Dynamics of Land Surface Temperature in Response to Land‐Use/Cover Change

In this study, we employed Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing techniques to investigate the impact of land‐use/cover change on land surface temperature (LST) in a rapidly urbanisation city, Kunming in south‐west China. Spatial patterns of LST and land use for 1992 and 2006 were derived from Landsat images to examine how LST responded to urban growth. Remote sensing indices were used to quantify land‐use types and employed as explanatory variables in LST modelling. The geographically weighted regression (GWR), a location dependent model, was performed to explore the influences of the spatially varied land‐use conditions on the LST patterns. Results revealed that rapid urbanisation in Kunming altered the local thermal environment, particularly in increasing the LST in the zone surrounding the urban core. Remote sensing indices demonstrated that water and vegetation played an important role in mitigating the urban heat island effect, while built‐up and barren land accounted for the increase in LST. The GWR improved the goodness‐of‐fit for LST modelling and provided insights into the spatially varied relationship between LST and land‐use conditions.     

Effect of Scale on the Links between Walking and Urban Design

Studies of the relationship between walking and urban form consistently show that pedestrian‐friendly neighbourhoods encourage local walking. However, the geographic scale of measurement of the built environment for developing walkability indices and their relationship with different types of walking (e.g. for transport and recreation) has not been fully examined. In this study, objective measures of the built environment were developed at three geographic scales: suburb, census collection district, and 15 min walk neighbourhood for each participant. Walking for transport and recreation within the neighbourhood was measured using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire. The likelihood of walking at all (yes/no) and as recommended for health benefit (150 min per week) were assessed using logistic regression. The walkability index captured a strong positive relationship between urban form and walking for transport, but found no relationship at any scale for recreational walking. Participants walking for transport and living in high versus low walkable areas were 63% more likely to walk at the suburb scale (odds ratio 1.63; 95% confidence interval 1.22–2.18), twice as likely to walk at the census collection district scale, and nearly three times more likely to walk at the 15 min walk scale (odds ration 2.79; 95% confidence interval 2.09–3.73). The scale at which environmental data are measured influenced the strength of the relationship, showing that the neighbourhood 15 min from home was most predictive of transport walking. This has research and policy implications. Standardised scales across studies would both improve comparability of results and enhance understanding of the influences on walking.     

Gibrat Revisited: An Urban Growth Model Incorporating Spatial Interaction and Innovation Cycles. 再评吉尔布瑞特：顾及空间相互作用和创新周期的城市增长模型

We designed a geographical model for simulating the distribution of urban growth in systems of cities. The model incorporates the hierarchical and spatial diffusion of innovation cycles through gravitational interactions within a set of cities. Using theoretical simulations, we demonstrate that this model is able to reproduce the observed properties of urban systems for the log‐normal distribution of city sizes as well as the observed distribution of growth rates. Our experimentation was performed on a large harmonized historical database that includes a few hundred French urban agglomerations between 1831 and 1999 (Pumain‐INED database). Both spatial interaction and innovation cycles are necessary ingredients to explain the evolution of urban hierarchies. We suggest that Gibrat's generic stochastic growth model based on independent entities should be replaced by a more relevant model of spatially and temporally interdependent geographical entities.     

CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE ORGANIZATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE NUZI WARE PRODUCTION

In order to investigate the nature and organization of high‐status ceramic production in the Late Bronze Age, samples of Nuzi Ware from four different sites were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP–AES). Chemical and mineralogical evidence suggests that Nuzi Ware was produced in at least two distinct regions, one probably in the Adhaim Basin in northern Iraq and another possibly in the Orontes catchment in southeastern Turkey. The existence of individual production units probably developed in response to the local elites' desire to imitate the tastes of the Mitanni aristocracy, resulting in a mapping of political relationships on to material culture.     

QUANTIFYING KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS USING SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC MODELS

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to develop our understanding of the somewhat diffuse nature of technological externalities and space by associating a geographical dimension with the sectoral dimension. Using a panel data set containing French patents as well as private and public research expenditures by industry and region over the period from 1992 to 2000, this paper estimates a knowledge production function. The region‐ and industry‐specific nature of the sample data allows us to empirically examine spatial spillovers associated with public and private research expenditures in own‐ and other‐industry sectors for our sample of 94 French regions. We find that the largest direct and indirect effects are associated with private R&D activity that spills across industry boundaries. However, since Jacobs externalities decrease more drastically with distance than MAR externalities, our results also point to different optimal strategies for regional versus national officials.     

Characteristics of Oman's archaeological resource: a preliminary review of management prospects

This paper is a preliminary overview of the main characteristics of the archaeological resource of Oman from a management perspective. It looks at the resource in terms of form, space and time. It covers a pilot statistical analysis of the archaeological data so far input into the proposed National Archaeological Database of Oman (NADO). The main findings of this analysis show that the management of Omani archaeological resource lacks a well‐defined strategic research plan, and that there are large research gaps in many geographical and chronological areas. It also shows that the governmental organisations responsible for the management of the country's archaeological resource are not taking into consideration the potential benefits of archaeological records in their management practices.     

Games on the seashore of Salalah: the discovery of mancala games in Dhofar,Sultanate of Oman

During the 2013 fieldwork of the French archaeological mission along the shores of the Arabian Sea, mancala games were discovered on the seashore of Salalah at the site of Ad‐Dahariz. They are cup‐hole carvings made directly into rock slabs and distributed in six distinct zones of the site. They usually consist of fourteen cup‐holes aligned in two lines of seven, two supplementary holes being sometimes present on each side. They are the first of their kind in South Arabia and can be compared to similar configurations of carved games elsewhere in Arabia, such as at Jebel al‐Jassasiya, Qatar. This paper presents the potential origins of this game in the region, as well as a plausible dating of their use.