Showing papers in "GeoJournal in 1978"

Current trends in Great Lakes shipping

Abstract: Shipping on the Great Lakes has changed rapidly in recent years. Internal Great Lakes traffic consists almost entirely of bulk movements, primarily of iron ore, coal, limestone, and grain. Ore shipments are mainly of taconite concentrate. Low-sulfur coal from the western areas of the United States is now moving downbound through the lakes, a movement in the opposite direction from the predominantly upbound movement of Appalachian coal. Opening of a larger lock in 1970 between lakes Superior and Huron has initiated a new generation of lake vessels, which are three times the size of the previous lake ships, and are too large to transit the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway; for the first time since 1959 the largest “lakers” are land-locked. General cargo traffic between the Great Lakes and overseas has been declining rapidly since 1970, largely as the result of the rapid development of container ships, and the Interstate highway system, which increases the competitive advantages of salt-water ports.

Beer-Sheva, capital of the Negev desert —Function and internal structure

Abstract: The rapid growth and development in modern times of Beer-Sheva, the city of the Patriarchs, and its transformation into a major centre of growth in the southern desert part of Israel has intrigued experts who deal with urban growth and development. In this paper we examine the major factors that have contributed to the city's place and function in Israel's urban system, its economic base and ecological structure — all with reference to the city's historical background.

Problems of the New Towns in Japan

Abstract: The new town in Japan is a sort of dormitory settlement in the metropolitan suburbs. Its main developer is the Japan Housing Corporation, whose representative achievement is the Tama New Town. The settlement is, however, too narrow, too expensive and too far away from the places of employment for the inhabitants to feel themselves as members of the community. The new town is a settlement of transients, which generates the condition of many commuting to the city without solving the problems of excessive urban growth. We should make a further inquiry into the new town as a contemporary type of urban settlement in this country.

Polyculture and monoculture: Contrast and analysis

Abstract: Although polyculture or interplanting is a dominant production method used by traditional cultivators in the tropics, there has been increasing emphasis on monoculture in agricultural development planning. Analysis of the economic and ecological consequences of these two cropping alternatives in a densely-populated area of eastern Nigeria suggests that a focus on monoculture as a panacea for increasing productivity and food supply is questionable. Polyculture is held to be ecologically superior to monoculture and, in the field area examined, economically more productive as well. Thus further investigation of polycultural approaches to agricultural development would appear to be warranted.

Urban water supply planning and management in Nigeria

Abstract: The gap between water need and supply has widened steadily in Nigeria's urban centres despite continuous efforts made to develop the nation's vast surface and groundwater resources Less than 05% of the total water resource potential has been developed for consumption, and the per capita water supply for all uses is only 61 litres per day Acute water shortages afflict the inhabitants of the towns and cities The bulk of available water supplies is unmetered; where metered, ridiculously low rates are changed Thus, there is a great need for management policy that aims at financial viability and economic efficiency More realistic water rates should be charged in order to raise the much-needed revenue to meet increasing production and distribution costs

Land use control and natural resource management in Nigeria

Abstract: In Nigeria, increasing evidence indicates a deteriorating man-land relationship. Negative changes in landscape quality, lowering both the productivity and aesthetic quality of the natural environment, may have serious effects on the nation's economy. In rural areas, declining soil fertility and soil erosion threaten the ability to produce sufficient food. In urban areas, competition for productive agricultural land has led to its conversion to urban uses. Earth materials required for urban development have been obtained by widespread landscape destruction. Expansion of urban areas into sensitive valley, marsh, and lagoon environments has led to an increased frequency of urban floods and flood damage. A developing conservation ethic must be accompanied by a practicable framework for land use control.

A concept of flexibility

Abstract: In the world of commerce, adaptability to change is a weapon for survival. In a world of shrinking material resources the capacity and inclination of the bulk commodity trading system to adapt to change and to adopt efficient patterns of trade will be vital. A concept of flexibility should be developed which treats adaptability not only as a quality but as a possible strategy or policy in the trading system.

The impact of shipping on the invasion of alien plants to Norway

Abstract: Important agencies responsible for the invasion of alien plants to Norway by means of shipping were ballast thrown ashore from sailing ships and contaminants in imported grain. Most ballast-plants were casuals, which disappeared when the ballast traffic ceased at the time of World War I. Changes in the origin of imported grain are reflected in the grain mill flora.

The accessibility of nodes in the Belgian road network

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the accessibility of nodes in the Belgian road network The intersection of roads are considered as the nodes and their connecting roads as the edges of a network By means of the Dijkstra algorithm accessibility values are computed for each node by summing shortest travel times to a reference system of 158 nodes spread evenly over the Belgian territory A comparison of the measured actual accessibility with that determined from an optimal situation provides an indication of the quality of directness of the Belgian road system Accessibility and directness are shown cartographically An isochronal map illustrates the access to Brussels

The trade-off between density and other objectives: A re-examination of planning norms

Abstract: Residential density (dwelling units per area) affects the quality of life in urban environments in many direct and indirect ways. Determining the optimal level of density requires in each case, balancing all the relevant factors and influences, and should depend on the preferences of the potential residents and their financial resources. A residential neighborhood has many characteristics. Usually people trade off one characteristic against another. For instance: people can trade off density against cost or accessibility against space. The aim of good planning is to find the combination of characteristics that will give maximum level of satisfaction to the residents of a neighbourhood subject to the limitations of their budgets. Density standards should, therefore, be adapted to the preferences of the potential residents and their preferred compromise between the various attributes of their environment. To make things more complicated, the concept of density has many definitions, and different definitions are relevant when analysing the various effects of density. It seems that people do not perceive the gross residential density as it is measured, but are influenced by variables such as set-back distances, the percentage of building coverage and the like. Evidence is cited from an investigation in Kiryat-Gat which suggests that the perception of density is affected by other factors except the density itself. If people do not perceive the density as such but are affected by other factors, then modification of these factors is very important. If planners are to design neighborhoods according to the residents' preferences, they should have quantitative estimates of the residents' relative evaluation of these characteristics, including possible savings in the price of housing. The problems of investigating residential preferences are discussed, and examples of studies addressed to these questions are described.

The distribution of snow in Israel

Abstract: The area researched is characterized by changes in the weather according to fluctuations in the world pressure belts throughout the year. The temperature climate in this region is typified in winter by changes in the pressure system from cyclonic to anti-cyclonic conditions in spells of about 5 days. When Israel is under the influence of a low pressure system, and the 500 mb surfaces are approximately 250 m lower than average, the temperatures along the vertical cross-sections are 6° – 8° C lower than average on rainy days, then snow may be expected in various sections of the country. This paper investigated the 35 years period from 1938/9 to 1971/2, concentrating on two mountain stations — Jerusalem in the centre of the country and Mt. Kena'an in the north —because of the high snow incidence and its greater regularity than other stations. The conclusions are as follows: The maximum number of days of snow (between 2/3 and 3/4 of the annual total) is noted at all stations during January and February, although there are also years in which there was snow but not during those months. Regional devision of the snowy days indicates that the number increases with altitude, and decreases from north to south. Snowfall in regions which have lower incidence is less stable and given to greater fluctuations. There was no indication of periodity of the number of days of snow per season, nor did it appear that a very snowy year followed a dry one. Investigation of the lenght of the snowy and the number of days of snowfall does not indicate any connection between them, and there may well be a long season with few days of snow, or a short one with relatively many snowy days. Comparison between the shorter period of readings — from 1938/9 till 1971/2 — and the longer one — from 1860/1 till 1971/2 (111 years) — at the Jerusalem station shows the same trends, which reinforce the conclusions presented above.

Development and the fuelwood situation in Nigeria

Abstract: Fuelwood cutting, collection, and distribution is one the most widespread industries in Nigeria, but there is increasing evidence that it is dependent on a dwindling resource. The use of this resource is highly localised since, with certain exceptions, fuelwood cannot be transported economically for any great distance. The future of the fuelwood industry therefore depends as much on the question of accessibility to population as on the growth of suitable trees. An important factor is rapid urbanization, combined with high rates of population increase. Fuelwood supply areas are extremely concentrated around large cities and exhibit a supply gradient with distance. Tree selection, pollarding, and a relationship to fallow agricultural land are important ecological features. Relatively high costs of energy substitutes or reluctance to use them have encouraged a rising demand for fuelwood, pushing the limits of collection outward from market centres and bringing serious reduction or even elimination of supply from nearby locations.

The regional development process: A critique and case study from northern Nigeria

Abstract: The necessity of a spatial or regional component in development planning is recognized in both theory and practice. Spatial structure, the physical arrangement of development institutions, and spatial processes, patterns of activity, are integral parts of development planning and its results. The spatial component of development is critically reviewed in the cotext of regional growth theory, growth centre, or growth pole theory, and development viewed as an innovation process. Preliminary data from studies of regional development in northern Nigeria suggest that substantial growth leakages occur, and that the greatest regional impact of industrial development has been in the supply of foodstuffs to urban areas.

Jerusalem since 1967: A profile of a reunited city

Abstract: Over a decade after the reunification of Jerusalem, two major issues arise concerning the urban reality created after 1967. First, the extent to which West and East Jerusalem in fact now form one urban unit and second, the nature of relationships which exist between Jews and Arabs, especially in the socio-economic area. The examination of the residential pattern, the provision of services and of employment, might provide us with some important insights. It may be stated that after reunification the once existent physical dividing line between West and East Jerusalem has virtually no significance, whether one considers the basic landuse pattern or the kind of movement of people, goods and services. However, there continues to be a line which separates the Jewish from the Arab population. Indeed, while segregation characterizes the pattern of residence, the location of private enterprise and the consumption of certain public services, mutual contact and interdependence do occur to a greater extent in various economic areas and particularly in the commercial and labour markets. In many respects this new urban reality resembles that which had existed before the city was divided. After 1967 as before 1948, it was the basically different socio-economic characteristics which distinguished between Jews and Arabs — as well as the particular political situation — which for the most part determined the patterns of co-existence of the two communities in Jerusalem.

THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF GREATER LAGOS A Documentation in Aerial Photographs

Abstract: In the period between 1965 and 1976, when German geographers carried out their fieldwork for the Afrika-Kartenwerk under the sponsorship of the German Research Society, remarkable progress in urban development especially in Lagos could be observed. The cooperation with the Federal Survey Department of Nigeria gave the opportunity for collecting several series of aerial photographs which bring into focus some stages of the overwhelming urban expansion.

Mathematical modelling of urban systems in Nigeria

Abstract: Urban systems modelling in Nigeria is an innovation having both relevance and utility for urban analysts and urban planners. A review of urban modelling in Nigeria demonstrates the use of entrapy maximizing models in analysing impacts of government policies and metropolitan planning. Planning to solve urban problems in Nigeria must be based on unambigous understanding of the urban system. Models, as simplified versions of reality, constitute mechanisms for understanding city systems and for designing the city of the future.

The geography of the coal industry in the United Kingdom in the 1970s: changing directions?

Abstract: This paper has described some of the changes that have occurred in the geography of the UK's coal industry in a period when decline was the keynote, and attempted to illustrate some of the developments that are occurring in the late 1970s with implementation of the Plan for Coal. Launched at a time when the complete collapse of European energy supply seemed a distinct possibility, that Plan is encountering many problems in its implementation, and its unmodified completion must remain in doubt. The Plan 1974 and its successor embody a fundamental change of direction for the coal industry — from contraction to expansion. But although there is a change of direction at the national scale, at the inter- and intra-regional scales the direction remains largely the same. The dominance of the ‘central’ coalfields is likely to increase further, while within these areas the trend towards large-scale deep mines in the concealed sections remains strong. Indeed achievement of the new desired direction at the national level, based as it must be on an industry that is price-competitive with other energy sources, may be dependent upon an intensification of these regional trends towards concentration of investment in areas where mining conditions are favourable and high-productivity, low-cost production can be achieved. It is also being recognized that removal of the burden of high-cost inefficient collieries in less favoured, mainly ‘peripheral’ fields may also be vital to the competitive position:-‘the overall competitiveness of the industry is ... at present adversely affected by a small proportion of capacity where productivity is low and costs are high, mainly as a result of difficult working conditions. Closure of uneconomic pits as they became worked out will improve the industry's ability to compete with other fuels’, (Secretary of State for Energy 1978). It thus appears that in the last quarter of the twentieth century the coal industry in the UK will become more and more focused on especially favoured areas in the ‘central’ parts of the country, through the twin process of shedding loss-making activities in less favoured ‘peripheral’ fields, and investing in the ample resources that underline the English lowlands.

Industrial location in the Nairobi area

Abstract: The paper opens with a brief examination of the Nairobi City pattern of industrial location (especially in terms of industrial areas), including the enumeration of some of the industries involve (a number of them located outside the city boundary). Industrial structure (cum-location) aspects, both in the city and in the neighbouring districts of Kiambu, Machakos and Kajiado (which together constitute the Nairobi Area), are next discussed in detail. The data used are those from the 1965 and 1975 research surveys, and are presented on a national basis so as to demonstrate the significance or otherwise of the Nairobi Area as the industrial core of Kenya. The discussion of the location factors in the Nairobi Area brings the paper to a close. Incorporated are seven tables and four maps.

[Population growth and urbanization in Latin America: some comments on demographic development and urban structural change].

Abstract: The population of Latin America will be increasing by 130% between 1970 and the year 2000. Due to excessive rural exodus the urban population grows almost twice as fast as the rural does. The urbanization of the subcontinent must be regarded as being the dominant spatial process in Latin America. It results in fundamental changes of the structure and the way of life of the population as well as in the size and character of the settlements. Three case studies (Popay n/Colombia Sucre/Bolivia and Santiago/Chile) show that a process of westernization can be observed within the cities analogous to their size in the course of which the compact structure of the colonial town pattern is succeeded by a sectorially or cellularly arranged cityorganism. From todays point of view a definite judgement or urbanization as a relevant phenomenon of development cannot yet be made. It can be stated however that the southern countries of Latin America which have been urbanized the most show distinct signs of a social and economic "take off". (authors)

Spatial patterns and residential densities in Israeli “moshavot” in process or urbanization

Abstract: In the process of development of the Israeli Moshavot into towns a number of factors have created specialized pattern of residential land-use and a typical pattern of densities. Private and ownership, private and public housing agencies and a housing policy have all been the cause of a clear dichotomy between the center and the outskirts of the settlements during their growth. The outskirts received their form during thirties and the forties and finally in the fifties. From that time most of the development has taken place in and around the center.

The impact of boundaries on patterns of rural settlement: The case of Samaria (Israel)

Abstract: The superimposition of the Jordanian-Israeli boundary line, in 1949, on the western and northern fringes of the Samarian Highlands, created a frontier zone in which the geographical characteristics of the rural settlements underwent rapid changes. These changes reflected two main trends. One, spontaneous uncontrolled consequent processes-on the Jordanian side of the frontier — such as de-population, with the development of anomalies in the demographic structure of the remaining population, transformation in the pattern of agriculture and other economic activities, changes in site and layout of villages as well as in their spatial organization. Two, on the Israeli side, a carefully planned and strictly controlled new spatial pattern of rural settlement with rapid increase in population, intensification and expansion of economic activities and conspicuous changes in the landscape.

Man, runoff and the erosion of the coastal slopes of Ashkelon, Israel

Abstract: In Ashkelon two different man-environment interactions have stimulated coastal slope erosion by enhancing runoff volumes. The first type of interaction is recreation and the second is the result of Bedouin pastoral nomadism. The impact of recreation creates impervious surfaces such as walkways, parking lots, and stairways, in addition to storm sewer outlets that concentrate and enlarge runoff volumes. The impact of pastoral nomadism is limited to the crumbling of the slope surfaces by animal grazing. This creates favorable environments for rapid runoff and erosion. The results of these interactions are a coastal slope surface inundated by dense gulley networks. Large alluvial fans are also built-up at the slope base. The fans limit wave attack and re-enforce the importance of runoff as an agent of coastal slope erosion.

The route of salt, sugar and balsam caravans in the Judean Desert

Abstract: More than twenty ancient roads have been constructed in the Judean Desert, two of them from the northern shores of the Dead Sea leading to Jerusalem: the northern one running from Jericho to Jerusalem, and the southern one, the “Salt Route”, from Khirbet Qumran to Jerusalem.