How “open” are open spaces: evaluating transformation of open space at residential level in Adelaide – a case study

This paper examines the transformation of open space and how it compares to older residential development. A study has been conducted at the residential level because neighbourhoods have been a basic unit of city design throughout the recent history of urban settlements. Furthermore, the neighbourhood is a more humanly relevant scale of urban development. The method adopted for this research was a comparative urbanism by comparing old and new residential areas. This study found that incremental redevelopment of old residential areas through both re-subdivision and intensification of development on existing allotments has resulted in a progressive loss of open space. However, the study also confirmed that the current supplies of open space across all the study areas (old and new residential areas) are relatively similar. The main difference between the open space supply in older and newer residential areas comes down to the ownership of land (i.e. the proportion of public versus private open space). The study demonstrated that older residential areas with large allotments have experienced a significant loss of private open space – originally from 50%, to current levels of 23–30%. The paper concludes that there is a need for a holistic approach to the provision of public and private open spaces to improve the quality of life at a residential level.     

Social capital networks for achieving sustainable development

There have been few empirical studies investigating whether and how social capital (SC) relates to better achievement of sustainability goals and, if so, how. This research investigates the roles three types of SC, namely, bonding, bridging, and bracing SC, play in achieving sustainable development (SD), using a case study of the Japanese region to explore the process of SC accumulation leading to collective action. The research question as to whether SC accumulation makes a difference in the progress towards sustainability is addressed qualitatively and quantitatively using a case study, and network and regression analysis; in particular the impact and functions of bracing SC are closely investigated. The study concludes that SC accumulation can indeed make a difference in achieving sustainability and that bracing SC plays an essential role in expediting the processes of goal sharing and resource flow by connecting various networks across sectors and scales, thereby making collective action possible. These findings suggest that creating an environment in which the generation of all three types of SC is encouraged may help local governments to achieve their desired policy goals for SD.     

Place and exile: resource conflicts and sustainability in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland

This paper reflects on two controversial resource projects – the Bellanaboy gas refinery (Ireland) and the Barvas Moor wind farm (Scotland) – and critical arguments made by key local actors. Although risk, health, environment and development dominated the official decision-making processes, these actors articulated views which cut across or existed beyond such orthodox ideas and framings. Focusing on these, I show that the Gaelic concepts of dùthchas and deoraíocht, summarised as place and exile, help to explain why some residents decided to protest. This paper illustrates the role that history, culture and language can play in conflicts, emphasises the need for greater sensitivity to these and suggests that place and exile can inform alternative visions of sustainability.     

What factors determine whether a community will choose the pathway to sustainable development in China?

In this paper, we divide the communities in Central China into four groups, namely ecological high-poverty communities, non-ecological high-poverty communities, sustainable communities and non-ecological low-poverty communities. We use 2000 and 2006 data for 498 counties to conduct analysis and comparison between sustainable and unsustainable communities in order to define determinants of the development pathways to sustainable communities. The comparison of the variable means between the groups of ecological high-poverty communities and non-ecological high-poverty communities in 2006 indicates that there is no significant difference in the dimensions related to economy, society and environment, with the exception of average output value per industrial enterprise.

The non-ecological low-poverty communities are more likely to have a higher proportion of secondary industry, higher total industrial output value, higher average output value per industrial enterprise and higher intensity of infrastructure construction, compared to the sustainable communities. The factors that determine whether the communities will choose the pathway to sustainable communities are found to be landscape, social conditions of secondary industry and agriculture and economic development level. Hence, the policies that aim at promoting sustainability for the unsustainable communities will have to focus on different strategies and actions for non-ecological high-poverty and non-ecological low-poverty communities.     

基于熵值法的济南市可持续发展能力动态研究

为使济南市更加科学、协调、稳健地可持续发展,根据科学性、操作性、可比性、代表性等原则建立济南市可持续发展指标体系,并在此基础上,利用熵值法对济南市“十一五”期间可持续发展综合能力进行了定量评估;从系统的角度出发,对济南市社会、经济、环境各子系统在可持续发展中的作用、影响以及各子系统间的协调状态进行了分析并针对性地提出了济南市可持续发展建议.文章对其他大中城市的社会、经济、环境可持续发展能力建设具有一定的参考价值.     

秦皇岛森林可持续发展对策探讨

通过分析秦皇岛森林资源现状可知,秦皇岛森林资源开发利用过程中主要存在森林分布不均、质量较低、人工林保存率低、护林资金匮乏等问题,并针对这些问题提出了加强森林资源生态功能的宣传工作、健全法制、加大退耕还林力度、强化管理,增加投入等秦皇岛森林资源可持续发展的对策。     

What are the barriers to successful community-based climate change adaptation? A review of grey literature

ABSTRACT

Across the Global South, community-based adaptation (CBA) projects are increasingly being implemented in an effort to respond effectively and sustainably to the impacts of climate change, with a particular focus on people’s livelihoods. Despite an increase in the number of CBA projects being implemented, detailed analysis and evaluation of their efficacy and the barriers faced in achieving successful outcomes is lacking. This study draws on an analysis of grey literature (i.e. project and donor reports) to explore the barriers faced in achieving effective CBA. An extensive global search of online project evaluations yielded 25 documents comprising 69 projects from which this analysis is based. This paper first presents an overview of the 69 projects and highlights any trends. Second, this paper describes the barriers to CBA according to three broad themes: socio-political, resource, and physical systems and processes. Following this is a discussion of the most prevalent barriers: cognitive and behavioural, financial, and human resources. Third, this paper discusses the key findings elucidated from this review. This includes the need for greater sharing of project reports and findings so lessons can be learned across spatial and temporal scales, and the disparity between critical academic literature on CBA and what is implemented in practice.     

Can the commons be temporary? The role of transitional commoning in post-quake Christchurch

ABSTRACT

In recent work on commons and commoning, scholars have argued that we might delink the practice of commoning from property ownership, while paying attention to modes of governance that enable long-term commons to emerge and be sustained. Yet commoning can also occur as a temporary practice, in between and around other forms of use. In this article we reflect on the transitional commoning practices and projects enabled by the Christchurch post-earthquake organisation Life in Vacant Spaces, which emerged to connect and mediate between landowners of vacant inner city demolition sites and temporary creative or entrepreneurial users. While these commons are often framed as transitional or temporary, we argue they have ongoing reverberations changing how people and local government in Christchurch approach common use. Using the cases of the physical space of the Victoria Street site “The Commons” and the virtual space of the Life in Vacant Spaces website, we show how temporary commoning projects can create and sustain the conditions of possibility required for nurturing commoner subjectivities. Thus despite their impermanence, temporary commoning projects provide a useful counter to more dominant forms of urban development and planning premised on property ownership and “permanent” timeframes, in that just as the physical space of the city being opened to commoning possibilities, so too are the expectations and dispositions of the city’s inhabitants, planners, and developers.     

浅析低碳技术的评价方法

低碳技术可分为3类:减碳技术、无碳技术、去碳技术,选择最优低碳技术是一个项目能否成功的关键。低碳技术评价的内容通常从能源使用率、经济效益、生命周期方面进行评价,对技术的综合性评价的基本方法大致有层次分析法、综合评分法、德尔菲法、熵值法、模糊综合评判法等,这些方法渗透于指标权重分析、模型建立评价当中。通过研究对这些技术的评价方法,确定最优的技术项目,以促进循环经济及可持续发展战略的实施和进行。     

基于客源市场实证分析的乡村旅游发展模式研究——以成都市三圣乡为例

本文选择成都富有特色的乡村旅游个案调查,对客源市场采用Likert Scale方法和SPSS软件分析,对如何凸显地方特色,构建“乡村—生态—民俗文化”的乡村旅游发展模式,推动乡村旅游可持续发展,提出了现实指导建议.