Recreation, tourism and nature in a changing world : proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 2010

Proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 201

Editing architecture: architect as mediumistic being

The creation of architecture is based on the relationship the designer has with media. Making media requires both a technical proficiency and a capacity to understand how the medium itself informs the architect and the creative work. I will explore through this thesis how the creation of media is not only a metaphor for the process of architecture, but the act of architecture itself. In addition to the making of media, this work will analyze editing media as a provocative interface of design. Finally, this work will focus on digital media-specifically digital video and the opportunities it may have to inform architecture and the education of architects. Based on the assumption that architecture itself is in fact media, the building itself, is merely a by-product of the process undergone through the manipulation of media. Given this perspective, the product can become different based on the media used in its creation. Architectural media can be created in many formats and for the sake of focus this work will concentrate on video, the manipulation of video, and the conceptual link between video editing and the making of architecture. Of the various forms of media that exist in contemporary culture, video and the manipulation of video stand out as an untapped resource for architecture. Architecture has an opportunity to benefit from moving images-how these images inform spatial perception, how the series of images may represent time and how relationships between spaces and ideas can be articulated through this medium. While the visual benefits of video may seem obvious, the way video is constructed offers another way to access an understanding of idea generation

Improving the aesthetic and other experiential design aspects of bicycle paths in Western Australia

Governments around Australia are in the process of promoting cycling as both a sustainable form of transport that can be a viable alternative to the motor vehicle, particularly for shorter trips, and as a healthy recreational pursuit that can play an important role in addressing the growing problem of obesity and illnesses associated with a sedentary lifestyle in the community. As part of this initiative, the development of effective and efficient infrastructure for bicycles is seen as a vital step for achieving higher participation rates. A major component of the nation’s bicycle infrastructure is the growing networks of paved paths and natural surface trails located in both urban and regional areas. A well-designed path or trail must meet agreed standards related to safety and function and, in order to achieve maximum usage, it must also create a desirable riding experience. While requirements for safety and function are well understood by path and trail planners, little empirical information has been produced to enable these planning professionals to understand the elements that impact upon an individual’s riding experience and to then incorporate them into the design process. Accordingly, the overall aim of this research was to investigate how the aesthetic, cultural and other experiential design aspects of bicycle paths and trails can enhance the perceived riding experience. A secondary objective of the project involved a determination of the procedural factors guiding the local path and trail design protocols and process. A third objective was to gain an insight into the most effective method of communicating the benefits of these riding environments to important target groups. Following the establishment of a theoretical framework incorporating the psychophysical nature of cycling, the effect of landscape and current design practices, the research progressed through several stages beginning with an autoethnography examining the researcher’s extensive experience in the promotion of cycling in Western Australia, augmented by in-depth discussions with leading key informants. This was followed by a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodology to gauge perception of various elements of in-situ and photo-surrogate path-riding environments among the general population in Perth, Western Australia. The findings indicate that there are specific experiential design aspects related to the riding environment, surrounding landscape or associated features that can directly influence a person’s decision to use a particular path, trail or route. The research also identified preferred communication strategies and found deficiencies in the current design process that if addressed, could lead to the development of better received and patronised riding environments. It is intended that the outcome of this research will be to provide a design framework to guide path and trail planners in the development of facilities that enhance the overall riding experience. A number of agencies responsible for developing bicycle infrastructure, or design standards, have indicated a desire to access parts of this research project for use in the decision-making process, thus achieving a better balance between safety, functional and experiential aspects

An integrated study of earth resources in the state of California using remote sensing techniques, volume 2

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Transport and travel in a fragile rural tourist destination: a social representations perspective of residents' and visitors' mobility patterns.

It is a well established fact that visitors to rural destinations in the UK and other parts of Europe are highly car dependent. This car dependency has resulted in a variety of initiatives intended to tackle the associated undesirable consequences. While there are some success stories, the negative impacts of transport still pervade for residents and visitors in many destination areas. Few studies address the social assumptions that underlie travel behaviour decisions. When Moscovici's social representations theory is employed it suggests that we should develop and draw on shared perceptions, or theories, of the world around us in order to interpret our behaviour. Social representations theory offers a dynamic approach to understanding how social conceptions shape our understanding of transport and travel behaviour. This approach brings in a theoretical perspective that has been absent from tourism and local transport literature and is largely absent from the wider transport debate. The aim of the study was to enhance the understanding of tourism and leisure mobility in a rural tourism context by applying social representations theory. A case study approach was employed to provide an in-depth investigation of the transport issues in a fragile tourism destination area: Purbeck, Dorset, UK. The study includes exploratory research to define the important value concepts for the population in the study area relating to transport and tourism, followed by an examination of travel patterns and travel behaviour of visitors to the area through the use of a travel diary. Finally, a questionnaire survey was undertaken with visitors at various attractions in the area. A social representations perspective demonstrates the importance of examining the social reality and the social processes that underlie people's decision making. The findings indicate that there are pervasive representations of tourism and transport forming a socially constructed consensus which shapes views of transport and tourism. While the study shows that people would like public transport to be improved, this is essentially an idealised representation and an idea perpetuated by a public that makes little use of public transport and has little intention of leaving the car behind. Arguably, people have developed a social construction of how to deal with transport problems whereby the failure of public transport reinforces the existing situation of high car use and there is little attempt to restrict car use. This study challenges this strategy and discusses practical implications for managing mobility in sensitive rural destinations

The culture of conservation : an ethnographic interpretation of the re-use of historic urban industrial buildings in England

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Measuring the obesogenic environment of childhood obesity

Obesity prevalence has accelerated over the last two decades and is predicted to continue to rise, bringing with it increased morbidity and mortality as well as rising dramatically health care costs. Obesogenic environments are one of the explanations for the rising prevalence. Accordingly this thesis investigates the obesogenic environment factors, as well as obesogenic behaviour factors, associated with the increased prevalence of childhood obesity, using familiar geographical techniques in novel ways. These results were then applied to develop a targeted childhood obesity prevention policy for Leeds to reduce the risk of childhood obesity in different populations. In this ecological study body mass index in Leeds for children aged 3 to 13 years old was examined to measure variations in childhood obesity. Spatial microsimulation modelling was utilised to give synthetic individual estimates of obesogenic covariates (e. g. obesogenic environment variables such as socio-economic characteristics and perceived social capital; individuals' behavioural variables such as dietary variables and physical activity levels) at the micro level. Additionally two demographic indices based on the 2001 Census were employed. The relationship between childhood obesity and the obesogenic covariates were considered at the home and school level using a combination of spatial statistical techniques. Spatial microsimulation modelling was shown to be a robust method to estimate obesogenic covariates at the micro-level. In the design of a spatial microsimulation model using a deterministic re-weighting algorithm, the input variables must be strongly correlated with the output variables to be able to accurately simulate micro-area estimates. Also this thesis has highlighted that there is considerable advantage to analysing health data at a small scale, otherwise micro-level differences are simply "averaged" away and missed. As well as showing that individuals' behaviours are important in determining risk of childhood obesity, this study adds to the increasing evidence of the existence of "obesogenic environments": features of the local environment in Leeds may affect childhood obesity by changing health behaviours. There was significant variation in childhood obesity across Leeds, with "hot spots" in both deprived and affluent areas. Further, relationships between obesogenic covariates and childhood obesity were not uniform across Leeds, highlighting the need for tailored, multifaceted public health policies that are based on locally relevant evidence

Ecotourism and its ecological impact: A study of tourist developments in the Mara

The increased growth of wildlife tourism in Kenya over the last few decades has placed increasing demand and attention for the development and subsequent delivery of sustainable tourism. Today ecotourism ventures are perceived by many as a solution to the negative impacts of "traditional" wildlife tourism and thus a way to achieve ecologicalsustainability within the industry. To date however, there has been no attempt to qualifyand quantify any possible wildlife impacts of ecotourism - the basis of this research, usingthe Mara Ecosystem as a case study. Using WildKnowledge© software, this research recorded biotic and abiotic data from wildlife tourism developments of various sizes and assessed their anthropogenic impacts upon key ungulate species in the ecosystem over a three year period. The findings of this aspect of the research indicate that the effects of the tourism industry on wildlife are highly species specific. In particular Buffalo were most affected by differences in tourism seasonal variability (X2=5.040, df=l, p=O.025), distance to developments (X2=23.341, df=l, p=O.OOO) and group size (X2=7.998, df=1, p=O.005) between the different lodge types. In contrast, waterbuck and eland displayed similar patterns of disturbance irrespective of lodge type or tourism seasonal variability. Using historical species count data spanning a twenty year period, kernel density maps were constructed to demonstrate spatial changes in ungulate density and distribution patterns in relation to tourism growth. The resulting density maps revealed that while the national reserve offered a measure of security to wildlife, many ungulate species still heavily utilised their historical dispersal areas in the community lands. Interestingly, despite the tourism related land use changes demonstrated in the Mara's landscape, some species e.g. eland, displayed an increase in range size - to 4s0.5km2 in 2010 from 399.Skm2 in 2005 following the creation of wildlife conservancies in the surrounding ranches.Constructing site suitability models, the research explored how GIS modelling techniques can be employed to identify suitable locations for tourist accommodation, without compromising the ecological integrity of the wildlife areas where these facilities will be located. Employing two different bed occupancy models (conservancy model; 350 acres/bed and a current model; ; 174 acres/bed, derived from existing facilities), the Mara Ecosystem's ability to accommodate further tourism growth at low ecological cost was demonstrated. Application of the highest suitability criteria to select potential development sites revealed two suitable locations. A further 54 locations were identified as suitable for ecocamps and ecolodges on application of the second highest site selection suitability criteria. Importantly, the models employed clearly demonstrate that the majority of future ecotourism facilities be located outside the National Reserve in the group ranches if they are to have limited wildlife impact, as over-utilisation of any single sections of the ecosystem will lead to resource depletion and localized species loss. The results presented highlight the need for a more integrative approach to ecotourism provision. The utility of GIS based models to project the impacts of human disturbances on wildlife populations under different tourism scenarios is reinforced by this research. These suitability models are easily modified and can therefore be used under different planning scenarios in other wildlife areas in Kenya and the region. It is therefore hoped, that the results from this study will influence policy direction for tourism planning in wildlife areas for the Mara and other ecosystems, and be used to complement the country's tourism and wildlife bills which are about to be passed into law. This research concludes that although ecotourism plays an important role in environmental conservation, its ecological impacts on wildlife in receiving environments can be significant and should be a primary consideration in deciding upon the efficacy of individual proposals