Population Resettlement Research Articles

In situ measurement of cesium-137 contamination in fruits from the northern Marshall Islands

Radioactive contamination of fruits in the northern Marshall Islands, resulting from the US nuclear weapons testing program in the 1940s and 1950s, is still a human health concern, in particular pertaining to island population resettlement and the economic benefit from farming. Over 200 fruits, primarily coconuts and pandanus, were collected on 11 islands from four atolls in the northern Marshall Islands in 2017. The energy spectra from nuclear gamma decays were measured on a research vessel for each fruit in situ. From these recordings, the level of cesium-137 (137Cs) contamination was determined for individual fruits. Comparisons of the results are made to past studies and international food safety standards. There is a broad distribution of values, ranging from below detectable radiation levels to relatively high levels; safety concerns are largest for Bikini Island. A noticeable fraction of fruits from Bikini have significantly higher levels of 137Cs contamination compared with those from all other measured islands.

6 Gated Communities, Neighborhoods, and Modular Living at the Early Horizon Urban Center of Caylán, Peru

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the shift to enclosed forms of residence and modular living in the context of emerging urbanism during the Early Horizon in the Nepeña Valley, north‐central coast of Peru. During the local Nepeña phase (800–450 cal BCE), complex agrarian groups living in the lower portion of the coastal drainage interrupt constructions at ceremonial centers of the Chavín and Cupinisque religious traditions and relocate on the valley margins, most notably at Caylán (800–1 cal BCE). Regional data suggest that religio‐political turmoil and increased conflicts played a significant role in the nucleation of human groups. Indeed, the following Samanco phase (450–150 cal BCE) is associated with the construction of extensive defensive structures and the relocation of human populations. Architectural data point to the existence of more than 40 gated complexes at Caylán. Based on preliminary excavation data, those are interpreted as multifunctional residences. This paper offers an empirical case study to evaluate the usefulness and flexibility of the concept of neighborhood in the context of co‐resident gated communities. By examining the layout and planning of the Caylán settlement, and the architecture and spatial variability of its multifamily compounds, we consider potential forms of household, community, and neighborhood organizations. Based on excavation data and demographic estimations we explore the heuristic value of the concept of neighborhood to understand face‐to‐face interactions between members of the different gated communities. We suggest that those communities might be comparable to the house societies of anthropological literature. Regional data, meanwhile, suggest that groups merging at Caylán maintained hinterland connections including with agrarian and maritime communities.

A status of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) and pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) population transferred from wildlife to the breeding assessed based on the histone H1.c’ polymorphic variation

The genetic changes accompanying a relocation of population to the captivity are mostly adverse and usually associated with deterioration of its status. These alterations are greater in small populations in which a loss of genetic variation limits the capability to adaptation. In this work, a status of small-sized guinea fowl and pheasant population relocated to the breeding is presented. These populations were analyzed based on the polymorphism of histone H1.c’, the protein for the first time identified as a heterogeneous. Histone H1.c’ was resolved in the two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel into the isoform H1.c’1 and H1.c’2, so its heterogeneity corresponds to the presence of homozygous phenotypes c’1 and c’2. Because no histone H1.c’ heterozygous phenotype was found, a significant phenotypic diversity in the guinea fowl ( P = 0.023) and pheasant ( P = 0.018) population was detected, together with its departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ( P < 0.0001). Both populations characterize an extreme loss of genetic diversity due to complete inbreeding ( F = 1) and an impact of genetic drift which, according to the expected values for guinea fowl (0.192) and pheasant (0.182) population, may strongly diminish allele frequency in the following generations. Thus, condition of populations evaluated based on the histone H1.c’ polymorphic variants, recognized as reasonable informative genetic markers (polymorphism information content of guinea fowl = 0.4 and pheasant = 0.38), corresponds to reduction of genetic variability caused by inbreeding and genetic drift. Therefore, it seems that rearing in the captivity can bring negative effects that favor restriction of animals’ vitality and survival of the population.

Processes of Regional Configuration and Localities of Uruguay 1900-1960

The objective of the article is to describe the social structure of Uruguay at the beginning of the sixties, presenting the social differences that configured the level of urban centers or localities since the beginning of the 20th century. The willing is to identify what historical processes would have intervened to have institutionalized a highly heterogeneous distribution of welfare in the territory.BR The sources of information are four: (i) the population censuses of 1908 and 1963; (ii) the agricultural censuses of 1908, 1951, 1956 and 1961; (iii) the work of historical demography; and (iv) the indices published by the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses in 1971 and 1989. Due to the lack of a dictionary of the localities, the authors matched these sources.BR The regional configuration processes analyzed here are: the departmentalization of the territory; the agriculturization; the industrialization and the balnearización. In each case, the regional and local impact of the political, economic and social transformation is analyzed. The article dedicate a wide space to describe the changes in the entity, the legal status, the territorial distribution and the wellbeing of the localities, marking especially those under 1500 inhabitants, which make up an important micro-urbanization of the country.BR The foundation of 70% of the localities occurred during the reformist period that locates that project as a type of “social democratic” State with its “Bismarkian” type traits. The institutionalization of these territories is based on their precarious and very poor character, the inequality in the most elementary welfare enjoyed by the established towns and cities increases.BR The processes of spatialization that reconfigured the territory during this time, contributed to the urbanization and population relocation, but in a framework in the political project of the “small model country” did not plan on the territory, the state have no special attention to correct the asymmetries in local welfare distribution structures.BR We finished with the hypothesis that beyond the social advances of the “Battlista” period, the territorial inequality of opportunities has grown between 1908 and 1963 because the lack of a public planification.

Виды экономической деятельности в сфере занятости Кыргызской Республики: геоинформационный анализ по переписи населения 2009 г.

Рассмотрены возможности использования гео-информационных технологий при изучении видов экономической деятельности в сфере занятости Кыргызской Республики по результатам переписи населения 2009 г. Показано состояние трудовых ресурсов в республике, рассмотрены проблемы занятости. Главным фактором формирования трудовых ресурсов в современных условиях в Кыргызстане является молодежь в возрасте от 16 лет. Сложившиеся в постсоветский период экономические условия и осложнение демографической ситуации, переезд сельского трудоспособного населения в города, порождающие избыточность и невостребованность трудовых ресурсов в городах Кыргызской Республики, дают в результате сильный отток населения в другие страны. На основе геоинформационного анализа проанализированы основные тенденции указанных процессов и созданы карты, иллюстрирующие эти процессы. Геоинформационные технологии как инструмент пространственного анализа и визуализации полученных результатов позволяют эффективно проанализировать занятость по видам экономической деятельности на территории Кыргызстана.

English

Ethiopia has been practicing population resettlement programmes since 1960s mainly as a response to extreme land degradation in the highlands. The programmes were carried out mainly in the lowlands of western, southwestern and southern Ethiopia. Accordingly, 12,305 households (56,715 people) from Eastern and Western Hararghe zones were formally resettled in Chamen-Didhessa forest in Chewaka district. The major aim of this study was to assess the impacts of resettlement on the forest cover between 2004 and 2016. Data about the size of farmland held by the respondents and other issues related to the forest were randomly collected from 360 households from four sites through semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of the 54,200 ha of the natural forest, 38,906 ha (72%) was cleared by the government during the preparation for the resettlement programme in 2004. About 58% of the remaining forest land was deforested by the resettlers between 2004 and 2016. The average of farmland possessed by each household was 1.74 ha at the beginning of settlement in 2004 and it increased to 2.1 ha in 2016. The major causes for the forest cover reduction after the settlement were clearing of forest for farmland expansion, forest burning, cutting of trees for firewood, charcoal production and construction wood and logging. The human population increased from 12,305 households (56,715 people) in 2004 to 19,415 households (71,809 people) in 2016. The government has to take measure to rehabilitate the forest and conserve the remaining one. Key words: Chewaka district, deforestation, forest, forest resource, population pressure, resettlement.

Children of Another Land: Social Disarticulation, Access to Natural Resources and the Reconfiguration of Authority in Post Resettlement

The breakdown of social order, social disarticulation, is a common impact of population resettlement. This article shows that social disarticulation results from the dissolution and reconstruction of authority through which people gain, maintain, and control access to essential resources in response to changes in the material conditions inherent in resettlement. Resource access—and the relations it implies—is required for long-term autonomy and security. When new patterns or hierarchies of resource control lead to some part of the group being disadvantaged via subordination to others or exclusion from resource enjoyment, resettled villages experience social disarticulation. We explore this access realignment and differentiation process in the case of the resettlement of two natural resource-dependent communities out of the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

Unity in Diversity? How Intergroup Contact Can Foster Nation Building

We use a population resettlement program in Indonesia to identify long-run effects of intergroup contact on national integration. In the 1980s, the government relocated two million ethnically diverse migrants into hundreds of new communities. We find greater integration in fractionalized communities with many small groups, as measured by national language use at home, intermarriage, and children’s name choices. However, in polarized communities with a few large groups, ethnic attachment increases and integration declines. Residential segregation dampens these effects. Social capital, public goods, and ethnic conflict follow similar patterns. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of localized contact in shaping identity. (JEL D63, J12, J15, J18, O15, R23, Z13)

Spatial and welfare effects of automated driving: Will cities grow, decline or both?

This paper shows that automated driving can lead both, to growth and decline of cities. We simulate spatial effects of automated driving for the Netherlands using LUCA, the Dutch spatial general equilibrium model. Two components of automation are accounted for: (i) more productive time use during car trips; (ii) fast and comfortable door-to-door automated public transit. We find that the car component results in population flight from cities, while the public transit component leads to population clustering in urban areas. A combination of the two may result in the population concentrating in the largest, most attractive cities, at the expense of smaller cities and non-urban regions. The simulations suggest that welfare benefits of automation are considerable, with up to 10% coming from population relocation and changes in land use. Our results are particularly relevant for countries where public transit claims a considerable share of urban mobility. Neglecting the impact of vehicle automation on public transit could result in biased policy recommendations.

El reasentamiento en contexto minero. Entre la sugestión y la imposición de un nuevo orden

According to the institutions (the International Financial Corporation - IFC and World Bank - WB) that regulate population resettlement and are in charge of issuing population resettlement standards, and, according to the entities that enforce these regulations, in theory, resettlements have to take place only when they are “necessary”. However, several cases has shown that what is necessary for mining projects developers differs from what is really necessary for their future neighbours - the population to be resettled. The argument of the political necessity of carrying out mining projects, almost instantaneously, annihilates any alternatives for a population to-be-displaced. This situation has revealed true power that is attributed to a mining company. By implementing a mining project, a mining company becomes the manager of the future of a community, hence of its present. Within the scope of this thesis we aimed to present the resettlement as a complex process of a “mining” government in rural context by using a broad approach applied to a Peruvian contemporary case. Our hypothesis is that a mining project builds a new social order on a territory where it settles in. Based on a case from Southern Peru, we have attempted to demonstrate in a pragmatic way the asymmetries of resources and power between a mining company and a peasant community.

O rozwoju polszczyzny na Ziemiach Zachodnich i Północnych. Kierunki Badań

Artykuł ma charakter przeglądowy. Autor omawia społeczno-kulturowe podłoże zmian językowych wywołanych przez powojenne ruchy migracyjne, przesiedlenia ludności i przemiany społeczno-ustrojowe. Prezentuje poszczególne kategorie ludności, które zasiedliły Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne, pod względem demograficznym, kulturowym i językowym. Wskazuje na sytuację ludności autochtonicznej i jej rolę w procesie integracyjnym. Analizuje przyczyny i uwarunkowania zmian o charakterze ogólnopaństwowym, lokalnym i indywidualnym. Porusza zagadnienie definicji terminu integracja językowa i ewolucji tego pojęcia. Przedstawia rozwój metodologii i dokonania badawcze.

Terra Incognita of the Russian Near North: Counter-Urbanization in Today’S Russia and the Formation of Dacha Communities

Abstract This article considers the salient features of counter-urbanization, which take place when urban residents, during the summer months, move to live in their second homes or their dachas [country homes or summer cottages]. Due to the social forces that are the result of incomplete urbanization, class polarization, and the rapid growth of major city centers, there are two powerful oppositional flows of migration taking place today in Russia. The first is centripetal migration or the movement of rural populations to large cities. The second form of migration is centrifugal migration or counterurbanization, which is the relocation of urban populations to rural areas. The article gives a theoretical overview of a new vision of migration as a part of modern flexible ‘liquid’ mobility, which enables urban residents to be constantly ‘on the move’, migrating between their urban apartments and suburban or distant dachas. A theoretical sociological background provides the field research, presented in the article, with an understanding of the realm of meanings of de-urbanization in a short and long historical run and in perspective. Russian men and women, who work in various professions due to advances in telecommunication technologies, are able to spend some extended periods at their dachas where they simultaneously work and enjoy the natural beauty and countryside. The different types of dachas in Russia that are either close to cities or in remote regions are examined. The case study of dacha counter-urbanization in the periphery region of Kostroma oblast' considers: 1) various features of the return counter-urbanization to remote dacha and 2) the social, economic and cultural effects that these dacha settlements have had on both the urban and rural residents.

Doomed to be Dammed? Analyzing the Different Outcomes of Three South American Megadams

AbstractHydroelectric dams are one of the cleanest, cheapest, and most efficient sources of energy in the world. However, megadams (those greater than 2,000 megawatts in production capacity) can incite substantial sociopolitical and environmental opposition because they displace people, animals, trees, and sediments. Despite heated disagreements surrounding all megadam construction, what factors increase the likelihood for some to be constructed while others are canceled? The purpose of this analysis is to illuminate those factors that shape these different outcomes using a most‐similar case design. It compares three megadams in South America: the Madeira project in Brazil, which was built; and the Inambari project in Peru and the HydroAysén project in Chile, both of which were canceled. The study finds that the diversity of protesters, unification of the social movement, domestic media coverage, and the sitting president’s popularity are all important factors that affect whether a megadam project is constructed. The findings from this article offer insights that both proponents and opponents of megadams need to closely consider.Related ArticlesRyan, Susannah. 2015. “White Gold and Troubled Waters in Southern Africa: Hydropolitical Policy’s Effect on Peace in Lesotho and South Africa.” Politics & Policy 43 (2): 239‐255. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12114Delshad, Ashlie B. 2013. “Telling Stories: Exogenous Influences on Media Presidential and Congressional Framing of Biofuels.” Politics & Policy 41 (2): 213‐240. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12009Khodr, Hiba, and Isabella Ruble. 2013. “Energy Policies and Domestic Politics in the MENA Region in the Aftermath of the Arab Upheavals: The Cases of Lebanon Libya and KSA.” Politics & Policy 41 (5): 656‐689. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12033Related MediaMurphy, Annie. 2011. “Chile Dam Project Sparks Protests.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13445300CentralInambari. 2011. “Proyecto Inambari: Plan De Reasentamiento Poblacional Concertado.” [Inambari Project: Agreed Population Resettlement Plan]. Video. https://youtu.be/5LjEXTnArWIPaz y Miño, Paul. 2007. “Environmentalists Go to Court to Suspend the Auction of Rio Madeira Dam Project.” Amazon Watch. https://amazonwatch.org/news/2007/1206-environmentalists-go-to-court-to-suspend-the-auction-of-rio-madeira-dam-project

Армяне России – геодемографические тенденции прошлого, современные реалии и перспективы

В статье анализируется количественный рост, пространственная динамика, гендерная структура и форма расселения армянского населения России в XVIII-XX веках. Изучено демографическое соотношение крупнейших региональных сообществ на разных этапах их развития. Определены основные исторические периоды геодемографической динамики армян России. 
 Первый может быть обозначен как «южнороссийский» (вторая треть XVIII века – 1920-е годы). На его протяжении подавляющая часть армянского населения России концентрировалась в пределах южного макрорегиона. На втором этапе (середина 1920-х – первая половина 1980-х гг.) армяне расселяются почти по всей территории РСФСР, но представляют внутренне слабосвязанные этнические группы. Третий период (вторая половина 1980-х – настоящее время) связан с трансформацией данных групп в развитые региональные общины.
 Три века количественного роста позволили армянам стать к началу XXI века одним из крупнейших народов Российской Федерации. В среднесрочной перспективе (к 2030 г.) при благоприятном сценарии демографической динамики армяне в состоянии занять третью позицию в демографическом рейтинге народов России (следом за русскими и татарами).

New Insights From Pre-Columbian Land Use and Fire Management in Amazonian Dark Earth Forests

Anthropogenic climate change driven by increased carbon emissions is leading to more severe fire seasons and increasing the frequency of mega-fires in the Amazon. This has the potential to convert Amazon forests from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources. Although modern human influence over the Earth is substantial, debate remains over when humans began to dominate Earth’s natural systems. To date, little is known about the history of human land use in key regions like the Amazon. Here, we examine the history of human occupation from a ~8,500 year-old sediment core record from Lake Caranã (LC) in the eastern Amazon. The onset of pre-Columbian activity at LC (~4,500 cal yr B.P.) is associated with the beginning of fire management and crop cultivation, later followed by the formation of Amazonian Dark Earth soils (ADEs) ~2,000 cal yr B.P. Selective forest enrichment of edible plants and low-severity fire activity altered the composition and structure of forests growing on ADEs (ADE forests) making them more drought susceptible and fire-prone. Following European colonization (1661 A.D.), the Amazon rubber boom (mid-1800s to 1920 A.D.) is associated with record-low fire activity despite drier regional climate, indicating fire exclusion. The formation of FLONA Reserve in 1974 A.D. is accompanied by the relocation of traditional populations and a fire suppression policy. Despite suppression efforts, biomass burning and fire severity in the past decade is higher than any other period in the record. This is attributed to combined climate and human factors which create optimal conditions for mega-fires in ADE forests and threatens to transform the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source. To help mitigate the occurrence of mega-fires, a fire management policy reducing fire-use and careful fire management for farming may help to reduce fuel loads and the occurrence of mega-fires in fire-prone ADE forests. As both natural and anthropogenic pressures are projected to increase in the Amazon, this study provides valuable insights into the legacy of past human land use on modern ADE forest composition, structure, and flammability that can inform ecological benchmarks and future management efforts in the eastern Amazon.

Housing price convergence, transportation infrastructure and dynamic regional population relocation

This study examined the housing prices in major metropolitan areas in Taiwan and identified the reasons for the significant differences among them. A quantitative analysis of the spread effect in the housing prices revealed that the improvement in transportation infrastructure in the most recent decade intensified the spread effect. The findings obtained in this study also showed that relocation behavior and population density are the principal influencing factors on the spread effect in housing prices, validating that relocation behavior is incited by differences in housing prices and the convergence of housing prices in different cities. However, high housing price returns have also caused residents of northern Taiwan to relocate to central Taiwan. The empirical findings in this study indicate that in the past, Taiwanese housing prices were dispersed and differed significantly. These differences were caused by regional economic imbalance and inadequate transportation infrastructure. This situation has gradually improved.

Las relocalizaciones masivas de población en los estudios urbanos. Aportes desde la experiencia de un asentamiento informal en la ribera del Riachuelo

Para la realización de una investigación sobre relocalizaciones de población en la ribera de la cuenca Matanza Riachuelo, debimos abordar el corpus teórico existente sobre estos fenómenos sociales. Al hacerlo, encontramos una pluralidad de trabajos sobre casos en América Latina centrados en su estudio como políticas públicas producto de la implantación de grandes obras de infraestructura o proyectos de renovación urbana, por un lado, y en sus efectos sobre los individuos y unidades domésticas afectadas, por el otro. Buscaremos en el presente artículo desarrollar un número de cuestiones que se encontraban en cierta medida ausentes de la bibliografía sobre esta problemática y que fueron centrales para el estudio del caso seleccionado: su análisis contextual, la indagación en la acción colectiva de los relocalizados y la dimensión simbólica de estos procesos

Achieving rural spatial restructuring in China: A suitable framework to understand how structural transitions in rural residential land differ across peri-urban interface?

Since the late twentieth century, rural areas in China have experienced a rapid and far-reaching transformation of social and economic structures. Residential land in rural areas, as a type of land where rural residents live and engage in producing, is under significant pressure and face significant change as a consequence. How has rural residential land changed over time, and why it differs across peri-urban interface? This paper presents a methodology for confronting this issue. By applying an integrated framework, we explored the rural residential land transition patterns from the internal structure, i.e., rural residential land-use structural transition (RLST) and identified the driving forces from the perspective of urbanization and industrialization. Our findings show that there are three RLST patterns in China, i.e., non-agriculture, rurality and decay. During the period, the peri-urban area – Pinggu has shown the coexistence of non-agriculture and decay patterns. In particular, RLST patterns varied at different levels. Spatially, along with getting closer to urban areas came increasing complexity of RLST patterns, which formed the structure of circle layer. The various RLST patterns are closely linked to interaction and reorganization between external and internal factors, including basic condition, industrialization, urbanization and policies. Among of them, urbanization changed the internal structure of rural residential land through the population flow; while industrialization influenced the RLST through shaping the industrial structure and level of economic development. Other outstanding issues discussed in this paper relate to the implication for rural spatial restructuring and benign rural residential land transition, which can be achieved through industrial structure reshaping, population relocation and cultural regression. The findings of this study can help us better understand the process of rural residential land transition and thus have significance for the land use multifunctionality and restructuring policies in rural China.

Political economy of planned relocation: A model of action and inaction in government responses

Abstract Planned relocation has been shown to have significant impacts on the livelihoods and wellbeing of people and communities, whether the resettlement process is inclusive or coercive. For states, planned relocation represents risks to those communities but also to government investments and political legitimacy. Evaluations of relocations commonly focus on the risks and benefits of government interventions while overlooking the consequences of not intervening. Here we develop a conceptual framework to examine the factors that influence government decision-making about whether or not to undertake planned relocation of populations in the context of environmental change. The study examines planned relocation decisions and non-decisions by government agencies in West Bengal in India for communities seeking relocation due to coastal flooding. It focuses on three localities facing river erosion losing significant land areas in small islands and communities where populations recognize the need for public intervention, but where there has been a diversity of responses from the state authorities. Data are derived from interviews with key respondents involved in planning and implementing relocation and with residents affected by those government decisions (n = 26). These data show that government action is explained by a combination of risk aversion within political systems to avoid perceived negative consequences, and a lack of government accountability. The empirical cases demonstrate the uneven application of action and inaction and the consequent uneven distribution of potential outcomes on populations. The study suggests that while there may be a growing demand for planned relocation in places affected by environmental change, its implementation is likely to be uneven, with profound socioeconomic implications for those living in such localities.

Resettlement as climate change adaptation: what can be learned from state-led relocation in rural Africa and Asia?

There is growing interest in helping people in developing countries cope with climate change by reframing population relocation as an adaptation strategy. However, there is also ongoing uncertainty surrounding what the advantages and disadvantages of resettling poor and vulnerable communities might be. This article helps address this knowledge gap by considering what might be learned from recent and ongoing state-led relocation programmes in rural Africa and Asia. It draws on a review of planned displacement and resettlement in eight countries, and six months’ experience researching a relocation programme in central Mozambique, to make three arguments: first, there is a need to uncover long-standing governmental perceptions of rural populations and the ways in which these affect state-led responses to climate shocks and stresses; second, it is necessary to develop a more sophisticated understanding of human choice, volition and self-determination during resettlement as adaptation; and third, greater attention should be paid to how development narratives are generated, transmitted and internalized during climate-induced relocations. Taking into account socioeconomic, political and historical realities in these ways will help to avoid situations in which present-day interventions to assist populations experiencing or threatened by climate displacement simply repeat or reinforce past injustices.