A Multiobjective Approach to Locate Emergency Shelters and Identify Evacuation Routes in Urban Areas

Evacuation planning is an important component of emergency preparedness in urban areas. The number and location of rescue facilities is an important aspect of this planning, as is the identification of primary and secondary evacuation routes for residents to take. This article introduces a multiobjective approach to identify these aspects of evacuation planning. The approach incorporates a multiobjective model into a geographical information systems–based decision support system that planners can access via the Internet. The proposed approach is demonstrated with a case study for the City of Coimbra, Portugal, for evacuation during major fires. Although presented in this context, this approach is applicable to other emergency situations such as earthquakes, floods, and acts of terrorism.     

A new map of Qâni’ (Yemen)

Qâni’, the main seaport for the export of goods from South Arabia, was founded by the Hadramawt kingdom in the first century BC. A geomorphological survey and a general surface reconnaissance of Qâni’ have revealed a new image of the site. Originally a royal entrepôt in a fortress on an ancient island, separated from the mainland by a silted channel lined with a mangrove forest, Qâni’ gradually grew and spread around the beach fronting the mooring place of the trade ships that arrived by sea. Sacred spaces, cemeteries, dwellings and trade quarters appear to be well‐defined areas forming a real town within the limits imposed by the surrounding sea.     

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”.     

The Arade 1 Shipwreck: Preliminary Results of the 2004 and 2005 Field Seasons

Lost after partial destruction by dredging in 1970, Arade 1 was a priority for the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática (CNANS). The upper part of the hull, lying over a 7-m-long area of the bed of the Arade river, was fully observed and recorded during the first two seasons (2001 and 2002) and dismantled in a third phase (2003). The 2004 and 2005 seasons aimed at the excavation, full recording and dismantling of the lower hull, briefly observed at the end of 2002. This second, detached, portion of the hull, was buried in the sediment and corresponds to midships.
© 2008 The Authors     

Foucault,space and primary school dining rooms

This paper takes up recent debates within Children's Geographies as to the ‘usefulness’ of theory and its application to school dining rooms. The paper argues that in particular, Foucault's notions of governmentality have the potential to advance theoretical understandings of the spatiality of school dining rooms, the social relationships that occur within them and that in addition this can have relevant practical and policy implications that could impact upon the everyday lives of children that are both constituted by and constitutive of this space.     

Women at Sea: An Other Category

Books reviewed in this article: David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors’ Women: An Untold Maritime History Joan Druett, She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea Lizabeth Paravisini–Gebert and Ivette Romero–Cesareo (eds), Women at Sea: Travel Writing and the Margins of Caribbean Discourse Sena Jeter Naslund, Ahab's Wife or The Star–Gazer Nancy Pagh, At Home Afloat: Women on the waters of the Pacific North–West Dee Pigneguy, Saltwater in Her Hair: Stories of women in the New Zealand maritime industry