The article is dedicated to the relatively new concept of proximity. Emerging at the turn of the century in European regional science (economic geography and regional economics), this concept relies ...on a long-standing tradition of spatial studies (ranging from J. Thünen’s works to regional cluster and urban agglomeration studies). Proximity focuses on the evaluation and analysis of potential interaction between different objects in view of their relative position and similarity in various parameters (social, institutional, organizational, etc.). This concept is similar to that of economic–geographical position; however, since a significantly larger number of factors (spatial, cultural and axiological community, position in social networks, etc.) are considered in the concept of proximity, the authors define it as a multidimensional economic–geographical position. Abroad, the concept of proximity is primarily used within the geography of innovation. In Russia, it is relevant to apply the tools of this concept to study the spatial organization of Russian society not only according to Western tradition (for instance, in the study of territorial clusters and sectoral innovation processes), but also to analyze specific Russian phenomena (dacha migration,
otkhodnichestvo
, etc.). Furthermore, in the context of Russia’s expansive and sparsely populated territory, the concept of proximity must be reviewed and developed via its dialectical combination with the concept of remoteness used in Arctic studies. For Russia, temporal proximity as a kind of compensation for remoteness factors should be given special importance.
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► A group of professionals has formulated a next step for sustainable urban design in the Netherlands. ► In spatial and urban developments the focus should lay on spatial systems. ► ...These systems should effectively improve within their spatial and societal context. ► Striving for added value in every plan phase benefits people, planet and prosperity. ► A flexible design which leaves future adjustments possible will guarantee durability.
The Dutch Working Group on Sustainable Urban Development has recently delivered its publication
Sustainable Urban Design,
The Next Step (
Meijer & Dubbeling, 2010). The book (to be referred to here as
The Next Step) includes six examples of sustainable urban design and three major essays. The Working Group is a broad group of experts from the Dutch professional societies for urban designers and planners (BNSP) and landscape architects (NVTL). (The working group consists of urban designers, urban planers and landscape architects from the Netherlands.) It seeks to take the thinking and practice of sustainable urban design a step further: from sustainable urban design to sustainable spatial development. This paper explains this next stage which has been developed through a review of the literature, the inputs of the Working Group and the lessons learned from the case studies described in the book. Although the case study projects are sometimes more than 12
years old and are rooted in a specific Dutch societal and spatial context, they provide interesting, even up to date, insights for the planning of sustainable and durable cities. They are also compared to some projects in other European countries.
This paper looks at why a renewed approach to sustainable urban design is both necessary and rewarding. It then turns to the renewed approach and putting it into practice. Based upon the case studies, new possibilities for the design of sustainable and durable cities are highlighted.
The article examines the practical issues of spatial planning in a case where socioeconomic development is implemented at the level of a municipal raion. As a natural resource hub of the "new ...development" of Russia, Lensky Raion in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is illustrative of this process. It is argued that the historically established socioeconomic space of Lensky Raion should be reconsidered as part of its changing economic specialization. The authors propose several alternative specializations for existing populated areas and describe how the inclusivity of local communities relates to the socioeconomic development of the resource rich region.
The Republic of Macedonia covers an area of 25,713 km² and according to data from the census conducted in 2002, it has a population of 2,022,547 inhabitants. In the past, the Republic of Macedonia ...was characterized by some significant demographic changes, including a decline in the average annual rate of population increase. The enhanced immigration movements and sudden decline in the rates of natural population increase have led to changes in distribution of the population and to a spatial differentiation in the population. The long period of transition in the country has been reflected in the spatial development of the country and its demographic processes and to relocation of the population. The different natural-geographical characteristics, unequal regional development potentials, unequal economic development, and demographic characteristics have led to changes in the demographic situation of certain regions. The regions that continually lose part of its population clearly differ from these regions that are characterized by an increased population which is leading to a greater concentration of people in certain location. Further decades with a declining birth rate, followed by a change in the values of population increase, together with migration movements, particularly from the rural and less developed economic regions, has resulted in a decline in the population. The different zones of depopulation and concentration in a simple way express the complex relationships in the population composition.
The settlement system in the regions of Russia is changing due to the influence of neoliberal urbanization processes and of the economic, social and institutional areas of society. Changes lead to ...structural shifts in settlement and to the arising of polarization. The main goals of this study were to analyse the results of changes in the settlement system of the Belgorod Region, to identify the causes of polarization, to assess the types of suburbanization and the development of gentrification processes in large cities. The study of urbanization processes using a systematic approach allowed to identify the causes and extent of migration from the periphery and the concentration of population in large cities, and to classify cities according to their development prospects. Spatial and temporal analysis of the rural population showed that foundations of the modern processes of rural settlement transformation were laid in the second half of the 20th century. The study of suburbanization revealed the predominance of the classical type and a weak development of the structural type. The study of the gentrification processes of the centre of Belgorod showed the dominance of the interests of large capital. The results of the work can contribute to the adoption of reasonable management decisions for the spatial development of the region.
In recent decades, problems of measuring the spatial responses of the economic dynamics to political and social processes, on the one hand, and the reactions of the macroeconomic and structural ...dynamics to social, institutional, and technological variations in space, on the other, have begun to approach the economic mainstream in terms of their significance for creating state economic policy and in the number of researchers focused on these problems. This was related to the fact that state regional policy has become not only an integral part of overall economic policy, but also a priority thereof. This paper discusses conceptual approaches and results of applied researches on problems of spatial development of Russia’s society; they were carried out in 2009–2014 in fundamental policy studies by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The main task was to synthesize both the research results on problems of the economy of large economic zones, the spatial distribution of the energy and transport complexes and networks, social behavior, the distribution of foreign economic potential and interaction, assessment of equilibrium in a multiregional economic environment, and comprehensive use of natural resources and nature management in the spatial aspect.
We run an experiment in order to examine 60 Colombian children’s performance on a task that evaluates the use of ‘pure’ geometric maps for locating objects in a 3D space; the task was adapted from ...Spelke, Gilmore & McCarthy (2011). The experiment aimed to investigate whether or not the children were able to use geometric maps depicted in 2D as representations of real 3D spaces. The experiment also aimed to explore possible changes in the sensitivity to and the use of the Euclidean geometric properties represented on the maps –length, angle and direction-, among three groups of age: four, six and eight-year olds. We aimed at establishing whether there are intergroup differences in the way the three age groups use the three Euclidian properties to locate objects in space, and whether there are differences within the properties. Findings indicated an effect of the age on the children’s performance; the sensitivity to the three properties showed a statistically significant change between the four and the six-year old. Although sensitivity to properties was improved between the six and the eight-year old, we did not find significant changes between these groups of age. We did not find an effect of the type of property on the performance; neither an interaction of property by age. Findings also indicated within-group changes for each property: For the four year-old children the sensitivity to the length was influenced by the condition ‘equal’ or ‘unequal’, the sensitivity to the angle changed depending on the condition ‘acute’, ‘obtuse’ or rectangle’, and being sensitive to the ‘above-below’ sense was significantly different that being sensitive to the ‘left-right’ sense. We established distinctions with previous findings and outlined some implications for education.
This exploratory study investigates the sub-national economic and spatial development outcomes of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 2000 (AGOA) in Lesotho. The findings reveal that the ...settlements where the ‘AGOA-factories’ are located have experienced not only positive, but also significant negative economic and spatial impacts. While AGOA resulted in the creation of tens of thousands of job opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled Basotho youth, it did not provide them with portable skills for use once they had left the AGOA factory floor. Neither did AGOA motivate the youth or local entrepreneurs to tap into the manufacturing sector. In terms of spatial development, the AGOA factories had led to infrastructure investment, essentially to serve the factories, which, in turn, also benefited the surrounding territories. In many of the settlements, rental units – unplanned and without planning permission – have been constructed in response to the huge demand for affordable housing by the thousands of migrant workers. While fulfilling a definite need, these units have simultaneously led to the development of monotonous ‘sleeper towns’, over-burdening of already strained municipal services, haphazard land development, and a feeling of ‘anything goes’. The research findings suggest that, while ‘trade and development boosting tools’ such as AGOA may be useful in providing term-based job opportunities for an unskilled workforce, they will most likely not have as significant a positive impact on the local economy, the creation of an indigenous industrial class, or the building of sustainable human settlements.
The first aim of the article is to propose the simulation of the settlement patterns development as an element of spatial planning methodology. In order to conduct such a simulation, a modified Monte ...Carlo method can be used. It approximates the spatial distribution of a studied phenomenon based on numerical calculations and implemented variables. Referring to previous works in which the method was applied, the author tested it on the village of Mstów. It was assumed that this method could highlight land features that are unreachable using traditional approaches in complex systems analyses.
The second aim was to investigate some of the determinants of contemporary spatial development. The conducted simulation demonstrated features of Mstów settlement pattern and proved determinants in its future development, including: the existence of areas especially predisposed for building, the decreasing number of new buildings being built, the decreasing importance of factors that were relevant in the past, and a significant relevance of the human factor. It was also proven that land development may occur on areas less predisposed to building.
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