The urban littoral frontier : land reclamation in the history of human settlements

The urban waterfront may be regarded as the littoral frontier of human settlement. Typically, over the years, it advances, sometimes retreats, where terrestrial and aquatic processes interact and frequently contest this margin of occupation. Because most towns and cities are sited beside water bodies, many of these urban centers on or close to the sea, their physical expansion is constrained by the existence of aquatic areas in one or more directions from the core. It is usually much easier for new urban development to occur along or inland from the waterfront. Where other physical constraints, such as rugged hills or mountains, make expansion difficult or expensive, building at greater densities or construction on steep slopes is a common response. This kind of development, though technically feasible, is usually more expensive than construction on level or gently sloping land, however. Moreover, there are many reasons for developing along the shore or riverfront in preference to using sites further inland. The high cost of developing existing dry land that presents serious construction difficulties is one reason for creating new land from adjacent areas that are permanently or periodically under water. Another reason is the relatively high value of artificially created land close to the urban centre when compared with the value of existing developable space at a greater distance inland. The creation of space for development is not the only motivation for urban expansion into aquatic areas. Commonly, urban places on the margins of the sea, estuaries, rivers or great lakes are, or were once, ports where shipping played an important role in the economy. The demand for deep waterfronts to allow ships to berth and for adjacent space to accommodate various port facilities has encouraged the advance of the urban land area across marginal shallows in ports around the world. The space and locational demands of port related industry and commerce, too, have contributed to this process. Often closely related to these developments is the generation of waste, including domestic refuse, unwanted industrial by-products, site formation and demolition debris and harbor dredgings. From ancient times, the foreshore has been used as a disposal area for waste from nearby settlements, a practice that continues on a huge scale today. Land formed in this way has long been used for urban development, despite problems that can arise from the nature of the dumped material and the way in which it is deposited. Disposal of waste material is a major factor in the creation of new urban land. Pollution of the foreshore and other water margin wetlands in this way encouraged the idea that the reclamation of these areas may be desirable on public health grounds. With reference to examples from various parts of the world, the historical development of the urban littoral frontier and its effects on the morphology and character of towns and cities are illustrated and discussed. The threat of rising sea levels and the heritage value of many waterfront areas are other considerations that are addressed.

Life on the edge : housing experiences in three remote Australian indigenous settlements

This analysis of housing experiences and aspirations in three remote Indigenous settlements in Australia (Mimili, Maningrida and Palm Island) reveals extreme liveability problems directly related to the scale and form of housing provision. Based upon field visits to each of the settlements and extensive interviews with residents and local housing and community officers, the paper analyses two aspects of living in such housing conditions at two spatial scales, the layout of the settlement and the design of individual houses. The failings at both scales are shown to be the fault of a dysfunctional housing system that is only recently been addressed.

Sustainability and urban settlements: urban metabolism as a framework for achieving sustainable development

Urban settlements, with their role as economic and governance nerve centres, are rapidly expanding in size and in consumption of resources, and consequently have significant impacts on the environment. The transition to an ‘eco-city’ - an urban settlement that adopts the goals and principles in the urban metabolism model - needs to occur to meet the challenges posed by a multitude of pressures including population growth, climate change and resource depletion. Thus, the adoption and integration of ‘sustainable development’ into the management of urban growth is one of the most critical governance issues for urban settlements. A framework in which sustainable development can be achieved is through the lenses of the established theoretical concept of ‘urban metabolism’. The key facet of the proposed ‘Integrated Urban Metabolism Framework’ is the provision of a platform whereby different fields can appreciate, absorb and learn from other areas, to increase the understanding of where each and every one of the pieces fit together in order to create a larger, holistic approach to the currently stagnant problem of unsustainable development.

Mapping mountains : a morphological study of traditional highland settlements in Chittagong Hill tracts of Bangladesh

This thesis is a morphological study of the settlement patterns of the diverse hill groups in Chittagong Hill Tracts – a mountainous borderland of Bangladesh in South Asia. It examines the settlement morphology of a hill town, using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods, and explains the recurrent neighbourhood types of the highland groups in relation to their urbanisation. The research findings related to the settlements of diverse cultural groups in a cross-border region of the Asian uplands are also relevant to similar contexts and enquiries. Furthermore, the developed methodological framework that facilitated the data collection process in CHT's culturally diverse regions is also applicable to the investigation of geographic areas with similar socio-cultural complexities. Finally, this research specifically contributes to the literature of cross-cultural studies of highland towns and vernacular settlements in the Asian context.

Emerging water treatment technologies for decentralised systems : an overview of selected systems suited for application in towns and settlements in remote and very remote regions of Australia and vulnerable and lagging rural regions in Sri Lanka

The primary purpose of this paper is to overview a selection of advanced water treatment technology systems that are suited for application in towns and settlements in remote and very remote regions of Australia and vulnerable and lagging rural regions in Sri Lanka. This recognises that sanitation and water treatment are inextricably linked and both are needed to reduce risks to environment and population health from contaminated water sources. For both Australia and Sri Lanka only a small fraction of the settlements in rural and remote regions are connected to water treatment facilities and town water supplies. In Australia’s remote/very remote regions raw water is drawn from underground sources and rainwater capture. Most settlements in rural Sri Lanka rely on rivers, reservoirs, wells, springs or carted water. Furthermore, Sri Lanka has more than 25,000 hand pumped tube wells which saved the communities during recent droughts. Decentralised water supply systems offer the opportunity to provide safe drinking water to these remote/very remote and rural regions where centralised systems are not feasible due to socio-cultural, economic, political, technological reasons. These systems reduce health risks from contaminated water supplies. In remote areas centralized systems fail due to low population density and less affordability. Globally, a new generation of advanced water treatment technologies are positioned to make a major impact on the provision of safe potable water in remote/very remote regions in Australia and rural regions in Sri Lanka. Some of these systems were developed for higher income countries. However, with careful selection and further research they can be tailored to match local socio-economic conditions and technical capacity. As such, they can equally be used to provide decentralised water supply in communities in developed and developing countries such as Australia and Sri Lanka.

Jewish settlements in the Odessa region

Digital image

Explanations of the general sketches of settlements on the Chonhar peninsula

Digital image

Old colonies and new settlements in Southern Ukraine and Crimea

Digital image

Negative map of Jewish settlements in Ukraine and Crimea

Digital image

Layout of settlements in Eastern Crimea

Digital image

Growth of Jewish Land Settlements in Crimea 1924-1934

Digital image

Negative photocopy of the map of Crimea with marked settlements

Digital image

Settlements in Crimea

Digital image

Negative photo map of Jewish settlements in the Krivoy Rog district

Digital image

Settlements in the Kryvyĭ Rih region

Digital image