Potential Contributions of Spatial Analysis to Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T)

Geographic information systems (GIS) are having tremendous impacts on many scientific and application domains. The traditional subfield of spatial analysis is witnessing a major resurgence and enhancement due to GIS and geographical information science (GISci), an interdisciplinary field focusing on the theory and methodology underlying GIS software. The interdisciplinary field of geographic information systems for transportation (GIS-T) has emerged to focus on the role of GIS in transportaton analysis and planning. This paper suggests the benefits of closer linkages between spatial analysis, GISci, and transportation through a focused review of spatial analytical issues and their potential contributions to GIS-T. Specifically, this paper reviews the following issues: (i) modifiable areal units; (ii) boundary problems and spatial sampling; (iii) spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity; and (iv) alternative representations of geographic environments. The discussion highlights the general issues as well as identifies their specific relevance to GIS-T. In addition, this paper identifies some emerging tools from GISci that can address these spatial analytical issues in GIS-T.     

An intergenerational qualitative study of the good parenting ideal and active free play during middle childhood

ABSTRACT

This study addressed the question: How and why has the good parenting ideal changed in relation to active free play (AFP) during middle childhood? Twenty-eight middle class and predominantly white adults (14 grandparent-parent dyads) completed individual semi-structured interviews. Data were subjected to a thematic analysis. Two themes (changing expectations for parental involvement in children's lives and increasing expectations to involve children in structured activities) depicted how the good parenting ideal has changed. A further two themes (news media influence on perceptions of safety and concerns about being judged on social media) explained some of the reasons why the good parenting ideal has changed. Perceived needs for parental involvement, supervision, and organized activities appear to contradict the notion of active free play. It may be useful to develop initiatives that are consistent with the good parenting ideal, and to examine parents’ use of traditional and social media in future AFP research.     

Readers and responses to George Sandys' A Relation of a Iourney begun An: Dom: 1610 (1615): Early English Books Online (EEBO) and the history of reading

This paper will discuss Early English Books Online (EEBO) as a tool for locating and researching contemporary references and responses to historical texts and authors, specifically George Sandys' A Relation of a Iourney begun An: Dom: 1610 (1615). It will focus upon two main themes. The first is methodological and will discuss the nature of EEBO and the possibilities and limitations it presents for this kind of historical research. The second turns to a case study of seventeenth-century responses to, and readings of, the Relation and shows how references found through EEBO can both broaden the context within which we view this work and alter our interpretation and understanding of it.     

Taking the discussion onward

ABSTRACT

This response to the foregoing reviews of The Poetry and Music of Science identifies common themes raised by them, responds to direct questions where this is possible and suggests further avenues of discussion. It focusses in particular on issues of the historical and cultural setting of human creativity, the particular issues raised by poetry, the differences between artistic and scientific imagination, the confusion (and de-confusion) of ‘imagination' and ‘creativity', the social and institutional framings of the sciences and the arts, the question of digital creativity and theological themes. A common emerging idea is that human creativity, whether artistic or scientific, is well-described by neither purely ‘expressive' nor ‘receptive’ actions but by a meeting of both.     

Research in the spatial sciences: how are Canadian geographers contributing?

Geographic data collection, manipulation, analysis and visualization options have experienced substantial improvements during the past several decades, largely spurred by advancements in computing capabilities. While geographers are often credited with identifying and expanding many of the emerging application areas and innovations for the analysis of spatially (and sometimes temporally) referenced data, we are specifically interested in the role of Canadian geographers in the rapidly evolving domain of spatial science. We pose the following provocative question with the intent of not only summarizing the Canadian literature, but also to stimulate an informed discussion: ‘are Canadian geographers developers or users of spatial analytical methods?’ We review the refereed literature from 1980 to 2008 to describe the nature of contributions by Canadian geographers, beginning at about the time of widely accessible computing (1980s). Our summary broadly classifies subdisciplinary contribution areas as being best described as GIS, remote sensing, or spatial statistics, while each contribution area may take the type of algorithm development, advancement and synthesis of theory, or the application of existing methods. We paint a picture of the current contribution landscape and reflect on significant achievements while commenting on some potential weakness that with increased resources and focus might become future realms of advancement.     

REVIEW ARTICLE USE-WEAR ANALYSIS: THE STATE OF THE ART

This paper is a review of the recent developments in use-wear analysis. The focus is on some key issues: polish formation, quantification of use-wear, residue analysis and the way these related themes have affected methods of use-wear analysis. A brief history of the development of use-wear analysis is presented and a discussion of blind tests, expert systems (explained at length in the ‘Appendix’) and how use-wear analysis can be incorporated into the chaîne opératoire approach to the interpretation of Stone Age sites.     

The Chinese Hukou System at 50

A noted American authority on urbanization in China presents a retrospective analysis of China's hukou (household registration) system on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of its promulgation, reviewing the history of that system from a broad socio-political perspective. More specifically, the paper focuses on revealing trends in the development of the system over time and identifying many of its important ramifications for modern Chinese society, as well as on the impact of hukou on the country's industrialization, urbanization, and social and spatial stratification. The author argues that the hukou system now presents a major obstacle to China's quest to become a modern, first-world nation and global leader. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O180, O530, P200, R120. 2 figures, 3 tables, 111 references.     

PETS OR MEAT: CLASS,IDEOLOGY, AND SPACE IN ROGER & ME*

This paper offers a reading of Michael Moore's docu-comedy, Roger & Me, a film ostensibly chronicling the director's effort to interrogate General Motors Chairman Roger Smith following massive plant closures in and around Flint, Michigan in the 1980s. Our analysis focuses on four key themes: (1) the status of “community” as an ideological lever both prior and subsequent to GM's layoffs; (2) the spatial consequences of economic restructuring, expressed most formidably in the division between public and private space; (3) the charge that Moore's film suffers from a lack of objectivity; and (4) the notable absence of any significant representation of labor resistance to the plant closures. The film's themes, we argue, coalesce in an emblematic sequence involving Rhonda Britton, a woman who sells rabbits as both pets and meat. The paper concludes by calling for increased attention on the part of geographers to filmic portrayal, and, more generally, to all forms of representation and the issues which surround them.     

Opening up the Compendium: An Evaluation of International Comparative Planning Research Methodologies

It is two decades since the European Compendium of Spatial Planning Systems and Policies was conceived. Since its publication in 1997, the Compendium has become a widely cited reference in comparative planning literature.¹ It remains one of the few comprehensive reviews of spatial planning policy and practice across western Europe. The Compendium also represents one of the few studies to develop a typology for distinguishing between national planning systems. A number of comparative research studies on spatial planning have since built on the methodological foundations laid by the Compendium although its typology of national planning systems is not always used or interpreted as originally intended for a variety of reasons. In the context of extensive reform of planning approaches in Europe, the paper examines what can be learned about methodologies for international comparative research in planning based on the experience of the Compendium study and subsequent major comparative planning studies. We conclude that while broad typologies remain useful in explaining general trends, they may hide as much as they reveal. Future studies should widen the criteria used to build ideal types beyond formal characteristics in order to address planning in practice.     

Prehistory in the northwest tropical Pacific: The Caroline,Mariana, and Marshall Islands

The earliest identified settlement is in the Marianas, dated to about 3500 B.P., while the other islands in the region appear to be settled from about 2000 B.P. onward. The archaeological remains reveal diverse approaches to island living. While Nan Madol and Leluh in the eastern Carolines are major architectural achievements, a discussion of these sites does not detract, for example, from the terrace systems of Palau or the lattestone groups of the southern Marianas. Of equal interest is the settlement of atolls and their recently recognized potential for preservation of stratified deposits. As information allows, each island or group is considered on an individual basis in order to allow for each specific island context to be assessed. This is described within the broader themes of architecture, chronology, environment, material culture, settlement pattern, social organization, and subsistence. In conclusion, the current standing of prehistory in the region is outlined in relation to early settlement, environment, social organization, chronology, settlement pattern studies, portable material culture, subsistence, and atolls. Finally, suggestions for the future are made.     

Perspectives and sensitivities: teaching as the creation of conditions of possibility for geographic thinking

Abstract

Teaching methodological courses means providing students with general ideas to think with, rather than specific facts to think about. Rethinking the teaching task must be informed by an awareness of ideological, philosophical, technical and analytical perspectives, and should look for basic themes uniting apparently different approaches. Almost all quantitative methodologies are actually specific examples of the mathematical operation of mapping. Genuine understanding is achieved by visualisation of a problem, rather than algebraic manipulation, and the teaching task could be aided greatly by employing the power of interactive computer graphics. It is suggested that the analytical and pedagogic approaches used by experienced teachers might be shared initially in an international conference, and so form the basis for more effective and efficient teaching in the future.     

Catharine Macaulay on the Will

Catharine Macaulay's discussion of freedom of the will in her Treatise on the Immutability of Moral Truth has received little attention, and what discussion there is attributes a number of different, incompatible views to her. In this paper the account of the nature of freedom of the will that she develops is related to her political aspirations, and the metaphysical position that she adopts is compared to those of John Locke, Samuel Clarke, Joseph Priestley, William Godwin, and others. It is argued that although Macaulay's position is ultimately ambiguous, she is most plausibly interpreted as following Locke's discussion of free will in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding and of inheriting, from him, the ambiguity that we find in her account.     

An assessment of attributing public healthcare infrastructure damage in the Donbas five years after Euromaidan: implications for Ukrainian state legitimacy

ABSTRACT

From the onset of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, significant damage has been wrought to the public health infrastructure of the Donbas region. To date however, the full extent of that damage which is substantial, has not been documented: attribution of blame for that damage has not been attempted; and the implications for the region’s residents in terms of access to clinics and hospitals has been difficult to assess. This paper presents a spatial database of damaged facilities and relates that to the fighting to assess whether the damage incurred was collateral or targeted. The concept of state capacity is used to frame a discussion of what the consequences are for those residents remaining and for the challenges this crisis presents to the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government.     

New countryside,old peasants? Politics,tradition and modernity in rural France

Since the publication of the volume Rural Studies in Britain and France (1990) by P. Lowe and M. Bodiguel, ‘la ruralitéfrançaise’ has become the object of intense scrutiny and has emerged as a political field where questions of national and collective identity, traditions, history, landscapes, the past and future of French society have all been debated. In the introduction to that volume, the editors declared: ‘The countryside and rural society, their past, present and future, are major preoccupations in Britain and in France. The urbanisation of the two nations has in no way diminished this interest; if anything, it has sharpened it. With the bulk of economic and social activity concentrated in towns and cities, the countryside has come to embody largely a cultural interest in both countries’, something that has been borne out by recent events. This special issue devoted to ‘Politics, tradition and modernity in rural France’ is the first issue of Modern & Contemporary France to be dedicated to a discussion of topics surrounding la question agricole. The recent publication of a short dossier on French agriculture in the journal French Politics, Society and Culture pointed the way to a number of the debates examined in the following articles about the past and the future of rural France, especially in the context of a more globalised and Europeanised economy.     

The Comings and Goings of Sheep and Pottery in the Coastal Desert of Namaqualand,South Africa

This paper evaluates chronological trends in the presence and absence of domestic animal bone (sheep, goat, and cattle) and pottery in Namaqualand, the proposed gateway to the rest of South Africa for early herders or hunter-gatherers with sheep and ceramics. We update date calibrations with local ΔR corrections and mixtures of recent calibration curves and include five previously unpublished dates. We use histograms of calibrated medians, sorted in 100-year bins, to assess sustained regional patterns with dates associated with domestic animal bone and pottery (n = 73). While too small to be useful as a population proxy, the current set of dates does reveal three pulses of occupation separated by two clear gaps, which we evaluate with a Bayesian model of three sequential phases. The model's boundaries are used as estimates of the dates of Early (AD 80–210), Middle (AD 490–790), and Late (AD 1180–1690) occupational phases separated by two substantial lapses of 280 and 380 years, respectively. The alternating phases of presence and absence are suggestively correlated with climate shifts, leading to a discussion of the idea that effective moisture was a crucial factor in choosing whether to occupy Namaqualand. The set of archaeological dates has greater temporal and spatial resolution than many regional climate data, so we suggest that these trends may more accurately reflect the variable conditions specific to Namaqualand, at least until they are refined by future climate research.     

Looking Forward,Looking Back

This paper surveys the disparate literatures on time, and the relative paucity of metaphors available (based on spatial analogues or mirroring past and future onto one another). Parallels between approaches to the past and future are considered and different intellectual traditions surveyed in futurology, memory, history (chronotopes), archaeology and philosophy. Causation across time, how the past affects the present, how the future may affect present and the past are considered as ways of better understanding how tensed statements in time and of time are essential elements of history and of anthropology. Pluralizing is suggested as a positive step: we should be talking of pasts, futures and even of presents. This has consequences, for example, the Thin Red Line of actuality must be broadened to be perhaps the Thick Reddish Braid. As introduction to a special issue of History and Anthropology I consider the papers that follow and how they contribute to the theme.     

More than trees: The challenges of creating a geodatabase to capture the complexity of forest history

European forests have been copiously documented for centuries. However, forest-related archival sources were rarely utilised to their full potential, mainly because of the difficulties in producing compatible data from large amounts of very different sources. Furthermore, analysing such data for larger areas in high resolution was hardly possible prior to the emergence of historical GIS. This paper presents the geodatabase of the LONGWOOD project, which includes tens of thousands of pieces of information on forest history from the 11^th to the 20^th century for 3,567 townships in the eastern Czech Republic (c. 27,000 km²). The paper describes the challenges we met, briefly summarizes the results, evaluates the database in a worldwide context and introduces possible directions for future research.     

Draught cattle and the South Scandinavian economies of the 4th millennium BC

Abstract

This paper presents an osteomorphological survey of evidence for draught utilisation of cattle in the South Scandinavian TRB culture. The investigations focus on morphological changes in the lower limb bones of domestic cattle from a large number of archaeological sites and from several individual cattle skeletons found in bogs. The osteological results are discussed in the context of other lines of evidence, both archaeological and environmental, and one of the main themes of this discussion is the relationship between the adoption of animal traction and developments in land use. Furthermore, developments in the economic complex of the South Scandinavian TRB culture are compared with certain trends further south in Europe.     

The evolution of the high plateau of brazil

Abstract

It has been claimed that geography journals located in so-called ‘small nations’ face special challenges. This paper suggests that three processes have demanded rapid responses from all geographical journals: globalisation of research-publishing, changing professional practices and the restructuring of the institutional context within which research is undertaken. These processes have been powerful in re-shaping geographical research. Examining the case of Scottish Geography over the last 20 years, the paper concludes there is much to be optimistic about, even though some might regret that ‘Geography’, as we once knew it, no longer exists. Recognising the challenges of the current research environment provides a useful starting point for the Scottish Geographical Journal to chart a new future for itself and for Scottish geographical endeavours.