Dynamics and Causation of Environmental Equity, Locally Unwanted Land Uses, and Neighborhood Changes

/ Why are some environmental risks distributed disproportionately in the neighborhoods of the minorities and the poor? A hypothesis was proposed in a recent study that market dynamics contributed to the current environmental inequity. That is, locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) make the host communities home to more poor people and people of color. This hypothesis was allegedly supported by a Houston case study, whereby its author analyzed the postsiting changes of the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding solid waste facilities. I argue that such an analysis of postsiting changes alone is insufficient to test the causation hypothesis. Instead, I propose a conceptual framework for analysis of environmental equity dynamics and causation. I suggest that the presiting neighborhood dynamics and the characteristics of control neighborhoods be analyzed as the first test for the causation hypothesis. Furthermore, I present theories of neighborhood change and then examine alternative hypotheses that these theories offer for explaining neighborhood changes and for the roles of LULUs in neighborhood changes. These alternative hypotheses should be examined when analyzing the relationship between LULUs and neighborhood changes in a metropolitan area. Using this framework of analysis, I revisited the Houston case. First, I found no evidence that provided support for the hypothesis that the presence of LULUs made the neighborhoods home to more blacks and poor people, contrary to the conclusion made by the previous study. Second, I examined alternative hypotheses for explaining neighborhood changes-invasion-succession, other push forces, and neighborhood life-cycle; the former two might offer better explanation.KEY WORDS: Environmental equity and justice; Locally unwanted lane uses; Siting; Market dynamics; Invasion-succession; Neighborhood changes     

Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

乡村文化记忆资源的“文—旅”协同评价模型与应用——以苏州金庭镇为例

乡村文化记忆资源是乡村“文—旅”协同的链接点。基于文化记忆理论从文化信息层、物质载体层与社会行为层解析其内涵和协同框架,构建“文—旅”空间协调度、文化记忆连续性和旅游市场认同度的协同评价模型,以苏州金庭镇为例进行实证分析。结果表明:（1）时间格局上,旅游景点与生活生产类空间关联性不断提升,与功能象征类空间依赖减弱,与社会表征类和精神意识类空间关系有所降低但维持高度耦合水平。（2）空间格局上,与生活生产类空间呈极核带状格局,与其余三类空间呈现一核多极格局。（3）旅游景点与生活生产类空间协同关系从“文—旅”空间协调度、文化记忆连续性转向旅游市场认同度为主导,其余空间以“文—旅”空间协调度为主导。（4）影响协同关系的机制包括记忆延续与文化交融、空间优化与旅游融合和社会支持与政策保障等。研究结论可为乡村旅游地的文化振兴和文旅融合提供理论指导和应用模式。     

泉州文化旅游资源特色及其开发利用

在分析“世界宗教博物馆”泉州的海外交通、宗教、建筑和民俗文化旅游资源特色及其优劣势的基础上，就其开发利用过程中通过整合资源和拓展内涵来提炼和突出文化主题，增强文化旅游的参与性，加强从业人员教育和重视品牌塑造等方面提出建议。     

企业安全文化建设研究

安全文化是对安全理论的重要发展,安全文化建设是和谐社会建设的重要内容,是解决安全管理的重要措施.加强安全文化建设能增强安全意识,提高防灾能力,改善生产、生活环境.要有针对性、创造性和实效性地开展安全文化建设.     

Maize: The Native North American’s Legacy of Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity

Recent research has focused on establishing the values of preserving biodiversity both in agriculture and in less managed ecosystems, and in showing the importance of the role of cultural diversity in preserving biodiversity in food production systems. A study of the philosophy embedded in cultural systems can reveal the importance of the technological information for preserving genetic biodiversity contained in such systems and can be used to support arguments for the protection/preservation of cultural diversity. For example, corn or maize can serve as a paradigm of Native American thinking and can provide one of the few areas from which common philosophical conceptions can emerge. An examination of the cultivation of corn or maize as an agricultural activity and as a cultural activity in Native American literature reveals a philosophy that recognizes the importance of biodiversity and provides techniques for its preservation. Corn, and the food and the materials derived from it, is something thought out, not by specialists, but by the entire tribe and its ancestors, even if this thinking is done within what we might consider a framework of highly mythical notions. Importantly, this framework yields an understanding of both the genetics and nutrition of corn. A survey of these mythical notions (myths and stories) and agricultural practices makes this thought explicit and exemplifies the value of cultural diversity and biodiversity.     

Food justice youth development: using Photovoice to study urban school food systems*

How do youth learn through participation in efforts to study and change the school food system? Through our participatory youth action research (YPAR) project, we move beyond the “youth as consumer” frame to a food justice youth development (FJYD) approach. We track how a group of youth learned about food and the public policy process through their efforts to transform their own school food systems by conducting a participatory evaluation of farm-to-school efforts in collaboration with university and community partners. We used the Photovoice research method, placing cameras in the hands of young people so that they themselves could document and discuss their concerns and perspectives. The research was designed to gain insight about youths’ knowledge of food, health, and community food systems. Drawing upon the youth group’s insights, we build a framework for building critical consciousness through FJYD.     

Environmental justice in Nigeria: A narration of residents’ experience in Ile-Ife

The sharing of environmental cost by residents in various residential areas in the developing world is perceived to be unfair. This study therefore assessed residents’ experiences of environmental justice in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Three residential areas were identified in the study area and samples were selected using systematic sampling. Using availability and condition of urban infrastructure, severity of environmental problems and residents’ involvement in environmental issues, the study examined environmental justice in the study area. The study established a variation in environmental issues across identified residential areas. The severity of environmental problem measured through an index tagged Severity of Environmental Problem (SEPI) revealed that environmental problems was most severe in the core (SEPI = 4.00), followed by the peripheral area (SEPI = 3.71) and least in the transition area (SEPI = 3.56). On the condition of available environmental infrastructure, the study revealed that the conditions of infrastructure were most improved in the peripheral area (ICI = 3.07), followed by the core (ICI = 2.67) and the least in the transition area (ICI = 2.42). The study concluded that residents’ experiences of environmental justice differ significantly across the different residential zones as reflected by residents’ socio-economic characteristics. Furthermore, it established that age, gender, educational status, and number of years spent in the area can be used to explain the differences in residents’ experience of environmental justice in the study area. To enhance the liveability, the study recommends adequate provision of environmental amenities needed by each category of people in the city.     

使用量和单位常见错误浅析

以《量和单位》（GB3100—3102-1993）为依据,列举了各种常见的错误使用量和单位的名称和符号、量和单位非标准化的例子,对其进行了分析和探讨,提出标准化对策。     

环境司法专门化下的特殊环境诉讼规则

我国的环境司法处于发展初期,有关环境纠纷的司法救济程序散落在不同的部门法中。为了维护国家环境安全和公共环境利益,构建环境司法专门化势在必行,但是在特殊的环境保护法院进行专门化的环境审判过程中,出现环境诉讼保护对象的争议性、生态环境损害责任承担的特殊性等问题亟待解决,环境民事公益诉讼和生态环境损害赔偿诉讼等特殊环境诉讼规则应运而生,虽然目前还面临着一些困境,但是整体上构建环境司法体系的进程依然在不断推进。