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Periphery Dichotomy and its Investigation by GIS Methods
131-136Views:164Centre-periphery dichotomy can be regarded as one of the crucial issues in human geography and regional science. The definition of periphery is far from unambiguous due to its relative expression and its content. This is the reason why can significant number of studies be found focusing on the delimitation of central and peripheral areas. The revolution of computer technology and the rapid development of GIS cause the more and more extended usage of these techniques in the human geography as well. These related studies were categorised by their approaches – namely the locational or developmental centreperiphery concepts – and their GIS tools. Application of spatial parameters with extended datasets and complex GIS based calculations mean the most precise and complicated use of GIS and computer tools in the delimitation of peripheral (and central) areas.
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Spatial distribution of vegetation cover in Erbil city districts using high-resolution Pléiades satellite image
10-22Views:207Green spaces are playing an essential role for ecological balance and for human health in the city as well. They play a fundamental role in providing opportunities for relaxation and enjoying the beauty of nature for the urban population. Therefore, it is important to produce detailed vegetation maps to assist planners in designing strategies for the optimisation of urban ecosystem services and to provide a suitable plan for climate change adaptation in one fast growing city. Hence, this research is an investigation using 0.5 m high-resolution multispectral Pléiades data integrated with GIS data and techniques to detect and evaluate the spatial distribution of vegetation cover in Erbil City. A supervised classification was used to classify different land cover types, and a normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) was used to retrieve it for the city districts. Moreover, to evaluate the accessibility of green space based on their distance and size, a buffer zone criterion was used. The results indicate that the built-up land coverage is 69% and vegetation land cover is 14%. Regarding NDVI results, the spatial distribution of vegetation cover was various and, in general, the lowest NDVI values were found in the districts located in the city centre. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of vegetation land cover regarding the city districts was non-equal and non-concentric. The newly built districts and the districts far from the Central Business District (CBD) recorded the lowest vegetation cover compared with the older constructed districts. Furthermore, most of the districts have a lack of access to green spaces based on their distance and size. Distance and accessibility of green areas throughout the city are not equally distributed. The majority of the city districts have access to green areas within radius buffer of two kilometres, whereas the lowest accessibility observed for those districts located in the northeast of the city in particular (Xanzad, Brayate, Setaqan and Raperin). Our study is one of the first investigations of decision-making support of the spatial planning in a fast-growing city in Iraq and will have a utilitarian impact on development processes and local and regional planning for Erbil City in the future.
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Regional Development in the Age of Big Data
1-9Views:150Our paper presents a forward looking analytical approach to the territorial development in a region of the Transylvanian Plain situated in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We outlined the development of this region with the means of landscape architecture supported by a comparable assessment. In the age of Big Data we settled at creative usage of traditional analysis. We extracted yet undetected information from a limited amount of available as yet loosely related data. The key feature of the employed model is the ontological traceability of cause and effect. Although technology is available to collect enormous data, expert knowledge gained by education and professional practice cannot be overlooked. We demonstrate that this method of location based analysis is capable of delivering value added to established principles of spatial planning in the age of trustworthy, large volume, heterogeneous data.
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Morphometric characteristics of a tropical river basin, central Kerala, India using geospatial techniques
1-14Views:232The Thutapuzha watershed (TW) is one among the major tributaries of Bharathapuzha – the largest west flowing river in Kerala, India. Morphometric analysis was carried out to determine the spatial variations in the drainage characteristics and to understand the prevailing geologic variation, topographic information and structural setup of TW using Survey of India topographic maps and ASTER-DEM. Geoprocessing techniques has been used for the delineation and calculation of the morphometric parameters of the watershed. The TW sprawled over 1107Km2 and the study revealed that the watershed includes a sixth order stream and lower order streams mostly dominate the basin with a drianage density of 1.36 m/Km2 exhibiting highly resistant subsoil, dense vegetation, and low relief of surface nature . The study indicate that rainfall has a significant role in the drainage development whereas the drainage pattern is controlled by structure and relief. The watershed of TW is moderate to well-drained and exhibited a geomorphic maturity in its physiographic development. The shape parameters revealed the elongated nature of TW having less prone to flood, lower erosion and sediment transport capacities and drainage network development in the watershed. This study strongly brings to light that the drainage morphometric parameters have the enormou spotentiality to unveil the hydro-morphologicalcharacteristics of the river basins. Integrating hydro-morphological characteristics with conventional watershed assessment methods would have a beneficial effect on judicious watershed management, which helped to formulate a comprehensive watershed management plan.
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Interferences between the ecological network and urbanized areas in Poland
65-77Views:35This paper presents spatial relations between Polish urban areas and valuable habitats and links between them composing the country’s ecological network. The quantitative analysis for 891 towns and cities was conducted using GIS techniques based on cartographic vector data and statistical data. Valuable habitats and links between them, such as national parks, landscape parks, CORINE biotopes sites, wildlife corridors linking NATURA 2000 sites and ECONET areas, can be found in 72% of Polish towns and cities. The proportion of artificial surfaces in those areas is different depending on the size of a town or city and its location. Urban areas with the highest index of presence of valuable habitats and links between them are concentrated in the south of Poland, where settlement network is most dense. However, in the case of those areas the proportion of artificial surfaces interfering with the ecological network is lower than Poland’s average, being 16%. The pressure of anthropogenic land cover extending onto the country’s ecological network is most conspicuous in urban areas with a population of at least several dozen thousand residents where the average developed area is 20.8% of their total area. The danger for the continuity of the nature system is best seen in the north western Poland, where artificial surfaces interference in towns and cities is largest. The analysis performed identified 82 towns and cities, in which the preservation of the continuity of the ecological network should be a priority in spatial management because of a higher than average index of the presence of valuable habitats and links between them and large proportion of artificial surfaces in those areas.
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Monitoring the changes of a suburban settlement by remote sensing
76-83Views:73Satellite images and aerial photos support settlement surveys and provide valuable information of their physical environment. Aerial photos are excellent tools to overview large areas and simultaneously provide high-resolution images making them efficient tools to monitor built-up areas and their surroundings. Aerial photos can also be used to collect complex spatial data as well as to detect various temporal changes on the land surface, such as construction of illegal edifices and waste dumps. The 10 to 30-meter resolution SPOT and Landsat images are usually insufficient for site specific data collection and analysis. However, the recently available 0.5-meter resolution satellite images have broadened the scope of monitoring and data collection projects. Beyond environmental and urban monitoring, the new available high-resolution satellite images simplify the everyday work of local authorities and will facilitate the development of governmental databases that include spatial information for public utilities and other communal facilities.
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Development of MSW collection service on regional scale: spatial analysis and urban disparities in North-Easr Region, Romania
13-18Views:35The cities are facing illegal dumping of municipal solid waste (MSW) because the waste collection facilities do not cover the entire population. Furthermore, this sector is poorly developed in small towns or villages annexed to administrative territory units (ATU) of cities , MSW are disposed in open dumps polluting the local environment. This paper analyzes on the one hand the urban disparities on public access to waste collection services (WCS) in the North-East Region on the other hand, it performs a comparative analysis between 2003 and 2010 outlining the changes made in the context of Romania’s accession to EU. Also, it performs a quantitative assessment method of uncollected waste at urban level and correlated to demographic features of each city. Spatial-temporal analysis of waste indicators using thematic cartography or GIS techniques should be a basic tool for environmental monitoring or assessment of projects from this field in every development region (NUTS 2). The EU acquis requires the closure of noncompliant landfills, the extension of waste collection services, the development of facilities for separate collection, recycling and reuse according to waste hierarchy concept. Full coverage of urban population to waste collection services is necessary to provide a proper management of this sector. Urban disparities between counties and within counties highlights that current traditional waste management system is an environmental threat at local and regional scale.
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Boundless settlements – tendencies and future of urban sprawl in the agglomeration of Budapest
75-88Views:192The Budapest agglomeration is a rapidly changing environment. Urban sprawl has been a prominent process in municipalities around the Hungarian capital, and its pace has significantly increased since the change of regimes. In our paper, we analyse the tendencies of urban development, the role of territorial protection and the types of land use mostly threatened by urban sprawl in two study areas within the Budapest agglomeration. A significant part of the Northern study area – located on Szentendre Island – is under territorial protection, while the Southern study area – located on Csepel Island – has a considerably lower amount of protected areas. We found that the settlements of the Northern study area have been expanding at a much slower pace than their Southern counterparts, where in the absence of effective restrictions, extensive areas – mostly former agricultural fields – have been converted into built-up areas. In addition, the Spatial Plan of the agglomeration allows the same tendencies to continue in both areas in the future as well.