"Municipal settlements of Ukraine" database and its possible application spheres

Author(s): Glibchuk Petro Volodymyrovych / Language(s): English / Issue: 34/2016

With the development of geoinformation technologies and geoinformation mapping the sphere of activity of professional geographers and cartographers has been enriched by a wide application of databases (DB). They enable geographical information to be put in order in a user-friendly system. The article considers the methodological aspects of the organizations and creation of such a system - the "Municipal settlements of Ukraine" databases. The basic stages and databases forming the principles which the author designated during the creation of this specific database are highlighted. The DB structure is revealed - the list of the data included in every table is given. The ways of DB applications are determined; they consist in using DB for the creation of various cartographic studies and reference books about the municipal settlements in Ukraine. The prospects of DB development and perfection are considered.

A Magyarországon élő külföldi állampolgárok területi koncentrációja, 2001–2011

Author(s): Áron Kincses / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 06/2014

Today the Carpathian Basin’s motherland role, a policy regarding minorities in neighbouring countries, transnationalism, multiple identities or multiple citizenship of the migrants, the new forms of migration, the circulation migration phenomenon are simultaneously present in Hungary. International migrants cannot be uniformly regarded. Our analysis divides migration of the population into four main groups: the double (Hungarian and other) citizens, foreign citizens, foreign-born citizens and returning Hungarian nationals.

A szelektív iskolaválasztás tényezői, motivációi és az oktatás minőségével való összefüggései a leghátrányosabb helyzetű térségekben

Author(s): Márta Kiss / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2016

It is an individually rational choice when parents decide to take their children out of a local school if the segregation has started in that institution, however this process has very harmful consequences from the perspective of society. This collective action problem leads to disadvantaged children’s bigger lag and long term to their exclusion from integration. The Give Kids a Chance Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has led a research project comprising 23 disadvantaged areas. Based on a large representative database the following questions are analysed: how many children are taken away from local schools in these rural areas, who are they (what kind of families are they from), what are the explanatory factors of the selective school choice and whether there is a difference of quality between the local schools and mobile children’s educational institutions.

A társadalmi integráció térbeli kérdései a városokban

Author(s): Gergely Olt / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2016

The lack of social integration or signs of disintegration are often visible and can be delimited in space. “Bad neighbourhoods” and “no-go areas” or villages and regions going through ghettoization can give the impression as if social problems were only typical of these areas. However, these stigmatized territories are merely the symptoms of the fact that the social system cannot equally integrate everybody and the most disadvantaged and discriminated members are excluded from it in the physical sense as well. The social problems appearing in space are often treated – especially in the last few decades – with spatial interventions that are not handling the wider causes of them, and only displace the problems and the socially excluded residents. On the other hand, residents of these excluded territories often suffer disadvantages because of the dysfunctional institutions and unsatisfactory infrastructure in the broad sense that are typical in these areas. This can also mean that economic growth and social programmes are not affecting these places as elsewhere. This study reviews a part of the international literature of urban spatial interventions from the aspect of the spatial issues of social integration.

Added value from European Territorial Co-operation: the impact of demographic change in the Alps on the young

Author(s): Naja Marot,Damjana Gantar,Barbara Cernic Mali / Language(s): English / Issue: 30/2015

The article sets demographic change in the Alps in the framework of European Territorial Cooperation programs . A statistical overview of selected regions in five Alpine countries serves as a basis for further policy analysis. The latter was undertaken to reveal how transnational projects tackle youth issues, including the difficulties within the labour and real estate markets that appeared to be the most problematic factors influencing (out) migration of the youth. While there is only a minor recognition of the young in current policy making on supranational, regional and local levels, the analysis showed that the added value of transnational programs for mountain regions and localities can be recognized in the development of multi-stakeholder environments, creating and transferring new solutions for the labour market as well as empowering youth participation in policy processes. However, the extent to which these solutions might contribute to overcoming the challenges of demographic change because of transnational programs is limited by various factors. Among these are the precise governance framework, administrative capacity, and population figures.

Afektywna topografia współczesnego Tokio w powieści Yoriko Shōno „Kombinat zakrzywionej czasoprzestrzeni” (Taimu surippu konbināto )

Author(s): Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 6/2015

Kubiak Ho-Chi reads Yoriko Shōno’s novel ‘Time Slip Kombinat” (1994) in the light of Brian Massumi’s theory of affect. She highlights the importance of affect and the cognitive potential of studying the emotional interaction between the individual and the place (Tokyo) in Shōno’s novel. She also emphasizes the correspondence between the chaos of the city and the chaos of feelings, which becomes apparent in the novelistic world after the industrial catastrophe. While Shōno is still untranslated into Polish, in Japan she is counted among the most revolutionary contemporary writers. Saturated with an atmosphere of surrealism and a nightmarish combination of dream and wakefulness, her experimental prose represents a postmodern Japan as well as a modern individual lost in the globalized world, filled with fear and lacking all faith in the future.

An introductory study of perceptual marginality in Slovakia

Author(s): Roman Mikuš,Lucia Máliková,Viliam Lauko / Language(s): English / Issue: 34/2016

The existence of marginal regions is closely linked to the socio-spatial polarisation of our society. Especially in the post socialist countries, including Slovakia, which have undergone significant social and economic transformation, spatial polarisation and related regional disparities have become a relevant issue across multidisciplinary academic research. This study focuses on similarities and differences in defining the marginality from two different perspectives - one that is based on quantification of statistical data and another based on individual perception of marginality from the position of local mayors. Local mayors, the main figures of the local governance, have in the Slovak system of administration huge responsibility in the development of communes and a great opportunity to improve the status of certain communes, especially those marginal. At the same time this study investigates how the political affiliation and political support affect their competencies and activities in relation to the marginal position of their commune.

Andrej Deško a Bohuš Nosák-Nezabudov o kultúrnych stereotypoch na východnom Slovensku a v Podkarpatskej Rusi v 40. rokoch 19. Storočia

Author(s): Peter Ženuch / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 1/2016

Historical factual and literary documents testify not only about described phenomena and current period, but also about ideological structure of society and its individual relations. Andrej Deško and Bohuš Nosák-Nezabudov described cultural, linguistic, confessional and political structure of society of Eastern Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia taking into account the religious, social, economic and political stereotypes that formed not only simple population, but also representatives of national-revival life in the 40s of the 19th century. Although only A. Deško was indigenous who knew conditions in Subcarpathian Ruthenia by his own autopsy, Bohuš Nosák-Nezabudov had also knowledge acquired before and during the travels in Eastern Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Even his descriptions brought a wide range of information that can be appreciated in the systematic Slavistic researches of the Carpathian region and other researches focused on linguistic, ethnic and confessional stereotypes as well as linguistic and cultural diversity of its population.

Approximating actual flows in physical infrastructure networks: the case of the Yangtze River Delta high-speed railway network

Author(s): Weiyang Zhang,Ben Derudder,Jianghao Wang,Frank Witlox / Language(s): English / Issue: 31/2016

Previous empirical research on urban networks has used data on infrastructure networks to guesstimate actual inter-city flows. However, with the exception of recent research on airline networks in the context of the world city literature, relatively limited attention has been paid to the degree to which the outline of these infrastructure networks reflects the actual flows they undergird. This study presents a method to improve our estimation of urban interaction in and through infrastructure networks by focusing on the example of passenger railways, which is arguably a key potential data source in research on urban networks in metropolitan regions. We first review common biases when using infrastructure networks to approximate actual inter-city flows, after which we present an alternative approach that draws on research on operational train scheduling. This research has shown that 'dwell time' at train stations reflects the length of the alighting and boarding process, and we use this insight to estimate actual interaction through the application of a bimodal network projection function. We apply our method to the high-speed railway (HSR) network within the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, discuss the difference between our modelled network and the original network, and evaluate its validity through a systemic comparison with a benchmark dataset of actual passenger flows.

Around the Bloc: Croatia-Serbia Trade Bans, Barbs Over Migrants

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 09/29/2015

Tit-for-tat border row escalates as Zagreb reportedly one-ups Belgrade’s ban on Croatian cargo and goods.

Around the Bloc: EU Begins Two Days of Emergency Talks on Migration

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 09/29/2015

Anti-quota bloc appears to be winning the day.

Around the Bloc: Hungary Sets Date for EU Quotas Referendum

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 07/12/2016

Viktor Orban’s government accelerates its campaign against EU refugee policies in the wake of Britain’s Leave vote.

Around the Bloc: Poland Halts Intake of North Korean Workers

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 06/14/2016

Human rights concerns and Poland’s desire to increase economic pressure on Pyongyang seen as spurs to the decision.

Around the Bloc: Slovakia to Sue EU Over Migrant Quotas

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 09/29/2015

Premier Fico threatens lawsuit at European Court of Justice over mandatory quota scheme.

Around the Bloc: Surge of Chechen Asylum Seekers in Poland

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English / Issue: 07/12/2016

Belarusian border town has become main transit point for those on their way to Europe, who say they fear increased oppression back home.

BOŠNJACI NA OTOKU KRKU I U GRADU BUZETU

Author(s): Filip Škiljan / Language(s): Bosnian / Issue: 1/2015

First Muslims arrived to the island Krk during sixties in the twentieth century. Their arrival on the island was primarily associated with the need for searching jobs and better quality of life in Croatia compared to Bosnia and Hercegovina. In a similar way, Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina arrived in the Labin area, where they worked in the mines. They also settled in the area of Istrian town Pula, where they were employed in the Uljanik shipyard, and in Rijeka, where they worked in the shipyard 3rd May. In Buzet they were employed in various construction companies, which was also the case in some other parts of Croatia (Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Gunja and Kordun area) which are not studied in this paper. Their number has, during a period of a little more than twenty years (between 1948 and 1971), increased in the entire Croatia for few hundred times. In 1971 there exsisted only one single person who declared as a Muslim in the whole commune of Buzet, and that number rose to 12 persons in 1981, and in 1991 to 108 persons. In the island of Krk area in 1991, there were only 272 Muslims. In the new environment Muslims were not discriminated, and they entered into mixed marriages. The arrival of democratic movement changed the relationship of the majority (Croats) towards Muslims (which after 1993 became Bosniaks). Discrimination, problems with obtaining citizenship, employment dismissal based on ethnicity and religion are just some of the problems that occur in relations between Bosniaks and the majority population in Croatia during the 1990s war. In spite of following circumstances the Bosniaks participated in large numbers in the Croatian defense. In the after war period, the author concludes that Bosniaks on the Krk island and in Buzet became well organized in the political, religious and cultural spheres.

Brunnbauer, Ulf. Globalizing Southeastern Europe. Emigrants, America, and the State since the Late Nineteenth Century. New York, 2016

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova,Petia Bankova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2016

Causes and effects of water consumption drop by the population of cities in Poland - selected aspects

Author(s): Marcin Goraczko,Rafal Pasela / Language(s): English / Issue: 27/2015

The article presents, with an example of four cities of various size, a phenomenon of a drop in water consumption by the city population in Poland. The paper draws on 1995-2012 official statistics. A significant decrease in household water consumption was observed, which refers to both the total water volume used by households as well as the average daily water consumption per resident. The article also determines the most essential factors affecting the amount of water consumed, out of which the price of water appears to be of the most significant one.

Challenges and potentials in using alternative landscape futures during climate change: A literature review and survey study

Author(s): Amin Rastandeh / Language(s): English / Issue: 26(2)/2015

This study focuses on the feasibility of applying alternative futures and scenario analysis in landscape planning during climate change to provide a wider perspective and deeper understanding of this approach for better use and more effective application in the future. The study consists of a literature review and an analysis of recent applied projects carried out worldwide. In addition, an electronic survey was conducted from March to September 2014 to examine viewpoints on the use and application of this approach with reference to climate-change impacts. The survey participants were a group of highly experienced researchers from eighteen countries involved in at least one applied project since 2000 relating to this topic. After analysis of more than forty applied projects, the survey results were incorporated into the analysis to create a comprehensive picture regarding the potentials and limitations of alternative futures and scenario analysis in landscape planning with particular attention to climate change. The findings show that this method is one of the most effective decision-making approaches for adopting landscape policies where landscapes change rapidly under the pressure of urbanisation and climate change. Nevertheless, there is a gap between the advances offered by the approach in various dimensions and the complexity of patterns, uncertainties and upheavals in landscapes due to climate-change impacts in the urbanising world. The research indicates that the approach opens up a great opportunity for decision-makers to expand their perspective and adopt appropriate landscape policies before reaching a point of no return from the sustainability point of view. Meanwhile, there are challenges and barriers in the application of alternative futures and scenario analysis for envisioning the landscapes influenced by climate change and urbanisation that should be pushed back. Although informative, this research raises new questions about this approach and its applications in the future, providing a basis for further research.

Chernivtsi: A City with Mysterious Flavour of Tolerance

Author(s): Anatoliy Kruglashov / Language(s): English / Issue: 19/2015

The article presents the analytical outline of Chernivtsi, the city with a reach cultural history. The past of the city is traced back as far as the written sources began to mention the settlement in the sources of Moldavian Principality. Austrian, Romanian, Soviet and Ukrainian periods of city evolutions are considered and compared. The main focus has been made on the interethnic communication of key local ethnic groups, their relations and coexistence. The contribution of urban population into formation of prominent Bukovynian tolerance also has been regarded by the author. Current challenges of the local community development are summed up and prospect for its further evolution suggested in Conclusions. It’s stressed the importance influence of the borderland position of the city on the whole history and present time of it.