A SPATIAL CLUSTER METHOD SUPPORTED BY GIS FOR URBAN-SUBURBAN-RURAL CLASSIFICATION

This study was undertaken to construct a preliminary spatial analysis method for building an urban-suburban-rural category in the specific sample area of central California and providing distribution characteristics in each category, based on which, some further studies such as regional manners of residential wood burning emission (PM2.5, the term used for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air, refers to particulate matter that is 2.5 mu m or smaller in size) could be carried out for the project of residential wood combustion. Demographic and infrastructure data with spatial characteristics were processed by integrating both Geographic Information System (GIS) and statistics method (Cluster Analysis), and then output to a category map as the result. It approached the quantitative and multi-variables description on the major characteristics variations among the urban, suburban and rural; and perfected the TIGER's urban-rural classification scheme by adding suburban category. Based on the free public GIS data, the spatial analysis method provides an easy and ideal tool for geographic researchers, environmental planners, urban/regional planners and administrators to delineate different categories of regional function on the specific locations and dig out spatial distribution information they wanted. Furthermore, it allows for future adjustment on some parameters as the spatial analysis method is implemented in the different regions or various eco-social models.

RESEARCH ON IMAGO SPACE OF VALLEY CITY——A Case Study of Lanzhou City

Currently domestic researches on urban imago space concentrate in a few cities that lie in the advanced region, such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, etc., but in so far as those cities that lie in the northwest inland region, the research of this aspect is still few. In order to supplement a special example to the urban imago space theory and to validate former theory, this article studied the Lanzhou urban imago space. During the course of researching, authors adopted some investigating methods, such as visiting on the spot, photograph identification method and sketch map identification method etc. Using investigated data, this paper made an elementary research on urban imago space of Lanzhou, which is a typical valley city in the western China. The result of study indicated that the urban imago space of Lanzhou takes Xiguan Cross as its center (Lanzhou involves four districts of Chengguan, Qilihe, Anning and Xigu). In the process of recognition of urban imago space, the Huanghe (Yellow) River and mountains beside the city are the dominant factors and the main nodes of cognition. So the urban imago space of Lanzhou is quite different from that of plain cities. Interviewee did well in the spatial structure map, which was made up of mountainous land, river and main trunk roads,the group structure took profound impression on people.

Urban China in Transformation:Hybrid Economy,Juxtaposed Space,and New Testing Ground for Geographical Enquiries

History has brought us into a significant moment when the majority of the human kind has taken up resi-dence in urban settlements. The focus of global urbanization has shifted to the developing world and the center of manufacturing is no longer confined to the Global North. This paper provides a periodical assessment of the current status of China's urban transformation in the global context of a shifting emphasis of industrialization and urbaniza-tion. China's phenomenal urban transformation deserves a special attention not only because of its unparalleled scale and speed but also because of its distinct trajectory of growth that does not conform to normal theoretical ex-pectations. The results of assessment revealed an urban economy with remarkable hybridity, a society that is in-creasingly stratified, polarized, and segregated, and a juxtaposed urban space undergoing restless and pervasive transformation. A decentering world should entail a decentering knowledge production. A critical reflection upon the Chinese patterns and processes of urban transformation has identified 4 main issues with great potentials for inno-vative knowledge production, namely: 1) privatization and economic development; 2) state, society, and space; 3) urbanization of capital, labor, and land; and 4) the environment and Chinese political ecology. The paper closes with the remark that a rapidly transforming urban China has presented itself as a fertile and resourceful testing ground for critical and innovative geographic enquiries.

Reviewing Design References with Diagrams： A Metropolitan Performance Assessment Perspective

The announcement of major sporting events scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro in the coming years is now producing several radical urban transformations that are attracting the attention of renowned architects of the international circuit. All this is happening in a city where relevant architectural references have not been produced for a long while because of the prolonged economic crisis of the past. Despite these conditions, people were able to detect “invisible” design lessons to be learned in this city by sharing perceptual experiences with foreign observers who are, by definition, unaware of their preconceptions. This paper deals with the development of a strategy for re-presenting design references that are locally rooted and accessible for direct embodied experience. The strategy put forward a MPI （metropolitan performance index） drawn out from a bibliographical survey coupled with analytical spatial diagrams of different case-studies presented as a tour guide for the recognition of the architecture produced in Rio de Janeiro. It is believed that this strategy can favor the adoption of an eye attuned to contemporary theories especially interested in the spatial and programmatic concerns that today instigate the designer.

Character and Causes of Population Distribution in Shenyang City,China

Character of population distribution is one of the focuses studied by urban geography. Using the fifth national census data as basic data and using areal interpolation method, this paper analyzes character of urban population dis- tribution of Shenyang City, Northeast China, in terms of three aspects of statistical character, spatial auto-correlation and spatial structure. Furthermore, this research analyzes the factors affecting the population distribution of the city. The main conclusions include: 1) There is an obvious structure character of population distribution in the grid with a grain of 300m, which is appropriate scale when researching population distribution in Shenyang City. 2) Urban population dis- tribution has the character of assembling while population density distribution takes on variability in Shenyang City. 3) Population density distribution shows spatial auto-correlation within 7.36km. Spatial heterogeneity of population density is low. 4) Urban center, population distribution barycenter and population density maximum points separate each other. Population density distribution has multi-cores character. 5) Layout of governments, primary schools, middle schools, colleges, hospitals and marketplaces affects population distribution directly. With the increase of distance to these factors, population density decreases as logarithm.

Autonomous map query:robust visual localization in urban environments using Multilayer Feature Graph

When a vehicle travels in urban areas, onboard global positioning system （GPS） signals may be obstructed by high-rise buildings and thereby cannot provide accurate positions. It is proposed to perform localization by registering ground images to a 2D building boundary map which is generated from aerial images. Multilayer feature graphs （MFG） is employed to model building facades from the ground images. MFG was reported in the previous work to facilitate the robot scene understand- ing in urhan areas. By constructing MFG, the 2D/3D positions of features can be obtained, inclu- cling line segments, ideal lines, and all primary vertical planes. Finally, a voting-based feature weighted localization method is developed based on MFGs and the 2D building boundary map. The proposed method has been implemented and validated in physical experiments. In the proposed ex- periments, the algorithm has achieved an overall localization accuracy of 2.2m, which is better than commercial GPS working in open environments.

Talanga： The Tongan Way Enquiry

This paper introduces the development and structure of this unique qualitative research methodology. The methodology was developed during research in New Zealand that explored the use of a community development/health promotion model for Tongans living in an urban environment. It is proposed that Talanga can be a methodology whereby both Tongan and non-Tongan researchers are empowered to conduct effective research with Tongans. Details of the six-step Talanga research framework are discussed along with the advantages of conducting research using Talanga as a qualitative research methodology. The paper also contrasts Talanga （interactive talking with a purpose） with Talanoa （a conversation, an exchange of ideas or thinking, whether formal or informal）. The Talanga methodology would appear to be a superior approach to Talanoa in engaging in research with Tongans due to the way in which Talanga embraces fundamental Tongan cultural values.

Excess Commuting in Transitional Urban China:A Case Study of Guangzhou

During the reform era, Chinese cities witnessed dramatic institutional transformation and spatial restructuring in general and profound change of commuting patterns in particular. Using household surveys collected in Guangzhou, China, in 2001, 2005 and 2010, excess commuting measurements are estimated. Excess commuting shows an overall trend of increasing during 1990–1999, and then declining during 2000–2010. We argue that deepening marketization of the jobs and housing sectors has induced spatial separation of jobs and housing. In other words, institutional transition and urban spatial restructuring are underpinning the changes of commuting patterns in Chinese cities. Excess commuting has strong relationship with individual socio-demographic status, which is by and large due to the increasing flexibilities of jobs and housing location choices enjoyed by urban residents. The findings call for considerations on balancing jobs-housing in making public policies relevant to urban development in general, and land use and transportation in particular.

The Role of Nuclear Regulators in Reviewing Population Growth Projections

One of the roles of nuctear regulators is to review population projections calculated by applicants for populations lying in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. This paper examines methods of calculating rates of growth and thus calculating future population growth. This paper is concerned about regulators making sure that nuclear power plants are not located near densely populated centers and that population centers located near nuclear power plants do not become densely populated. In the case of El Dabaa city in the north coast of Egypt, south west of the nominated plant site, three rates of growth 1.5%, 2.5% and 3% were identified. The first is the current population growth rate of the city, the second is the average national growth rate and the third is the expected growth rate of the city when the nuclear power plant gets constructed and operated. In all three cases, this city is a population center and rules of distance from the nuclear power plant shall apply. Thus the further natural growth of this city should be controlled and directed away from the downwind of the plant.

SOME ISSUES ON URBAN CENSUS GIS DESIGNING

This paper first briefly looks back on the history of census GIS around the world,and then summarizes some preponderances of developing urban census GIS in China.And then a three-tier construction architecture for the urban census GIS is proposed.Finally,using the illustration of the census data of Guangzhou city,the paper analyzes and elaborates some issues on the urban census GIS designing,such as data management,data warehouse building,and data analysis.

Environmental Information Statement for Home Appliances at Online Stores in Japan

This study aims to identify the current situation and problems of environmental information statement for major four home appliances （refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and television receivers） sold at online stores in Japan, and then to suggest how to improve the situation, through a questionnaire survey conducted among businesses that operate online stores and online malls with multiple online stores. The findings of this study are summarized into the following two points： （l） It is found out that environmental information statement for the home appliances at online stores has four problems： （i） less information on ＂three Rs （reduce, reuse and recycle）＂ and ＂chemical substances＂ than the one on ＂energy conservation＂; （ii） cost for providing environmental information statement; （iii） issues associated with a label and mark placement; （iv） issues associated with energy conservation statement. （2） Improvements are suggested for each of the four problems listed above, and shown are （i） the effectiveness of, and need to promote, a label and mark placement; （ii） cost burden on buyers; （iii） need of active efforts made by businesses and of dissemination of legal regulations to businesses.

Geo-engineering Lessons Learned from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan and Their Significance to Reconstruction

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan of China was the result of quake-triggering along an active several hundred-kilometer-long fault. The subsequent landslides and debris flow geohazards are dominating factors in planning post-disaster recovery and rebuilding. This paper presents recommendations for coping with large-scale geohazards and disasters. It is essential to establish a national emergency management system for huge scale catastrophe and earthquake precursor identification. Town construction must be kept away from active faults, especially to improve town safety in areas with high risk of seismic and geological hazards, and it is important to improve geohazard investigation and remediation for mountain areas that have become loosened by earthquake activity. Geological factors must be better understood to reduce direct and secondary risks and effects of earthquakes. Site selections for public relocation require clear and informed analysis of geological and social risk reduction, so that relocation, infrastructure reconstruction, and commemorative relic-sites can be protected.

Urban Boundary-Layer Stability and Turbulent Exchange during Consecutive Episodes of Particle Air Pollution in Beijing,China

Based on measurements at the Beijing 325-m Meteorological Tower,this study reports an analysis of atmospheric stability conditions and turbulent exchange during consecutive episodes of particle air pollution in Beijing(China),primarily due to haze and dust events(15–30 April 2012).Of particular interest were relevant vertical variations within the lower urban boundary layer(UBL).First,the haze and dust events were characterized by different atmospheric conditions,as quite low wind speed and high humidity are typically observed during haze events.In addition,for the description of stability conditions,the bulk Richardson number(RiB) was calculated for three different height intervals: 8–47,47–140,and 140–280 m.The values of RiB indicated an apparent increase in the occurrence frequency of stably-stratified air layers in the upper height interval—for the 140–280-m height interval,positive values of RiB occurred for about 85% of the time.The downward turbulent exchange of sensible heat was observed at 280 m for the full diurnal cycle,which,by contrast,was rarely seen at 140 m during daytime.These results reinforce the importance of implementing high-resolution UBL profile observations and addressing issues related to stably-stratified flows.

Analysis on Transmission Heat Loss in Hot Water System of Residential Building

Based on the data of China Statistical Yearbooks, the current situation and development trend of the energy consumption of residential hot-water was discussed in this paper. Two hundred and sixty eight apartments were surveyed on the installation and operation situations of residential water heaters in five cities. Based on survey data, the proportion of pipeline heat loss was calculated in the energy consumption of a shower/bath. The influence factors of heat loss in residential hot-water pipeline network were discussed, and the measures were suggested for reducing the transport heat loss. The statistics and analysis conclusion have directive significance to reducing the transport heat loss.

Study on Anti-Disturbance and High-Resolution Shallow Seismic Exploration of Active Faults in Urban Regions

The significance of detection of urban active faults and the general situation concerning detection of urban active faults in the world are briefly introduced. In a brief description of the basic principles of anti-disturbance and high-resolution shallow seismic exploration, the stress is put on the excitation of seismic sources, the performance of digital seismographs, receiving mode and conditions, geometry as well as data acquisition, processing and interpretation in the anti-disturbance and high-resolution shallow seismic exploration of urban active faults. The study indicates that a controlled seismic source with a linear or nonlinear frequency-conversion scanning function and the relevant seismographs must be used in data acquisition, as well as working methods for small group interval, small offset, multi-channel receiving, short-array and high-frequency detectors for receiving are used. Attention should be paid to the application of techniques for static correction of refraction, noise suppressing, high-precision analysis of velocity, wavelet compressing, zero-phasing of wavelet and pre-stacking migration to data processing and interpretation. Finally, some cases of anti-disturbance and high-resolution shallow seismic exploration of urban active faults are present in the paper.

Spatial distribution of employment opportunities in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The analysis of spatial mismatches in access to employment remains a very important area of labour market literature. A particular case is that of the mismatches in urban labor markets, which can result in substantial differences in the employment opportunities available in city centre and suburbs. This study examines the spatial mismatches present in the labour market of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To that end, the results of a survey taken in 2003-2004 with a sample of 2000 city residents were reviewed. Results confirm the importance of transport policy for city residents; they suggest that public transport linking the different districts to the city centre should be reviewed.

Correlation Analysis of Attitudinal Responses of Men and Women Toward Wife Beating by Husband in Rural and Urban Ethiopia

The Central Statistical Agency （CSA） of Ethiopia included some questions in its 2005 Demographic and Health Survey （DHS） questionnaire, asking for the opinion of men and women if wives beaten by husbands is justified if wives commit some mistakes while they are undertaking their day to day family responsibilities and other personal functions. The sample size was about 14,000 women in the reproductive and productive ages of 15-49 and about 6,000 men in the age brackets of 15-59. The reasons for wife beating by husbands are examined against some selected independent background variables of the sampled men and women respondents, while the dependent variables are the responses to questions of wife beating. With respect to the analytical model, the author decided to focus on some descriptive statistics, such as frequency distributions tables, proportions, comparative analysis, and application of chi-squares （Xz） techniques to examine the variations in the responses of women and men amongst the independent backgrounds.

Multilingualism and the Choice of a Language for Anglophone Education in Cameroon

This paper seeks to do three things： （1） examine the linguistic situation of Cameroon; （2） identify the language（s） used in education; and （3） discuss whether in the light of the social linguistic evidence, the current choice of language for education （English） is well motivated. The methodology employed is a socio-lin some randomly selected urban centers in Cameroon for example, Buea, Bamenda, Kumba, guistic survey of etc.. The results suggest among other things： （1） that Cameroon is a highly multilingual country with over 280 home languages and （2） that while English is the language for Anglophone education, Pidgin English is actually the predominant language and the first language for most Anglophones. Based on these findings, the author proposes Pidgin English as the choice language for early education in Anglophone Cameroon （the southwest and northwest regions）. Pidgin English is the only language which expresses Cameroonian reality. It is spoken by more than 70% of the population. It is the only language that is not associated with a particular tribe, religion, or with a specific colonial government.

Analysis on the Characteristics and Changing Trends of Population Structure in Megalopolis : the Case of Beijing

Taking Beijing as an example and based on the census data,macro-level population statistical data and 2004~2013 marriage registration data,this paper makes a contrastive analysis on the characteristics and changing trends of local residents,migrants and temporary migrants. Relative to the local residents,the migrants generally have household registry of central districts and higher educational level and occupational layer. Temporary migrants have relatively complicated population structure but differentiate during the process of marriage matching. 'Two-place marriages'form a stable group of new permanent migrants and meanwhile imply a sizable group of latent dependent migrants. This will produce great infl uences on the general population structure and the aging process,which may also lead to some confl icts and problems. The government should be prepared with policy responses so as to promote the benign development of population diversifi cation in megalopolis.

Urbanization in China Based on International Comparison:A Discussion with Two Prevalent Views

Two prevalent views are reviewed on China's urbanization firstly.Then,this article highlights the characteristics and pattern of urbanization in the world based on the quadrants map,using data of 118 countries or areas.The results indicate that the process of urbanization in the world excluding the data of China has slowed down gradually.A further exploration examines China's urbanization process and economic development over time,which reveals that both urbanization level and the level of economic development belong to the low-grade coordination pattern.The low level of urbanization is closely connected with the low level of economic development.Actually,China's urbanization gap appeared during 1985-1995,but it has been eliminating this urbanization gap since 1995 as a result of rapid urbanization growing.The complicated realities revealed in this analysis challenge the existing two prevalent views.