PANEL ON THE SOVIET UNION IN THE YEAR 2000

A panel of geographers debates possible future developments in the Soviet Union in regional and environmental policy, water resource management, agriculture, industry, energy, population, urban growth and planning, transportation, and foreign trade. The present emphasis on modernization of existing plant capacity in cities of the western, more heavily settled regions of the USSR seems destined to continue, although it will be constrained by a growing shortage of industrial labor, declining terms of trade and resource oversupply in increasingly competitive export markets, and the continued resistance of Central Asian populations to urbanization and industrial employment.     

AN INVITATION FROM THE SOVIET UNION

OnJune3,1950,twoFrenchmountaineersnaurce(1919-)andLachenalLouis(1921-1955)scaledthe8,091-meterAnnapur-naPeakforthefirsttimeinhumanhistory.Theiraccomplishmentsoundedthebugleforassaultingpeakseachwithanelevationof8,000metersormore.InspiredbytheFrenchmountaineeringcirclesintheformerSovietUnionproposedtotheirChinesecounterpartsaplantoclimbtheworld'shighestpeakinChina-theQomolangmo.SovietmountaineersdecidedtojoinhandswiththeirChinesecounter-partsbecausetheirterritorycontainednomountainsthatris…     

CANADA AND THE INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL UNION

RÉSUMÉ. Les débuts de la coopération internationale dans le domaine de la recherche géographique remontent aux premiers temps de la Confédération. Bien que la participation de canadiens aux premières réunions de Congrès International de Géographic ait été assez rare, un certain nombre d'entre eux y assistèrent a plus d'une occasion. Ce n'est que depuis 1934, année de l'acceptation officielle du Canada au sein de l'Union Géographique International, que notre pays assiste à toutes les assemblées générates de cette organisation et aux congrès géographiques internationaux. Depuis la nomination, en 1952, des premiers canadiens aux commissions de ce groupement, la participation du Canada a été intensifiée de beaucoup.     

MILK PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION IN THE SOVIET UNION

The magnitude of regional milk production and consumption imbalances is calculated using the most recent (1970) comprehensive set of data on Soviet milk production and consumption. The type and amount of inter-regional exchange this imbalance generates is then estimated, and the implications of the product's perishability on the need for differentiated regional development of the dairy industry are assessed.     

SPATIAL PATTERNS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE SOVIET UNION

Analysis of spatial patterns of attained educational levels is helpful in understanding the cultural geography of an area, perhaps especially in the Soviet Union, with its many ethnic groups and stated aim of providing equality of education regardless of ethnicity or sex. The proportion of the population that had completed a higher education was mapped at oblast level from 1970 census data. High rates are found in certain urban areas, Estonia and Latvia, Georgia, and certain sparsely populated areas of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East. There are regional patterns of disparity between male and female rates of completed higher education and between rural and urban rates, despite Soviet attempts to reduce these inequalities. The distribution of Soviet higher educational institutions conforms generally to the distribution of population, although access to higher education opportunities appears to be geographically limited in some regions. (Maps by Joann L. Krupa, George Mason University.)     

REGIONAL PATTERNS OF MEDICAL CARE AVAILABILITY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

This paper analyzes patterns of change in the regional availability of medical care resources in the former Soviet Union for selected years from 1940 to 1989 by examining the relationships among the supplies of physicians, mid-level medical personnel, and hospital beds. Data from economic handbooks, the 1989 health handbook, and unpublished Goskomstat USSR statistics are used to construct composite (ratio) indices of medical care availability for oblast-level units. Maps of these indices reveal that distinct medical resources regions existed in the former Soviet Union in 1989.     

INDUSTRIAL DISPERSION IN THE SOVIET UNION: AN APPLICATION OF ENTROPY MEASURES

Industrial dispersion across the republics of the USSR between 1926 and 1974 is described through the use of entropy measures. Ostensibly, a set of location principles would guide such dispersion, and several of them stress regional equalization as an important consideration in locating industry. Therefore, trends in regional inequality (in industrialization) are investigated through the use of inequality statistics derived from entropy measures at three different spatial scales. Between 1926 and 1960, inequality among the republics decreased, but has increased between 1960 and 1974. However, inequality has decreased between the economic regions of the USSR between 1940 and 1975, and at the oblast level, there has been a tendency toward greater equality (homogeneity) within each economic region or republic since 1960. In attempting to account for these diverse trends, it is suggested that they are largely the result of the priority of efficiency considerations in location decisions rather than those of regional equity per se.     

Reviews / Comptes rendus: THE SOVIET UNION AND THE GEOGRAPHY STUDENT -A SECOND LOOK

Book reviewed in this article:
The Soviet Wood-Processing Industry: A Linear Programming Analysis of the Role of Transportation Costs in Location and Flow Patterns, by BRENTON M. BARR
Cities of the Soviet Union, Studies in Their Functions, Size, Density, and Growth, by CHAUNCY D. HARRI
Economic Geography of the USSR, by A. LAVRISHCHEV (translated by DAVID MYSHNE)
Geography of the U.S.S.R. (2nd ed.), by PAUL E. LYDOLPH
Yakutia before Its Incorporation into the Russian State, by A. P. OKLADNIKOV (translated by Dr and Mrs STEPHEN P. DUNN and edited by HENRY N. MICHAEL)
Basic Industrial Resources of the U.S.S.R., by THEODORE SHABA.
Victorian Toronto, 1850 to 1900: Pattern and Process of Growth, by P eter G. G oheen
« l'électricité au Québec >>, par A lain M etton
Urban Water Supply Alternatives: Perception and Choice in the Grand Basin, Ontario, by I an MACI ver
Pioneer Settlement in Northeast Argentina, by R obert C. E idt
Spatial Organization, by R onald A bler , J ohn A dams , and P eter G ould
Geoforum, Journal of Physical, Human and Regional Geosciences (Executive Editor: W olf T ietze )     

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 SPURIOUS CORRELATION IN GEOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS

In human and physical geography, researchers routinely calculate correlation coefficients between variables that are in a functional relationship with one another. At least part of the correlation between such variables is due to the functional relationship and is termed spurious correlation. Such correlation contributes practically nothing to the understanding of the phenomenon under investigation and a systematic method for its removal is desirable. This paper provides such a methodology for cases such as (A - B) and B, for any random variables A and B. The discussion is also extended to the linear regression model when the dependent variable is in a functional relationship with one or more of the independent variables. In this case, it is demonstrated that spurious correlation does not affect the parameter estimates or their standard errors. It could, however, distort the coefficient of determination substantially, giving the false impression with regards to the model's overall goodness-of-fit. In both correlation and regression, formulae for the calculation of spurious correlation are derived. Examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the formulae in practice. En géographie humaine et physique les chercheurs calculent souvent les coefficients de corrélation entre les variables qui sont dans une relation fonctionnelle. Au moins une partie de la corrélation entre de tels variables est le résultat de la relation fonctionnale qui s'appelle corrélation apocryphe. De telles corrélations ne contribuent pratiquement pas à la compréhension du phénomène étudié. On cherche done à“éliminer cette corrélation, et nous offrons ici une méthode pour l‘éliminer dans des cas tels que (A - B) et B, pour n'importe quel variable A et B. La discussion s'étend aussi au modèle de régression linéaire quand la variable dépendante est dans une relation fonctionnale avec un ou plus des variables indépendants. Dans ce cas, on a démontré que la corrélation apocryphe n'influe pas sur l'estimation des paramètres ou leurs erreurs-types. Elle peut, néanmoins, fausser dans une grande mesure le coefficient de détermination, ce qui donne une fausse impression quant à l'adéquation du modèle. Dans les deux corrélations et dans la régression, les formules pour le calcul des corrélations apocryphe sont dérivées. Nous avons indue des exemples pour démontrer l'application des formules en pratique.     

THE NONCHERNOZEM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND PROSPECTIVE SPATIAL SHIFTS IN GRAIN PRODUCTION IN THE AGRICULTURAL TRIANGLE OF THE SOVIET UNION

The Soviet program to proceed from further expansion of the grain area in the semi-arid steppe zone to intensification of graingrowing in the humid Nonchernozem Zone after decades of neglect is considered a landmark decision in the history of Soviet agriculture. If successfully carried out, the Nonchernozem program might yield by the late 1980s a grain increment equivalent to the amount now being imported by the Soviet Union for its own needs and for re-export to its allies. The implementation of the Non-chernozem program would also have consequences for regional grain-production patterns in the Soviet Union. The Nonchernozem Zone would be in a position to make a more significant contribution to the demand for grain in the industrial centers of European Russia, thus easing the pressure on the virgin lands of northern Kazakhstan and reducing the need for the present long grain hauls. Finally, a greater shift of grain production into the humid Nonchernozem would be in keeping with a program of water economies since grain output in the humid zone requires less than half of the water needed for grain production in the arid zone. The success of the Nonchernozem program is conditioned on greater attention to the development of rural infrastructure, particularly roads, which the author considers a key element in upgrading the agriculture of the region.     

REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S EXPORT EARNINGS OUTSIDE THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC AUTONOMY

The distribution of foreign export earnings by area of origin is analyzed for the Russian Federation, to convertible and non-convertible currency areas, as well as for four major commodity categories. The paper focuses on identifying, because of Russia's narrow export composition, oblast-level units (and commodities) that contribute disproportionately to the Federation's overall convertible currency earnings. It then explores the implications of the extremely uneven spatial districution of such earnings for the Russian government's efforts to devise a workable formula for distributing export revenues between the “Center” and the localities.     

川陕苏区“改制代用币”初论及藏品辨析

川陕苏区是第二次国内革命战争时期,中国共产党领导川陕苏区人民共同创建的一个重要革命根据地,是中华苏维埃共和国第二个大的区域。川陕苏区在革命政权中建立的金融体系是工农民主专政强有力的工具。它在支援革命战争,发展工农业生产,促进商品流通,支持合作化运动,巩固苏维埃政权等方面,发挥着重要的作用。根据现有史料和藏品实物,川陕苏区发行流通的货币有三种类型:1·苏维埃货币,有布币、纸币、铜币、银币、锡币五种及鄂豫皖苏区纸币(内部流通);2·仿制民国货币,有铜币、银币两种;3·改制代用币(简称改用币)。本文就第三种货币作一初步论…     

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.     

前苏联的环境保护问题及其对中国生态文明建设的启示

环境问题是制约当今人类社会发展的重要问题,其中生态环境问题与国家兴衰、社会制度变革的关系成为可持续发展研究的一个热点。前苏联作为社会主义国家的代表,其环境问题及其与社会主义制度的兴衰关系引起了国际学术界的关注。在对前苏联环境问题、环境保护政策变迁及环境保护失败原因分析的基础上,研究认为严峻的国内外局势、畸形的经济发展模式和高度集中的政治体制等因素使得环境保护一直处在前苏联国家战略的边缘。随着中国经济发展受到资源与环境约束力增强,生态—环境问题开始成为左右政治生活的一个重要力量,生态文明建设对促进我国人与自然和谐发展、构建和谐社会具有重要意义。