Settlement Trends Research Articles

ЭКОЛОГО-ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ СПЕЦИФИКА РАСТИТЕЛЬНЫХ ИНВАЗИЙ В УСЛОВИЯХ СРЕДНЕРУССКОЙ ЛЕСОСТЕПИ

This study discusses the ecological and geographical features of plant invasions in the Central Russian forest-steppe. The studies have been conducted since 2002. The obtained data are summarized in the context of the ecological-geographical (biogeographic) approach. The main trends of phytoinvasions in the region are identified. The invasive component of the flora is characterized by high diversity of North American elements (31 species, 40.8 %), moreover, many species formed secondary European-North American (13 species, 17.1 %), Holarctic (11 species, 14.5 %) and cosmopolitan (8 species, 10.5 %) habitats. The Asteraceae family is characterized by high variety of species (19 species (25.0 %). Groups of invasive species are almost equal by the type of drift. Thirty-two species (42.1 %) are ergasiophytes (plants deliberately introduced to a region), 36 species (47.4 %) are xenophytes (random “aliens”) and 8 species (10.5 %) have mixed type of drift (xen / ergasiophytes, ergasio/xenophytes). The invasive component of the flora of the Central Russian forest-steppe is characterized as mesophytic, forest-steppe, Eurasian-North American with a predominance of monocarpic biomorphs. The research proves high saturation of communities of broad-leaved (20 / 26.3 %), mixed (25 / 33.0 %) and pine (23 / 30.3 %) forests, meadow steppes (20 / 26.3 %), floodplain meadows (19 / 25.0 %) and coastal habitats (19 / 25.0 %) with invasive species. The analysis of the occurrence of 49 invasive species in the communities of the Central Russian forest-steppe determines the confinement of 27 species to the edge-meadow-steppe and 22 species to the edge-forest habitats. The zonal type of secondary area is characteristic for 11 species of xenophytes. Longitude (from West to East) settlement trends are recorded for 5 species. It is substantiated that the geography of the secondary range has a continuous character for 18 invasive plant species within the region. More than 20 invasive species show a tendency to uniform distribution throughout the study area.

Recent Trends in Debt Settlement and Credit Counseling

Recent Trends in Debt Settlement and Credit Counseling

Spatial Analysis of Human Settlement Expansion Rate in Nigeria: A Case Study of Akure Per-Urban Locations

The purpose of this research is to study the rate of horizontal expansion of human settlement in Akure from 2007 to 2018 with focus on three peri-urban locations that has experienced massive growth in most recent times. Efforts were made to make predictions of possible expansion for the next 20 to 32 years in these areas. To achieve the objectives of this research Google earth images were obtained for all three selected locations for the years 2007 and 2018. For the three locations the same square area was maked out for analysis. The area covered by human settlement for the years 2007 and 2018 was obtained for all three locations using the polygon tool on Google earth. Futher mathematical calculations were done to help determine the rate of horivontal settlements between the two time periods. Calculations were also done to predict the rate of future expansion in all three locations. The results shows that built up area in the three selected locations is rapidly expanding, as a result large vegetation are lost. Predictions show that Akure is tending towards a fully developed conurbation. It concludes by affirming that there is a need to adopt the use of sustainable high-rise mixed-use buildings as a better approach to the current trend of human settlement in Nigeria based on low-rise structures and continuous deforestation to make rooms for new settlements.

A Second Wave of Forest—Settlement Territorialization: A case study from the Indian Sundarbans

Sundarbans attracts worldwide attention for being the largest single block halophytic mangrove forest and for Royal Bengal Tiger. Along with ecological conservation, recent scholarly works demonstrate the importance of mangrove preservation for withstanding climate change-induced natural calamities. These conservation programs following the trend of the West separate human settlements from the forest and restrict human access to forest for maintaining wilderness; this I mark as the first wave of territorialization. Based on a case study of one of the village islands in Sundarbans, adjacent to the core forest, I illustrate how in this dynamic delta the recent changes in the islanders' outlook toward life and livelihoods, as induced by the first wave of territorialization, leading them to embrace a second wave of territorialization and to what extent that is impacting the sustainability of human settlements in this dynamic delta. It also elaborates as soon as islanders’ living practice turns into livelihoods, they become reluctant to take up those traditional livelihoods as being perceived ‘risky,’ ‘painful,’ ‘uncertain,’ and ‘destructive for Sundarbans.’ The villagers' intention to find a better and more respected livelihood directs them toward the city and leads them to normalize and in turn concretize the already-imposed forest—settlement territorial division. This concretization of the boundary is termed here as the second wave of territorialization. I posit the upshot of this is a double layer of distancing, which is detrimental to the longterm sustainability of nature—human relationship in this dynamic delta. In a nutshell, this article argues that the inherent understanding about this liminal landscape that these islanders gather while engaging with traditional livelihoods are crucial to combat the massive climate change-induced alterations that this delta is going to witness in the near future. Therefore, this disengagement is not only devastating for the ecology of the Sundarbans; it is going to be even more threatening to the human settlements of this area.

Report of the 4th EFILA Annual Conference 2019

On 31 January 2019, Herbert Smith Freehills kindly hosted in London the 4th EFILA Annual Conference on the “European Union (EU) and the future of International Investment Law and Arbitration”. The EU’s external investment policy and its investment policy towards Asia featured as the topics of the first two panels, which were followed by a keynote speech on the construction of a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). The conference’s last panel dealt with the EU’s energy investment policy. This report presents the most relevant developments behind the EU’s external investment policy until the end of January 2019, its implementation towards Asia and influence in new global trends in investor-State dispute settlement. Further, it confronts the arguments of followers and detractors of the idea of a permanent standing two-tier mechanism with full-time adjudicators, which is promoted by the EU as the only option that can successfully respond to all the problems and challenges of the current ad hoc system. Finally, it conveys both the EU’ and investors’ needs in the construction of new carbon-friendly infrastructure and their enquiries into the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty.

The Population Settlement in Russia’s Arctic Zone: Facts and Trends

In the paper the authors present the study of facts and trends in population settlement in regions of Russian Arctic Zone. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the location of the population in the Arctic Zone depends not only on the socio-economic development of the Arctic territories, but also on Russia’s geopolitical security. The authors considered population settlement from two interrelated positions: the process of a certain territory settling in the process of migration and the result of this process – the residents’ resettlement in regions. Some main indicators of the population settlement in regions completely or partially located in the Arctic were estimated. The authors proceeded from several hypotheses: firstly, socio-economic resource factors of population distribution become the most significant; secondly, Russia’s Arctic regions are poorly populated and their population continues to decline; thirdly, migration in Arctic regions is voluntary, it has an economic character and its direction changed depending on economic and social conditions; fourthly, Arctic settlements differ significantly from ones in other Russia’s territories; fifthly, problem-solving of the settlement population in the Arctic territories is the key to solving the problem of Russia’s development. The research made possible to confirm or disprove these hypotheses.

Deformation Characteristics of Retaining Structures and Nearby Buildings for Different Propped Retaining Walls in Soft Soil

Abstract This article reports the field performance of deep excavations of two subway station cases, including the lateral wall deflection behavior and settlement trends of the surrounding soil and nearby buildings. The retaining structures employed in these cases were contiguous pile walls (CPW), soil-mixing walls, and diaphragm walls (DW), all of which were embedded in soft clay. The measured wall deflection profiles exhibited typical bulging behavior at the end of the excavation. The ratios of the measured maximum wall deflection to the excavation depth were found to be similar for all three types of retaining wall. Furthermore, the maximum and minimum corner effects on the wall deflection development were obtained for the DW and CPW, respectively. The measured ground surface settlement increased linearly with increased maximum lateral wall deflection, while the settlement magnitude became extraordinarily large because of the presence of sludgy soil. A concave pattern was proposed for the surface settlement profiles for all three types of retaining wall. The building settlement was quantified, with the value lying between those of the surface settlement and soil settlement at 10-m depth. The soil displacement field induced changes in the side and end resistance behaviors of the loaded piles, along with additional settlement of pile-foundation buildings. In addition, the pile-foundation building settlement was influenced by the corner effect. These research results will enhance our understanding of the deformation characteristics of the retaining structure and nearby buildings. Meanwhile, the findings will provide guidance for the optimal design of the retaining structure in soft soil.

La colonisation valaque sur les versants nord des Carpates pendant le Petit Âge Glaciaire (aux XVe et XVIe siècles)

Osadnictwo wołoskie na północnych stokach Karpatów podczas małej epoki lodowej (XV i XVI w.)W okresie od XV do XIX wieku w Karpatach miało miejsce znaczące pogorszenie klimatu. Jest to fragment zjawiska globalnego, przez przedstawicieli różnych nauk o ziemi zwane Małą Epoką Lodową (MEL). Rozważaniom zawartym w artykule towarzyszyło wstępne założenie, że te wydarzenia miały szczególny wpływ na warunki egzystencji społeczności zasiedlających na przestrzeni XV i XVI stulecia obszary położone w strefie podgórskiej i górskiej. Na tym obszarze znajdują się górne piętra zasięgu różnych roślin uprawnych, zwłaszcza kluczowych dla rolnictwa zbóż ozimych. Nawet niewielkie wahania wieloletnich średnich temperatur potrafią znacząco je podwyższać lub obniżać. Wnioski zawarte w pracy sformułowano w oparciu o informacje zawarte w źródłach przede wszystkim o charakterze skarbowym, do tej pory przez historyków klimatu niedoceniane. Analizę zachodzących w poszczególnych osadach zmian przeprowadzono z kolei posługując się metodyką stosowaną przez historyków osadnictwa. Efektem zaprezentowanych niżej badań jest generalny wniosek o istnieniu w analizowanym okresie powszechnego zjawiska narastania na obszarach karpackich elementów modelu gospodarczego funkcjonowania wsi opartego na hodowli. Odbywało się to kosztem ograniczania lub czasami nawet eliminowania zajęć rolniczych. Stanowiło to decydujący powód dla którego poszczególni wielcy właściciele ziemscy sprzyjali lub inicjowali kolonizację opartą na prawie wołoskim lub co najmniej na jego elementach. Z tej przyczyny zwłaszcza XVI wiek stał się okresem gwałtownego rozwoju tego nurtu osadniczego w rejonach karpackich. Miało to poważne konsekwencje nie tylko dla gospodarki. W pracy zwrócono uwagę, że wprowadzanie zmian mogło się odbyć poprzez migracje obcej etnicznie ludności-zaznajomionej z tajemnicami wyspecjalizowanej hodowli, niedostępnej klasycznym rolnikom. Wśród przybyszów pojawili się również etniczni Wołosi. Jedną z konsekwencji tych wędrówek było też znaczne rozszerzenie w Małopolsce zasięgu prawosławia kosztem katolicyzmu.

Study on adaptability of primary support arch cover method for large-span embedded tunnels in the upper-soft lower-hard stratum

The Provincial Hospital Station of Guiyang Metro Line No. 2 in China is located on the upper-soft lower-hard stratum. In order to analyze the adaptability of primary support arch cover method for the project, the construction process of the main tunnel of the Provincial Hospital Station is simulated by virtue of numerical simulation. Meanwhile, the excavation process of the tunnel is simulated by the double-side drift method for comparison. The numerical simulation results show that the primary support arch cover method has advantages in settlement control, plastic zone distribution, and supporting structure safety. Only the primary supporting structure is relatively weak in the rock–soil interface and on the arch shoulders and vault, and liable to tension failure. However, the application of strengthened primary support can significantly improve this unfavorable situation. Therefore, it is suggested that the primary support arch cover method be adopted for the construction of the main tunnel of the Provincial Hospital Station. The numerical simulation results obtained by primary support arch cover method are consistent with the field data in terms of the change trend of surface settlement, and the final settlement value is also similar. On this basis, the influence of grade variation of underlying surrounding rock on surface settlement and surrounding rock plastic zone distribution caused by the two methods is further simulated, and the grade range of underlying surrounding rock suitable for primary support arch cover method is given in the article.

Starenje stanovništva kao izazov održivosti slovačkih naselja i slovačke etničke grupe u Vojvodini

During the 17th century, the Slovak population began migrating from its motherland to the south and to the southeast of the Pannonian Plain. They settled in Vojvodina, and the settlements in which the Slovaks are still the most numerous are Kovačica and Bački Petrovac. The share of the Slovak ethnic group in Vojvodina grew until the mid-20th century, after which a noticeable decline was observed, especially in the last two censuses. The low fertility and migration of the young population reflected the change in the age structure, which in the long run is a key challenge for the sustainability of this ethnic group in Vojvodina, on which fact the goal and task of this paper are based. The focus of the paper is the ageing of the Slovak population, analyzed on the basis of age-sex structure, average age, ageing index, age ratio, age dependency ratio and age structure typology. The comparative analysis covered the period since the census in 1971 and it was established that the population of Bački Petrovac and Kovačica was shifting from the stage of the threshold of demographic ageing towards deep and deepest demographic ageing. These two settlements represent the anchors of the Slovaks in Vojvodina and the settlements of their largest concentration, so it is expected that the trends in other settlements, with a smaller share of the Slovak population, will only be even more unfavourable. The results are complemented by the demographic projections of this ethnic group at the level of Vojvodina, obtained in the DemProj Spectrum v5.47 software. According to the current trends and projections, the Slovak ethnic group has some of the most unfavourable age indicators, which could lead to a decline in the total number of this population by more than 30% by the middle of the 21st century, thus endangering its sustainability in this region.

Report of the 4th EFILA Annual Conference 2019

On 31 January 2019, Herbert Smith Freehills kindly hosted in London the 4th EFILA Annual Conference on the “European Union (EU) and the future of International Investment Law and Arbitration”. The EU’s external investment policy and its investment policy towards Asia featured as the topics of the first two panels, which were followed by a keynote speech on the construction of a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). The conference’s last panel dealt with the EU’s energy investment policy. This report presents the most relevant developments behind the EU’s external investment policy until the end of January 2019, its implementation towards Asia and influence in new global trends in investor-State dispute settlement. Further, it confronts the arguments of followers and detractors of the idea of a permanent standing two-tier mechanism with full-time adjudicators, which is promoted by the EU as the only option that can successfully respond to all the problems and challenges of the current ad hoc system. Finally, it conveys both the EU’ and investors’ needs in the construction of new carbon-friendly infrastructure and their enquiries into the modernisation process of the Energy Charter Treaty.

Key Trends in Liquefaction-Induced Building Settlement

AbstractDynamic soil-structure interaction effective stress analyses are performed to identify key trends in the settlement of buildings with shallow foundations affected by soil liquefaction. Over...

Failure modes prediction of masonry voussoir arches on moving supports

This paper reports numerical and experimental investigations carried out to analyse vulnerability of masonry voussoir arches when subjected to soil settlement. A novel numerical procedure aimed at predicting collapse layout and limit settlement is here presented. To identify the location of the three hinges that open when the settlement triggers, a procedure based on combinatorial analysis is exploited together with both static and kinematic analysis. In the framework of finite displacements, the limit settlement of an arch is also found checking equilibrium at every step increase of the settlement.Good agreement is found between experiment results provided by reduced scale arch models, made of blocks of PVC and subjected to a horizontal or vertical settlement of the left support, and numerical predictions.Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out in order to assess the trend of the limit settlement in relation with ring thickness and number of blocks. Results show that the limit settlement for spreading supports is independent from the number of blocks for a given angle of embrace.

Effect of Closely Spaced Twin Tunnel Construction beneath an Existing Subway Station: A Case Study

Abstract Closely spaced twin tunnels were excavated vertically beneath an adjacent subway station in service in Beijing, China. Because of restrictions on the settlements of the existing subway station in the area, a special protection methodology was adopted, and an analysis was performed using real-time monitoring data to investigate the response of the overlying subway station to twin tunnelling and surface settlement characteristics. The results indicated that advanced grouting realizes regional integral uplifts within the range of a reinforced area. The lifting work with jacks is critical to restraining the trend of settlements. The final settlement trough of the columns displays a double-trough “W” shape that is induced by nonuniform lifting loads, and the total ground surface settlement profile displays an asymmetric single-trough “U” shape. The moment when temporary inverts and middle diaphragms are demolished is important, as it causes potential excessive settlements. With monitoring, this tunnel engineering was completed without interrupting the subway traffic, and the safety of the operating subway station and ground surfaces was successfully guaranteed. This is a valuable project case for establishing criteria to guide the construction of closely spaced twin tunnels in similar conditions.

City transport as a factor of availability and distribution of activity centres

Labor connections determine territorial unity and spatiotemporal settlement patterns in the structure of city connections. Labor connections define the life of the city, the distribution of the centers of gravity, and the functioning of its main subsystems, the leading one being the transport subsystem. The study is constructed to reveal the trend of settlement (by labor gravitation) based on the effect of the desired choice of workplace location in relation to residence location. The results of the sociological survey allowed establishing the trend of settlement on the basis of the effect of the desired choice. The study discovered a correlation between the values characterizing the topological structure of the plan: a distinctive “scale of settlement” (average shortest distances between the settlement variant and workplace locations) and the internal heterogeneity of the plan (uneven concentration of facilities and their connections). This allows drafting settlement curves for cities without empirical data.

ПРАКТИКА МІЖНАРОДНИХ ІНВЕСТИЦІЙНИХ АРБІТРАЖІВ ЩОДО РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ ОКРЕМИХ ПОЛОЖЕНЬ ДОГОВОРУ ДО ЕНЕРГЕТИЧНОЇ ХАРТІЇ

Practice of international arbitrations on implementation of investment provisions of Energy Charter Treaty («ECT») is considered in the article. Certain investment disputes which appeared on the earliest period of operation of this international agreement are considered. Respectively they are interesting when one would like to forecast application of ECT's provisions. Conclusions of arbitration tribunals in cases Ioannis Kardossopoulos (Greece) v. Georgia, Petrobart Ltd. (Gibraltar) v. Kirgizia, Plama Consortium Ltd. (Cyprus) v. Bulgaria and Nykomb Synergetics Technology Holding AB (Sweden) v. Republic of Latvia are analyzed in the article. Among other things author investigates such problematic issues of implementation of ECT investment provisions as: responsibility of state for the violations performed by state enterprises; interrelation of jurisdiction of national courts and international arbitration tribunals on settlement of international disputes under the ECT; provisional application of ECT and possibility to consider violation of investment provisions on the jurisdictional stage. An author shows that ECT investment arbitrations act on the general trend of investment dispute settlement. On the other hand and taking into account peculiarities and importance of ECT respective decisions may become significant for the general practice of investment dispute settlement.

A systematic GIS-based analysis of settlement developments in the landscape of Venusia in the Hellenistic-Roman period

This paper investigates the settlement developments of the landscape around the ancient town of Venusia in southern Italy using legacy field survey data. A Latin colony was established here in 291 BC and also other subsequent Roman colonization movements are known from the literary sources. As in many other Roman colonial landscapes, trends in the settlement data of Venusia have previously been linked to the impact of Roman colonization, which is usually understood as a drastic transformation of the pre-Roman settlement landscape and land use. Rather than using theories on Roman colonial strategies for explaining possible settlement patterns (deductive approach), this paper presents an alternative, descriptive, bottom-up approach, and GIS-based inductive location preference analysis to investigate how the settlement landscape evolved in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (particularly in the fourth–first century BC). Following closely the settlement choices from the pre-Roman conquest period onwards and assessing patterns in continuity and change in the settlement record, we demonstrate that pre-Roman rural settlement and land use strategies were not eradicated but instead strongly determined the location preferences for later settlements in the “colonial” periods. If these settlement trends can be related at all to the colonization waves mentioned in the ancient literary sources, the conclusion should be that Roman colonization did not lead to radical landscape and land use transformations, as has traditionally been suggested. Instead, an organic and complementary rural infill over time is documented, in which cultural factors instead of land use potential played a key role.

Transport, accessibility and distribution of activity centers in a modern city

Labor connections define the life of the city, the distribution of the centers of gravity, and the functioning of its main subsystems, the leading one being the transport subsystem. A methodology based on the analyzed models was developed to address the problems of forecasting and estimating the location of urban development areas. It is based on the study of human (city population) behavior patterns and the underlying nature of the choice of destinations. This allowed establishing the reason for the said choice and, consequently, the formation and direction of the movement of people and traffic. The study is constructed to reveal the trend of settlement (by labor gravitation) based on the effect of the desired choice of workplace location in relation to residence location. The results of the sociological survey allowed establishing the trend of settlement on the basis of the effect of the desired choice. The study discovered a correlation between the values characterizing the topological structure of the plan: a distinctive “scale of settlement” (average shortest distances between the settlement variant and workplace locations) and the internal heterogeneity of the plan (uneven concentration of facilities and their connections). This allows drafting settlement curves for cities without empirical data.

School segregation in four Italian metropolitan areas

This article is aimed to analyse processes of school segregation in four Italian metropolitan areas (Milan, Bologna, Rome, Naples), considering their linkages with the transformation of settlement trends and national and local immigration policies.In this respect, rescaling processes imply an increased scope for an uncoordinated local action, affecting – among the other issues – how migrants settle and meet relevant institutions, including schools.After introducing the different hub role of the four metropolitan areas for international migrants to Italy, school segregation will be analysed as an effect resulting from the interrelation of settlement patterns and institutional configurations. Examples of micro-segregation processes in every city will be used to disentangle the relation between scalar processes and localized agency.

The impact of Wallachian settlement on relief and alluvia composition in small valleys of the Carpathian Mts. (Czech Republic)

The impact of the Wallachian settlement on small mountain catchments has been studied at the example of Škorňanský and Hartisov Streams (Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts, Western Outer Carpathians). Between the 16th and the 19th centuries the Wallachian people introduced pastoral management originating from the woodless Balkans to the forested mid-altitude mountain area under study. This area was subjected to rapid settlement, intense grazing in forests and slash-and-burn deforestation. To assess the geomorphic effects of Wallachian activity in the catchments studied, grain size, structure, organic matter content, and the plant macrofossil composition of the alluvia forming terrace levels in the mouths of the Škorňanský and Hartisov Streams were analysed. Radiocarbon dating, 137Cs and 210Pb analyses and dendrochronological dating were also applied to determine the age of the alluvia studied. The results were compared with land-use and land-cover changes recorded on archival maps and pictures, and with population changes in the study area. It was found that the two successive trends of catchment settlement and later depopulation have led to the development of inset terraces on the outlet fans of the Škorňanský and Hartisov Streams. In the study catchments both settlement/deforestation and depopulation/land abandonment occurred very rapidly which also caused abrupt geomorphic changes. Before human disturbance, fluvial erosion and the redeposition of older Pleistocene deposits predominated. As a result coarse, gravel alluvia were deposited within stream channels. The stage of massive overbank accumulation of fine-grained alluvia was a reflection of intensified delivery of slope material into valley floors from catchments deforested by the Wallachians. The later stage of vertical incision of channels resulted from the decrease of sediment supply from hillslopes to river channels during catchment depopulation and afforestation.