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Books > Earth & environment > Geography > General
Tremendous social and economic changes have taken place in Chinese
Cities since China embarked on a reform programme. Such changes are
best manifested in the built environment of the cities where
geographic space, social life, demographic composition and economic
production have witnessed restructuring from socialist patterns to
increasingly market based forms.
This new introductory textbook provides an integrated, up-to-date introduction to the lands, people, and cultures of the non-Western world. Through a cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary approach, the book focuses on critical issues of development, environment, and cultural conflicts facing most areas of the non-Western world. Areas covered include China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. Each chapter focuses on one of these regions, framing within historical context the issues of geography, socioeconomics, politics, culture, environment, human rights, and gender. Illustrations and sidebar boxes augment the text.
This book examines the relationship between the property market and urban economy. The stimulus for this work was provided by the seemingly ever-accelerating process of urban economic change and the noticeable failure of existing studies to adequately explore the pivotal role that the property market plays in this process. Drawing on institutional economics, the central argument of the book is that the property market as an institution is a mediator through which urban economic potential can be realised and served. In developing this argument, the book provides a critical realist ontological framework that advances understanding of the institutional structure of the economy and the complex interrelation between the institutional environment and human agency, as well as a holistic theoretical framework of urban economic change, where appropriate emphasis is placed on the specific mechanisms, processes and dynamics through which the built environment is provided. Arvanitidis also explores an institutional conceptualisation of property market efficiency, defined in terms of the ability of the market institution to adapt its structure and to provide outcomes that the economy requires. To inform empirical research on the developed concepts, the book also offers a generic analytical approach specifying appropriate research methods and techniques for investigation along with a specific research design providing an operational framework that translates developed theory into empirical practice. The book's primary contribution therefore lies in its delineation of a holistic research programme to conceptualise the property market as an institution and to explore its role within the urban economy.
During recent years, an increasing amount of academic research has focused on older people with a particular emphasis on settings, places and spaces. This book provides a comprehensive review of research and the policy area of 'ageing and place'. An insightful book on an important topic, Andrews and Phillips have together edited a valuable information and reference source for those with interests in the spatial dimensions of ageing in the twenty-first century. Ranging from macro-scale perspectives on the distribution of older populations on national scales, to the meaning of specific local places and settings to older individuals, on the micro-scale, the book spans an entire range of research traditions and international perspectives.
The recent American invasion of Iraq represents the "endgame" of
America's decades-old effort to impose its vision of
globalization-a system dominated by multinational firms and
buttressed by the liberalism of John Locke and Adam Smith. Whereas
the war surely ended Saddam Hussein's regime, the storm of
countervailing forces it unleashed points to another end: that of
America's latest global project.
Time-space relationships are central to human geography. This book seeks to reanimate time-space, by considering the links between lived experience, various temporalities and particular places in terms of compounded and contested rhythms. Time-space rhythms emphasize the practical, symbolic, everyday and embodied qualities in the experience and making of our geographical environment. Bringing together a team of renowned geographers who have been exploring such ideas over the past decades, this book provides a unique and varied set of geographical approximations to the reanimation of place, nature and landscape, revealing a complex, disputed world of politics, sensory experiences and representations of space-time. Including case studies from Europe and North America, the book addresses some important issues, ranging from the symbolic orchestrations of landscape to deeply personal memories of particular natural rhythms.
This introduction to Mongolian literature, both oral and written, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century, provides a rare insight into the changing worldviews-from clan society to Soviet culture-of the Mongolian people. Translated by renown scholar Charles Bawden, the work is organized into Histories, Legends, Didactic literature, Epics, Shamanistic Incantations, Folk-tales, Myths, Sino-Mongolian Prose Literature, Lyrics and Other Verse, and Reminiscences, concluding with a modern short story. This highly important work, which makes the rich tradition of Mongolian literature available for the first time, will be essential reading for many years to come.
In his compelling follow-up to The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida outlines how certain cities succeed in attracting members of the 'creative class' - the millions of people who work in information-age economic sectors and in industries driven by innovation and talent.
Due to its centrality to the processes of transnational mobilities, migration and globalization, tourism studies has the potential to make a significant contribution to understanding the postcolonial experience. Drawing together theoretical and applied research, this fascinating book illuminates the links between tourism, colonialism and postcolonialism. Significantly, it creates a space for the voices of authors from postcolonial countries. Chapters are integrated and examined through concepts taken from the wider postcolonial literature, which identify tourism not only as an international industry but also as a postcolonial cultural form, which by its very nature is based on past and present day colonial structural relationships. The first book to explicitly explore the contribution tourism can make to the postcolonial experience, this book is an essential read for students of tourism, cultural studies and geography.
Building on the foundation of the bestselling first edition, Aerial Mapping: Methods and Applications, Second Edition provides you with a practical understanding of aerial photography, remote sensing, and photogrammetric mapping. The content is deliberately semi-technical and processes are discussed in a manner easily accessible to anyone regardless of their technical or scientific background. This new edition highlights the significant changes in equipment and techniques. High-speed computers, scanners, and remote sensors have changed the way mapping is done. The principles of photogrammetry, image analysis, and remote sensing have become dynamically intertwined. With the solid grounding in basic procedures that Aerial Mapping: Methods and Applications, Second Edition provides you can apply your knowledge to the special conditions of each aerial mapping project.
Over the past two decades there have been many major new developments in the field of urban sound environment. Jian Kang introduces and examines these key developments, including: the development of prediction methods for urban sound propagation establishment and application of noise-mapping software new noise control measures and design methods. Also covered is the new EU directive on noise and the substantial actions it has brought about across Europe. As the importance of soundscape, acoustic comfort and sound environment design have become widely recognized, Urban Sound Environments is a thoroughly useful book for students and practitioners in a wide range of fields, from urban planning and landscape through to architecture and acoustics.
Now available in paperback for the first time, this classic work
presents a cognitive-semiotic framework for understanding how maps
work as powerful, abstract, and synthetic spatial representations.
Explored are the ways in which the many representational choices
inherent in mapping interact with information processing and
knowledge construction, and how the resulting insights can be used
to make informed symbolization and design decisions. A new preface
to the paperback edition situates the book within the context of
contemporary technologies. As the nature of maps continues to
evolve, Alan MacEachren emphasizes the ongoing need to think
systematically about the ways people interact with and use spatial
information.
Since the Second World War there has been considerable growth in the importance of non-manufacturing based forms of production to the performance of many Western economies. Many countries have seen increased contributions being made by industries such as the media, entertainment and artistic sectors. "The Cultural Industries and the Production of Culture" collects together a leading international, multi disciplinary team of researchers and presents in an accessible fashion, cutting-edge perspectives on how these industries function, their place in the new economy and how they can be harnessed for urban and regional economic and social development.
It can be argued that the differences in content and approach between physical and human geography, and also within its sub-disciplines, are often overemphasized. The result is that geography is often seen as a diverse and dynamic subject, but also as a disorganized and fragmenting one, without a focus.;"Unifying Geography" focuses on the plural and competing versions of unity that characterize the discipline, which give it cohesion and differentiate it from related fields of knowledge. Each of the chapters is co-authored by both a leading physical and a human geographer, on the nature of geography. Themes identified include those of the traditional core as well as new and developing topics that are based on subject matter, concepts, methodology, theory, techniques and applications. Through its identification of unifying themes, the book will provide students with a meaningful framework through which to understand the nature of the geographical discipline.
It can be argued that the differences in content and approach between physical and human geography, and also within its sub-disciplines, are often overemphasized. The result is that geography is often seen as a diverse and dynamic subject, but also as a disorganized and fragmenting one, without a focus. "Unifying Geography" focuses on the plural and competing versions of unity that characterize the discipline, which give it cohesion and differentiate it from related fields of knowledge. Each of the chapters is co-authored by both a leading physical and a human geographer, on the nature of geography. Themes identified include those of the traditional core as well as new and developing topics that are based on subject matter, concepts, methodology, theory, techniques and applications. Through its identification of unifying themes, the book will provide students with a meaningful framework through which to understand the nature of the geographical discipline.
Offering a detailed analysis of post-colonial South Asia, The Politics of Dialogue discusses the creation and impact of borders and the pervasive tension between the new nations. Neither all-out war nor complete peace, this fragile condition makes political leaders and strategists feel claustrophobic - a war produces an end result but peace allows the rulers to carry out their policies for governing along their preferred path of development. The book shows how cartographic, communal and political lines are not only dividing countries, but that they are being replicated within countries, creating new visible and invisible internal frontiers. It argues that, in a situation where geopolitics constrains democracy, the political class becomes incapable of coping with the tension between the inside/outside, eg democracy appears as an internal problem and geopolitics appears as a problem related to the 'outside'.
Urban sprawl is one of the key planning issues today. This book compares Western Europe and the USA, focusing on anti-sprawl policies. The USA is known for its settlement patterns that emphasize low-density suburban development and extreme automobile dependence, whereas European countries emphasize higher densities, pro-transit policies and more compact urban growth. Yet, on closer inspection, the differences are not as wide as first appears. A key feature of the book is the attention given to France; its experience is little known in the English-speaking world. The book concludes that both continents can offer each other useful insights and perhaps policy guidance.
Fundamentals of Biogeography presents an accessible, engaging and comprehensive introduction to biogeography, explaining the ecology, geography, history and conservation of animals and plants. Starting with an outline of how species arise, disperse, diversify and become extinct, the book examines: how environmental factors (climate, substrate, topography, and disturbance) influence animals and plants; investigates how populations grow, interact and survive; how communities form and change; and explores the connections between biogeography and conservation. The second edition has been extensively revised and expanded throughout to cover new topics and revisit themes from the first edition in more depth. Illustrated throughout with informative diagrams and attractive photos and including guides to further reading, chapter summaries and an extensive glossary of key terms, Fundamentals of Biogeography clearly explains key concepts in the history, geography and ecology of life systems. In doing so, it tackles some of the most topical and controversial environmental and ethical concerns including species over-exploitation, the impacts of global warming, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss and ecosystem restoration.
This work evaluates the merits of a widely-used approach to natural resource management, participatory action research (PAR), an approach to resource management that strives to link researchers with farmers and other local residents whose lives are effected by long-range conservation programmes. The authors begin the book with the history of PAR, and then use a variety of case studies that chronicle sustainable development efforts in Brazil. They evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts and suggest specific ways to improve on future PAR efforts.
In cities throughout the world, there is an increasingly ubiquitous presence of distinct social and spatial areas - urban villages, cultural and ethnic quarters. These spaces are sites where capital and culture intertwine in new ways. City of Quarters brings together some of the most prominent authors writing about urban villages to provide the first systematic and multi-disciplinary overview of this high-profile urban phenomenon. They address key questions such as 'What is the role of urban villages and quarters in the contemporary city?' and 'What are the economic, political, socio-spatial and cultural practices and processes that surround these urban spaces?' Blending conceptual chapters with theoretically directed case studies from all over the world, this book includes issues such as local and regional development strategies, production, consumption, the creative industries, popular culture, identity, lifestyle, and tourism.
Globalization and Social Change takes a refreshing new perspective on globalization and widening social and spatial inequalities. Diane Perrons draws on ideas about the new economy, risk society, welfare regimes and political economy to explain the growing social and spatial divisions characteristic of our increasingly divided world. Combining original argument with a clear exposition of the underlying processes, Perrons illustrates her points through a series of case studies linking people in rich and poor countries. She places strong emphasis on the socio-economic aspects of change, particularly changes in working patterns and living arrangements, and makes reference to the new global division of labour, declining industrial regions and widening social divisions within what she terms 'superstar regions'. Wide in scope, this new study also focuses on changing family structures, the feminization of employment, migration, work life balance and new conceptions of gender identity and gender roles. Diane Perrons' enlightening book concludes that divisions by social class and gender are in some ways becoming more significant than divisions between nations, and suggests that new systems of social and economic organization are necessary for social peace in the new millennium.
A comprehensive introduction to the important economic, social and political processes and development issues in this increasingly popular area of study. Employing a groundbreaking thematic approach the book centres its discussion on the interrelation between contemporary development theories and continuing transition issues in this huge and complex region.
From the thawing Arctic to the rising shoreline of Manhattan,
people are feeling the effects of global warming in ways hardly
imagined just a few years ago. "Feeling the Heat" takes readers to
the hot spots where global warming is not just a scientific debate
but a matter of survival.
From the thawing Arctic to the rising shoreline of Manhattan,
people are feeling the effects of global warming in ways hardly
imagined just a few years ago. "Feeling the Heat" takes readers to
the hot spots where global warming is not just a scientific debate
but a matter of survival. |
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