15,139 research outputs found

    Land Cover and Water Quality Patterns in an Urban River: A Case Study of River Medlock, Greater Manchester, UK

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    Urban river catchments face multiple water quality challenges that threaten the biodiversity of riverine habitats and the flow of ecosystem services. We examined two water quality challenges, runoff from increasingly impervious land covers and effluent from combined sewer overflows within a temperate zone river catchment in Greater Manchester, North-West UK. Sub-catchment areas of the River Medlock were delineated from digital elevation models using a Geographical Information System. By combining flow accumulation and high-resolution land cover data within each sub-catchment and water quality measurements at five sampling points along the river, we identified which land cover(s) are key drivers of water quality. Impervious land covers increased downstream and were associated with higher runoff and poorer water quality. Of the impervious covers, transportation networks have the highest runoff ratios and therefore the greatest potential to convey contaminants to the river. We suggest more integrated management of imperviousness to address water quality, flood risk and, urban wellbeing could be achieved with greater catchment partnership working

    Portmerion, Proportion and Perspective

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    The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a period of fifty-one years, starting in 1926. It was grade II listed in 1971. However, Portmerion has become a part of western popular culture rather than of mainstream architectural history. Its use as the setting for the cult 1967 television series “The Prisoner” ensures continued worldwide interest and a constant stream of visitors. Williams Ellis’ design methods were empirical, initial designs being adjusted by eye on site in close collaboration with trusted builders. This paper analyses the development of Portmerion as a gesamtkunstwerk; considering the experience of movement through the village as a dynamic composition of shifting vistas, focussing the visitor on a series of constructed views. Through this analysis, Portmerion is revealed as both a manifestation of the architecture of pleasure and an exercise in the pleasure of architecture

    Exploration of the changing structure of cities: Challenges for temporal city models

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    International audienceThe ALARIC project (Incremental Urban Change Research Project) is dedicated to the production of geo-historical information concerning two formerly industrial cities of the Lyon-Saint-Etienne region (19 th and 20 th century). The exploration of the incremental nature of urban change implies identifying when certain historical processes took place, such as the shift from one-off to systematic construction and changes in urban planning strategies. Specifically, the case study investigates the emergence of local urban projects to compare the transformation processes of the urban fabric and to specify the pace of urban change. Historical records will be accessed through a virtual mapping environment based on the temporal reconstitution of cities in two dimensions, and sometimes for special cases in three dimensions. This paper presents methodological principles to reconstruct former cities in order to inquire urban change and requirements for effective sharing of hypotheses on the various states of the past urban landscape and associated transformation processes

    Viral urban tourism within viral society: sociological touring guides using apps and e-Books

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    This article presents part of a sociological, historical and anthropologic project and program, intended to develop a strategy of knowledge dissemination through social storytelling. Such social narratives are being constructed based on real social stories and facts. These real processes were studied through research pursued in the last decades, on the problematics of urban cultures and tourism, related with the arts and media, in particular within some cities of Portugal (e.g. Lisbon, Coimbra, Braga). Thus, the present text aims to raise questions in order to construct real social stories founded on the following issues: 1. Urban processes and places and their public cultures, e.g. social drinking practices. 2. Activities and agents of urban tourism. 3. Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on society and on urban tourism. This last process implies the analysis of the eventual emergence of a viral society and of a viral tourism, and the consequent remobilization of tourism and viral tourists. Within such problematic context, the present text establishes a debate for a Sociology of Urban Tourism founded on an Open Research. Such perspective simultaneously includes theoretical reflections and empirical studies, traditional and digital methodologies, national and international teams, in short intercultural and transcultural research cultures. For such aims, concretely a theoretical/practical debate is pursued on the following matters and means: Project: for an intelligent urban tourism and social touring. Tools: social and Sociological Tours Guides for a Sociological History and a Historical Sociology of touristic cities. Media: App Paper as a prototype of an app hybridized with an e-book, which can be used to present papers at congresses, for constructing Sociological Touring Guides, etc. Method: why and how to use a Sociological Guide in the form of an App Paper or as other apps and e-books. Contents for Sociological Guides, to be used by inhabitants/citizens, strollers/tourists and strangers/migrants. RESUMO Este artigo apresenta parte de um projeto e programa sociolĂłgico, histĂłrico e antropolĂłgico, que visa desenvolver uma estratĂ©gia de disseminação do conhecimento por meio da social storytelling. Tais narrativas sociais estĂŁo a ser construĂ­das com base em histĂłrias e fatos sociais reais. Estes processos reais foram estudados atravĂ©s de pesquisas desenvolvidas nas Ășltimas dĂ©cadas, sobre a problemĂĄtica das culturas urbanas e do turismo, relacionadas com as artes e os media, em particular em algumas cidades de Portugal (por exemplo, Lisboa, Coimbra, Braga). Assim, o presente texto pretende levantar questĂ”es para a construção de histĂłrias sociais reais a partir das seguintes questĂ”es: 1. Processos e lugares urbanos e as suas culturas pĂșblicas, por ex. as prĂĄticas sociais de beber. 2. Atividades e agentes do turismo urbano. 3. Impacto da pandemia Covid-19 na sociedade e no turismo urbano. Este Ășltimo processo implica a anĂĄlise do eventual surgimento de uma sociedade viral e de um turismo viral, e a consequente remobilização do turismo e dos turistas virais. Nesse contexto problemĂĄtico, o presente texto estabelece um debate visando uma Sociologia do Turismo Urbano alicerçada numa Pesquisa Aberta (Open Research). Uma tal perspetiva inclui simultaneamente reflexĂ”es teĂłricas e estudos empĂ­ricos, metodologias tradicionais e digitais, equipas nacionais e internacionais, em suma culturas de investigação interculturais e transculturais. Para isso, desenvolve-se concretamente um debate teĂłrico / prĂĄtico sobre os seguintes assuntos e meios: Projeto: para um turismo urbano inteligente e viagens sociais. Ferramentas: Guias para viagens sociais e sociolĂłgicas, visando uma HistĂłria SociolĂłgica e uma Sociologia HistĂłrica das cidades turĂ­sticas. Media: App Paper: um protĂłtipo de uma app hibridizada com um e-book, que pode ser usado para apresentação de papers em congressos, para a construção de Sociological Touring Guides, etc. MĂ©todo: porquĂȘ e como usar um Guia SociolĂłgico na forma de um App Paper ou de outros apps e e-books. ConteĂșdos destinados a Guias SociolĂłgicos, para uso por habitantes / cidadĂŁos, passeantes / turistas e estrangeiros / migrantes
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