Place and Environment Commons^™

Women Of African Descent: Persistence In Completing A Doctorate, Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

This study examines the educational persistence of women of African descent (WOAD) in pursuit of a doctorate degree at universities in the southeastern United States. WOAD are women of African ancestry born outside the African continent. These women are heirs to an inner dogged determination and spirit to survive despite all odds (Pulliam, 2003, p. 337).This study used Ellis’s (1997) Three Stages for Graduate Student Development as the conceptual framework to examine the persistent strategies used by these women to persist to the completion of their studies.

Bosnian Refugees In Bowling Green, Kentucky: Refugee Resettlement And Community Based Research, Elcin Celik

Elcin Celik

To understand the reasons for the increase in recent years of the Bosnian population in Bowling Green, Kentucky and their adaptation problems as refugees in their host country, this study focused upon the Bosnian community in Bowling Green and addressed what the role of their challenges is in the shaping of refugees’ new life in their host country. Extensive literature review helped to emerge that for an understanding of the situation of the refugees, their interaction in the host country is more meaningful topic for research.

This study employed qualitative research methods, drawing from existing empirical studies addressing resettlement in …

Rural-Urban Relations In The Context Of Sustainable Development. Case Study: Cuejdiu Valley Basin, Neamt County, Andreea Ghiurcă, Andreea Lămășanu, Florin C. Mihai

Florin C MIHAI

Rural and urban development in sustainable context is a complex process that requires an improvement of the existing situation and a removing of the dysfunctions. Over time, the rural area was not addressed as much as urban area, rural analysis is often fragmentary explained and incomplete argued. The system of values owned by rural area is overshadowed by an economic, social and cultural subordination to the city. The connection that is established is a support for the systems analysis of settlements and is the consequence of the functional differentiation between cities and villages, evidenced by the natural, social and economic …

Air Pollution, Economic Development Of Communities, And Health Status Among The Elderly In Urban China., Rongjun Sun, Danan Gu

Rongjun Sun

In Western societies, the impact of air pollution on residents' health is higher in less wealthy communities. However, it is not clear whether such an interaction effect applies to developing countries. The authors examine how the level of community development modifies the impact of air pollution on health outcomes of the Chinese elderly using data from the third wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey in 2002, which includes 7,358 elderly residents aged 65 or more years from 735 districts in 171 cities. The results show that, compared with a 1-point increase in the air pollution index in urban …

Implication Of Demographic Dimension In Sustainable Rural Development. Case Study: Râșca Valley, Andreea Lămășanu, Andreea Ghiurcă, Florin C. Mihai

Florin C MIHAI

This paper aims to capture the importance of demographic dimension in the sustainable development process of the rural space. From a series of statistics data we realized an analysis of demographic indicators, which it helped us to trace the development trends characteristic for our area of study. To understand the evolution in time and the implications of human resource in the process of development it was necessary referencing them with national or local historical events. Demographic dimension analysis highlights the development stage of rural space and help the formulation of the future local policies that regard the sustainable development

Environmental Education In Rural Areas - A Real Support For Sustainable Development,, Andreea Ghiurcă, Andreea Lămășanu, Florin C. Mihai

Florin C MIHAI

Sustainable development represents the future for Romanian rural areas and a viable solution to solve the environmental problems. This concept can be put into practice through the interaction between economic, sociocultural, environmental and political-institutional dimension. In this interaction an important role has the ecological education of citizens from rural areas and their involvement in environmental policy decisions. So, a low level of ecological education in rural areas leads to a permanent degradation of environmental factors. In this research we showed some negative environmental practices related to the inhabitants of rural areas. Citizen’s education in environmental spirit should promote the principles …

Worry About Medical Care, Family Support, And Depression Of The Elders In Urban China, Rongjun Sun

Rongjun Sun

This study examines the role of family support in reducing the elders’s depression in the face of the perceived inadequate public medical care in urban China. Using data from the Survey on Aging and Intergenerational Relations in Baoding City, this article investigates the overall depression level, somatic symptoms, and affective symptoms, respectively. The findings suggest that perceived inadequate public medical care, which results from dramatic changes in China’s socioeconomic transformation, has a stressful impact on all measures of depression. Family support, by its structure and function, shows both direct and moderating effects in counteracting such stress from the public domain. …

Affective Economies: Indigenous Conflict Over Natural Resources In Contemporary India, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of And Behavior Toward The Visual Retail Environment: Function Of Consumers’ Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity, Sarah Eubanks Wilhoit

Sarah Eubanks Wilhoit

The primary goal of retail environments is to stimulate positive behavior from consumers viewing the fulfilled plan of the designer or architect. This study explores the influence of the consumer trait, visual aesthetic sensitivity, upon the visual aesthetic design features of the store environment and consumer behavior. Treatment of the visual aesthetic design features of the retail environment as an integrated, holistic arrangement demonstrate the dynamic interrelation of the environment and perception as explained by Gestalt theory. Data was collected through traditional survey techniques. Statistical analyses using exploratory factor analysis, ANCOVA, and MANCOVA reveal distinct differences between consumers with high …

Fairmount Greenway - A Community Initative, Leah H. Bamberger, Liliana Carvajal, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Eric C. Kells, Kimberley Klosterman, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Bryan O'Bara, Jie Su, Arianna Thompson, Owen M. White

Mary Dehais

This studio was based on the Fairmount Greenway that was developed through a series of public meetings with the neighborhood community and with consultants from the firm Crosby, Schlessinger and Smallridge (CSS). The Fairmount Greenway, while drawing its identity from the traditional greenway model is in fact a reinterpretation of an urban greenway. The greenway path follows along both primary and secondary city streets because of the lack of space along the rail right-of-way. The Fairmount Greenway begins at what will be a new station stop at New Market South Bay near Upham’s Corner in northern Dorchester. The greenway follows …

From The Quadrangle To The River: Revitalizing The Heart Of Downtown Springfield, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Alexander G. Seib, Jie Su, Kate A. Tooke, Owen M. White, Emily S. Wright, Kuang Xin, Xiao Zhou

Mary Dehais

This studio report explores community service learning in the graduate urban design studio taught in the in Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and instructed by Professor Frank Sleegers. The project will began with a visioning workshop, conducted to engage community members in the shaping of project goals and objectives within the project area of downtown Springfield. These findings were brought to the studio and guided the design process and outcomes. Five design teams developed five alternative master plans for the core area of downtown Springfield with focus on the revitalization of open …

The Availability Of Organic In Buffalo, Ny, Ariel Peters

Ariel R Peters

No abstract provided.

Geographical Distribution Of Rural Dumpsites In North-East Region From Romania, Florin C. Mihai, Liviu Apostol, Andreea Lamasanu, Andreea Ghiurca, Alexandru Banica

Florin C MIHAI

This paper proposes a spatial analysis of statistical data concerning the number and areas of rural dumpistes for local administrative units (LAU in Romanian’s rural terrirory = communes) from 6 counties of North-East region using thematic cartography. Database created at local scale is correlated with demographic factors (eg population density) taking into account the various geographical conditions between these 6 counties(Neamt,Suceava,Botosani,Iasi,Bacau and Vaslui).Rural dumpsites have been identified by the county environmental authorities in 2008 and 2009,deadline for closure and rehabilitation being July 16, 2009 .The large number of these sites reflect the lack of organized waste management system in rural …

Book Review On Gordon Mathews. Ghetto At The Center Of The World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong., Leung-Sea, Lucia Siu

Prof. SIU Leung-sea, Lucia

No abstract provided.

The Eternal Mother And The State: Circumventing Religion Management In Singapore, Francis Khek Gee Lim

Francis Khek Gee Lim

No abstract provided.

Visual Interventions And The “Crises In Representation” In Environmental Anthropology: Researching Environmental Justice In A Hungarian Romani Neighborhood, Krista Harper

Krista M. Harper

Participatory visual research, or "visual interventions" (Pink 2007) allow environmental anthropologists to respond to three different “crises of representation”: 1) the critique of ethnographic representation presented by postmodern, postcolonial, and feminist anthropologists, 2) the constructivist critique of nature and the environment, and 3) the “environmental justice” critique demanding representation for the environmental concerns of communities of color. Participatory visual research integrates community members in the process of staking out a research agenda, conducting fieldwork and interpreting data, and communicating and applying research findings. Our project used the Photovoice methodology to generate knowledge and documentation related to environment injustices faced by …

Precursors To Planning The Streets Of Los Angeles, California, C 1880-1920, Renia Ehrenfeucht

Renia Ehrenfeucht

No abstract provided.

Building Democracy In Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How is democracy made real? How does an undemocratic country create new institutions and transform its polity such that democratic values and practices become integral parts of its political culture? These are some of the most pressing questions of our times, and they are the central inquiry of Building Democracy in Japan. Using the Japanese experience as starting point, this book develops a new approach to the study of democratization that examines state-society interactions as a country adjusts its existing political culture to accommodate new democratic values, institutions and practices. With reference to the country's history, the book focuses on …

Recovery In A Shrinking City: Challenges To ‘Rightsizing’ Post-Katrina New Orleans, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson

Renia Ehrenfeucht

No abstract provided.

Young Professionals As Ambivalent Change Agents In New Orleans After The 2005 Hurricanes, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson

Renia Ehrenfeucht

After the 2005 hurricanes, newcomers arrived in New Orleans to help rebuild the city. The influx of one identifiable group, young professionals and postgraduates, raised hopes and concerns that New Orleans would gentrify. Based on semistructured interviews with 78 young and mid-career professionals, this paper examines how the young professionals approached an ambivalent situation where they were working to rebuild a better city while retaining its distinct cultural qualities, given that their presence itself contributed to the cultural change. They reconciled these tensions with an appreciation for localism that, for newcomers in particular, was expressed through knowing and responding to …

Where The Wild Things Aren't: Exhibiting Nature In American Zoos, David Grazian

David Grazian

No abstract provided.