Volume 38 (2019): Issue 4 (December 2019)

Social risk is an interdisciplinary concept used with various meanings in the social and in the natural sciences. The article presents some of the social insights into this concept, particularly in connection with the global environmental research project and with geography. The special dimension of social risks, as well as some current methodological aspects regarding models and the main indicators used in the multidimensional assessment of social risks are analysed at local, regional and national levels. Of special interest is the link between social risks and a series of key-concepts, such as: hazard, impact, social vulnerability, resilience, adaptive capacity.

Realising that human geography has been defined less by its canonical works but rather by its canonical concepts, the current status of the concept ‘rural’ puts a question mark over progress in human geography in terms of how well we have been able to adapt knowledge to reciprocate with societal change at large. As one of the oldest geographical concepts still in widespread use, ‘rural’ stands in stark contrast to the immense changes encountered by the society during the last century, let alone decades. And while this problem has been approached both empirically and philosophically, not enough stress has been put on the cognitive and sociological processes that have governed the attainment and retention of ‘rural’ in science, and beyond. In this vein, the aim of this paper is to provide a structured argument for facilitating a view of ‘rural’ less as a geographical space and more as a concept purportedly thought to define such space by way of inculcation.

The text aims to explore the economic and spatial strategies followed by artists who run micro-firms. The authors analyse results of a qualitative study of independent artist enterprises in Kraków. It reveals that motivations for artistic entrepreneurship are diverse and foremost linked with the need to overcome challenges artists experience in the labour market and in the market for cultural goods and services. Different strategies translate into particular location choices as well as varied visibility of such firms in urban space.

The objective of this article is to highlight the role of the spirit as an intangible component in the attractiveness, conviviality and success of public places. The comparative study, which covers two public places having the same typo-morphology and sharing the same geographical and sociocultural context, aims to measure the spirits of these two places. The study is based on a theoretical conceptualisation and quantitative analysis of data collected using a measurement tool having satisfactory psychometric qualities. The two main statistical techniques employed are the relative importance index (RII) and the T-test. The results of the study show that the valence

Kurt Lewin was one of the first to use the word ‘valence’. This is in a way synonymous with the value of psychic force with a positive or negative polarity and a degree of high, low or neutral intensity (Rainio 2009).

The problem of municipalities under 200 inhabitants is discussed. There are 1,500 such municipalities (24%) in the Czech Republic. Many of them came to existence after 1989 when the independence of communes was considered part of the democratisation process regardless of the population number. This paper aims at a statistical evaluation of municipalities with fewer than 200 inhabitants and presents their geographical distribution, demographic development and analysis of their aging. In general, 70% of these very small municipalities have been growing since 2001. The smallest of them have the highest percentage of the population decline and are the most endangered by aging. Very small municipalities with the highest population growth are situated mainly in the vicinity of larger towns, the ones with the highest population decline are located mainly in peripheral areas at the border of regions.

1989 was a turning point in the socio-economic development in the former Eastern bloc, initiating a systemic transformation that affected the society at large. It also contributed to the crystallisation of certain cultural landscapes, hitherto largely illegible due to the inhibition of spatial processes encountered during socialism. In Poland, after a quarter-century of a free market economy, the focus on social problems began to expand to the spatial realm as well. It became apparent that the progressive social polarisation that followed was most prominent in environments striated by a particular landscape type – the former State Agricultural Farm (PGR). Considering PGRs as ‘the epitome of rurality’ subject to ideas informing about the direction of contemporary ‘rural development’ prompts a different way of looking at the problem. In this paper, we investigate the concept of rurality in the discursive tenor of implemented policy and contrast it with contextualised empirical examples. Our findings suggest that an efficient policy should be confronted with the expectations of residents at the local level, and introducing top-down actions usually ends in failure as in the case of post-PGR estates.

The approach to the issue of shrinking cities is undergoing constant changes. Originally, this process was referred primarily to the progressing depopulation connected with a deteriorating economic situation. Presently, works on shrinking cities mainly focus on the challenges posed by the problem rather than the delimitation questions. Do the shrinking also apply to the situation of small towns, and if so, to what extent may small towns shrink? Being conscious of the multidimensional nature of the topic discussed, the authors took measures aimed at singling out a group of shrinking towns from the whole set of small towns in Poland. The identification of depopulating centres consisted in pointing to those shrinking both in terms of their demography and economy. This type of research gives rise to all types of methodological problems such as which tools should be used to measure town shrinking or which data should be selected for the research, an issue particularly important for small towns where the range of indicators available is rather limited. What conclusions may be drawn from the conducted analysis? Do small towns in Poland shrink? On the basis of the conducted research the answer is no. With regard to demography, the process of shrinking concerns only 30 towns (4.5%). And this group includes only four which additionally shrink in economic terms.

Considered as a lever for urban regeneration politics, the construction of emblematic facilities is also a way to enhance metropolitan attractiveness. The Algerian capital is no exception to this rule. These new urban icons are designed to be the catalysts of urban change, and are expected to improve the adaptation of metropolitan localities to new needs and developmental challenges. However, in the field, this iconic regeneration does not always bring the expected changes. The Riad El Feth Arts Centre, an iconic facility located in the central municipality of El Madania in Algiers, is one example. In this paper we propose an operational tool called EFLUR (Emblematic Facilities Leverage of Urban Regeneration), intended to facilitate urban decision-making by evaluating the leverage of emblematic facilities at targets of urban strategy. It helps to assesses and optimise their leverage capacity by identifying their failures and opportunities, with a view to undertaking necessary actions, both to amplify positive contamination and to limit detrimental effects. The Riad El Feth is selected as a study case to validate our approach and test the operationality of EFLUR. Beyond conventional impact studies, the value of this tool lies in its holistic approach and capacity to combine metropolitan objectives with local development strategies.

The article presents the project of revitalisation of the former industrial zone of the district of Bagnoli in the context of possibilities of development of the thermal tourism in the Italian region of Campania. The authors refer primarily to the thermal facilities which were in use in the period from the second half of the 18th century to the 1970s, and which border directly the area of revitalisation, but weren’t included in the plan. The aims of the article are: (1) the reconstruction and the recommendation of the locations of the forgotten thermal sites formerly in use in the area of the Bagnoli district, (2) the presentation of the current state and development of such buildings, (3) the estimation of the tourism development potential in the region with reference to similar experiences of Poland and Austria, where the thermal infrastructures became the driving force of socio-economic development.

The phenomenon of outdoor advertising is particularly worrying in protected areas due to the limitation and depreciation of natural and landscape assets. The paper aims to identify and compare legal provisions concerning the advertising policy in relation to naturally and visually precious areas in Poland and Slovakia. Moreover, it determines the scale of visual pollution in a protected area – trends in the location, size, form and influence on the surroundings and perception. In both analysed countries there are regulations that would not bring the desired effects regarding the advertising policy. Advertisement devices are present in settlements and at significant road points, entrances to facilities connected with tourism. A point of concern is that they are frequently placed in the most precious landscape areas.

Mining belongs to the types of human activity that have a significant impact on the environment, and especially on the landscape. The main objective of this study is a quantitative diagnosis of the dynamics of land use changes and landscape pattern modification in areas shaped under the influence of processes related to the open pit exploitation of lignite. The study was carried out in the Adamów-Koźmin Lignite Basin, which is a model example of an area affected by strong anthropogenic pressure. An assessment of changes was carried out using a set of maps depicting land use in the period preceding the exploitation of lignite (the year 1940) and after over 60 years of the mining activity in this area (as of 2011). The source materials for mapping for the first period were archival maps and for the second period, an orthophotomap. The heads-up digitising method was used to determine 7 types of land-cover classes according to the definitions of Corine Land Cover. Ten landscape metrics for five categories of landscape features (surface, shape, neighbourhood, edge, spatial distribution and diversity) were used in the landscape pattern analysis. The results do not confirm the hypothesis of a significant landscape simplification after reclamation. The shape of patches in the landscape was more complex and the number of land-use types was higher, which combined with their spatial arrangement, caused the landscape pattern to be more diversified in the year 2011.

The paper aims to identify the main trends and recommendations for the development of merchandise trade in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) integrating environment through the analysis of its mutual and foreign (internal and external) merchandise trade. The study is based on the official statistical data for 2014–2018 and economic comparisons and systematisation (including geographical systematisation). The results show that the intensification of mutual and foreign trade in the EAEU is possible by stimulating consumer and industrial demand, enhancing exports of high tech products and diversifying exports, and strengthening the cooperation within the EAEU and with other countries and integration associations.