Frameworks, Networks and the UK Regional Agenda: nature planning for landscapes?

Planning at the landscape scale in Britain has had limited application. The origins, implementations and likely outcomes of new approaches to nature planning in Britain in which the spatial scale of planning could be 'landscape enabled' are traced. These approaches are termed 'framework' strategies, within which 'ecological networks' can be developed in order better to reflect species' behaviour and to overcome the restrictions of designation-based nature conservation. Currently, planning structures are subject to change and debate: published planning documents and other sources are examined for a case study of the North West of England, where experiments in ecological networks are underway. Evidence is sought for the incorporation into new planning structures of key concepts relevant to the achievement of network implementation. Evaluation is made of likely critical 'pinch points' in implementation using experience of network planning in the Netherlands for comparison. These include availability of data on habitats and species, the relationship of planning to agriculture, and the need for co-operation from stakeholders.     

Ecological networks: A spatial concept for multi-actor planning of sustainable landscapes

In this paper, we propose the ecological network concept as a suitable basis for inserting biodiversity conservation into sustainable landscape development. For landscapes to be ecologically sustainable, the landscape structure should support those ecological processes required for the landscape to deliver biodiversity services for present and future generations. We first show that in multifunctional, human-dominated landscapes, biodiversity conservation needs a coherent large-scale spatial structure of ecosystems. Theory and empirical knowledge of ecological networks provides a framework for the design of such structures. Secondly, ecological networks can bridge the paradox between reserve conservation (fixing nature in space and time) and development, which implies change. This is because ecological networks can change structure without losing their conservation potential. Thirdly, ecological networks facilitate stakeholder decision-making on feasible biodiversity goals. They help to focus on an effective spatial scale. We conclude that extending the ecological network concept with multifunctional indicators is a promising step towards sustainable landscape development and stakeholder decision-making.     

Designing,planning, and managing resilient cities: A conceptual framework

To what must cities be resilient? How can cities, as complex systems, be resilient? Building a capacity for resilience might be a daunting task when one considers the multitude of components, processes, and interactions that take place within and beyond a city’s physical, logical (i.e. legal), and virtual (cyberspace) boundaries. Planning for resilience to the impacts of stressors within cities requires an evaluation of the vulnerable components of cities, an understanding of the key processes, procedures, and interactions that organize these components and develop the capacity to address various structuring of components and their interactions with the ultimate goal of achieving resilience. This paper provides a deeper look at resilience in cities, proposes a conceptual resilience framework, and includes a discussion and analysis of the framework. The proposed framework is meant to serve as a more holistic approach to designing, planning, and managing for resilience by including an evaluation of cultural and process dynamics within cities as well as their physical elements.     

‘Management by projects’: the management approach for the future

The trend toward the project-oriented company, performing simultaneously a network of internal and external projects, creates the demand for the management approach ‘Management by Projects’. The specific feature of ‘management by projects’ is that the management of single projects, the management of the network of projects and the management of the relationships between the company and the single projects are considered. For the successful management of the project-oriented company, instruments of ‘Management by Projects’ are presented.     

Historic Landscape Characterisation: A landscape archaeology for research, management and planning

This article outlines a relatively new form of landscape archaeology known in England as Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC). Whilst it seeks to present and analyse the 'historic character' of landscapes, HLC is also a forward-looking approach that uses its distinctively 'archaeological' perspective to inform planning for the future. The article argues that HLC is particularly well placed to facilitate communication between landscape scholars from different disciplines and other people concerned with landscapes.     

Public policy for a multiproduct firm : Tearing down the ‘Berlin Wall’ in telecommunications

United States telecommunications policy contains ‘Berlin Walls’ that due to technology advances are being breached. Policies that encourage competitors are unnecessarily constraining traditional providers, the local exchange carriers. These constraints are causing market distortions, harmful to consumers. We propose four specific policy changes that should be adopted in order to bring down the walls while providing protections against any residual market power held by the exchange carriers. Specifically: use of incremental cost test to deter/detect cross-subsidies, price imputation for intrafirm transfers, generalized open network architecture, and removal of prohibitions on exchange carrier provision of video programming.     

Deculverting: reviewing the evidence on the ‘daylighting’ and restoration of culverted rivers

We review published references on ‘deculverting’ (also known as ‘daylighting’) projects in the United Kingdom and internationally. The aim of the review was to assess the objectives of implemented projects and to establish where evidence exists for the purported social, economic and environmental benefits of deculverting. The outcomes highlight the need for collaboration to collate detailed information on such projects, to support the further development of evidence‐based policy. It is clear that deculverting schemes can indeed exert considerable positive impacts, including ecological benefits, reduced flood risks, recreation for local communities and a stimulus for regeneration, but that the evidence for these impacts is sparse. We conclude that improvements in policy will help to maximise these opportunities, by encouraging the implementation of good practices.     

A comment on Scott and Storper's ‘The nature of cities: The scope and limits of urban theory’

Facing the main historical realizations of the city and the main theorizations about it, Scott and Storper look for identifying its invariant character. By distinguish between issues that, while occurring in the city, originate elsewhere in the social realm and issues that are intrinsic to it, they point to the ‘urban land nexus’ as the city unifying explicative principle, which stems from the trade‐off between agglomeration economies and land shortage. I argue that this outcome lies on the confusion between the city and urban agglomeration at large and, ultimately, on the unresolved quarrel between structuralism and empiricism.     

A case study of evidence for showing ‘no net loss’ of bird biodiversity in a development project

Given the development of global pressures on habitats and biodiversity, it is important that developments are accompanied with a compensation element leading to ‘no net loss’. We show how (using a standardised sampling process) a statistical assessment of the biodiversity quality of the target organisms (birds) in a compensatory provision can be shown to be a compensation or not. We used the example of the Cardiff Bay Barrage (Wales) where a bay was inundated and compensation site at Newport Gwent Levels (Wales) created. Bird data for the Cardiff Bay prior to the inundation and for Newport following inundation of Cardiff Bay were analysed to create a series of biodiversity quality indices and these were compared statistically. The analysis showed the compensation habitat was better than the original. Results were poor for Dunlin and Redshank, already subject to regional decline in the Severn Estuary and estuaries in NW Europe.     

MULBO: Model framework for multicriteria landscape assessment and optimisation. A support system for spatial land use decisions

The model framework MULBO (Multicriteria Landscape Assessment and Optimisation) is a spatially explicit decision support method on the basis of risk evaluations for landscape functions. Its principal purpose is the establishment of optimal land use patterns as scenarios, which are balanced compromises between conflicting goals for the reduction of assessed risks. A user manual for MULBO has been developed which contains the individual assessment tools, the landscape optimisation method LNOPT 2.0, a multiplicity of applications, as well as information about data and techniques. After an introductory discussion of fundamentals for spatial decision-making, the methods and contents of MULBO are presented and discussed on basis of applications in a rural area in the southern part of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). An applied project converts the scenario results recently into possible practices.     

Learning mobility grants and skill (mis)matching in the labour market: The case of the ‘Master and Back’ Programme

This paper looks at the geographical mobility of graduate students and their skill matching in the labour market. The paper assesses the impact of a learning mobility grant scheme funded by the European Social Fund in Sardinia (ex‐Objective 1 region in the Italian Mezzogiorno). The scheme aims to foster regional human capital and increase the employability of local graduates by covering the cost of post‐graduate studies in other regions or countries. The econometric analysis is based on a unique dataset that combines administrative data on beneficiaries with information from a dedicated survey. The results suggest that learning mobility grants can reinforce skill matching only if the problem of self‐selection of the beneficiaries is properly addressed.     

Ecological networks as a new approach for nature conservation in Turkey: A case study of İzmir Province

This paper aims to identify and evaluate a potential ecological network including core areas and large-scale corridors in the İzmir Province and its surrounding areas, Turkey. It is one of the first studies on the connectivity for mammal species and the detection of potential ecological corridors for Turkey. Four wide-ranging species (Hyaena hyaena, Lynx lynx, Caracal caracal, and Felis chaus) have been chosen as target species. Existing Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and surrounding lands have been evaluated based on a three criteria: (1) vegetation/habitat types, (2) carrying capacity and (3) road density using simple GIS-based models.The results are evaluated using the Minimum Viable Metapopulation (MVMP) standards. No KBA in the study region has a Key Population (KP) or Minimum Viable Population (MVP) with the exception of Boz Dağlar. Least cost-path analysis has been applied to identify linkages between KBAs relevant for the four target species. The conclusion is that it is possible to maintain MVPs in the region when the KBAs are linked by ecological corridors.     

Rainwater harvesting for domestic use: A systematic review and outlook from the utility policy and management perspectives

In recent years, water insecurity has been reported as a problem of worldwide concern. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for some domestic uses is regarded as a path out of this situation. However, in some localities, RWH has been the sole water source for all domestic and non-domestic uses. In recent times, research in RWH has gained more traction from the operationalization and engineering perspectives. However, for direct rainwater usage to become a societal norm and generate significant societal benefits, studies in RWH must assess the alignment of outcomes from policy and management perspectives. Therefore, a comprehensive literature review of 83 collated papers on RWH is conducted in two stages. First, a systematic review of the literature is performed to identify the thematic content (structure of the literature, problem orientation), contextual application (technical and social considerations), and theoretical alignment scope (neo-institutional theory, agency theory, and ecological modernization theory). Second, gaps in the literature are identified, and theoretical alignment of the ideas from policy and management perspectives is proposed to advance RWH research. Key findings are: (1) despite RWH being aimed to provide social benefits, the present literature is constrained in supporting social policy-making and management of rainwater as a public utility system; (2) policy and governance frameworks that include socio-economic and socio-environmental pragmatism are needed to achieve RWH programs realistically; and (3) modeling of RWH systems requires considering spatial variabilities, policy evaluations, and governing theories. RWH has the potential to have a central position in water resource management worldwide.