| 1. |
- Arsovski, Slobodan, et al.
(författare)
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Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje—world’s most polluted city
- 2018
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 40:40, s. 17-39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The condition of the environment is one of the most fundamental concerns of cities worldwide, especially when high levels of pollution and environmental destruction exert immense impact on people’s quality of life. This paper focuses on Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, which often tops the charts as the world’s most polluted city. Despite associated problems such as congestion, ill health, and premature death, Macedonia’s scarce resources are instead spent on controversial projects, such as ‘Skopje 2014’, involving creating a national identity through massive and extremely costly constructions of neo-classical government buildings, museums and monuments. The aim of this paper is to compare the situation of Skopje to environmentally oriented activities conducted in several Polish cities and to discuss the possibility of their implementation in Skopje. Considering the scale and scope of Skopje’s environmental problems, the paper offers some priorities for action, including solutions that emphasize institution building, technical input and self-governance. It also highlights a number of economic, ecological, and socio-cultural contradictions involved in the process of achieving sustainable development.
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| 2. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
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Quality of life in rural areas: A topic for the Rural Development policy?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. - : Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. - 1732-4254 .- 2083-8298. ; 25:25, s. 25-54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Contemporary transformations of rural areas involve changes in land uses, economic perspectives, connectivity, livelihoods, but also in lifestyles, whereupon a traditional view of 'the rural' and, consequently, of 'rural development' no longer holds. Accordingly, EU's 2007-2013 Rural Development policy (RDP) is one framework to incorporate aspects labelled as quality of life (QOL) alongside traditional rural tenets. With a new rendition of the RDP underway, this paper scopes the content and extent of the expired RDP regarding its incorporation of QOL, in order to better identify considerations for future policy making. Using novel methodology called topic modelling, a series of latent semantic structures within the RDP could be unravelled and re-interpreted via a dual categorization system based on RDP's own view on QOL, and on definitions provided by independent research. Corroborated by other audits, the findings indicate a thematic overemphasis on agriculture, with the focus on QOL being largely insignificant. Such results point to a rationale different than the assumed one, at the same time reinforcing an outdated view of rurality in the face of the ostensibly fundamental turn towards viewing rural areas in a wider, more humanistic, perspective. This unexpected issue of underrepresentation is next addressed through three possible drivers: conceptual (lingering productionist view of the rural), ideological (capitalist prerogative preventing non-pecuniary values from entering policy) and material (institutional lock-ins incapable of accommodating significant deviations from an agricultural focus). The paper ends with a critical discussion and some reflections on the broader concept of rurality.
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| 3. |
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Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series (Volume 40)
- 2018
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Ingår i: Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series (De Gruyter). - 1732-4254 .- 1732-4254. ; 40:40, s. 1-196
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This 40th anniversary issue of BGSS highlights some of the tenets of the complexity that make sustainability a ‘wicked problem’ through a number of different perspectives, many of which have to date been pushed into the background amidst an otherwise exceptionally rich geographical literature on sustainability. The editorial task included procurement, administration and scientific processing of 12 articles from 25 authors as follows: (1) Mirek Dymitrow, Keith Halfacree – “Sustainability–differently”; (2) Slobodan Arsovski, Michał Kwiatkowski, Aleksandra Lewandowska, Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska, Emilija Sofeska, Mirek Dymitrow – “Can urban environmental problems be overcome? The case of Skopje—world’s most polluted city”; (3) Janis Birkeland – “Challenging policy barriers in sustainable urban design”; (4) Elizabeth Dessie – “Applying resilience thinking to ‘ordinary’ cities: A theoretical inquiry”; (5) Madeleine Eriksson, Aina Tollefsen – “The production of the rural landscape and its labour: The development of supply chain capitalism in the Swedish berry industry”; (6) Stina Hansson – “The role of trust in shaping urban planning in local communities: The case of Hammarkullen, Sweden”; (7) Shelley Kotze – “The place of community values within community-based conservation: The case of Driftsands Nature Reserve, Cape Town”; (8) Davide Marino, Luigi Mastronardi, Agostino Giannelli, Vincenzo Giaccio, Giampiero Mazzocchi – “Territorialisation dynamics for Italian farms adhering to Alternative Food Networks”; (9) E. Gunilla Almered Olsson – “Urban food systems as vehicles for sustainability transitions”; (10) George Mark Onyango – “Urban public transport in informal settlements: Experiences from Kisumu City, Kenya”; (11) Christian M. Rogerson – “Informality and migrant entrepreneurs in Cape Town’s inner city”; (12) Marcin Wójcik, Karolina Dmochowska-Dudek, Pamela Jeziorska-Biel, Paulina Tobiasz-Lis – “Understanding strategies for overcoming peripherality: A Polish experience of transition”. The articles have been reviewed by a cadre of 40 reviewers from 34 academic institutions across 14 countries.
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