OBSERVATION: REDISCOVERING HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY IN THE LAND OF NORUMBEGA

Recent appraisals of historical geography range widely in their assessment of the field. Donald Meinig (1989), writing of 'The Historical Geography Imperative,' concludes: 'historical geography is not, has never been, just another item in the proliferating diversity of our grand enterprise. Rather, like physical and environmental geography, it is one of the foundations of the whole enterprise. In its own way historical geography encompasses and contributes to all of geography. Micheal Dear (1988) disagrees. In 'The postmodern challenge: Reconstructing human geography,' he states that historical geography is 'overde-termined,' and 'an empty concept' conveying 'few (if any) significant analytical distinctions …. He concludes that historical geography does 'little more than confirm what geography is about. Both writers agree on the pervasive and comprehensive nature of historical geography, but Dear sees this inclusiveness as more of a cincture, whereas Meinig conveys the fundamental and embracing understanding of geography inherent in the practice of historical geography.     

THE FIRST SOVIET CONFERENCE ON HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

An attempt is made to demonstrate the need for a joint focus for microterritorial and socio-economic planning in small areas of cities. It is suggested that such a focus might be the territorial (spatial) structure, a derivative of the socio-economic structure of a territory that has long been the object of territorial planning at various levels. With particular reference to the transport services in the southernmost section of the city of Volgograd, it is shown how social processes are affected by the extent and the parameters of territory. Particular attention is given to the problem of “location,” including the meaning of “location” in microgeographic investigations.     

ON THE CONTENT AND THE TASKS OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY (AS THE HISTORY OF NATURE MANAGEMENT)

A Pleistocene geologist calls for a totally new approach to the study of geography as the basic discipline concerned with the man-nature relationship, or what he terms nature management (Russian, prirodopol'zovaniye). He views the basic study object of an essentially unified geography as natural-technical territorial complexes (biotechnocenoses or geotechnocenoses), requiring investigation in three time dimensions—the past (historical geography), the present (dynamic geography) and the future (predictive geography). In keeping with the proposition that historical geography should be a separate, unified discipline, a distinctive historical-geographic periodization is proposed, differing from the periodizations in use in paleogeography, anthropology, archeology and history.     

THE WATER ASPECT OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF AGRICULTURE IN THE USSR

The long-term grain requirements of the growing Soviet population are calculated. On the basis of the relationship between water use and grain yields by natural soil zones of the USSR, the authors show that the amount of water needed per unit of output declines with a growth of productivity, especially in the non-chernozem zone of the Soviet Union. It is therefore concluded that greater water savings might be assured by expanding grain production in zones with an adequate supply of natural moisture rather than by the use of artificial irrigation of arid lands.     

GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MIGRATION LINKAGES IN THE MOSCOW CAPITAL REGION

A study of migration processes in the Moscow Capital Region over the period 1970-1985 begins by assessing their contribution to overall population growth within the region vis-à-vis natural increase and territorial and administrative changes. Attention then is turned toward movements both within the Moscow Capital Region and between it and other oblasts in the European RSFSR. Although the overall volume of migration within the Moscow Capital Region and between it and remaining oblasts of the European RSFSR declined, the relative popularity of the former as a destination among migrants in European Russia remained unchanged (translated by H. L. Haslett, Birmingham, UK).     

人文地理学理论的多元性

在西方地理学界,八十年代以后,人主义与后现代主义思潮兴起,推动了人地理学理论的多元化发展,在人地理研究中,针对不同性质的问题,应采用与之相对应的适合理论,而不应不顾问题的属性,盲目地追逐理论的新奇时髦。理论与问题的统一性,是运用理论成败的关键。     

THE ROLE AND MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE OUTER ZONE IN THE TERRITORIAL STRUCTURE OF THE MOSCOW REGION

The proposed basic functions and structure of the “Outer Zone” of the Moscow Region are outlined as part of a long-term physical planning model. The zone, which includes the Transition Zone, Linear Anti-Cores I and II, and Peripheral Zone I of the original model (Soviet Geography, February 1987), is to serve primarily as a check to territorial growth of the Core (a function once assigned to the more centrally located, but now largely developed Buffer Zone) and a potential base for new economic development in the future. A ranking of sites for limited, more immediate development is included (translated by H. L. Haslett, Birmingham, UK).     

METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF LABOR RESOURCES

Soviet population geographers have tended to study labor-resource problems at the level of major civil divisions, such as republics, krays and oblasts. There is a real need for investigating such problems at a more detailed regional level, down to particular rayons and urban places in which people live and are employed. Various types of economic-geographic investigations of labor-resource problems are suggested and a research strategy is proposed. The author notes that if population cannot be redistributed regionally in keeping with a given economic objective, economic plans may have to be revised on the basis of the actual labor resource situation.