. Thus in Western Turkey there is no sign of sea-spray effects in the ,34S values for sites close (10,km) to the sea, while, in the Konya Basin (Central Turkey), the ,34S values vary significantly between nearby sites. Two ,urban' settlements where sheep are now raised have dramatically higher ,15N values. It is nevertheless possible that certain production centers may have distinct signatures, and further work will compare carpets from known sources with the currently produced wool values. The results also provide additional insight into the natural variation found in archaeological faunal isotopic values, e.g. in bone collagen. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||