In praise of the International Geographical Union

This viewpoint is a highly personal account of what the International Geographical Union (IGU) has meant for a 50‐year career in Canadian geography and is a consideration of the importance of the IGU to geographers world‐wide. The author's earliest experiences of the IGU, the IGU's Commissions, its disciplinary perspective, some political problems experienced by IGU scholars, and the IGU as a global geographical community are the main topics considered.     

Geographical Research on International and Domestic Tourism

Tourism is a worldwide industry which has become important at all levels of economic development. Although tourism was considered by academicians for decades to be primarily an economic activity, geographers and non-geographers in the 1970s turned largely to analyzing its impact upon cultures and the physical environments of the destination areas. The common goal is careful planning of future touristic developments. In addition, an increasing number of studies is on imagery created by the tourist industry and its impact on the decision-making processes of the tourists. Despite the increasing research efforts of geographers, their findings are usually not published in the major geographical journals nor in geography textbooks. Tourism is a form of spatial behavior and its many aspects need further investigation.     

Economic Geography at the 1960 International Geographical Congress

The author compares the scope of economic-geography papers at the Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm congresses, discusses William William-Olsson's book on Stockholm, and analyzes a number of congress papers with an economic-geographic content.     

The Results of the 21st International Geographical Congress

A review of the New Delhi meetings notes the significance of the congress for the development of the science of geography in India as well as the growing participation of geographers from developing countries. Abstracts of papers are analyzed statistically by subject and by country of origin. The geography of agriculture and urban geography are found to be more heavily represented than at most congresses (except the 18th in Rio de Janeiro), reflecting the significance of these two research areas for developing countries. Papers from socialist countries are found to be underrepresented in biogeography (especially medical geography) and the geography of agriculture, industry, and transportation. The hope is expressed that the Montreal congress in 1972 will break away from the traditional thematic breakdown and organize sections around interdisciplinary problem areas.     

Soviet Geographers at the 19th International Geographical Congress

Reviewing the contribution of Soviet geographers at the Stockholm congress, the author makes a plea for more papers on economic geography and on integrated problems in geography. He denies that a trend toward greater emphasis on specialized disciplines is characteristic of Soviet geography. He criticizes some Soviet geographers for preparing what Saushkin considers misleading summaries of papers presented by foreign geographers.     

The International Geographical Congress (Stockholm)

Following are excerpts from a report read by Professor Salishchev on October 14, 1960, at a meeting of the Council of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University. The omitted part of Professor Salishchev's report is substantially the same as the report of the National Committee of Soviet Geographers, printed in Soviet Geography, April 1961, pp. 40–46. Professor Salishchev's report on the work of the Commission of National Atlases, of which he is chairman, is translated in full.     

The Development of International Contacts in the Field of Geography and Preparations for the 20th International Geographical Congress

The authors review international contacts of Soviet geographers in the last four years and describe a volume of Soviet contributions prepared for the London congress. Soviet Geography, its editor, and David Hooson of the University of British Columbia are criticized for their coverage of the Soviet ideological dispute over the “unified geography” concept. A Soviet proposal for greater timeliness and activity in the work of the IGU is offered.     

International R&D Cooperation between Low-tech SMEs: The Role of Cultural and Geographical Proximity

Although there is a considerable amount of empirical evidence on inter-firm collaborations within technology-based industries, there are only a few works focussing on R&D cooperation by low-tech firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Providing further and new evidence based on a recently built database of CRAFT projects, this study analyses the relationship between technology and proximity in international R&D networks using HOMALS and statistical cluster techniques. The resulting typology of international cooperative R&D projects highlights that successful international cooperative R&D projects are both culturally/geographically closer and distant. Moreover, and quite interestingly, geographically distant projects are technologically more advanced whereas those located near each other are essentially low-tech. Such evidence is likely to reflect the tacit-codified knowledge debate boosted recently by the information and communication technology (ICT) “revolution” emphasized by the prophets of the “Death of Distance” and the “End of Geography”.     

Problems in the Theory of Geography in the Section on Geographic Theory and Model Building at the 22d International Geographical Congress

The chairman of Leningrad University's Geography Faculty presents a critical review of the section on geographic theory and model building at the International Geographical Congress in Montreal, in which he participated. He finds the section to have been poorly integrated, with no common focus between the papers on theory and on models. [Some of the author's comments on individual papers appear based on misreading or misinterpretation of the English texts, and the most salient differences have been noted in brackets.—Editor, S. G.]     

地理环境与西夏历史

西夏时期 ,气候寒冷干燥 ,地表多荒漠。人们砍伐森林、开垦土地 ,境内植被有所破坏。在干冷气候与人为活动的双重作用下 ,土地沙化现象较为明显。自然条件决定西夏经济以畜牧业为主 ,农业比重不大 ,基础较为薄弱 ,与中原地区互通有无 ,发展周边贸易成了西夏生存的必由之路 ,因而西夏对中原王朝有着很强的依附性。严酷的生存环境 ,频繁出现的饥荒 ,使得能骑善射的西夏军队极富掠夺性。对外征战不止 ,大肆劫掠财富、抢夺人口、侵占土地 ,成为西夏历史的一大特点。地理环境制约着西夏经济发展水平 ,但是特有的地形地貌却延缓了国家的灭亡。境内四周环绕的山脉、荒漠 ,宛如天然屏障 ,外敌难以深入 ,西夏因此得以长期立国。西夏后期 ,环境恶化 ,频繁出现的干旱和强烈地震加速了西夏的灭亡     

The Landscape Sphere and the Geographical Environment

An advocate of a unified geography adopts a biosocial, or natural-social, approach to the definition of several concepts in geography, distinguishing the landscape sphere and the geographical environment. The landscape sphere of the earth consists of the sphere of the natural landscape (comprising both untouched and man-altered nature) and the sphere of human activity, or sociosphere, which includes the sphere of the cultural landscape (agrosphere plus technosphere) and mankind itself. The geographical environment includes the natural environment (man-altered nature plus parts of untouched nature), the material results of the labor of past generations and geographical manifestations of the social environment.