STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF WEST EDMONTON MALL

This article addresses the question of how West Edmonton Mall (wem) may be a new and distinctive component of retail spatial structure by analysing the retail and service attributes of the mall in the context of (I) Edmonton's retail structure at the regional shopping centre level, and (2) the internal structure of the mall. It is suggested that wem has added a new level to Edmonton's retail hierarchy, rivalling the downtown as the city's primate centre. The analysis of tenant changes leads to the conclusion that these changes tend to reflect a movement from unconventional to conventional tenant mix, and that wem is not much different, other than in sheer size, from most large regional shopping centres. The only unique structural characteristic appears to be the existence of enclaves not usually found in other malls.     

GEOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS OF MEGA-MALLS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WEST EDMONTON MALL

West Edmonton Mall (wem) is an internationally known shopping mall I leisure complex comprising approximately 4 million sq. ft. of leasable retail and service space. It contains more than 600 shops, plus a hotel and leisure and recreational facilities that are unmatched in any previous shopping centre. The superimposition of a single, massive development on a pre-existing urban structure has created both opportunities and problems for Edmonton, while the emergence of such an urban phenomenon, unprecedented in scale and character, should raise new questions and stimulate new thinking among academics. This introductory article provides a context for the articles that follow by outlining the developmental history of wem and assessing its significance as a mega-ma/ prototype, and by identifying themes to be addressed in detail in the subsequent articles.     

WEST EDMONTON MALL: ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION AND CONSUMER RESPONSE

West Edmonton Mall was developed and has maintained its position as Edmonton's primary focus of retailing, recreational, and leisure activity through innovative entrepreneurial skills and extensive promotions. These are viewed as necessarily concomitant to the size, location, and functional complexity of the mall relative to the size of the Edmonton market and the remainder of the city's retail structure. One strategy was to dominate the market by tempting consumers with the rewards of a complete shopping environment within the confines of one, carefully orchestrated retail complex. The success of this approach is evaluated through an examination of the entrepreneurial behaviour of the developer (Triple Five) in relation to the consumer spatial preferences of a sample of Edmontonians. From this evidence it is suggested that the mall's retail importance may not be as pervasive locally as is commonly thought. Consumer mobility and the intrinsic character of the retail structure are reasons suggested for this, both of which require further investigation and elaboration.     

WEST EDMONTON MALL AS A CENTRE FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION

The emergence of a mega-mall - with its increased scale, size, and ensuing annexation of much of a city's retail and social life - intensifies the need for research about the social functions of shopping centres. Profiles of mall social life are necessary to understand the larger geographical, legal, political, and social issues accompanying the proliferation of such privately owned, publicly used indoor urban environments. Social interaction at West Edmonton Mall (wem) is characterized through an examination of its physical design and operation and an assessment of attitudes and uses of its local patrons, including adolescent 'ma/ies. wem is not as successful in orchestrating visitor satisfaction as one might expect, due partly to the amplification of tension between mall owners I designers and the desire of local residents to engage the mega-mall on their own terms.     

WEST EDMONTON MALL AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION

Recent years have seen the mega-phenomenon assume increasing significance in tourism; it is not surprising, therefore, that West Edmonton Mall, the world's first mega-mall, should be viewed as a tourist attraction. This
article discusses the role of shopping as a tourist activity and the opportunity to shop as a facet of the appeal of a location to tourists. It examines the relative attractiveness of West Edmonton Mall as a tourist destination in this context and concludes that it has few outstanding characteristics beyond its unique size and range of leisure facilities. The permanence of its appeal beyond the regional scale is therefore unikely. The long-term appeal of shopping and related facilities is discussed in the context of a model of tourism development.     

COPING WITH MEGA-MALL DEVELOPMENT: AN URBAN PLANNING PERSPECTIVE ON WEST EDMONTON MALL

The development of West Edmonton Mall is presented as a case study in the problem of coping with unexpected, large-scale departures from authorized plans - in this instance, the plan for the new suburban community of West Jasper Place. The main features of the plan are described and the practical consequences of permitting the mall to be built are assessed. It is concluded that Edmonton's conventional planning instruments were unable to respond effectively to the challenge posed by West Edmonton Mall, because the local planning system did not make adequate provision for the politics of plan implementation.     

西塘古镇休闲旅游开发研究

西塘古镇身为江南六大古镇之一,旅游竞争环境十分激烈,如何从周庄、乌镇等旅游发展十分成熟的江南古镇中突出重围,是西塘古镇必须面临的严峻考验。通过对自身文化基因的深度挖掘和科学组合,放大古镇原生态、真生活的优势,结合触媒理论,正确处理古镇保护与开发中的矛盾。以休闲为主力,采用观光旅游、休闲旅游、商务旅游、度假旅游等联合作战方针,围点打援,多方位,深层次开发西塘古镇的旅游。     

PERCEPTIONS OF ENERGY PROBLEMS AND THE ADOPTION OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES IN EDMONTON AND CALGARY

The success of government efforts to stimulate energy conservation among the public ultimately depends on understanding patterns of energy consumption, perceptions of energy resources, and the adoption of conservation practices. These issues were addressed in a survey of residents of Edmonton and Calgary. Most respondents dismissed the seriousness of energy problems at the provincial level, although energy scarcity at the national and global scales was widely recognized. Conservation behaviour was characterized by a narrow range of adjustments perceived and adopted, attributable largely to patterns of resource perception and socio-economic factors.
La réussite des efforts gouvernementaux pour stimuler les conservations d'energie dépend, en dernière analyse, d' une compréhension des schémas de la consommation énergétique, desperceptions des resourcesénergétiques, et del'adoption d' habitudesconservatrices. On a interrogé les habitants d' Edmonton et de Calgary ace sujet. La plupart des réponses ignorent la gravité des problèmes d'énergie au niveau provincial, quoiqu'elles admettent la précarité des ressources énergétiques à l' échelle nationale et mondiale. L' attitude conservatrice se distingue plus particulikrèment à partir d' ajustements limités reliés géneralement aux schémas de perceptions énergétiques et aux facteurs socio-économiques.     

METHODOLOGICAL AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL CONTEXTS FOR GEOMORPHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATIONS

Scientific statements are valid only within the confines of the approach and scale of study adopted at the outset of the inquiry. Therefore, geomorphological knowledge is considered to be valid only within the methodological and/or spatio-temporal framework adopted for study. New approaches add to understanding by changing the context within which phenomena are viewed but cannot invalidate existing concepts: these can be invalidated only if they are logically or empirically unsupported within their own frame of reference. Research programs may become self-fulfilling because it is only within their own context that hypotheses, with which they might be falsified, are generated and tested: indeed, an approach might not be capable of generating any falsifying hypotheses but be able to produce only hypotheses that are amenable to that particular mode of investigation. Therefore, contributions should be judged only within their own, stated methodological base and alternative approaches should be actively considered. Tout énoncé scientifique n'est valable que dans le cadre de l'approche et de l'éhelle d'analyse adoptés au début de la recherche. les connaissances géomorphologiques ne sont donc considérés valides que dans les limites méthodologiques et ou à I'intérieur des coordonnées espace-temps choisies pour l'étude. De nouvelles approches aident A la compr6hension en modifiant le contexte à l'intbrieur duquel les phénomènes sont examinés, mais elles ne peuvent pas annuler les concepts existants; ces derniers ne peuvent être invalidés que s'ils ne sont pas supportés de façon logique ou empirique dans leurpropre cadre de reférénces. Des programmes de recherche peuvent se réaliser d'eux-mêmes, car c'est dans leur propre contexte que les hypothèses, avec lesquelles ils peuvent être falsifies, sont créées et essayées; de fait, il se peut qu'une approche ne génère aucune hypothèse falsifiante, mais puisse ne produire que des hypotheses conformes au mode particulier d'investigation. les contributions ne doivent donc être jugées qu'à l'intérieur de leur propre base méthodologique, et d'autres approches doivent être considéréss de façon active.     

GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS OF CONSTRAINTS ON LEISURE AND RECREATION

Constraints on leisure and recreation have become the subject of wide investigation in the leisure studies literature but have received little attention from recreation geographers. However, if geographical variables such as accessibility, mobility, and the relative location of recreational facilities and resources are conceived of as constraints, it becomes fruitful for geographers to approach these issues using frameworks that have been developed elsewhere in leisure studies. A secondary analysis of data from an Alberta survey (N = 4044) is used to investigate two geographical aspects of leisure constraints: (a) perceptions of the relative importance of geographical constraints versus other types of constraints; and (b) regional variations in the unfulfilled desire to participate in a new activity, the types of activities desired, and a set of 15 constraints items. The findings show that, while they affect recreational choices, geographical constraints are less influential than other types of constraints, such as cost, lack of time, and lack of facilities. Also, notwithstanding geographical variations in some constraints categories, other factors (e.g., respondents' age) play a stronger role in shaping perceptions of constraints on leisure. In turn, these findings suggest that recreation geographers could profit by adopting an interdisciplinary approach characterized by ties with other disciplines within the field of leisure studies. Les pentes des sources du bassin de la Rivère Ganaraska dans le Sud de I'Ontario ont été reboisées après la deuxième guerre mondiale pour diminuer l'érosion du sol et les inondations en aval. Les réponses hydrologiques au changement dans l'utilisation du sol sont examinées. Entre 1945 et 1990, la couverture de la forét de Ganaraska s'est accrue de 3,3 à 8,9% par rapport à la superficie du bassin. Durant cette période, le ruissellement annuel a diminué de 100 mm et les proportions de ruissellement furent réduites. Ces changements hydrologiques dapassent ceux prédits par les relations empiriques entre les débits et la couverture forestère et ils reflètent probablement les effets combinés de l'augmentation d'interception et évapotranspiration, de I'entreposage d'eau dans les nappes aquifères en amont bassin et de pertes importantes d'eaux des sources. Le reboisement éait aussi associéà une diminution considérable des hauts deébits et à une augmentation des débits minimum journaliers annuels. Le maximum annuel des deébits spécifiques journaliers moyens a diminué de 0,36 à 0,11 m³ s^-1 km^-2 (±0,10 m³ s^-1 km^-2) entre 1946 et 1962 pendant que le minimum annuel des deébits spécifiques journaliers moyens a augmenté de 0,0037 à 0,0062 m³ s^-1 km^-2 (±0,0009 m³ s^- km^-2) entre 1957 et 1990, tel qu'estiméà partir d'équations de régression. La réponse des proportions de ruissellements et des écoulements de points a l'augmentation de la couverture forestière était plus rapide que celle des débits minimum journaliers. Ces résultats laissent entendre que les réponses hydrologiques suite à des modifications mineures peuvent être dètectées selon l'emplacement de ces changements à l'intérieur du bassin. Les contraintes que subissent les loisirs font l'objet de vastes recherches en récréologie mais suscitent un intérêt limité chez les géographes spécialistes des loisirs. Cependant, si l'on conéoit les variables géographiques telles que l'accessibilité, la mobilité et le site relatif des centres et ressources de loisirs comme des contraintes, les géographes ont intérêt á aborder ces questions á l'aide de cadres élaborés par les sciences du loisir. Une analyse secondaire de données provenant d'une enquête effectuée en Alberta (N = 4044) a servi áétudier deux aspects géographiques de ce type de contraintes: a) les perceptions de l'importance relative des contraintes géographiques par rapport aux autres catégories de contraintes; et b) les variations régionales du désir non comblé de participer á une nouvelle activité, les types d'activités recherchées et un ensemble de 15 items de contraintes. Les résultats indiquent que, bien qu'elles aient une incidence sur les choix de loisirs, les contraintes géographiques comptent moins que les autres types de contraintes telles que les cou?ts, le manque de temps et l'absence d'aménagements. Pareillement, mis á part les variations géographiques de certaines catégories de contraintes, d'autres facteurs (l'a?ge des répondants, par exemple), jouent un ro?le plus important dans la facon de percevoir les contraintes sur les loisirs. En retour, ces résultats suggèrent que les géographes spécialistes des loisirs auraient peut-être intérêt á adopter une approche interdisciplinaire caractérisée par certains liens avec les autres disciplines existant au sein des sciences du loisir.     

MEGALITH SIZE AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY,WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CUMBRIA,NORTH‐WEST ENGLAND

The possibility that a comparison of the size of all stones in megalithic monuments might contribute to an understanding of the societies which built them is explored. Although a number of interpretational problems are recognized, the results appear meaningful. They show that there is no simple relationship between the diameter of a stone circle and the numbers of people involved in its construction, and that larger numbers contributed to the erection of some individual standing stones. Previous suggestions that individual families consisted of four to five active adults are supported.     

QUANTIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIPID IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SAMPLING POTSHERDS FOR ORGANIC RESIDUE ANALYSIS AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF VESSEL USE

Organic residue analysis has been performed on 62 reconstructed vessels from a single archaeological site (Rounds, Northamptonshire, U.K.). In order to establish regions of lipid accumulation within a vessel, sherds were sampled from different parts of a vessel, for example base, body and rim, and submitted to lipid extraction procedures. The techniques of high-temperature gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were then used to analyse the sherd lipid extracts. The quantitative results obtained show differential accumulation and preservation of lipid in various parts of the same vessel. This latter observation has serious implications for the sampling of potsherds for organic residue analysis. Furthermore, the amount of absorbed lipid varies quite considerably between vessel types. On this basis, a new method is proposed for classifying vessel use by comparing the concentration of lipid present in different parts of individual vessels.     

RAW MATERIALS OF GLASS FROM AMARNA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ORIGINS OF EGYPTIAN GLASS*

Analysis has been conducted on 19 blue glasses from Amarna in Middle Egypt dated to around 1350 BC. The results suggest that these glasses fall into two distinct types: cobalt coloured glasses with a natron based alkali made from local Egyptian materials, and copper coloured glasses with a plant ash alkali, which follow a Mesopotamian tradition of glass making. It is suggested that at least some of this copper/plant ash glass is imported into Egypt during the Amarna period despite extensive local production of cobalt/natron glass. Existing analyses (Lilyquist and Brill 1995) of the earliest glass from the reign of Tuthmosis III (c. 1450 BC) suggest that during this period the same two types of glass are present. Local Egyptian cobalt and natron in these early glasses implies that, despite the lack of archaeological evidence for production sites, glass was produced from its raw materials in Egypt as early as the reign of Tuthmosis III.     

LOCAL PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONIZATION: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

In this article, some of the important structural changes occurring in local government today which are likely to have a direct impact on labor relations for municipal and county governments are reviewed. These include fiscal, managerial and socio-economic changes. The implication of these changes for such factors as multilateral bargaining, union growth, contracting out, inter-municipal labor cooperation, legitimacy for public employee unionization, popular support, and changes in the legal status of organized municipal employees are examined. Finally, the overall impact of these trends on work stoppages, disruption of city services, etc. is discussed.     

PASTE CHARACTERIZATION OF WEEDEN ISLAND POTTERY FROM KOLOMOKI AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIALIZED PRODUCTION

Abstract

We report the results of a petrographic analysis of pottery from Kolomoki, a Middle and Late Woodland period mound and village complex in southwestern Georgia. Thin sections of 65 sherds representing several prestige and utilitarian Weeden Island pottery types, from both domestic (midden) and ceremonial (mound) contexts, were obtained. For comparison, we also analyzed samples from a few potential clay sources. We characterize the range of variability in paste/resource groupings present in the Kolomoki assemblage and use these data to address patterns of manufacture and exchange of Weeden Island pottery through comparisons to thin sections of comparable types from the McKeithen site and other Weeden Island sites in the region.