Territorial Configuration Research Articles

Addressing land use planning: A methodology for assessing pre- and post-landslide event urban configurations

With urban areas projected to accommodate 68 % of the global population by 2050, the imperative for inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities becomes paramount. In the timeline of urban centers, landslides represent one of the most destructive phenomena, involving several resources allocation with private and public investments, sometimes claiming human lives. By synergically connecting environmental, planning, and configurational spheres, this study seeks to support the proactive management of landslide risk. The proposed three-step methodology allowed to quantify the environmental features involved in landslide occurrence, evaluate planning framework vulnerabilities, and suggest alternative configurations for urban areas that experienced landslides.The methodology has been applied to the case study involving a tragic landslide in Casamicciola Terme (Italy) in November 2022.First, the stream network and the drainage basin corresponding to confluence point of the landslide into the sea have been calculated (environmental elaborations). Subsequently, these elaborations have been overlapped with the runoff mitigation and the sediment deposition layers, extracted through the INVEST software. Secondly, the reconnaissance of the local and superordinate planning levels has been realized, to deepen planning tools cogency on the study area, contextually deepening the constraints that characterize it. From the overlapping of these two steps, free landslide risk areas have been located. Finally, based on the available territorial surface (Sta) and the territorial cover ratio (Rct), two territorial configuration scenarios have been proposed, envisaging the relocation of the buildings involved into the landslide. Results show that landslide originated by three out of five gullies. Some portions of the urban areas of Casamicciola Terme are still under high and very high hydrogeological risk. Contextually, it emerges poor attention from the local planners to the superordinate planning framework. Historic settlement has an Rct of 33.64 %, while areas in which relocate the built up show an Rct of 32,45 % for scenario 1 and 27,9 % for scenario 2.The methodology resulted useful to address planning vulnerabilities, supporting the realization of alternative configurational scenarios. We expect our research to contribute to the evolving field of disaster risk reduction, by providing a systematic approach to manage landslide risk.

The Unified Health System as a strategic instrument of state public policy for national development and its challenges

Considering the peculiarities of the health conditions of the Brazilian population and the need for better access to public services, this article makes a study on the importance of public health policy, materialized by the Unified Health System (SUS), as a strategic item for the development of the Country and for the configuration of territorial space, from the perspective of acting as a Strategic State, even under a strong context of fiscal restrictions. To this end, a bibliographic and documentary research methodology will be used, using qualitative and quantitative secondary data sources, understanding the theme, concepts and relevant theories. Health inequalities are discussed as a global and national issue to be considered and addressed; the factors of health demand and supply and their relationships with the territorial configuration and socioeconomic development to be considered in the definition of national health policy. It also discusses the current organization of the SUS and the difficulties in implementing its principles of universality and integrality, understanding obstacles faced by the SUS and their consequences, its financing and the impact of fiscal austerity. As a result and main conclusion, we have the understanding that public health and its potential have been neglected over the years, however, it should be seen by society and the government as a strategic policy because it is a factor that, in addition to ensuring health itself dictated and for the well-being of individuals, it conditions development and regional dynamics itself, with potential impact on income, employment, investments and innovations and even on the configuration of urban-rural territorial space. Furthermore, the SUS demonstrates that it lacks greater cohesion of social and political forces, which must be more aware and mobilized, for its defense and the achievements of Public Health.

THE OLD AND NEW CASTLES IN THE TOWN OF ROHATYN: DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNING STRUCTURE AND ARCHITECTURE

According to historical documents, the city of Rohatyn was one of the most developed and well-fortified cities in Ukraine during the 16th and 17th centuries. From the city's founding, two structural parts were planned: the town center (sredmiste) and the castle. The development of the town center and its urban structure has been analyzed in several of our previous scholarly works. Despite significant destruction during the First and Second World Wars, the town center has retained its historical layout and part of its architecture. The city's fortifications, however, have been irretrievably lost. On the site where the castle once stood, no structures have survived, and today, the city authorities plan to develop residential quarters in this area as part of urban planning projects. The aim of our publication is to illustrate what the architectural complex of the Rohatyn castle was like and to create scientific prerequisites for archaeological research and for revising the plans for the use of this territory. The castle, its history, and its architecture remain largely unexplored. By the end of the 17th century, the castle consisted of two parts: the Old Castle and the New Castle. Three unidentified buildings from the New Castle have survived to this day. As for the Old Castle, researchers have only determined its location. The scientific literature does not provide detailed coverage of the layout and architecture of both castles during the 15th-18th centuries. In our article on this subject, published in issue 10 of this journal (Nr. 10, pp. 17-29: Notes on the History and Architectural- Planning Reconstruction of the Rohatyn Castle), we presented materials on the location, territorial configuration, and general layout of the castle complex. It was established that the complex consisted of two adjacent parts connected to each other. Based on newly acquired materials, we can now conduct a deeper analysis of the castle's history, particularly using the texts of the castle's inspections from 1663 and 1725, and employ the 1666 drawing of the church and castle as an iconographic source. From the analysis of these sources, we attempt to determine which objects constituted the castle complex and the elements that made up the structure of its fortifications. By systematizing information from maps and two inventory descriptions, we reconstruct the stages of development and architecture of the castle buildings and offer a hypothetical graphic reconstruction of the Old Castle's layout, the layout of thepalace building, and the hypothetical appearance of the castle's northern façade during the late 17th to early 18th century. Based on the results of the investigation, a hypothetical graphic reconstruction of the planning structure of the Old and New Castles was performed. The planning structure of the palace as at the tiime of the beginning of the 18th century has been reproduced. On the basis of a schematic drawing from the 17th century, we performed a graphic reconstruction of the appearance of the defensive walls and buildings of the Old Castle from the north side.

The geographical preconditions of radical price reforms in post-Mao China: Critical reflections on How China Escaped Shock Therapy

This paper offers a critical engagement with Isabella Weber’s fascinating new book, How China Escaped Shock Therapy. It foregrounds the book’s contributions to knowledge on a hitherto under-explored topic – why shock therapy advocates were unsuccessful in launching all-out price liberalisation across China during the 1980s – and introduces new questions through assessing Weber’s analysis vis-à-vis three geographical aspects of Chinese political-economic evolution: (a) the role of landownership control and redistribution in stabilising the Chinese economy following the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) revolutionary victory in 1949; (b) the path-dependent effects of Mao-era (1949-1976) landownership institutions on economic reforms during the 1980s; and (c) Deng Xiaoping’s approach to the multi-dimensional emergence of coastal-oriented industrialisation. These three aspects collectively accentuate how the territorial configuration and regulation of the Chinese political economy, so fundamental for producing and sustaining CPC regime durability, undermined the neoclassical bias towards price liberalisation. Understanding the geographical preconditions that underpin post-1949 Chinese political-economic evolution is therefore crucial for understanding why shock therapy was ultimately deemed incongruent with CPC rule.

CAPITALITE, CENTRALITE ET VULNERABILITES DANS LE DISTRICT AUTONOME DABIDJAN (COTE DIVOIRE)

Planning decisions designed to reinforce Abidjans status as a capital city and decision-making and business center have resulted in a concentric, monocentric territorial configuration. The article analyzes the daily mobilities generated by this monocentricity, inherent in the choice of symbolic amenities as producers of negative externalities. These negative externalities such as pollution, road insecurity, monetary and time losses, soil artificialization, social or spatial inequity and loss of accessibility are factors of territorial vulnerabilites. The transition from an exacerbated monocentricity to a polycentric, multimodal or rather multinodal system, through the emergence of new territorial nodes and urban hubs, will provide a sustainable impetus to this capital territory of Cote dIvoire.

Housing dynamics around Romania’s developing cities: the high demand for specific planning instruments in functional urban areas

ABSTRACT Metropolitan planning has been a dominant trend in spatial development for decades. In this context, Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) have emerged as a concept to illustrate the economic interdependencies between an urban core and its hinterland, being typically determined by commuting patterns or accessibility criteria. In Romania, FUAs were defined for the county capitals (40 cities) as areas where urban development projects could be financed from regional development funds. This paper analyzes the territorial dynamics in one of Romania's fastest-growing functional urban areas, Cluj-Napoca, using a comparative analysis of satellite images and selected indicators. The results demonstrate the spatial impact of economic development in the past 20 years, revealing expanding boundaries of artificial surface and housing units in FUAs. Unfortunately, the current fragmented territorial configuration is unable to manage the new functional relationships generated by real estate dynamics. Therefore, we support the need to introduce a normative territorial plan at the intercommunity level to correlate the spatial development vision between the main city and its fast-growing suburban areas. Such an instrument will not only support an efficient land-use management and enhanced living conditions, but it will also provide a framework to systematically integrate territorial investments around major cities.

Environmental Basin - History of Billings Reservoir’s Construction

This article, as part of a doctoral research, discusses, based on a historical survey, the main aspects that contributed to the formation of the so-called – Greater ABC of São Paulo region, with emphasis on the urbanization process that radiated mainly during the 19th century from the city of Sao Paulo. In that context, two developments were recognized as inducing the transformation of the space – the railroad and the dam. For this study, its understanding was paramount to understand the various aspects that contributed to the territorial configuration of this important region of São Paulo, considering that this region is known for its economic and financial grandeur. However, when carefully observing the data referring to the arrangement of the municipalities that make up the greater ABC, as well as high HDI indices, one has the idea of ​​a region that has achieved significant development, but the data and information found emphasize that this condition does not is homogeneously distributed, bearing in mind that there are socio-spatial inequalities among the seven municipalities in the region, which are materialized in various asymmetries stamped in the urban landscape of each municipality. In summary, it appears that this critical situation is the result of a wrong and incipient planning process that, among other aspects, led to an intense process of degradation of water bodies, in addition to intensifying situations of socio-environmental vulnerabilities.

The territorial organization of Peru (1821–2021)

The year 2014 culminates for Peru the last border dispute at the international level, and and only on this date can the territory of the Republic be configured in its entirety. During the 20th century international land boundary agreements were reached with significant territorial losses, compared to the surface with which the Republic of Peru was born; and in the second decade of the 21st century international maritime boundaries were defined even with the participation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Regarding the internal territorial organization, after two centuries of republican life, Peru still faces many challenges. Approximately 75% of its political-administrative districts do not have boundaries established by law and are configured solely on the basis of referential limits with consequent internal boundary differences and permanent decision-making based on territorial informality.The progressive creation of non-functional constituencies, with evident political nuances, also constitutes a challenge in the attempt to configure rational constituencies.Similarly, the inability to create political-administrative regions leads to the consolidation of departmental bureaucracies that use their powers to weaken the regionalization process. This research, using historical analysis, develops the most relevant processes of territorial configuration and reconfiguration that took place between 1821–2021, which explain the current territorial organization of Peru.

Changing perspectives in times of crisis. The impact of COVID-19 on territorial accessibility.

The link between transport and land use in urban areas has always been characterized by a slow evolution process. COVID-19 brought, suddenly and unexpectedly, severe changes to the trip structure within urban areas, as several restrictions were combined with individual health fears. This study addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the territory of Porto Greater Urban Area, in Portugal, measured under a structural accessibility approach. This was evaluated through a simulation model, combining different destination restrictions in three alternative scenarios during the pandemic and post-COVID, as well as the definition of four different personas, with distinct risk aversion to infections and telecommuting patterns. The results, presented as the spatial configuration of different mobility environments, foster a critical reflection on their implication for future transportation and land use policies.This pandemic has shown that the territory behaves differently under a critical lockdown scenario, where active modes gain predominance to satisfy most travel needs, signalling a potential ability to enforce more sustainable mobility habits. Still, as the territorial configuration tends to the previous state of equilibrium as restrictions are lifted, particularly for non-telecommuters, the need for acting quickly is reinforced. While the growth of telecommuting can induce additional challenges to the management of urban mobility systems, most policy recommendations that were valid in the past will maintain its relevance, as non telecommuters will retain previous travel habits.

The metropolitanization of Israel's settlement policy: The colonization of the West Bank as a strategy of spatial restructuring

Israel's West Bank settlements are a central point of contention in the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Overall, however, their rapid proliferation has been generally understood through the lens of an ideologically centered approach that highlights, specifically, the centrality of the national religious settlers' movement. Against this background, the article focuses on the overlooked reality of large, state-sponsored suburban settlements – and in particular on the role of the Israeli Ministry of Housing in their establishment between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s. Building on contributions in the field of political economy and political geography, we conceive the actions of the Ministry in the occupied West Bank as a result of a broader strategy of spatial restructuring. By considering both economic and political imperatives underlying this strategy, our analysis offers a more comprehensive assessment of the factors behind Israel's settlement policy. Drawing on a broad range of empirical sources, from archival material to in-depth interviews with Israeli planners, we argue that the proliferation of settlements has been largely the outcome of a process of metropolitanization – i.e. of the dynamics of urban development of Israel's main metropolitan centers and the adoption of a new, post-Keynesian policy paradigm based on market-oriented economic development. This process has constituted a major factor for the settlements' growth and, ultimately, in the emergence and naturalization of a new territorial configuration in the area of Israel/Palestine.

Territorial change, urbanization and development of football clubs in China

ABSTRACT The professional football clubs from the Chinese Super League (CSL), the top male professional football league in China, have been at the frontline in the fiercely competitive international market by paying record-breaking transfer fees and offering exorbitant salaries to recruit players. This paper analyses the development of professional football clubs in China as a tertiary capital-intensive urban industry from a spatial perspective, understanding urbanization as a process propelled by changes in the system of administrative divisions. It argues that changes in the territorial configuration of cities produce intertwined dynamics of land-use changes and fixed capital investments, a process in which land developers and industrial conglomerates accumulate surpluses that are subsequently invested in the development of professional football clubs as a tertiary circuit of capital investment. The paper highlights the establishment of urban districts in cities at the highest scales of power in China’s territorial system of administrative divisions as a crucial strategy through which the central government has reproduced urbanization, financially empowering conglomerates that reinvest capital in the football industry. The development and achievements of two football clubs – Guangzhou Evergande-Taobao FC and Shanghai SIPG FC – are discussed in the context of the territorial administrative restructuring of their host cities.

ФУНКЦІОНАЛЬНЕ ЗОНУВАННЯ ТЕРИТОРІЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИХ ПАРКІВ – ОСНОВА ЇХНЬОЇ ПЛАНУВАЛЬНОЇ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ

The issues of functional zoning of the territories of national natural parks of Ukraine and national parks of the world as the key problem of their territorial organization or planning are considered. In a comparative analysis, both positive phenomena and shortcomings of local and world environmental planning, primarily in recreational areas, are shown. The issue of recreational pressure within local and foreign national (natural) parks and their standards is also raised. It should be noted that the literature does not yet contain sufficiently scientifically substantiated methodological recommendations for the allocation of functional zones, their optimal areas, configurations, permissible anthropogenic (recreational) loads on parts of nature protected areas and sites. The practical experience of the creation and functioning of the Ukrainian NPP assures that the problem of planning their territory is of fundamental importance. Its practical solution is a basic prerequisite for ensuring the balanced and conflict-free functioning of these multifunctional nature protected areas. Functional zoning of the NPP territory can also be considered as a target spatial-functional model of the protected area. Accordingly, the practical activities for its protection are territorially differentiated by the allocated functional zones. It is the way to implement this model. The planning organization is based on the features of the functional zoning of national parks, as well as on the basis of the territorial configuration of the landscape sites (forest areas, systems of lakes, groups of islands, river deltas, and banks of large reservoirs). The planning organization of national parks is the functional zoning of their territory, which is conditioned by natural factors, on the basis of which different types of spatial planning structures are formed, a kind of “frames” along with the directions of natural axes taking into account the existing systems of settlement, production, transport, and engineering structures.

AGROECOLOGY AS A BASIS FOR LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION / AGROECOLOGIA COMO BASE PARA A CONSERVAÇÃO DAS PAISAGENS

The landscape expresses the diversity of means that life has and the views that society has on this diversity. If, on the one hand, the landscape is a factor of identity of social groups according to nature and the places they frequent or inhabit, on the other hand it is a means of entering into a social debate on the role of public authorities in the organization of urban and rural space. In this sense, the study of landscape can take different approaches, but when we think of rural landscapes, the concept of cultural landscape is the one that best relates. Landscapes are works of the human being or of nature that illustrate the evolution of society and human occupations over time, under the influence of restriction and / or reform by the natural environment and the effects of successive social, educational and cultural frames, internal or external to this landscape.The landscapes can be recognized as social spaces, being conserved by families, in their most relevant characteristics, as a community heritage. The landscape is, therefore, a key concept in the approach of researches related to territorial configuration, establishment of networks and spatial scales, perception, intervention and / or landscape management. And many communities that adopt a strategy of multiple uses, through an integrated system of productive practices, which are expressed in space as a diversified landscape, present several advantages from an ecological point of view. This work aims to present a necessary dialogue about agricultural production systems and their impact on landscapes, and consequently on the cultural heritage of communities. In this sense, we bring the proposal of Agroecology as a basis for sustainable agricultural systems that maintain agrobiodiversity and carry out a variety of renewable processes and ecological services in agroecosystems, preserving culture and respecting the knowledge of communities. Thus ensuring the health of consumers and the environment as a whole.

Positional-dynamic territorial structure of the urban landscape

The knowledge of landscapes’ positional - dynamic structure enabled us to include it in the work on urban landscape and ecological planning, with its ownspecifics as environmental management objects. The aim is to create cartographic models of a positional-dynamic territorial structure of Kharkiv landscape to ensure a balanced use of nature in environmental management. Methods: a positional-dynamic structure of urban landscape was selected by compiling andanalyzing cartographic works of landscape strips, tiers and districts. Territorial configuration of different types of landscape strips were identified and established based on the classical scheme of landscape locations typology by water-geochemical regime proposed by B. Polynov and supplemented by M. Glazovska, which includes 9 main types. Technically, synthesis of parameters combinations and determination of the territories affiliation to certain types of landscape strips was carried out using spatial analysis tools (in particular, reclassification and raster calculator) of initial data on morphometric relief parameters in ArcGIS. Results. A set of qualitative parameters is proposed, based on the characteristics of each type of landscape strips by which they can be identified.Composition and territorial configuration of positional-dynamic landscape strips of the urban landscape are established as a result of systematization and processing of geodata parametric features of the water-geochemical regime. Cartographic models of the positional-dynamic structureof Kharkiv landscapes have been developed, including 13 types of landscape strips with individual features united in 5 groups by types of lateral migration of substances due to the peculiarities of their positionality (common position in relation to frame lines of flow directions) and factors of relief morphology similarity, nature of income and intensity of substances transfer. The identified mode types and the nature of the spatial distribution of the corresponding landscape strips have been described in detail. Conclusions. Cartographic models of the positional-dynamic territorial structure of Kharkiv, developed during the inventory stage of landscape-ecological planning, make it possible to choose areas of balanced nature management of a particular area.

Huellas de la reestructuración capitalista. Un análisis de la transformación urbana de la Región Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Cada fase de desarrollo del sistema capitalista dejó huellas en la configuración territorial de la Región Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Este artículo tiene por objetivo caracterizar y analizar las transformaciones en la estructura urbana de dicha región entre los años del modelo neoliberal (1976-2001) y del neodesarrollismo extractivista (desde 2001), identificando rupturas y continuidades entre ambos modelos de acumulación capitalista y sus impactos a escala territorial. Para ello, se recurrió a una metodología cualitativa, a partir de la reconstrucción de datos provenientes de fuentes secundarias y entrevistas informales con referentes estudiosos de la temática.

Particular qualities of press in Transjordan and Arabian Peninsula between World War I and World War II

The article analyzed particular qualities of press in Transjordan and Arabian Peninsula which was making its first steps during the period of transition from Ottoman influence to British colonial dependency marked by formation of modern territorial configuration for the states of the region. At present the region attracts particular attention of the world mass media. Authors underscore peculiarities of Hashemite Transjordan’s press, as well as of that of Saudi Arabia, of North Yemen monarchy and of South Yemen colonized by Great Britain. The authors conclude that the press of the region is decades behind the press of advanced Arab states.

Configuración territorial del hábitat en el asentamiento informal Alfonso López de la ciudad de Montería-Colombia

The present study aimed to characterize the territorial configuration of the habitat in the Alfonso Lopez neighborhood from the social production in space, by describing its dynamics of territorial appropriation and control. The research focused on a mixed approach with a sequential explanatory design, in which urban planning and citizen perception on the image of the neighborhood was used. It could be said that the Alfonso Lopez neighborhood is an informal settlement characterized by urban deficit and socio-urban isolation. In its territorial habitat configuration processes, there is an incomplete coverage of basic public services, deficit of urban equipment, a perception of insecurity, conditions of environmental vulnerability and semi-consolidated urban planning. It is concluded that this settlement is a human mixture, a scenario in which the acts of inhabiting build their territory with the intention of integrating and interrelated with the surrounding sectors and to blur the phenomenon of social segregation and habitat fragmentation; For this reason, territorial control is given by the processes of local organization and leadership as a strategy to achieve urban conditions of habitability.

La fundación del Juzgado Privativo de Tierras y Aguas de la Real Audiencia de México, 1692-1735

El presente texto aborda el conjunto de disposiciones jurídicas promulgadas por los monarcas españoles que impulsaron la fundación de instancias gubernamentales comisionadas para la regularización de la propiedad agraria en la América colonial a finales del siglo XVII y comienzos del XVIII. Se dan a conocer los decretos y edictos de los ministros del Juzgado Privativo de Tierras de la Real Audiencia de México para analizar la operatividad de esta dependencia y de las actividades de sus comisionados en las jurisdicciones novohispanas. Asimismo, se subraya la importancia de las composiciones de tierras y ventas de baldíos en la historia rural de México, dado que fueron procedimientos que, por un lado, apuntalaron el derecho a la propiedad absoluta, y por el otro, incidieron en la propiedad comunal de los pueblos de indios y en su configuración territorial.

Regular and irregular forces in conflict: nineteenth century insurgencies in South America

ABSTRACT In the decades following independence from Spain, ‘civil wars’ ravaged the newly established polities in South America. Former vice-regal capitals inherited a larger portion of the colonial administration and had larger economic resources and a hegemonic project they were able to have permanent and professional armed forces, capable of leading the offensive and giving battle following the European rules of military art. The central hypothesis of this work is that there is a necessary relationship between the shape of these asymmetrical conflicts, their outcome and the political territorial configuration of each country in post-revolutionary Spanish America. When permanent armies took over from local militias, the capital kept the integrity of its territories and there was a tendency towards political centralization. When this did not happen and the militias managed to find a way to defeat their centralizing enemies, the local powers had an opportunity to renegotiate their participation in the political body, and sought to maintain their independence, which was manifest in federal agreements, otherwise a process of territorial fragmentation began. More than a difference between regular and irregular forces there was one between intermittent, and permanent mobilization.

Geografia do comércio de commodities, dinâmicas espaciais da logística de transportes e dos fluxos de exportações do setor de soja no Brasil

Nas atividades agrocomerciais, as exportações de commodities agrícolas, incluindo a soja e seus derivados, abastecem os mercados globais no atendimento das demandas do setor agroindustrial, agroalimentício e agroenergético, por isso a logística de transportes interconecta fisicamente as áreas produtoras e os mercados consumidores. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a espacialização da logística de transportes que articula o escoamento das exportações do setor de soja, em uma configuração territorial que engloba a roteirização entre o Brasil e os mercados internacionais, no período de 1997 a 2016. Adotou-se como metodologia a revisão de literatura, coleta e análise de dados secundários, disponibilizados pelas instituições brasileiras e pelos institutos estrangeiros. Os fluxos das exportações do setor de soja e de seus derivados concentraram-se nos mercados asiáticos e europeus, que são interligados pela matriz de transporte nacional rodoviária, ferroviária e hidroviária, com concentração dos produtos nos recintos alfandegados portuários e no transporte marítimo em percursos internacionais.