A century of tourism in Europe. New challenges to the discipline of Urbanism

Tourism is one of the most important modern phenomena of the last hundred years. Not only for its economic significance, but also by the changes it has produced in the city and the territory. Unfortunately, in many cases its economic success has exceeded the growth forecast, destroying what had been its raison d’être: the city.Urban planning and architecture have participated in this process by showing their contempt with the physical consequences of this slackness. The discipline seems not to have understood that we are in front of a major phenomenon that needs its own tools to face these transformations.Nowadays, in the early twenty-first century, there are two different challenges: how to turn the tourist conglomeration in Southern European coast into a city, and how to include the matter of leisure in the postindustrial city debate.El turismo es una de los fenómenos modernos más importantes de los últimos cien años. No sólo por su repercusión económica, sino también por los cambios que ha generado en la ciudad y el territorio. Desafortunadamente, en muchos casos su éxito económico ha superado la previsión de crecimiento, destruyendo lo que había sido su raison d’être: la ciudad.El planeamiento urbanístico y la arquitectura han sido participes de este proceso al mostrar desprecio por las consecuencias físicas de esta dejadez. Estas disciplinas parecen no haber entendido que nos encontramos delante de un fenómeno mayor que necesita herramientas propias para enfrentarse a estas transformaciones.Hoy en día, a principios del siglo XXI, hay dos retos diferentes: cómo transformar el conglomerado turístico en la costa sur de Europa en una ciudad, y cómo incluir la temática del ocio en el debate de ciudad postindustrial.

La digitalització de documentació històrica: patrimoni i noves tecnologies a l'Arxiu Comarcal de la Conca de Barberà

L�Arxiu Comarcal de la Conca de Barberà, és pioner en la digitalització de documentació, amb l�objectiu de preservar i difondre el seu patrimoni cultural Des de 2010, s�està procedint als treballs de digitalització de la documentació històrica i administrativa dels 22 ajuntaments de la comarca, principalment, els llibres d�actes municipals, a més d�altra documentació. El document digital és creat amb tres formats, un de conservació i dos de consulta. El TIFF és el fitxer mestre, de gran resolució i el qual la Generalitat de Catalunya n�assegura la migració i la preservació; el JPEG i el PDF són els formats que se�n deriven: el primer reprodueix una imatge amb una resolució més baixa, i el segon és un multipàgina que, si està escrit a màquina, permet la incorporació del reconeixement òptic de paraules. Finalment, i de manera progressiva, tots els documents digitals són pujats a internet.«Conca de Barberà» Local Archives is pioneering in the digitalisation of documentation, with the aim to preserve and spread its cultural heritage. Since 2010, it is proceeding to the works of digitalisation of the historical and administrative documentation of the 22 local city councils, mainly, the book of municipal minutes, in addition to other documentation. The digital document is created in three formats, one of conservation and two of query. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is the master file document, of big resolution and of which Generalitat of Catalonia ensures migration and preservation; JPEG (whose name comes from the one who created it, Joint Photographic Expert Group), and PDF (Portable Document Formed) are the formats that derive from it: the first reproduces an image with lower resolution, and the second one is a multipage that, if it is written by machine, allows the optical recognition of words. Finally, and progressively, all digital documents are gone up to Internet.L�Arxiu Comarcal de la Conca de Barberà, és pionero en la digitalización de documentación, con el objectivo de preservar y difundir su patrimonio cultural. Desde 2010, se está procediendo a las tareas de digitalización de la documentación histórica y administrativa de los 22 ayuntamientos de la comarca, principalmente, los libros de actas municipales, además de otra documentación. El documento digital se crea en tres formatos, uno de conservación y dos de consulta. El TIFF es el fichero base, de gran resolución y del cual, la Generalitat de Catalunya asegura la migración y la preservación; el JPEG y el PDF son los formatos que se derivan: el primero reproduce una imagen con una resolución más baja, mientras que el segundo es un multipágina, que si está escrito a máquina, permite la incorporación del reconocimiento óptico de las palabras. Finalmente, y de manera progresiva, todos los documentos digitales son expuestos a internet

Encroachment of shrubs into subalpine grasslands in the Pyrenees changes the plant-soil stoichiometry spectrum

Aims: shrub encroachment has been reported over a large proportion of the subalpine grasslands across Europe and is expected to have an important impact on the biogeochemical cycle of these ecosystems. We investigated the stoichiometric changes in the plant-soil system along the succession (e.g. increase in encroachment from unencroached grassland to mature shrubland) at two contrasting sites in the Pyrenees. - Methods: we analyzed the chemical composition (C, N,¹⁵N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Fe) in the soil and in the aboveground plant compartments (leaves, leaf-litter and stems) of the main herbaceous species and shrubs at three contrasting stages of the succession: unencroached grassland, young shrubland and mature shrubland. - Results: the plant-soil stoichiometry spectrum differed between the successional stages. Shrub encroachment generally increased the concentration of C and Ca and the C:N ratio and often reduced to concentrations of N, P and K in the leaves and leaf-litter, while several soil nutrient concentrations (N, P, K Ca and Mg) decreased. The stocks of C, N, P, Ca, and Mg in the total aboveground biomass increased with encroachment. - Conclusions: shrub encroachment favored the dominance of long-lived species with low concentrations of N and P in the plant-soil compartments, high C:nutrient ratios in the aboveground biomass and increase the uptake of N through ericoid or ectomycorrhizal fungi. We highlight the role of shrubs in the sequestration of C and nutrients through the allocation to the aboveground biomass. The changes in plant-soil elemental composition and stocks suggest a slowdown of the biogeochemical cycles in the subalpine mountain areas where shrub encroachment occurred

Syntaxonomic conspectus of the vegetation of Catalonia and Andorra. II: Ruderal communities

This paper deals with plant communities settling on ruderalized sites, such as crop fields, edges of roads or paths, forest clearings, river banks, and other disturbed areas. We report all the phytosociological associations and subassociations recorded from Catalonia and Andorra, as the second part of a general vegetation survey, started with Ninot et al. (2000). For each community, we provide the correct name and usual synonyms, its typification (where appropriate), all the references including relevés, and the most outstanding features of its structure, species composition, ecology, distribution and diversity. Moreover, associations and subassociations are ordered in a syntaxonomic scheme. Syntaxonomic ranks are considered in a fairly broad, conservative sense. This classification established 156 associations and 6 informal community types, which correspond to the classes Oryzetea sativae, Stellarietea mediae, Sisymbrietea officinalis, Artemisietea vulgaris, Cakiletea maritimae, Saginetea maritimae, Pegano-Salsoletea vermiculatae, Bidentetea tripartitae, Polygono-Poetea annuae, Rudero-Manihotetea utilissimae and Epilobietea angustifolii. Complementarily, we propose corrections of names when appropriate, and eventually formalize the description of a few syntaxa

Syntaxonomic conspectus of the vegetation of Catalonia and Andorra. II: Ruderal communities

This paper deals with plant communities settling on ruderalized sites, such as crop fields, edges of roads or paths, forest clearings, river banks, and other disturbed areas. We report all the phytosociological associations and subassociations recorded from Catalonia and Andorra, as the second part of a general vegetation survey, started with Ninot et al. (2000). For each community, we provide the correct name and usual synonyms, its typification (where appropriate), all the references including relevés, and the most outstanding features of its structure, species composition, ecology, distribution and diversity. Moreover, associations and subassociations are ordered in a syntaxonomic scheme. Syntaxonomic ranks are considered in a fairly broad, conservative sense. This classification established 156 associations and 6 informal community types, which correspond to the classes Oryzetea sativae, Stellarietea mediae, Sisymbrietea officinalis, Artemisietea vulgaris, Cakiletea maritimae, Saginetea maritimae, Pegano-Salsoletea vermiculatae, Bidentetea tripartitae, Polygono-Poetea annuae, Rudero-Manihotetea utilissimae and Epilobietea angustifolii. Complementarily, we propose corrections of names when appropriate, and eventually formalize the description of a few syntaxa