Táji és természeti értékek az agglomeráció szorításában

A budapesti agglomeráció a Budapest központtal kialakult településtömörülés, amely a magyar fővárost és a vele szorosan együtt élő, gazdasági, infrastrukturális, munkaerőpiaci és szolgáltatási tekintetben egymásra utalt településeket foglalja magába. A budapesti agglomerációhoz tartozó 81 település felsorolását a Budapesti Agglomeráció Területrendezési Tervét rögzítő 2005. évi LXIV. törvény tartalmazza. 2007-ben a 81 településen összesen 2 457 787 fő élt, ami Magyarország lakosságának közel egynegyedét jelentette. Ebből a fővároson kívül 755 290-en élnek. A táji értékei jelentős része a települések be nem épített részén, a nagyobb részt termelési célú, kisebb részt rekreációs célú termelő felületeken vagy zöldfelületeken található. A korábban kevéssé befolyásolt, alig átalakított térségekbe benyomuló szuburbán terjeszkedés szétfeszíti, átformálja és differenciálja a városi tájat övező rurális tájat, az elővárosi térséget. A változás óhatatlanul a – még meg nem semmisült – értékek újragondolásának szükségességét veti fel.

Fenntartható fejlődés, élhető régió, élhető települési táj 1.

A TÁMOP „Fenntartható fejlődés, élhető régió, élhető települési táj” alprojektje négy tudományterület szakembereit fogta össze. Az eredmény három kötet, és bennük összesen negyvenhárom tanulmány. A Corvinus Egyetem négy karának, a Gazdálkodástudományi, a Közgazdaságtudományi, a Kertészettudományi és a Tájépítészeti Karok munkatársainak három éves kutatómunkáját tükrözik a kötetek, ami nyilván nemcsak a szerzők, hanem azoknak a műhelyeknek a szellemisége is, amelyekben a szerzők dolgoznak. Konferenciákon, műhelyvitákon csiszolódtak a tanulmányok, mégsem állíthatjuk, hogy mindegyikben letisztult, konszenzust jelentő álláspontokat fogalmaztak meg a szerzők. Különösen igaz ez a társadalomtudományi tanulmányokra, de a klímaváltozással foglalkozó határterületi írásokra is, ahol sokszor még a fogalmak jelentését illetően nem jutottak konszenzusra. Vannak szerencsésebb diszciplínák, például a kertészeti tudományok, amelyeknél reprodukálható eredményekről adhatnak számot a kutatók, és vannak tanulmányok, amelyek a művészetek, a táj- és település tervezés területére vezetnek el bennünket, de a művészeteket illetően is felesleges a konszenzust keresni.

Fenntartható fejlődés, élhető régió, élhető települési táj 3.

A TÁMOP „Fenntartható fejlődés, élhető régió, élhető települési táj” alprojektje négy tudományterület szakembereit fogta össze. Az eredmény három kötet, és bennük összesen negyvenhárom tanulmány. A Corvinus Egyetem négy karának, a Gazdálkodástudományi, a Közgazdaságtudományi, a Kertészettudományi és a Tájépítészeti Karok munkatársainak három éves kutatómunkáját tükrözik a kötetek, ami nyilván nemcsak a szerzők, hanem azoknak a műhelyeknek a szellemisége is, amelyekben a szerzők dolgoznak. Konferenciákon, műhelyvitákon csiszolódtak a tanulmányok, mégsem állíthatjuk, hogy mindegyikben letisztult, konszenzust jelentő álláspontokat fogalmaztak meg a szerzők. Különösen igaz ez a társadalomtudományi tanulmányokra, de a klímaváltozással foglalkozó határterületi írásokra is, ahol sokszor még a fogalmak jelentését illetően nem jutottak konszenzusra. Vannak szerencsésebb diszciplínák, például a kertészeti tudományok, amelyeknél reprodukálható eredményekről adhatnak számot a kutatók, és vannak tanulmányok, amelyek a művészetek, a táj- és település tervezés területére vezetnek el bennünket, de a művészeteket illetően is felesleges a konszenzust keresni.

Település- és területi tervezés

Az ember szorosan kapcsolódva együtt él azzal a környezettel, amelyben mindennapjait tölti. Az a kisebb, vagy nagyobb térség, amelyhez életünk kötődik sokkal közvetlenebb, néha nagyobb hatással is van ránk, mint maga az ország. Egy település adja azt a közeget, amely a lakóhelyet, az alapszolgáltatásokat és jó esetben a munkahelyet is biztosítja. A terület- és településfejlesztés célja éppen abban összegezhető, hogy a helyi erőforrások, az infrastruktúra, a szolgáltatások és a termelési szféra olyan szerencsés együttállását teremtse meg, amely mind az ország fejlesztési céljaival, mind pedig a helyben élők érdekeivel összhangban áll. A fejezetet elsősorban a vidékfejlesztéssel, a környezetvédelemmel és a regionális politikával foglalkozó hallgatóinknak ajánljuk.

Gazdaságföldrajzi tanulmányok közgazdászoknak

Az utóbbi évtizedekben a közgazdászképzésben háttérbe szorult a térbeli szemlélet jelentősége, pedig az információs társadalomban a gazdasági folyamatok már nem csak a fizikai térben, hanem a virtuális térben is tetten érhetők, régióról régióra változó életszínvonalat generálva. A tér digitális kiterjedése kölcsönhatásba kerül hagyományos fizikai környezetünkkel, ami még inkább amellett szól, hogy a közgazdász térszemlélet fontosságát e tanulmánykötettel kiemeljük. Tesszük ezt úgy, hogy a Corvinus Egyetem alapszakjainak hallgatóit szakonként szólítjuk meg egy-egy, számukra különösen releváns gazdaságföldrajzi témával. Ezáltal a többi magyarországi közgazdászképző intézmény szakjain tanuló hallgatók érdeklődését is felkelthetjük az új megközelítésű gazdasági térszemlélet iránt. Tartalomjegyzék: I. A népesség mint gazdaságföldrajzi tényező (Korompai Attila) - II. Városföldrajz (Jeney László) - III. Vidékföldrajz (Csatári Bálint) - IV. Településmarketing (Tózsa István) – V. Település- és területi tervezés (Forman Balázs – Szaló Péter) – VI. Földrajzi információs rendszerek és a Digitális Föld (Ferencz Viktória) – VII. Turizmusföldrajz (Kulcsár Dezső) – VIII. A világgazdaság új földrajza (Bernek Ágnes) – IX. A virtuális tér gazdasága (Mészáros Rezső – Jakobi Ákos) – X. A közlekedés földrajza (Jászberényi Melinda) – XI. Kereskedelmi földrajz (Sikos T. Tamás) – XII. A pénz földrajza (Forman Balázs) – XIII. Közigazgatási földrajz (Pálné Kovács Ilona) – XIV. Politikai földrajz (Kulcsár Dezső) – XV. Kultúrrégiók gazdaságföldrajza (Jeney László)

A large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization geographic information system based on parallel map tiling

With the exponential increasing demands and uses of GIS data visualization system, such as urban planning, environment and climate change monitoring, weather simulation, hydrographic gauge and so forth, the geospatial vector and raster data visualization research, application and technology has become prevalent. However, we observe that current web GIS techniques are merely suitable for static vector and raster data where no dynamic overlaying layers. While it is desirable to enable visual explorations of large-scale dynamic vector and raster geospatial data in a web environment, improving the performance between backend datasets and the vector and raster applications remains a challenging technical issue. This dissertation is to implement these challenging and unimplemented areas: how to provide a large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization service with dynamic overlaying layers accessible from various client devices through a standard web browser, and how to make the large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization service as rapid as the static one. To accomplish these, a large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization geographic information system based on parallel map tiling and a comprehensive performance improvement solution are proposed, designed and implemented. They include: the quadtree-based indexing and parallel map tiling, the Legend String, the vector data visualization with dynamic layers overlaying, the vector data time series visualization, the algorithm of vector data rendering, the algorithm of raster data re-projection, the algorithm for elimination of superfluous level of detail, the algorithm for vector data gridding and re-grouping and the cluster servers side vector and raster data caching.

Italianità on Tour: From the Mediterranean to Southeast Florida, 1896-1939

Italianità on Tour is a cultural history of Italian consciousness in Italy and Southeast Florida from 1896 to 1939. This dissertation examines literary works, folktales, folksongs, artworks, buildings and urban planning as imprints and cultural constructions of Italianità on both sides of the Atlantic, with a special emphasis on the transformations experienced on that journey. The real and/or imagined geo-cultural similarities between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean encouraged pioneers in Southeast Florida to conjure in their new setting an idea of Italianità , regardless of the presence of Italians in the area. Therefore, assessing Italianità, constitutes an important feature in understanding cultural constructions of identities in Miami and neighboring areas. This study, seeks to add Southeast Florida's Caribbean-Italian identity to the existing scholarship on several Italian diaspora representations, whether from a cultural ethnic perspective or from a sense of national belonging. More generally, it will show that there was no quintessential Italian national culture, but only representations of it that élites in Italy and South Florida manufactured, and on the other hand, immigrants imagined and performed upon arrival to America.

O papel dos quintais urbanos na segurança alimentar, bem estar e conservação da biodiversidade

Residential homegardens have environmental and social roles in the urban environment. These green spaces can potentially minimize the impacts caused by the growth of cities, being an alternative to connect fragmented areas or offer refuge to wildlife and therefore support the conservation of biodiversity. In addition, the homegardens demonstrate a leading role in increasing human well-being by promoting socialization opportunities, contact with nature, local culture as well as improvements in food security for the urban families. Nevertheless, it is still unclear what specific characteristics of homegardens can act effectively in the conservation of the biodiversity, as well as in the construction of food security and well being of the homegardeners and their families. The first chapter of this thesis analyzed the diversity of plant species (native and exotic) and assessed the contribution of different types of urban gardens (ornamental and forest gardens alike) in the presence of wildlife such as birds, monkeys and lizards. In the second chapter we evaluated the contribution of those gardens to the welfare and food security of their owners. In order to do this, 41 gardens were visited in Pium, a southern coastal town in the northeastern Brazil, which also happens to be in a periurban region undergoing rapid urban expansion and pressure from the real estate market. We surveyed the planned biodiversity and fauna associated with homegardens. The data related to food security and welfare were sampled through interviews with the person in charge of taking care of the gardens. These interviews covered issues on the supply of food from the garden and absence of chemical products, as well as aspects of the GNH indicator (Gross National Happiness). The results showed that these homegardens generally contribute little to the maintenance of native plant species (native species = 29/ total = 187). From its main features, the gardens were classified as ornamental, forest gardens and forest farms. These groups had a different effect on the presence of the animals studied and the last two contained most of the sampled native species. The diversity of plants and trees was a good predictor of the presence of birds and monkeys. Thus, the contribution of yards for the conservation of biodiversity depends on the type of garden: some even can have negative effects on conservation. These results can direct new approaches to detailed understanding of gardens and also of public policies applied to urban planning. The results of the second chapter showed that the two types of forest gardens contributed to household food security, for providing food and medicinal herbs, which mostly did not have pesticides and chemical 12 fertilizers. But the three groups of gardens are important components for the well being of their stakeholders. Gardens help promote the transmission of knowledge on agriculture, socialization, contact with nature and bring up feelings related to peace and harmony. Thus, forest gardens can be considered important means to get through public projects and policies designed to encourage biodiversity and promote food security and well-being in urban areas

Praias urbanas e racionalidade ambiental: avaliação da gestão, das intervenções urbanísticas e dos usos na praia de ponta negra

This dissertation addresses issues considered essential for sustainable development of urban waterfronts and beaches. Many of these spaces, even though they are of public authorities, economic market and general population interests - due to its landscape, its importance for recreation purposes and as a basis of " Sun and beach Tourism " (Turismo de Sol e Praia), among other factors - have shown aesthetic, health and cultural degradation, entailing environmental, economic and social losses and conflicts. Based on this perception, the research aims to understand the main reasons for these negative results for beach spaces. To this end, it was chosen the case study of a typical urban beach, Ponta Negra Beach, located in Natal, RN. Ponta Negra is associated with the "postcard" of the city and it has been deserving of municipal urban planning legislation that legally recognizes the importance of its landscape. Also it has received constant investments by the Government through urban projects, arguing to leave the site attractive to its users. Nevertheless, in the last fifteen years, the beach has lived with the expansion of its problems, such as those related to bathing water, to coastal erosion, and to the mangling of its natural surroundings. Social conflicts have also been frequent in this time frame: conflicts between residents of the waterfront and traders who work on the beach, between the traders themselves, between the managers of space and fishermen, between managers and formal and informal traders. Many of these social and environmental conflicts have taken such grand proportions that became legal matters. Assuming that the problems identified are related to the issue of rationality - understood as a system of values, norms and actions that relate means and ends - and upholding the need for focused research on "environmental rationality" to understand and interpret the dynamics of social and environmental problems encountered on site, the research that guides the study relies on the Mexican economist Enrique Leff's theory on "environmental rationality" which, briefly, can be defined as a system of values, norms, actions and means and ends relations based on the principles of environmental management and sustainable development. Among other aspects, rationality encompasses cross-sectional planning of public administration, the participation of society in the management of environmental resources, interdisciplinary reorganization of knowledge, the clash of opposing interests and the conciliation of common goals of different social actors. The study evaluates the relationship between "environmental rationality", as proposed by Enrique Leff, with the management, urban interventions and uses observed in Ponta Negra Beach. For that, some benchmarks were established and considered in the research as related to sustainable development of the "beachy" atmosphere. Analytical instruments chosen were the urban transformations and the environmental and social problems that have been the target of lawsuits. Also part of the study, the problems that were the subject of civil investigations, which are investigation procedures carried out by the Prosecutor's Office.

Praias urbanas e racionalidade ambiental: avaliação da gestão, das intervenções urbanísticas e dos usos na praia de ponta negra

This dissertation addresses issues considered essential for sustainable development of urban waterfronts and beaches. Many of these spaces, even though they are of public authorities, economic market and general population interests - due to its landscape, its importance for recreation purposes and as a basis of " Sun and beach Tourism " (Turismo de Sol e Praia), among other factors - have shown aesthetic, health and cultural degradation, entailing environmental, economic and social losses and conflicts. Based on this perception, the research aims to understand the main reasons for these negative results for beach spaces. To this end, it was chosen the case study of a typical urban beach, Ponta Negra Beach, located in Natal, RN. Ponta Negra is associated with the "postcard" of the city and it has been deserving of municipal urban planning legislation that legally recognizes the importance of its landscape. Also it has received constant investments by the Government through urban projects, arguing to leave the site attractive to its users. Nevertheless, in the last fifteen years, the beach has lived with the expansion of its problems, such as those related to bathing water, to coastal erosion, and to the mangling of its natural surroundings. Social conflicts have also been frequent in this time frame: conflicts between residents of the waterfront and traders who work on the beach, between the traders themselves, between the managers of space and fishermen, between managers and formal and informal traders. Many of these social and environmental conflicts have taken such grand proportions that became legal matters. Assuming that the problems identified are related to the issue of rationality - understood as a system of values, norms and actions that relate means and ends - and upholding the need for focused research on "environmental rationality" to understand and interpret the dynamics of social and environmental problems encountered on site, the research that guides the study relies on the Mexican economist Enrique Leff's theory on "environmental rationality" which, briefly, can be defined as a system of values, norms, actions and means and ends relations based on the principles of environmental management and sustainable development. Among other aspects, rationality encompasses cross-sectional planning of public administration, the participation of society in the management of environmental resources, interdisciplinary reorganization of knowledge, the clash of opposing interests and the conciliation of common goals of different social actors. The study evaluates the relationship between "environmental rationality", as proposed by Enrique Leff, with the management, urban interventions and uses observed in Ponta Negra Beach. For that, some benchmarks were established and considered in the research as related to sustainable development of the "beachy" atmosphere. Analytical instruments chosen were the urban transformations and the environmental and social problems that have been the target of lawsuits. Also part of the study, the problems that were the subject of civil investigations, which are investigation procedures carried out by the Prosecutor's Office.

Student Independent Projects Environmental Studies 2007: Redesigning the Corner Brook Waterfront

In recent decades, urban planning has seen a rise in waterfront revitalization. This is important concerning Corner Brook, where the possible permanent closure of the Mill would have devastating consequences for the surrounding area. Corner Brook is located on the West Coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and has a population of 20,083 (WWW.statcan.ca, 2007). Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. (CBP&P) dominates the local economy and is located on the city's waterfront. With the realization that the heart of any city is the waterfront, if there is one present, many cities started revitalization trend in order to bring life back to the community and restore the local economy (Robertson, 1999). In the past, waterfronts were dominated with industry, shipping, and the navy. Today, the focus has shifted to leisure, recreation, tourism, and residential and commercial activity. Along with economic factors, the visual aspect of the waterfront is also Important (Albrecht, Bode, & Evers, 2003; Hoffman, 1999). Although this trend started out larger cities, such as Toronto, it has now spread to smaller centers, similar to the size of Corner Brook (Hoyle, 2000). What differs between the various sizes of the cities is what the main focus of the waterfront will be following the revitalization. With the tourism economy making a strong foothold in Newfoundland, the waterfront would provide the possibility to extend it even further. Yet, the most important aspects of the new waterfront will be to ensure environmentally safe measures (Slocombe, 1993) and making sure that as many jobs as possible will be generated. The generation of new jobs is especially important considering the loss of the Mill, which has provided the city and surrounding area with paying employment.

Tackling wicked environmental problems : the discourse and its influence on praxis in Scotland

Peer reviewed

The Open Data Smart City: A Case Study of Smart City Progress through Open Data Initiatives

Smart cities, cities that are supported by an extensive digital infrastructure of sensors, databases and intelligent applications, have become a major area of academic, governmental and public interest. Simultaneously, there has been a growing interest in open data, the unrestricted use of organizational data for public viewing and use. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS), Urban Studies and Political Economy, this thesis examines how digital processes, open data and the physical world can be combined in smart city development, through the qualitative interview-based case study of a Southern Ontario Municipality, Anytown. The thesis asks what are the challenges associated with smart city development and open data proliferation, is open data complimentary to smart urban development; and how is expertise constructed in these fields? The thesis concludes that smart city development in Anytown is a complex process, involving a variety of visions, programs and components. Although smart city and open data initiatives exist in Anytown, and some are even overlapping and complementary, smart city development is in its infancy. However, expert informants remained optimistic, faithful to a technologically sublime vision of what a smart city would bring. The thesis also questions the notion of expertise within the context of smart city and open data projects, concluding that assertions of expertise need to be treated with caution and scepticism when considering how knowledge is received, generated, interpreted and circulates, within organizations.

Measuring Solar Energy Potentials in Residential Environments: A Comparative Study of Three Neighbourhoods in Kingston, Ontario

Photovoltaic (PV) systems offer a way to generate electricity locally in an urban setting while avoiding the environmental impacts of more widely used energy sources such as oil, coal, nuclear and natural gas. This report attempts to measure the benefits of incorporating solar technologies into urban residential land uses and identifies challenges to their widespread use by comparing implementation among three distinct residential neighbourhoods common to Canadian cities. The City of Kingston, Ontario is used as the location for this study.