Une histoire de résidus : à propos des facteurs généraux et locaux de croissance régionale au Canada,de 1971 à 2001

Starting from an econometric model of local employment growth, applied to Canada (1971–2001), residuals—relative to model predictions—are analyzed over time and over space, in turn allowing us to draw a distinction between general explanatory variables and factors of a more local, cyclical or accidental nature. The model's explanatory power grows over time, founded on variables such as urban size, market access and industrial structure, allowing us to conclude that local employment growth in Canada follows an increasingly geographically predictable pattern. However, an examination of the residuals reveals more localized processes. Growth volatility is most manifest in Alberta and British Columbia, home to the most erratic local economies. Emerging patterns are visible in the last period, most notably the underperformance of Northern Ontario and of non‐metropolitan communities between Windsor and Québec City, lying along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence. The over‐performance—compared to model predictions — of small and mid‐sized towns in south‐eastern Québec can, on the other hand, be interpreted as a sign of truly local social processes, generally associated with a particularly dynamic local entrepreneurial class.     

Modelling the Neolithic transition in a heterogeneous environment

The Neolithic transition, involving the change of subsistence from foraging to agriculture, can fruitfully be modelled mathematically, as, e.g., in the three-population model of Aoki et al. (1996). Here that model is modified to include some features of population dynamics in a realistic, two-dimensional environment, and including population pressure, competition for resources between farmers and foragers, and the dependence of the population carrying capacities and diffusivities on the environmental conditions. This modified model allows for the survival of foragers in regions where environmental conditions do not favour farming. The model is tentatively applied to the Indian subcontinent, which is a complicated example of this transition involving multiple domestication centres. The results are briefly compared with published archaeological data.     

Interpreting cultural remains in airborne laser scanning generated digital terrain models: effects of size and shape on detection success rates

In this study, detection success rates were evaluated for cultural remains that were detected manually based on interpretation of digital terrain models (DTM) derived from airborne laser scanning data and with a resolution of 1, 5 and 10 points m⁻². The group of cultural remains included charcoal kilns, charcoal pits, hollow-roads, various pits, house foundations, tar kilns, grave mounds and pit-falls. The effects on the interpretation success of different types of cultural remains and their physical properties were studied: size, shape and elevation difference showing that the detection success rates varied considerably. The main tendency was that large cultural remains with clear geometrical shape (ovals and circles) and large elevation difference were much more successfully detected and classified compared to the smaller ones, especially those without a clear geometrical shape. The study also showed that it was the identification of the larger structures which profited most from an increased resolution of the DTM, and it was of no help to increase resolution in order to improve the identification of the irregularly shaped cultural remains.     

NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL MIX AND ADULTS' INCOME TRAJECTORIES: LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE FROM STOCKHOLM

We investigate the relationship between neighborhood income composition and income trajectories of adults, employing annual panel data from Stockholm over the 1991–2008 period and multiple measures of neighborhood income mix. We advance the human geography literature in three ways by quantifying neighborhood effects that: (1) are unusually precise due to our large sample size; (2) are arguably causal and unbiased due to the econometric techniques employed; (3) are potentially heterogeneous, varying according to gender, income group, and ethnicity. Our innovative, fixed‐effect change modeling indicates that neighborhood income mix affects subsequent one‐ and five‐year income trajectories of residents in highly heterogeneous ways according to gender, income and ethnicity, and for some groups this effect is substantial. The evidence supports on Pareto improvement grounds a social mix policy that attempts to reduce the incidence of lower‐income dominant neighborhood environments and replace them with more mixed or middle‐income dominant ones.     

Soft Transport Policies and Ground‐Level Ozone: An Evaluation of the “Clear the Air Challenge” in Salt Lake City

In recent years, communities have begun to implement both “soft” and mandatory policies designed to address worsening air quality. Voluntary or soft transportation policies have included air quality alert systems that encourage people not to drive on days when the air quality index is above a specified threshold and public education/action campaigns that focus on reducing automobile related travel. In this article, we evaluate the effectiveness of one such soft policy, the Clear the Air Challenge (CAC), in reducing ground‐level ozone during the Wasatch Front's summer ozone season. Using daily ozone data and color‐coded daily air quality designations from 2006 through 2012, we estimate a range of nonequivalent control group models. In only one of the models does the CAC generate a statistically significant but small reduction in ground‐level ozone. Future research should assess the full range of costs and benefits to the public associated with such soft transport policies.     

Santa Maria del Fiore Dome Behavior: Statistical Models for Monitoring Stability

The article describes the work in progress for analysis of the behavior of the web cracks on Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. The web cracks in the Dome have always given rise to concern about the stability of the monument. The analyses performed show a slight increase in the size of the main cracks and, at the same time, a relationship with the environmental variables. None of the studies conducted in the past simultaneously involved all the variables detected by the monitoring system. Understanding the relationships among all the endogenous and exogenous variables characterizing the phenomenon under study can help to predict the static evolution of the monument and to automatically detect any atypical behavior, the identification of which would, of course, be of paramount importance for the preservation of the monument, and, more in general, for the preservation of the cultural heritage.     

基于空间相互作用模型的近代中国经济区域划分研究

通商口岸制度,是中国近代史上最重要的经济现象。近代中国经济地理学的格局和区域经济差异等内容,可以利用当代经济地理学、GIS技术、经济学等研究方法结合历史数据进行考察。近代中国一百多个通商口岸的发展,逐步形成了沿海、沿江、边疆对外开放的地理格局,为现代化提供了条件,促进了近代资本主义生产方式的空间扩张,也重构了中国的经济区域。为探究近代中国通商口岸影响下的经济区域变化,首先对通商口岸体系子口税贸易在地理空间分布进行探讨,初步界定一些较大通商口岸的影响区域,进而通过数量化和GIS方法,特别是使用空间交互模型得出结论。通商口岸体系是区域经济现代化的代表和系统性的研究对象,直接影响到当代中国的经济地理格局,可对当前中国经济地理区划提供有历史与现实意义的参考。     

GPS-based measurement of geographic spillovers in tourism – example of Polish districts

The agglomeration phenomenon in tourism often spreads beyond the borders of territorial units what is referred to as geographic spillovers. However, the measurement of spatial concentration of tourism demand and economic activity is usually based on statistics collected within regional administrative boundaries and omits the spatial interdependency between neighboring regions. Recognition of such spatial interdependency in the standard procedure to define neighborhood relies on the distance between geometric means (centroids) of territorial units which, however, rarely reflects real ‘centers’ of tourism agglomerations and leads to errors and biased results. Hence, we propose to modify the measures of the neighborhood with the use of GPS coordinates of tourism firms and attractions in order to designate their regional central tendencies and thus to correct (shift in space) localization of centroids of territorial units. We test the usefulness of the new approach to obtain a more precise measurement of spatial concentration when tourism spills over beyond the boundaries of territorial units using the example of Polish districts. We employ the exploratory spatial data analysis (spatial statistics) and spatial regression models – to assess the difference between using traditional centroids and GPS coordinates in defining neighborhood and determining spillover effects in regional analysis. Furthermore we apply the new method into the model of tourism potential in order to identify spillover effects in Polish regions. We use the data collected by Central Statistical Office (tourists staying overnight in 379 districts in 2014) and by Polish Tourist Organization (14,390 GPS coordinates of individual entities: tourism firms and attractions). The neighborhood determined with the use of GPS coordinates to measure the distance between centers of tourism agglomerations eliminates the dependence of the results on the administrative boundaries – but only to some degree. The challenge is to identify tourism agglomeration phenomenon as such, based on the mobility of tourists in space.     

Bridging the Gap: Classification,Theory and Practice in Public Archaeology

Models and classifications have been a part of thinking about public archaeology since at least the early 2000s, but how are these ideas translated into practice? By looking into the development of such classifications and models and by examining archaeologists’ attitudes to an archaeological education outreach project for schoolchildren in Oslo, Norway, this paper looks at the relationship between classification, theory, and practice in public archaeology.