An inevitable transition: the erosion of traditional vernacular building forms in the Alpujarras,southern Spain

This paper examines continuity and change within the domestic architecture of the village of Laroles in the Alpujarras region of southern Spain. The distinctive characteristics of this typological form are identified and the principal features of change at the level of the individual building are surveyed. It is argued that change in the architectonic details of houses within the village is inevitable but that such changes do not necessarily lead to the loss of a distinctive type of building and they may be considered to be a necessary consequence of the natural evolution of vernacular architecture. However, some recent developments give significant cause for concern as, although superficially similar to traditional typologies, in reality they amount to a different typological form and are frequently merely a pastiche of the original type. In addition to the issue of visual landscape change, traditional vernacular architecture is a source of continuity and meaning and the erosion of this form represents a threat to identity and the long-established basis of communal life.     

The specifics and spatial structure of circular migration in Russia

Abstract

This article aims at distinguishing recurrent population movements within the territory of the Russian Federation between urban localities of different sizes and rural areas in connection to the processes of urbanization, suburbanization, and de-urbanization. Incomplete urbanization and the strong polarization of socio-economic space in Russia have resulted in two powerful contradictory population flows: centrifugal seasonal sub- and de-urbanization and centripetal labor migration from rural and small towns to large urban centers. The article discusses three forms of recurrent population mobility in Russia: (1) daily commuting of urban and rural inhabitants within metropolitan areas; (2) commuting to large cities and their suburbs for long-term employment intervals (weekly, monthly, etc.), (3) second-home commuting to countryside dachas. Unfinished urbanization in Russia not only attracts rural and small towns’ population to major cities but also keeps it within the latter. It slows down the real de-urbanization and induces specific dachas (second-home) suburbanization/de-urbanization, with these processes being closely interrelated. An opportunity to earn money in cities together with the impossibility of moving to major centers due to expensive housing encourages households to remain in small towns and rural areas. Meanwhile, inhabited rural localities (even ones distant from cities) attract seasonal population (dachniks).     

Citizen Participation and Government Choice in Local Environmental Controversies

This article uses a single, critical case to assess the plausibility of hypotheses that emerge from the literature on civic environmentalism. In particular, scholars have argued that local, collaborative environmental decision making is likely to yield solutions that are both more durable and environmentally superior to those generated by more conventional policymahing processes. The analysis suggests, however, that such outcomes are unlikely in the absence of stringent regulatory requirements established at the federal or state level. This is because local officials face fiscal constraints that exacerbate the already substantial disparity in political resources between citizens and development interests.     

Overdone overkill – the archaeological perspective on Tasmanian megafaunal extinctions

The reasons for megafaunal extinction in Australia have been hotly debated for over 30 years without any clear resolution. The proposed causes include human overkill, climate, anthropogenic induced habitat change or a combination of these. Most protagonists of the human overkill model suggest the impact was so swift, occurring within a few thousand years of human occupation of the continent, that archaeological evidence should be rare or non-existent. In Tasmania the presence of extinct megafauna has been known since the early twentieth century (74, 85 and 86) with earlier claims of human overlap being rejected because of poor chronology and equivocal stratigraphic associations. More recent archaeological research has not identified any megafauna from the earliest, exceptionally well-preserved late Pleistocene cultural sites. In 2008 however an argument for human induced megafaunal extinctions was proposed using the direct dates from a small sample of surface bone from two Tasmanian non-human caves and a museum sediment sample from an unknown location in a cave, since destroyed by quarrying (Turney et al., 2008). Turney et al. (2008) supplemented their data with published dates from other Tasmanian caves and open sites to argue for the survival of at least seven megafauna species from the last interglacial to the subsequent glacial stage.     

The environment of northeast England during Roman times as shown by pollen analysis

Data from nine radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams from the northeast of England are considered and it is argued that much of the area was deforested and used for farming during the late pre-Roman Iron Age. This farming continued throughout the Roman rule (approximately AD 80–AD 410) and lasted until at least the sixth century, implying a measure of political stability after the Roman withdrawal.