Interactive Techniques and Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis

This chapter reviews the ideas behind interactive and exploratory spatial data analysis and their relation to GIS. Three important aspects are considered. First, an overview is presented of the principles behind interactive spatial data analysis, based on insights from the use of dynamic graphics in statistics and their extension to spatial data. This is followed by a review of spatialised exploratory data analysis (EDA) techniques, that is, ways in which a spatial representation can be given to standard EDA tools by associating them with particular locations or spatial subsets of the data. The third aspect covers the main ideas behind true exploratory spatial data analysis, emphasising the concern with visualising spatial distributions and local patterns of spatial autocorrelation. The geostatistical perspective is considered, typically taken in the physical sciences, as well as the lattice perspective, more familiar in the social sciences. The chapter closes with a brief discussion of implementation issues and future directions

Theory and methods in spatial analysis: towards integrating qualitative, quantitative and cartographic approaches in the social sciences and humanities

A main obstacle for integrating the methodological debates on spatial analysis in diverse social sciences and humanities (such as Sociology, Geography, History and Cultural Studies) is the lack of a common definition of research goals and theories of space. Starting from the discussion on absolute and relational space concepts as well as the observation that space is a multi-level-phenomenon consisting of different spatial layers which interact with time layers, the authors argue that all spatial problems can be categorized into one of five dimensions: (1) Thinking and Imagining Space; (2) Creating and Changing Space; (3) Experiencing, Appropriating and Orientating within Space; (4) (Inter)Action and Distribution within Space; and (5) Relations and Movements between Spaces. The authors discuss the contribution of various qualitative approaches (e.g. ethnography, case studies and discourse analysis), quantitative approaches (e.g. surveys, public administrational data and GIS) and cartographic approaches for analysing these dimensions and conclude with open questions for future research

Modelling and simulating change in reforesting mountain landscapes using a social-ecological framework

Natural reforestation of European mountain landscapes raises major environmental and societal issues. With local stakeholders in the Pyrenees National Park area (France), we studied agricultural landscape colonisation by ash (Fraxinus excelsior) to enlighten its impacts on biodiversity and other landscape functions of importance for the valley socio-economics. The study comprised an integrated assessment of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) since the 1950s, and a scenario analysis of alternative future policy. We combined knowledge and methods from landscape ecology, land change and agricultural sciences, and a set of coordinated field studies to capture interactions and feedback in the local landscape/land-use system. Our results elicited the hierarchically-nested relationships between social and ecological processes. Agricultural change played a preeminent role in the spatial and temporal patterns of LUCC. Landscape colonisation by ash at the parcel level of organisation was merely controlled by grassland management, and in fact depended on the farmer's land management at the whole-farm level. LUCC patterns at the landscape level depended to a great extent on interactions between farm household behaviours and the spatial arrangement of landholdings within the landscape mosaic. Our results stressed the need to represent the local SES function at a fine scale to adequately capture scenarios of change in landscape functions. These findings orientated our modelling choices in the building an agent-based model for LUCC simulation (SMASH - Spatialized Multi-Agent System of landscape colonization by ASH). We discuss our method and results with reference to topical issues in interdisciplinary research into the sustainability of multifunctional landscapes

Evaluating the impact of highway construction projects on landscape ecological risks in high altitude plateaus

[EN] In China and other countries, many highway projects are built in extensive and high-altitude flat areas called plateaus. However, research on how the materialisation of these projects produce a series of ecological risks in the landscape is very limited. In this research, a landscape ecological risk analysis model for high-altitude plateaus is proposed. This model is based on the pattern of land uses of the surrounding area. Our study includes buffer analysis, spatial analysis, and geostatistical analysis. We apply the model to the Qumei to Gangba highway, a highway section located in the southeast city of Shigatse at the Chinese Tibet autonomous region. Through global and local spatial autocorrelation analysis, the spatial clustering distribution of ecological risks is also explored. Overall, our study reveals the spatial heterogeneity of ecological risks and how to better mitigate them. According to a comparison of the risk changes in two stages (before and after the highway construction), the impact of highway construction on the ecological environment can be comprehensively quantified. This research will be of interest to construction practitioners seeking to minimize the impact of highway construction projects on the ecological environment. It will also inform future empirical studies in the area of environmental engineering with potential affection to the landscape in high-altitude plateaus.This research is supported by the Branch of China Road and Bridge Corporation (Cambodia) Technology Development Project (No.2020-zlkj-04); National Social Science Fund Projects (No.20BJY010); National Social Science Fund Post-financing Projects (No.19FJYB017); Sichuan-Tibet Railway Major Fundamental Science Problems Special Fund (No.71942006); Qinghai Natural Science Foundation (No. 2020-JY-736); List of Key Science and Technology Projects in China's Transportation Industry in 2018-International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (Nos. 2018-GH-006 and 2019-MS5-100); Emerging Engineering Education Research and Practice Project of Ministry of Education of China (No. E-GKRWJC20202914); Shaanxi Social Science Fund (No. 2017S004); Xi'an Construction Science and Technology Planning Project (Nos. SZJJ201915 and SZJJ201916); Shaanxi Province Higher Education Teaching Reform Project (No. 19BZ016); Fundamental Research for Funds for the Central Universities (Humanities and Social Sciences), Chang'an University (Nos. 300102239616, 300102281669 and 300102231641).Li, C.; Zhang, J.; Philbin, SP.; Yang, X.; Dong, Z.; Hong, J.; Ballesteros-Pérez, P. (2022). Evaluating the impact of highway construction projects on landscape ecological risks in high altitude plateaus. Scientific Reports. 12(1):1-16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08788-811612

Applying a social-ecological systems approach to human-bear encounters across the Pacific Rim: advancing resilient human-wildlife management strategies

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014.Wildlife management is challenged with addressing human resource needs while simultaneously conserving wildlife populations. Conflicts between humans and wildlife have increased across Northern countries with the expansion of human communities and environmental changes. Lack of information exists about reasons for such occurrences. This study explores adaptive capacity and resilience in coupled human-wildlife systems through the analysis of social and ecological factors contributing to perceptions of negative and positive human-bear (Ursus spp.) encounters. I first developed a theory to evaluate human perceptions and behaviors during human-wildlife encounters. Secondly I adopted an interdisciplinary framework to analyze human-bear encounters in urbanizing regions of south Sakhalin Island, Russian Far-East, and southcentral Alaska, USA. These case studies facilitate an analysis of perception development across spatial and social scales while incorporating approaches of both social and ecological sciences. Hunting, tourism and overall anthropogenic impacts are central to bear management, whereas cultural and social interests are perceived to not be considered in bear management decision-making across study regions. In Alaska, political interests are prevalent in bear management, whereas on Sakhalin, economic interests, including illegal animal trade and poaching prevail. Across study regions the perception of an encounter with a bear was dependent on the socio-economic situation of the individual having the encounter. The higher a person's socio-economic status was, the higher was their probability to perceive bear encounters as positive. Further, spatial and social scales across which perceptions vary are identified. Scales include urban-non-urban areas, wildland-urban interfaces, and a recreation-subsistence interest divide. Outside of urban areas, people's interests in recreation versus subsistence affect their perceptions toward bear encounters. Subsistence collectors of fish, game or plants are more likely to have negative encounters. Within urban areas, increased experience with encountering bears and length of residency are associated with positive encounters, whereas closeness to residences while not in sheltered environments increases negative encounters. These findings constitute spatial and social barriers and benefits to individualistic perception formation during human-bear encounters. Their identification advances resilience in researched human-wildlife systems and helps us to understand the adaptive capacities within these communities. The successful spatially-explicit integration of social and ecological variables promotes the opportunities for integrating human dimensions in wildlife management.General Acknowledgements -- Chapter 2: Integrating complexity in the management of human-wildlife encounters -- Chapter 3: Understanding local peoples' perceptions toward bear management in Northern urbanizing regions -- Chapter 4: Spatial explicit perception mapping: socio-economic circumstances to impact perceptions and spatial pattern of human-bear encounters across scale -- Chapter 5: The impact of spatially explicit ecological and social variables on the development of perceptions during bear encounters in southcentral Alaska -- Chapter 6: General conclusions and future recommendations -- Appendices

The dynamics of global public research funding on climate change, energy, transport, and industrial decarbonisation

This paper explores the funding trends, topical themes, and notable gaps in global public research funding across the areas of energy, climate change, transport, and industrial decarbonisation from 1990 to 2020. The paper organizes its analysis along the themes of financial and spatial patterns of funding, patterns of disciplinary funding, and the temporality (and shifting research priorities) within funding patterns. It finds that funding for energy and climate research remains concentrated within the European Commission, United Kingdom and United States. Climate change adaptation research is the most funded general area, and the specific topics of energy efficiency, climate resilience, and climate information systems, managing climate risks, energy storage, carbon dioxide removal and solar energy are the most funded technologies. There is significant diversity in the disciplines funded, with the social sciences supported almost as much as the engineering and physical sciences and meaningful amounts of funding disbursed to the arts and humanities and the life sciences. A large majority of projects identify themselves as transdisciplinary. The paper, lastly, discusses research gaps and future research questions

Human–values–beauty city–architect–composition

The hereby work represents an diagnostic & prognostic analysis, concerning a creation of cities - an actual, and a pointed towards the near future. A basis of the method constructed for research is an extraction of two most important types of conditions. The first of them is/are: a subject/subjects, and the other are: an object/objects. Subjective condition/s are human being/people, hence objective condition/s are projects/real implementations made in scales of: physical/spatial planning, urbanism and architecture. The research upon subjects remains in the sphere of humanist sciences as: philosophy, philosophy, social psychology, sociology, economy, etc. The research upon objects remains in the sphere sciences dealing with a physical space, e.g.: regional, urban and architectural - analysis, theory and design ‒ all of them including aesthetics as a philosophical bridge between theory and praxis. Logical overlapping and mutual penetrating of subjects and objects, reflect in a quality of a city as a place of humans. In the perspective view between: from one side the contemporary crisis in the planning and urban design, and from the second side inevitable growth of cities - hereby field of survey seems to be worth a care, widening and deepening

The global issue 'mega-urbanization': An unsolvable challenge for stakeholders, researchers and residents?

This study aims at discussing the complex, multi-dimensional issue of the global phenomenon of urbanization. Based on a theoretical review and discussion on the situation of cities, the causes, dimensions and consequences of urban growth the idea is to raise the main questions for future activities to meet this challenge. For it a pragmatic and holistic framework is proposed to systematize the manifold approaches and to stimulate discussions on this issue addressing inter- and transdisciplinary thinking

Simulating farm income under the current soil management regime in the mid-hills of Nepal

Farmers in the mid-hills of Nepal follow diverse farming systems. The peri-urban area of this region, where population density is higher, faces several problems in farming. While hills suffer from erosion because they are erodible, the peri-urban areas face the problem of decline in factor productivity, particularly in intensively cultivated farmlands. The present study is concerned with simulating farm income on a regional scale based on soil management practices. Spatial explicit simulation shows that the loss of farm income due to degradation is substantially higher in hills while it is lower in valley bottoms. Strategy formulation and testing in the spatial environment indicates that Geographic Information System is an appropriate methodological tool for simulating the consequences of particular interventions