Cellular Automata for Studying Historical Spatial Process of Traditional Settlements Based on Gaussian Mixture Model: A Case Study of Qiaoxiang Village in Southern China

ABSTRACT

The spatial evolution of traditional rural settlements is a natural process that occurs without professional development planning. With rural spatial organization now being stimulated by China’s economic structure adjustment, making top-down plans match bottom-up spatial principles is important for the continuity of rural communities. In this research, a Cellular automaton based model was introduced to describe the historical spatial rules of rural settlements based on a traditional village in Southern China. In order to reproduce the rural spatial characteristics and laws that were close to the actual situation truthfully and distinctly, in this model, we refined the growth process into three cyclical steps, and used a Multivariate Gaussian Mixture Model for the evaluation of spatial transition potential. Through historical simulation, evaluation of the current status, and future spatial predictions, results showed that: (1) the growth during the whole spatial process maintained logical consistency for optimal selection; (2) certain houses in the southeast region should be carefully protected as a core living culture exhibit, while the best utilization of other homes should be considered; and (3) the most probable region of growth for tourist services or new housing estates is scattered along the river in the central area of the village.     

Adapting (Municipal) Form to (Provincial) Function: City–County Separation and the Introduction of the Consolidated Municipal Service Manager System in Ontario,Canada

In 1998, the province of Ontario introduced the Consolidated Municipal Service Manager (CMSM) system, which effectively downloaded the responsibility for delivery and partial funding for a range of social services to municipalities. Separated cities and counties—a unique system of municipal organization in Ontario that draws a sharp institutional distinction between urban and rural areas—were given a particularly wide range of discretion over the implementation of these services. A number of these jurisdictions experienced an array of problems reaching a local solution. Some even wound up in arbitration. This article examines the implementation of the CMSM, focusing specifically on the unique institutional arrangement found in counties with separated cities, finding that the provincial government overlooked the institutional design of city–county separation, hindering the policy downloading process. Overall, it is argued that the local institutional environment is key when shifting policy responsibility from central to local actors.     

Legal uncertainty,resistance to royal taxation and rural revolts in late medieval France: the case of Beauvoir-sur-Mer and Bois-de-Céné (1480)

In 1480, the inhabitants of Beauvoir-sur-Mer and Bois-de Céné, two small towns on the Atlantic coast of Poitou, in France, rebelled against the officials in charge of collecting the salt tax and arrested some of them. Despite the fact that the resulting civil disturbance had few long-lasting consequences, the case is an effective illustration of the dynamics of rural revolts at the end of the fifteenth century. This article demonstrates how violence was only the last stage of protest against royal taxation; the riots had been preceded by legal resistance and negotiations. The article also shows how the events were permeated and fuelled by judicial complexity and a climate of legal uncertainty surrounding the rights of French officials to collect the tax. These revolts must then be understood not simply as a reaction to excessive taxation, but more as self-defence against royal officials who refused to acknowledge the rights of the inhabitants of these towns.     

基于行动者网络的乡村转型及其空间生产研究——以凤和空港小镇为例

本文基于“网络结构—作用因子”互补视角综合运用行动者网络理论与空间生产理论，采用半结构访谈法，以广州市凤和空港小镇为典型案例，深度分析乡村转型的具体过程与逻辑内涵，并证实了空间生产的运作机制与行动者网络构建过程的内在关联性。研究表明，凤和空港小镇通过创建文旅型美丽乡村构建了行动者网络，政府、企业、游客、村民等异质行动者互构空间，使原来的空心村、贫困村转型为现代商业社区；空港小镇的乡村转型本质上是将传统村落社群“生产”为都市消费空间的空间商品化过程，以资本、权力、消费文化为主导的空间生产过程，在多方关系交织与话语建构下表现为错综复杂的社会效应。     

Ödemiş-Dereuzunyer: Architectural Features of a Rural Settlement to Be Submerged by Dam Waters

ABSTRACT

The village of Dereuzunyer located in the Rahmanlar Valley of the Küçük Menderes Basin is a settlement that is a natural extension of a topography shaped by a joint contribution of culture and nature. It has preserved the authenticity and integrity of its traditional rural fabric and gives detailed information about the architectural approach, building technology, construction techniques, landscape features and traditional craftsmanship of past rural life. While some of the cultural assets in the settlement containing detailed information about the rural lifestyle of the past have survived to date despite the harsh natural conditions, the remainder have been neglected, become dilapidated, and fallen into ruin over time due to lack of maintenance by the local people because of rumors about the possible dam project and expropriations in progress. After completion of the Rahmanlar Dam in 2019, the cultural landscape values of Dereuzunyer will be lost irretrievably. This article aims to make a contribution to creating awareness about avoiding such losses, not only by introducing the non-renewable values of Dereuzunyer, by documentation of its historical development, its traditional architecture, its traditional building types, its construction techniques, and its plan and façade features, but also by promoting and interpreting its lost cultural heritage.     

气味景观感知对乡村地方依恋的影响机制研究——兼论怀旧的中介作用

气味的作用是潜移默化的，本文在乡村旅游情境下，运用结构方程研究了气味景观感知对于地方依恋的影响作用。研究发现：①乡村气味景观感知显著地正向影响旅游者地方依恋；②乡村气味景观感知对于怀旧有显著的正向影响；③历史怀旧对地方依赖有显著正向影响，个人怀旧对于地方依赖和地方认同均有显著正向影响；④怀旧在气味景观感知和地方依恋之间的中介效应得到验证。研究证实了气味景观的重要作用，明晰了怀旧在乡村旅游体验中的核心地位，对丰富旅游体验和打造乡村旅游景观具有一定的启示意义。