<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>In the article, which is a theoretical and conceptual introduction for the Special Issue of Moravian Geographical Reports on ‘New trends and challenges of urban agriculture in the context of Europe’, the authors resume and review diverging issues of urban agriculture, exploring and discussing them from a geographical perspective and in a wider context of the transformation of urban and rural spaces, urban regeneration and renewal, agricultural restructuring, multifunctionality, ecosystem services, land-use conflicts and social responsibility. After the introduction that depicts a changing role of agriculture in the context of urban and rural transformations, the current research on urban agriculture in Europe is summarised and reviewed. Then the main trends and concepts of growing and expanding urban agriculture are presented and discussed with a special emphasis on the challenges these pose to geographers.</abstract>

The geography of urban agriculture: New trends and challenges

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> In this paper the authors attempt to answer the question of which location and site-specific factors have a decisive influence on the successful regeneration of brownfields. Using data from the South Moravian Region (Czech Republic), we analyze the spatial and functional distribution of brownfields, and test the correlation between the development potential of municipalities and the distribution of the brownfields that have already been regenerated. We then compare the structure and characteristics of existing and regenerated brownfields to identify significant drivers and barriers in the regeneration process. The findings indicate that regenerated brownfields are more likely located in municipalities with a higher local development potential (represented by the rate of local business activities, spatial peripherality - proximity to the regional centre and the main road network, and the quality of local infrastructure). It is also demonstrated that the large size of brownfields, their previous industrial use and the existence of contamination are not determinative barriers for regeneration if the brownfields are located in attractive areas and their ownership relations are not complicated.</abstract>

Location Matters! Exploring Brownfields Regeneration in a Spatial Context (A Case Study of the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic)

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The problem of using the concept of post-industrialism to define regions with traditional industries is addressed in this article. It focuses on the diversity of industrial development in the Katowice conurbation (Poland) and the difficulties of situating the region in the widely-used taxonomy by Phelps and Ozawa, which assumes a one-way transition from the late-industrial to post-industrial stage. The authors point to the fact that only some of the towns can be described as post-industrial, since there are also towns in which traditional industries continue to develop relatively well and others at an advanced stage of re-industrialisation. The proposal is made that the Katowice conurbation can be described as a “trans-industrial region” in order to account for the various stages of development in the industrial sector in the towns of the conurbation, and to underline the dynamic nature and temporal variability of the industrialisation factor in the region.</abstract>

Some dilemmas of post-industrialism in a region of traditional industry: The case of the Katowice conurbation, Poland

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The potential for using a standardized landscape evaluation method for planning a greenway in a young glacial area in northern Poland is evaluated in this paper. In the evaluation of visual landscape attractiveness (VLA), we took into account not only its natural but also its cultural components. The cultural components were divided into two groups, i.e. increasing and decreasing VLA scores. The sources of data needed for the evaluation included a Vector Smart Map level 2 (VMap L2), aerial photographs and a field survey. The newly-designated greenway links two landscape parks (which play the role of greenspaces) and runs along numerous lakes, forests, rivers, and objects of cultural heritage. The greenway is composed of existing local roads, allowing a more optimal utilisation of natural and cultural resources of the landscape, primarily those located between the selected greenspaces. Using this application, the idea of sustainable development can be implemented, and the overlapping protected areas will not be subject to devitalisation. The VLA method can facilitate multiple greenway designations in other areas.</abstract>

Faculty of the Earth Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń,

Institute of Geography, Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz,

Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Toruń,

Planning a greenway based on an evaluation of visual landscape attractiveness

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Different approaches to the analysis of tourism destinations as the basic units of research in tourism, are reviewed in this paper. Traditional geographical and economic perspectives are presented as the bases for more modern system and networking approaches. Network analysis is discussed as the most useful current approach to understand cooperation and coopetition processes taking place in destinations. This approach, developed in general management theory, however, if implicated directly in tourism, is not free from major problems and may lead to misleading conclusions. Among such problems, spatial embeddedness and the non-voluntary character of membership in a network, the crucial role of free goods in product creation, the predominance of SMEs in a destination network, differences between particular destinations and the difficulty in setting clear borders between networks, are discussed.</abstract>

Tourism destination: The networking approach

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Using ‘Urban Atlas’ as a data source, the authors present and critically discuss in this paper the application of figure-ground plans in combination with complex land-use maps as a tool for spatial analysis of urban agriculture in European cities and their multifunctional green infrastructure. The selected cities and metropolitan areas (including Dublin, Ruhr Metropolis, Geneva and Sofia) represent different regions in Europe from the Northwest to the Southeast. Urban fabric, agriculture and non-agricultural open spaces have been analysed and compared as the main land-use components. Agricultural open spaces include arable land with annual crops and permanent crops, such as vineyards, fruit trees and olive groves; pastures; as well as complex and mixed cultivation patterns. The results reveal the scale and land-use diversity of metropolitan regions and different spatial patterns of urban agriculture at the regional level and in central urban areas.</abstract>

Exploring urban agriculture as a component of multifunctional green infrastructure: Application of figure-ground plans as a spatial analysis tool

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In this article, we identify the spatial mobility of the populations of selected urban centres in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. In total, 1,616 interviews were conducted. Additionally also interviews with the employees responsible for crisis management were conducted. Based on the analyses, five different clusters were identified, with different patterns of inhabitants in terms of their spatial mobility in the event of war. The most significant factors influencing their mobility in crisis situations are country of residence, age, number of people in the household and sex. This research can help develop evacuation strategies at different levels of governance.
</abstract>

Spatial mobility of the inhabitants of the countries of NATO’s eastern flank in the event of a military conflict

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Cultivated terraces are phenomena that have been protected in some areas for both their cultural heritage and food production purposes. Some terraced areas are disappearing but could be revitalised. To this end, recognition techniques need to be developed and terrace registers need to be established. The goal of this study was to recognise terraces using deep learning based on Lidar DEM. Lidar data is a valuable resource in countries with overgrown terraces. The U-net model training was conducted using data from the Slovenian terraces register for southwestern Slovenia and was subsequently applied to the entire country. We then analysed the agreement between the terraces register and the terraces recognised by deep learning. The overall accuracy of the model was 85%; however, the kappa index was only 0.22. The success rate was higher in some regions. Our results achieved lower accuracy compared to studies from China, where similar techniques were used but which incorporated satellite imagery, DEM, as well as land use data. This study was the first attempt at deep learning terrace recognition based solely on high-resolution DEM, highlighting examples of false terrace recognition that may be related to natural or other artificial terrace-like features.
</abstract>

Towards the deep learning recognition of cultivated terraces based on Lidar data: The case of Slovenia

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Visiting urban green and blue spaces improves the quality of life in cities as it helps to preserve human-nature bonds. In this context, the role of urban parks and forests has been well-recognised; however, much less is known about the landscapes of inland water bodies. To fill this gap, the study aimed to identify spatiotemporal patterns of recreational activities in the urban riverscape in relation to the visitors’ residential proximity. Also, survey results were combined with spatial and remote sensing data to determine how the spatial characteristics of the riverscape affect its recreational use. The case of Warsaw, Poland, was used. The results indicated that the riverscape serves as a local park for the neighbouring communities, while it is rather a warm-weekend attraction for far-living ones. Visitors concentrate in the city centre, and spread out along the communication paths; however, spatial patterns of the magnitude of particular activities also show interbank differences. Spatial error models of drivers of riverscape recreation revealed (1) the multifaceted role of trees in densely visited areas and (2) the importance of physical availability for contact with the urban river. These findings expand knowledge on the recreational use of urban rivers by exploring its place-related motivations.
</abstract>

Recreational use of the urban riverscape: What brings people to the river?

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic challenge some established human-landscape interactions notably. In this article, we analyse whether the pandemic had an impact on the perception of urban green spaces (UGS) and usage behaviours in Leipzig, Germany. We use a quantitative survey to understand people’s attitudes. Our study is novel in that it firstly explores the relationship between UGS and visitors during the final phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (winter 2022/2023), contrary to the vast majority of already existing studies that relied on digitally distributed surveys due to the lockdown protocols. Secondly our study does not apply exclusively online methods to reach out to the participants. The survey results show that about 40% (of the 115 participants) use parks more frequently during the final phase of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before 2020. Characteristics such as proximity to home, naturalness and cleanliness have become the most relevant. We see a notable increase in the demand for secure public green spaces, particularly among female visitors. Every second respondent confirmed experiencing considerable difficulties when accessing UGS, revealing the existing (spatial) deficits in environmental justice. These results should be considered by urban planners to adapt UGS to the changing demands of the citizens.
</abstract>

COVID-19 pandemic and urban green spaces: Shifting usage behaviours and perceptions in Leipzig (Germany)?

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Based on a scoping review of English-language scientific literature for the period of 1990–2022, the article presents a synthetic outline of previous research, focusing on factors influencing the specifics of foreign military bases (FMBs) as examples of facilities that mostly generate negative attitudes known as ‘Not In My Backyard’ (NIMBY). The specific characteristics of different categories of objects that generate various social attitudes are also presented. The results of the analyses include a classification of factors and aspects related to the local impacts of foreign military bases, which have not been analysed before.
</abstract>

NIMBY or YIMBY? Understanding the complex relationships between foreign military bases and host societies

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The public space environment is one of the critical influential factors for strengthening local identity and communities’ sense of belonging, while enhancing city life quality. This study focuses on the use of heritage buildings as a catalyst for reactivating public spaces and aims to explore to what extent the revitalization project for the historical centre of Craiova, a medium-sized post-socialist city, has succeeded. The three dimensions of revitalisation – physical, economic and social – were analysed using a mixed approach, including participant observation, field investigation, and a residents’ survey. Physical changes within the study area, improved accessibility, functional changes and economic restructuring were analysed, as well residents’ perceptions and use of the area (perceived changes, use of the place, types of places used by the residents, frequency, times spent). The results point to the fact that not all the three dimensions of the revitalization project were equally successful, proving once again that not all the actions are effective in delivering the best outcomes. The main beneficiaries are discussed and the outcome of the revitalisation project is analysed against similar projects in other countries.
</abstract>

Urban revitalisation within the historical quarter: A comprehensive analysis of a medium sized city in Romania

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The status of women in society is very diverse worldwide. Among many important traits associated with the differentiation of gender inequality is religion, which itself must be regarded as a fluid concept with interpretations and practices ‘embedded’ and thus varying with respect to cultural and historical relations. Admitting the complexity of the issues, some religious norms and traditions can contribute to the formation of gender inequalities and to subordinate the role of women in society. Using an exploratory quantitative analysis, the influence of religiosity on gender inequality in social, economic and political spheres is examined. Three categories of states have emerged from the analysis: (a) states where the majority of inhabitants are without religious affiliation, which display the lowest levels of gender inequality; (b) Christian and Buddhist societies, with average levels of gender inequality; and (c) states with the highest levels of gender inequality across the observed variables, whose inhabitants adhere to Islam and Hinduism.</abstract>

Religion and gender inequality: The status of women in the societies of world religions

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_mgr-2016-0012_ref_023_w2aab2b8b3b1b7b1ab1ac23Aa">Stewart and Oke (2012)</xref> recently proposed the concept of Local Climate Zones (LCZ) to describe the siting of urban meteorological stations and to improve the presentation of results amongst researchers. There is now a concerted effort, however, within the field of urban climate studies to map the LCZs across entire cities, providing a means to compare the internal structure of urban areas in a standardised way and to enable the comparison of cities. We designed a new GIS-based LCZ mapping method for Central European cities and compiled LCZ maps for three selected medium-sized Central European cities: Brno, Hradec Králové, and Olomouc (Czech Republic). The method is based on measurable physical properties and a clearly defined decision-making algorithm. Our analysis shows that the decision-making algorithm for defining the percentage coverage for individual LCZs showed good agreement (in 79–89% of cases) with areas defined on the basis of expert knowledge. When the distribution of LCZs on the basis of our method and the method of <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_mgr-2016-0012_ref_002_w2aab2b8b3b1b7b1ab1ab2Aa">Bechtel and Daneke (2012)</xref> was compared, the results were broadly similar; however, considerable differences occurred for LCZs 3, 5, 10, D, and E. It seems that Central European cities show a typical spatial pattern of LCZ distribution but that rural settlements in the region also regularly form areas of built-type LCZ classes. The delineation and description of the spatial distribution of LCZs is an important step towards the study of urban climates in a regional setting.</abstract>

Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno,

Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc,

GIS-based delineation of local climate zones: The case of medium-sized Central European cities

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> Customer loyalty enables companies to outperform competitors and better satisfy customers’ needs and desires. People today are increasingly interested in buying green or sustainable products, pursuing responsible consumption, getting involved in environmental protection activities and preserving resources. These key elements of sustainability are crucial in retailer strategies for approaching customers, strategies encompassing both communication and well-structured offers of sustainable, green and environmentally friendly products to gain customers’ loyalty and assist them in adopting responsible (green) consumption behaviours. This may not be the case in all retail markets or sub-markets, however. This paper investigates these issues in the context of the emerging European economy of Romania, using a survey conducted in four major retail segments comprising more than 3,000 respondents. Using structural equation modelling the authors reveal that Romanian retailers are concerned with drawing customers and gaining their loyalty by adopting strategies based on the principles of sustainability. The results indicate that in this emerging market behavioural antecedents differ across the analysed retail formats in building green loyalty, which represents a challenge for retailers in their attempt to draw, satisfy and bind consumers to their retail formats and stores. At the same time, there is also a growing awareness of green aspects among Eastern Europeans, even if they have been challenged with sustainability issues and the need to adopt green behaviours more recently than their Western European counterparts.</abstract>

The Impact of Consumer Green Behaviour on Green Loyalty Among Retail Formats: A Romanian Case Study

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Research on urban climates has been an important topic in recent years, given the growing number of city inhabitants and significant influences of climate on health. Nevertheless, far less research has focused on the impacts of light pollution, not only on humans, but also on plants and animals in the landscape. This paper reports a study measuring the intensity of light pollution and its impact on the autumn phenological phases of tree species in the town of Zvolen (Slovakia). The research was carried out at two housing estates and in the central part of the town in the period 2013–2016. The intensity of ambient nocturnal light at 18 measurement points was greater under cloudy weather than in clear weather conditions. Comparison with the ecological standard for Slovakia showed that average night light values in the town centre and in the housing estate with an older type of public lighting, exceeded the threshold value by 5 lux. Two tree species, sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina L.), demonstrated sensitivity to light pollution. The average onset of the autumn phenophases in the crown parts situated next to the light sources was delayed by 13 to 22 days, and their duration was prolonged by 6 to 9 days. There are three major results: (i) the effects of light pollution on organisms in the urban environment are documented; (ii) the results provide support for a theoretical and practical basis for better urban planning policies to mitigate light pollution effects on organisms; and (iii) some limits of the use of plant phenology as a bioindicator of climate change are presented.</abstract>

Effects of light pollution on tree phenology in the urban environment

Declarations of Authorship

Instructions for Authors

Moravian Geographical Reports

The Journal of Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Palacky University Olomouc (UPOL)

 The Moravian Geographical Reports [MGR] is a peer-reviewed international journal that has been published in English continuously since 1993 by...

Impact Factor

Five Year Impact Factor

Cite Score

SNIP

MNiSW

Google Scholar h5-index

Google Scholar h5-median

 The Moravian Geographical Reports [MGR] is a peer-reviewed international journal that has been published in English...