Growth Management in the Vancouver Region

The Vancouver Region is widely recognised as one North American jurisdiction where strong growth management plans and policies have been put in place in order to control urban sprawl. While many authors have lauded the region for its good planning intentions, there has been little in the way of assessment of actual performance. This paper attempts to identify some quantitative growth management goals that have been (officially and unofficially) espoused by planning authorities in the region, and to measure these against actual trends. The results are mixed: on the one hand, some key growth management goals adopted by the region are not ambitious compared with existing trends and even these goals are not being met. For instance, the supposedly compact scenario adopted by the region deviates hardly at all from existing growth trends, which regional planners had clearly identified as untenable and requiring drastic change. On the other hand, the region's goal of preserving extensive green areas has been achieved without being watered down during goal formulation or implementation. Whereas these findings may appear contradictory, they are not: conservation in the region has not compromised the potential for growth in the region--at least for the time being. The real test of regional growth management efforts will come in the near future when further expansion meets the 'green wall' on the periphery and NIMBY resistance against densification within existing urban areas. The study suggests that the current structure of regional planning, relying on a partnership between municipal and regional governments, has served the region fairly well in building support for the need for growth management and in elaborating growth management vision. However, there is serious doubt about the ability of this system to set ambitious growth management objectives and to see through the implementation of those objectives in the face of social forces attempting to preserve business-as-usual trends in the region.     

Green Houses for the Growth Region

The new housing growth programme planned for England and Wales between now and 2016 could provide the government with an opportunity to build housing to significantly higher environmental performance (EP) standards. Equally, if the government continues with its current strategy a great opportunity could be missed. This paper considers and critically analyses the government's approach to ensuring higher EP standards in new housing. Using Greenwich Millennium Village as a case study it assesses the likely outcomes of the approach. It suggests how regulation, fiscal incentives and educational programmes could help to deliver better EP amongst housing and households in the growth region.     

Water Quality Management in the Asia-Pacific Region*

A survey by means of questionnaire was undertaken by ESCAP to determine the current status of water quality management in the region. The questionnaire was designed to determine the severity and extent of water quality problems, the major contributors to water pollution, the problems created by such pollution and the actions being taken to correct them. The survey found that there was widespread awareness of the need for water quality management and that many countries had passed legislation to ensure that such management was practised. Unfortunately, the financial resources needed for enforcement of the laws enacted were often lacking.     

我国中部地区经济增长收敛性分析

运用以人口为权数的Theil指数分析我国中部地区经济σ-收敛发现:1997-2007年中部地区存在较明显的σ-收敛,且省际间的经济差异是中部地区经济σ-收敛的阻碍因素;同时运用Barro和Sala-i-Martin经典模型分析中部地区经济β-收敛,通过加入影响经济增长的动态变量--城市化、工业化等条件发现:中部地区存在显著的条件β-收敛,其中工业化和创新能力是影响中部地区条件β-收敛的首要因素,政府过度干预经济的行为是阻碍其条件β-收敛的重要因素.     

中国西南地区的水资源管理

水资源是本世纪的危机资源.中国的水资源相对贫乏,而且空间分布极不平衡,南多北少,西南地区水资源量约占全国水资源总量的46%.加强该地区的水资源管理,对解决我国的水资源危机具有重大的战略意义.在市场经济条件下,只有将国家宏观调控与市场调节结合起来,充分发挥行政和经济两种手段的作用,才能实现对水资源的有效管理.     

The Stakeholder Preference for Best Management Practices in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region

A qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 92 farmers and 42 policy managers in Wuxi County, the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, was conducted to identify stakeholder preferences for alternative best management practices (BMPs) and to determine the factors that affect their acceptance. Policy manager support for most of the practices was relatively stronger than support by farmers, except for the grade stabilization structure (GSS), hillside ditch (HD) and constructed wetland alternative, owing to their perceptions of soil benefits, economic advantages and environmental advantages. Farmers opposed those practices that occupied cultivated lands or changed the conventional planting methods, such as field border, conservation tillage (CT) and contour buffer strips. They tended to accept the BMPs with off-farm pollution reduction, such as GSS, riparian forest buffer and HD, and the BMPs associated with soil benefits, such as nutrient management and Terrace. The result that almost all respondents did not accept CT differed from reports in the existing literature. There is a significant correlation between the acceptance of some BMPs and the townships where the farmers lived (P ≤ 0.05). The environmental conditions and social factors would affect farmer support for BMPs, including local soil conditions, farming methods, economic income, education level and age. The economic advantages of the BMPs were the main motivation for farmers to accept the practices. Furthermore, intensive education efforts, financial incentives or economic subsidies may promote the adoption of the BMPs in our study area.     

关中—天水经济区产业结构对区域经济增长的影响

关中—天水经济区产业结构与经济增长之间有着密切的关系。随着区域经济的增长,产业结构的不断演进,同时产业结构的调整也促进了经济的增长。运用偏离—份额分析法研究了关中—天水经济区产业结构对经济增长的影响,提出了相应的发展对策和建议。     

Air Regulation Requirements in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Region: Management Approaches and Case Study

Evolving air emissions regulation presents a serious compliance challenge for all oil and gas operators in the United States of America. In Appalachia, a legacy producing region, the rapid development of the Marcellus and Utica shales has led to a rapid expansion of operations across the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Driven by this unprecedented development, increased public pressure, and lawsuits, new regulatory programs are being developed at both the state and federal levels. This article discusses the evolving air regulations impacting operators in the region and how operators can implement an air emissions management system to help them stay compliant.     

西部地区中小企业成长环境分析与优化途径

中小企业是西部地区经济建设中不可忽视的重要力量，在西部大开发和加入WTO的双重背景下，他们面临着新的机遇和挑战。发展西部地区的中小企业，直接关系到西部大开发战略实施的成效，应对这个“弱热群体”给予更多的关注。为促进西部地区中小企业的发展，中央政府应加大合理干预的力度；西部地区各级政府应积极实施职能创新为中小企业的成长创造条件；中小企业自身在管理和技术上应寻求新的突破口和着力点，合理定位优势产业。     

Adaptive Management of Stream Channel Maintenance at Bridge Crossings in the Northern Tier Region,Pennsylvania1

Abstract: An adaptive management framework is applied to the problem of identifying mitigation measures for sediment deposition near bridge crossings in small streams in the Northern Tier region of northern Pennsylvania. The presence of the rigid bridge infrastructure introduces a challenge for applying adaptive management practices, because the integrity of the bridge structure itself has to be maintained regardless of the mitigation practices used in the stream channel near the bridge. In an effort to overcome the unacceptable risk that field‐scale adaptive management experiments present to rigid bridge infrastructure, an adaptive management approach for laboratory‐scale experimentation of mitigation methods at bridge crossings in the Northern Tier region is presented as a way to decrease the level of uncertainty about channel response to mitigation measures and increase the rate of learning about the effectiveness of these measures. Four cycles of adaptive management experiments are discussed to demonstrate that this approach results in fast and efficient learning about channel response to mitigation methods for the given conditions. The value of monitoring and of assessment of monitored data in the overall efficiency of the adaptive management approach is highlighted. Assessment of what was learned in the adaptive management experiment cycles presented here leads to new directions to continually improve management policies and practices in stream channels at bridge crossings in the Northern Tier region. The adaptive management process, rather than continuing with a normally risk‐averse management approach, results in opportunities for learning new information about a system’s response.     

丰水型缺水城市地下水资源规划与管理

宁波为典型的丰水型缺水城市,调蓄开发地下水库,是丰水型缺水城市或干旱地区减少地表和地下径流弃水,提高水资源利用率,缓和水资源供需矛盾的重要管理方案.     

成都地区慈竹生长状况及其与环境因子关系的初步分析

通过对成都市城区边缘及郊区6个样地慈竹林竹株的实地观测和取样分析,发现成都市城区边缘及青白江区的慈竹普遍生长不良,不同竹龄竹株的高度和胸径都比无郊崇州市怀远的慈竹要小,发育不良竹株竹杆内硅的含量显著高,初步分析硅的过多积累可能是慈竹竹杆脆化的一个明显指标;发育不良的慈竹竹杆含水量也普遍比生长状况好的慈竹竹杆含水量高。从样地土壤样品分析发现,慈竹生长不良的样地土壤偏酸或者偏碱。成都市区的降水普遍偏酸,降水中过高的SO4^2-,NO3^-,Cl^-和F^-离子成分也可能是导致慈竹生长不良的环境因素。     

'British Columbia Is Open for Business': Environmental Justice and Working Forest News in the Vancouver Sun

This paper analyses the Vancouver Sun's coverage of the Working Forest Initiative, which the provincial government of British Columbia (BC), Canada, introduced in 2002. The Working Forest originally defined forestry as the primary use of all forested Crown land in BC that was not within protected areas. By 2003, this policy initiative was transformed into a largely symbolic recognition of the importance of the forest industry. Through the Sun, the debate over the Working Forest is simplified into a conflict between a discourse of 'certainty and stability' for the forest industry and an oppositional discourse that challenges the conflation of the interests of forestry corporations with a reified 'general interest'. In the Sun, debate over the Working Forest is dominated by sources from government, environmental organizations and the forest industry. Other important news sources are rendered silent, including First Nations and forestry labour voices.     

Electronic Waste Generation and Management in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: Algeria as a Case Study

Electronic waste (e‐waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. Notwithstanding increasing concern worldwide, e‐waste has not yet been discussed in depth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study first reviews the literature regarding the estimation of e‐waste in the MENA region. It then gives an estimate of the past and future trends in the generation of obsolete computers in Algeria. For this purpose, the study combines two models: the Carnegie Mellon model and the market supply (distribution delay) model. The Carnegie Mellon model offers the following options for obsolete computers and monitors: the device could be reused, stored, or discarded. The amounts of devices falling into each category were determined based on these options. The outcomes from the market supply (distribution delay) model show that high amounts of computer and monitor waste were registered for the period from 2014 to 2016.     

传统戏剧乏皖南花鼓戏开在江南的牡丹花

初才目遇也许因为母亲喜欢唱戏的缘故,我对被视为老土的传统戏剧颇能接受,并且,渐渐体会出她的无穷韵味来。记得,曾在一本杂志上,还是在一本书的插页里,看到西安的城墙根下,一家草台班子的生活场景：黄昏,一位姑娘正在简陋的灶台边做饭,厚重的城墙上,有荒草摇曳,而那年轻姑娘,脸上挂着从容的笑容在忙碌着。     

Adaptation of RUSLE in the Eastern Part of the Mediterranean Region

Empirically based models are used worldwide to estimate soil erosion. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) is one such model that has been intensively tested and validated under conditions in the United States. RUSLE estimates average soil loss as a function of five main factors: rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), crop management (C), support practice (P), and topographic (LS) factors. This study investigated the application of RUSLE to Mediterranean conditions. The validation and calibration of RUSLE in the study area utilized field plots soil erosion measurements. The results found the RUSLE soil loss estimation to be three times the actual soil loss (7.8 and 2.6 Mg/ha, for RUSLE and actual measured soil loss, respectively). The difference between the RUSLE factors and the measured factors were responsible for the differences between the soil loss estimation by RUSLE and the measured soil loss. Specifically, the RUSLE K-factor showed three times the magnitude of the measured K-factor, the RUSLE C-factor underestimated the measured C-factor, and the RUSLE P-factor overestimated the measured P-factor by three times. Adjusting the RUSLE factors according to the measured ones increased the models predictability, whereas the adjusted-RUSLE soil loss estimation underestimated the measured soil loss by 14%. The adjustment of RUSLE, according to the prevailing conditions of the study area, increased the model efficiency three times (0.26 and 0.86 before and after adjustment of the mode,l respectively). For more accurate and reliable validation of the RUSLE under the Mediterranean conditions, it is advisable to conduct long-term soil loss experimentation and measurements.     

烟台地区在业人口就业结构分析

根据人口普查资料,本文从行业和职业方面对烟台地区在业人口的就业结构现状及变动特点进行了系统分析,并在此基础上对农业剩余劳动力的转移问题作了深入探讨。     

关于西部地区农业资源环境保护的若干思考

文章围绕西部大开发保护农业资源环境问题,就西部地区农牧民如何抓住国家实施退耕还林还草政策的有利时机。发展良性循环的经济模式等方面,保护农业资源环境的策略进行了思考。