Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Geographical theory'

Economics
Ph.D.
This dissertation presents an extension of the warlord competition models found in Skaperdas (2002) and Konrad and Skaperdas (2012). I consider two non-parasitic warlords located on a line. Each warlord allocates resources for the extraction of natural resources, the production of goods and services, and conflict with the opposing warlord. Within the symmetric rates of seizure model, I use three different forms of the contest success function, a primary tool in the conflict theory literature, in my analysis. I show that the warlord closer to the point of conflict will invest less into the hiring of warriors and more into the production of goods and services, yet wins a larger proportion of total goods and services produced within the economy. Under certain conditions, the placement of the point of conflict at the midpoint between the two warlords maximizes the total resources toward war and minimizes total production. Under the asymmetric rates of seizure model, I find that the warlord closer to the point of conflict invests more in warfare and less in production; that is, results that counter what is found in the symmetric model.
Temple University--Theses

As a site at the margin of terrestrial systems, Antarctica disrupts the usual practices of visual representation. This thesis investigates, what I call, chronogeographical approaches to visual culture within the Antarctic terrain. The material and theoretical chronogeographies of vision are mapped through the action of light, to elucidate on the shifting terrain of form - that is the Antarctic landscape. Historically, the thesis explores how the 1980s anti-mining campaign, organised by environmental groups challenged the political and visual hegemony of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. The campaign highlighted the feedback between the circulation of images and initiatives to protect the Antarctic landscape. Situated within this visual economy, the thesis focuses on how representation demarcates abstract and imaginative spaces for the production of the landscape - creating fugitive images of Antarctic spatialities. The thesis follows the fugitive testimony of the image through fields of knowledge, from the arrest and flow of landscape to the aesthetics of mobility. Critical art practice is considered as an interstice that highlights the conditions under which landscapes are given visibility, both cognitively and optically. A stratum of histories, mappings and sitings, structure the investigation into the transmission, materiality, and memory embedded in different media employed in the production of Antarctica. Through this sedimentation of geographies, the thesis proposes that the limits of representation may be found in Antarctica. It is argued that this shattering of commonly available visual languages can be a means to aerate our creative explorations of place. From this site, broader issues about the economy of the visual and the limits of visibility are examined. The thesis concludes that only by attending to the complex geographies of the image can the geopolitical aesthetics of place be accounted for.

Vagueness is an essential part of how humans perceive and understand the geographical world they occupy. It has now become of increasing important to acknowledge this situation in geographical databases and analyses in the field of Geographical Information Science (GIScience). This research has tackled the wholly original topic of modelling vague geographical places (objects) based on fuzzy set theory with a view to assessing the implications of routing problem around those vague places. The research has focused on the modelling of vague places, for a number of villages and rural settlements, working with national address databases which have numerous ambiguous characteristics which add challenge to the work. It has demonstrated the way in which fuzzy set theory can be used to derive approximate boundaries for vague spatial extents (fuzzy footprint) form sets of precise addresses, reporting rural settlements, recorded in different databases. It has further explored the implications of applying the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) in traditional hard village extents versus the modelled fuzzy extents. The introduced methods evaluate the usefulness of fuzzy set theory in modelling and analysing such vague regions. The results imply that the fuzzy model is more efficient than the traditional hard, crisp model of approximating the spatial extent of rural areas. However, the TSP results showed that longer tours were mostly found in the fuzzy model than the traditional crisp model. This is mainly affected by the scale factor of rural areas, considering the relatively small distances between villages. One challenge for the approach outlined here is to incorporate this method applied in other novel analyses of geographical information based on fuzzy representation of geographical phenomena.

Ever since the United Nations declared 2005 the year of micro-credit and linked it to the Millennium Development Goals, and especially on poverty reduction, there has been a series of studies looking at factors affecting the flow of credit down the poverty line. This is of particular importance because in spite of the success of Microfinance Institutions such as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and BancoSol in Mexico, evidence shows that many Microfinance Institutions do not reach down the poverty line but tend to cluster at the top. Developing several hypotheses using the elements of the neo-institutional theory, this study looks at how geographic location affects how Microfinance Institutions target their clients and the moderating effect that their regional context has on other factors. This is analysed using an unbalanced panel of 6, 645 observations drawn from 443 MFI institutions in 81 countries divided into 5 regions for the time period 2000-2014. An ordered logit regression was run using the target markets as the ordinal dependable variables. Based on the arguments of the neo-institutional theory, this study builds on previous ones by using a larger sample size (and number of years) to examine how the regional context affects the relationship between institutional quality and the selective lending behaviour of MFIs in 81 developing countries. An ordered logit regression was carried out using an unbalanced panel of 6645 observations from 443 MFI institutions across six regions from 2000-2014 against a broad range of company, country, regional and global specific variables. The results indicate that the geographic locations affects how MFIs lend down the poverty line with MFIs in and those in Eastern Europe and Central America less likely to lend to down the poverty line. The study found that the regional context also plays a big role in how institutional factors affect MFI lending practises with certain factors being more relevant in some regions than in others. This study also makes a case for using target markets as a better measure for depth of outreach as opposed to the more popular loan sizes and identifies the role that rural population growth and mobile phone penetration play in increasing depth of outreach of microfinance.

The contemporary Islamist extremist/terrorist phenomenon has emerged as one of the most significant threats to both regional and international peace, security, and stability. As the international community struggles to develop a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon in its present context, the academic community should respond and discuss this subject from all relevant disciplinary backgrounds and perspectives. If effective and successful policies, strategies, and tactics are to be developed in order to adequately confront these transnational actors, all dimensions of the subject need to be explored. This thesis examines certain aspects of the under-theorized geographical dimension of Islamist extremist/terrorism. Focusing on Al Qaeda and other members of the Islamist extremist/terrorist constituency, this thesis explores the geographical and spatial imagination of the Islamist terrorist subject and deconstructs the geographical and spatial imaginings of Islamist extremism/terrorism through critically analyzing the diffuse international structure of Islamist terrorism and its related groups, the cultural ?space? Islamist extremist/terrorist actors occupy, and the function of landscape in the identity and subjectivity of Islamist extremist/terrorism.

Passengers rank safety as a key factor in airline choice. Thus, safety performance impacts an airline's ability to attract customers. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship and difference between airline category low-cost carriers (LCCs) and full-service carriers (FSCs), geographical region, and safety performance measured by accident rates. The target population comprised all airlines in all countries that had an accident during the 14-year period 2004 to 2017. Data consisted of archival data of all global airline accidents and airline departure frequencies for the 14-year period. The theory of organizational accidents in complex sociotechnical systems explains the relationship between LCC and FSC safety performance, as well as between global geographical regions. The Swiss cheese model of organizational accidents theoretical framework remains a relevant model to examine airline accidents and improve airline safety. Data analysis consisted of the t test, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis. LCCs were found to be as safe as FSCs on a global level, and safer than FSCs in some regions. There were regional differences in safety, with North America being safer than Africa. The implications for positive social change include the potential for airline leaders to improve the safety image of their airline and provide passengers a better understanding of airline safety. Providing passengers with information on airline safety performance allows passengers to make informed choices on using different categories of airlines in different geographical regions. The research may result in new travel opportunities for travelers that were previously unrealized due to safety concerns, particularly around the increased use of LCCs.

I worked as a school administrator in 'disadvantaged schools' for many years. In this study I asked colleagues from sixteen schools in the northern and western suburbs of Adelaide to co - theorise about changes in their neighbourhood, school populations and programs, now that their schools are no longer recognised by policy as 'disadvantaged1. I explore the use of narrative method and arts based approaches by constructing a 'literary' research text that uses conventional sociological forms together with images, poetry and personal stories. I use anthropological and geographical theoretical constructs to look at the changing material, economic, cultural and social landscapes and the mosaic of inequalities in the city of Adelaide. I suggest that this is not a simple binary polarisation, although large numbers of people are similarly positioned by de-industrialisation and the diminishing social wage. After examining the literature on poverty in Australia, I am eventually prepared to call this space class, understanding that this is a sociological metaphor. Through a theorisation of each school as a 'place' within a specific neighbourhood, I look at the similarities and differences across sites. I suggest that 'disadvantaged schools' are similarly positioned as sites for the mediation of social inequalities, and that this can be readily seen in the time consuming 'housework' of discipline and welfare. I indicate how each school is differently able to 'do more with less', because of their unique neighbourhood and its narratives, knowledges, histories, teleologies and people. I show that the common coercive regimes of market devolution, new public management and the 'distributive curriculum' frame the work of teachers, students and administrators in ways that are not conducive to 'doing justice', despite the policy rhetoric of equity and community. I provide evidence that the neoliberal imaginary of context free schooling enshrined in effective schools literatures is Utopian and irrational. I argue that the capacity of the school to 'generate context' is always paradoxically dependent on 'context derived'. I discuss the notion of 'doing justice' and the benefits of 'disadvantaged schools' having a local set of principles that guide their decisions and actions and provide evidence that the school administrator's understandings of 'doing justice' are important. I also suggest that, despite being increasingly isolated and hindered by policy directions, the majority of the sixteen schools continue to work for and with principles of justice and equity, drawing on a range of emotional and intellectual resources and deep, longstanding commitments. I conclude by speculating on the kinds of policy and research agendas that might take account of both the commonalities and differences amongst 'disadvantaged schools', and what might be included in a comprehensive and systematic approach to 'doing justice'.

This study deals with long distance migration together with the importance of social networks and geographical preferences for the choice of destination when moving. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to analyze and specify the importance of the mover's social contacts when choosing a new place-of residence. In this connection, the social contents of the destination are chiefly focused. It has also been of interest to estimate in what degree these social contents have influenced this choice of destination by the individual. The differences in quality, intensity, dispersion and direction of social contacts is essential for explaining destination decisions. The basic hypothesis claims that the existence of social networks influences the individual's inclination to move and the choice ofplace-of-residence. In this study, empirical material is used, and its base is 2500 "movers" and a group of "stayers" of equal size. Data from public registers as well as data from inquiries have been used as empirical material. Far away moving is defined as moving across the communal boundaries. The examination of the empirical facts provides input paramétrés for a model, where a number of factors might explain the destination. The model work is implemented in three stages. In the multiple regression model, the impact of a number of variables is estimated. In the logistical regression model the probability of moving into a 'network commune' is estimated, i.e., moving to a commune where there are social contacts. In a third stage, the same variables are tested in a multi-nominal model. Strictly empirically, this study reveals, that there is evidence that the social networks influence the choice of destination when moving. Equally important, perhaps is to find out how strong an impact these networks have. Moving to a geographically and socially recognizable place is possibly regarded as having a more positive impact than the structure of the labour market. It can be stated that, in spite of the widespread migration within post-war Sweden, most people maintain some sort of social and geographical relation to the place where they grew up. The increased mobility per se has also implied that the individual, spatial and social contacts have become more widely spread. The place where one grew up is central and could be said to represent the place where there are many social contacts and the place you always refer to. Social contacts connected to relatives constitute one of the most important single factors. Previous place-of-residence is undoubtedly the most important single factor. Migration to a place of previous residence also implies that there already exists a social network. The access to a holiday cottage and the location of this cottage proves to have a great impact on destination- decisions. Many people simply move to the commune, where they own, or have access to, a holiday cottage. Of several plausible explanations two seem to be relevant. One concerns moving into former cottages, for year round residence, the other implies that the cottage could be regarded as the tangible link to the former home area. If there is no possibility of staying on in one's home area, the cottage represents a link to the past.
digitalisering@umu

Esta pesquisa busca analisar a filosofia crítica kantiana com dois objetivos básicos: identificar sua articulação com a visão de geografia promovida por Kant através do seu curso de geografia física e determinar os aspectos positivos e negativos que ela oferece para a fundamentação epistemológica do atual paradigma geográfico da paisagem. A hipótese inicial foi que a filosofia crítica poderia embasar a discussão a respeito da fundamentação epistemológica de uma teoria geográfica da paisagem. Ela encontrou que o filósofo teve um intenso relacionamento com o conhecimento geográfico do seu tempo, o qual contribuiu para a formulação de sua filosofia crítica, já que forneceu a fundamentação empírica para suas reflexões. O debate filosófico intenso que Kant provocou, todavia, não se repetiu no campo geográfico. Sua leitura geográfica da paisagem procurava relacionar os elementos no espaço, como as características dos habitantes e seus climas. Não obstante, ela era cheia de limitações devido a sua preferência por uma abordagem universalista e normativa das sociedades, como os pesquisadores fazem no campo das ciências naturais. Sua concepção histórica da sociedade não era suficiente. Esta pesquisa defende que o resultado do método de abordagem geográfica de Kant era falho em alguns aspectos. Ele ignorava o contexto histórico no qual as pessoas viviam e fornecia uma educação geográfica falha, a qual promovia certo determinismo e intolerância racial, como seu curso de geografia física e outros trabalhos indicam. O filósofo reservou um lugar para a geografia em sua arquitetônica do conhecimento, mas não procurou desenvolvê-la ao nível científico. Apesar disso, sua filosofia influenciou outros personagens que viriam a contribuir ativamente para o desenvolvimento da geografia científica e a formação do paradigma geográfico da paisagem. É importante perceber que sua filosofia crítica tem importantes reflexões sobre as características do conhecimento científico e a posição do homem na natureza. Essas questões são relevantes para auxiliar na análise epistemológica da geografia. Este trabalho demonstra ainda que a filosofia crítica kantiana pode contribuir mesmo atualmente para o desenvolvimento do paradigma geográfico da paisagem em seu campo epistemológico, não obstante as limitações do filósofo como um geógrafo (ou mesmo como um cientista social). Esta contribuição pode ser positiva (pela apropriação de alguns raciocínios por ela oferecidos) e negativa (encontrando seus erros e buscando superá-los).
This research seeks to analyze the Kantian critical philosophy with two basic aims: to identify its articulation with the view of geography Kant promoted through his course of physical geography and to determine the positive and negative aspects it offers to the epistemological foundation of the current geographical landscape paradigm. The initial hypothesis was that the critical philosophy could base the discussion about the epistemological foundation of a geographical landscape theory. It found that the philosopher had an intense relationship with the geographical knowledge of his time, which contributed to the formulation of his critical philosophy, since it provided empirical foundation for his reflections. The intense philosophical debate Kant provoked, however, did not repeat in the geographical realm. His geographical reading of landscape sought to relate elements on the space like the characteristics of the inhabitants and their climates. Nevertheless, it was also full of limitations due to his preference for a Universalist and normative approach of societies, as researchers do in the field of natural sciences. His historical conception of society was not enough. This research defends that the result of Kant´s geographical method of approach was defective in some aspects. It ignored the historical context that people lived and provided a flawed geographical education, which promoted even certain determinism and racial intolerance, as his course of physical geography and other work sindicate. The philosopher reserved a place for geography in his architectonic of knowledge, but did not seek to develop it to the scientific level. Nonetheless, his philosophy influenced other characters that would actively contribute to the development of scientific geography and with the formation of the geographical landscape paradigm. It is important to realize that his critical philosophy has important reflections about the characteristics of the scientific knowledge and the position of man in nature. These issues are relevant to assist in the epistemological analysis of geography. This work still demonstrates that the Kantian critical philosophy can contribute even today to the development of the geographical landscape paradigm in its epistemological field, despite the limitations of the philosopher as a geographer (or even as a social scientist). This contribution can be positive (by the appropriation of some reasoningsit offers), and negative (finding its mistakes and searching to overcomethem).

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
Este estudo analisou as bases teórico-metodológicas da geografia agrária brasileira partindo do ano de 1939 até 2009, com base em dez periódicos científicos selecionados em geografia. Evidenciou-se o pluralismo de concepções metodológicas e temáticas a partir da década de 1990. Assim, a pesquisa mostrou uma determinada coerência metodológica entre os períodos de 1939 a 1965, com base no método indutivo-descritivo-empírico alicerçado na geografia regional francesa. Após este momento, a geografia agrária passou a adotar uma linguagem matemática-estatística para a explicação dos fenômenos espaciais, com base no positivismo lógico, durante este paradigma vigente entre 1965 a 1980. A renovação crítica inseriu nos estudos agrários a preocupação com o dado social e as análises da contradição do capitalismo, abordagens políticas e econômicas, o auge dessa geografia agrária crítica foi nas décadas de 1980 a 2000. A partir desse momento, há uma diversidade de abordagens metodológicas não permitindo dizer que exista uma principal tendência paradigmática na geografia agrária brasileira neste início de século XXI. Destaca-se neste tese a importância do resgate de teorias e conceitos já utilizados na geografia agrária eu explicam os fenômenos atuais, além de salientar as principais tendências teórico-metodológicas no início do século XXI
This study aims at analyzing the process of transformation occurred in the theoreticalmethodological assumptions of Brazilian Agrarian Geography, based on ten scientific journals selected between 1939 and 2009, which attests the pluralism in methodological and themetic conceptions from the 1990s. Thus, this perspective demonstrated a determined methodologic coherence between the years of 1939 and 1965, based on inductive-descriptive-empirical method, rooted in the Frence Regional Geography. Until that moment, Agrarian Geography had chosen a mathematical-statistical language in order to explain space phenomena, based on logic positivism, during this paradigm current between 1965 and 1980. The critical renewal inserted in the agrarian studies a concern with the social datum and the analysis of the contradiction of capitalism, political and economic approaches, and the summit of that agrarian geography was between the 1980s and 2000s. From that moment on, there is a diversity of methodological approaches, which does not permit to affirm the existence of a main and paradigmatical trend in the Brazilian Agrarian Geography in the early 21st century

Students who identify as being from an ethnic minority are under-represented within school geography in England at Key Stage 4 (ages 14 – 16) and Key Stage 5 (ages 16 – 18). At these stages geography is an optional subject and how students view geographical knowledge may influence their GCSE and A level subject choices. This study uses an intersectional theoretical lens to explore representations of geographical knowledge by students of different ethnicities, the stories that relate to these representations and how the students accounted for the GCSE and A level subject choices that they made. The first part of the study reveals a lack of empirical and contemporary research into ethnic minority students’ views of geographical knowledge and subject choices. This is followed by a two-strand exploratory case study at one girls’ grammar school in England. The practitioner-researcher strand was two phase; in the first phase, 314 sixth form students (aged 16 – 18) completed a questionnaire to gauge initial views of geographical knowledge. During the second phase, eight of these students represented their views of geographical knowledge through collages, critical incident charts and semi-structured interviews that explored their stories in depth. In parallel, a group of Year 10 (aged 14 – 15) students as researchers used questionnaires to investigate the influence of parents and other factors contributing to students’ subject choices at GCSE level. In the study, geographical knowledge was represented in different ways given different methods. It was found to be diverse and individual, although it was possible for specific themes to be identified. The representations reflected the characteristics and concepts from students’ recent formal experiences of geography. Informal experiences also featured but these were not always explicit or straightforwardly definable. Unless students could see the intrinsic usefulness of their view of geographical knowledge then they were unlikely to choose the subject past GCSE level. This study expands theoretical conceptualisations of how students represent geographical knowledge and the factors affecting subject choice, engages students as researchers in a methodologically innovative way and provides a rich and detailed account of post-14 subject choice by ethnic minority students which otherwise does not exist in an English context.

The performance of many protocols and applications of Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs), depends on vehicles obtaining enough fresh information on the status of their neighbouring vehicles. This should be fulfilled by exchanging Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) also called beacons using a shared channel. In dense vehicular conditions, many of the beacons are lost due to channel congestion. Therefore, in such conditions, it is necessary to control channel load at a level that maximizes BSM dissemination. To address the problem, in this thesis algorithms for adaptation of beaconing to control channel load are proposed. First, a position-based routing protocol for VANETs is proposed and the requirement of adaptive beaconing to increase the performance of the protocol is indicated. The routing protocol is traffic-aware and suitable for city environments and obtains real-time traffic information in a completely ad hoc manner without any central or dedicated control, such as traffic sensors, roadside units, or information obtained from outside the network. The protocol uses an ant-based algorithm to find a route that has optimum network connectivity. Using information included in small control packets called ants, vehicles calculate a weight for every street segment that is proportional to the network connectivity of that segment. Ant packets are launched by vehicles in junction areas. To find the optimal route between a source and destination, a source vehicle determines the path on a street map with the minimum total weight for the complete route. The correct functionality of the protocol design has been verified and its performance has been evaluated in a simulation environment. Moreover, the performance of the protocol in different vehicular densities has been studied and indicated that in dense vehicular conditions the performance of the protocol degrades due to channel load created by uncontrolled periodic beaconing. Then, the problem of beaconing congestion control has been formulated as non-cooperative games, and algorithms for finding the equilibrium point of the games have been presented. Vehicles as players of the games adjust their beacon rate or power or both, based on the proposed algorithms so that channel load is controlled at a desired level. The algorithms are overhead free and fairness in rate or power or both rate and power allocation are achieved without exchanging excess information in beacons. Every vehicle just needs local information on channel load while good fairness is achieved globally. In addition, the protocols have per-vehicle parameters, which makes them capable of meeting application requirements. Every vehicle can control its share of bandwidth individually based on its dynamics or requirements, while the whole usage of the bandwidth is controlled at an acceptable level. The algorithms are stable, computationally inexpensive and converge in a short time, which makes them suitable for the dynamic environment of VANETs. The correct functionality of the algorithms has been validated in several high density scenarios using simulations.

The purpose of this thesis is to test the validity of applications of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems in Anatolian archaeology. The focus of the study is an Iron Age fortress Ç
evre Kale and its associated structures. During the course of the study, 5 km long outer wall enclosing a territory around Ç
evre Kale documented for the first time by employing high altitude aerial imagery. In addition to the GIS analyses, examination of the geology, land use and soil quality data showed that the outer wall is in a way acting to guard and protect inhabitants of the fortress and, perhaps more importantly, the well-watered pasture surrounding the fortress and demarcated by the enclosure wall. Evaluation of the available archaeological and historical evidence suggested that Ç
evre Kale might be of a site with significant military importance at least in the first half of the 6th century BC. As a result, this thesis is underlying the importance of high and low altitude aerial imagery in terms of documentation, evaluation and monitoring of the archaeological sites as part of the archaeological research

Nowadays the competition between cities is something very common, especially between cities of different countries. But this competition it can be observed even between cities of the same country or between districts of the same city. Based on this phenomenon municipalities try to change and become more sustainable (socially and environmentally), implement more green spaces in their urban core, create vibrant local environments and launch campaigns in order to create liveable districts, improve their local economy and survive this growing competition. In other words, cities want to become more attractive.In Sweden cities are also part of this global trend and since they are growing economically they try to create an urban environment that is desirable for its citizens. In Stockholm’s Översiktsplan there are different main goals, such as “The growing city (växande stad)” which is analyzed as “An attractive big city” or “Good public spaces (God offentlig miljö)” which is analyzed as “Mixed use urban space”, “Inviting public space”, “Living local centers” leading to the question how do these correlate and how do they affect each other.The reason of this research is to understand what is an attractive area in a city and find out a way to measure attractiveness by using spatial or non-spatial factors who play a major role on how a city is perceived. It is known based on existing research and literature, that many different factors are involved for a place to be considered as attractive, such as the distance from the means of transport, the distance to public amenities, house affordability, vibrant lifestyle, the distance from market places, social equality, the distance from the city center, the proximity to nature and many others, but there is no index that uses all these factors and calculates an attractiveness score.So this research aims in the creation of an attractiveness index, by formulating a lot of different indicators (social, geographic, economic, etc) based on the Översiktsplan goals and the calculation of attractiveness of different areas in Stockholm. The areas are SoFo District in Södermalm, Skarpnäck suburb in the south and Tensta suburb in the north. The main goal of this research is to improve the urban quality in Stockholm by identifying problematic areas, in order to increase the awareness about urban quality and the way to accomplish this research is the use of Multi-Criteria Evaluation in collaboration with Geographic Information Systems.Based on all the above the research question in this thesis will be: How city’s block attractiveness is measured with the use of Multi-Criteria Evaluation and the implementation of Geographic Information Systems?

Orientador: Enéas Rente Ferreira
Banca: Vera Maria Favila Miorin
Banca: Darlene Aparecida de Oliveira Ferreira
Banca: Maria Aparecida dos Santos Tubaldini
Banca: Giancarla Salamoni
Resumo: Este estudo analisou as bases teórico-metodológicas da geografia agrária brasileira partindo do ano de 1939 até 2009, com base em dez periódicos científicos selecionados em geografia. Evidenciou-se o pluralismo de concepções metodológicas e temáticas a partir da década de 1990. Assim, a pesquisa mostrou uma determinada coerência metodológica entre os períodos de 1939 a 1965, com base no método indutivo-descritivo-empírico alicerçado na geografia regional francesa. Após este momento, a geografia agrária passou a adotar uma linguagem matemática-estatística para a explicação dos fenômenos espaciais, com base no positivismo lógico, durante este paradigma vigente entre 1965 a 1980. A renovação crítica inseriu nos estudos agrários a preocupação com o dado social e as análises da contradição do capitalismo, abordagens políticas e econômicas, o auge dessa geografia agrária crítica foi nas décadas de 1980 a 2000. A partir desse momento, há uma diversidade de abordagens metodológicas não permitindo dizer que exista uma principal tendência paradigmática na geografia agrária brasileira neste início de século XXI. Destaca-se neste tese a importância do resgate de teorias e conceitos já utilizados na geografia agrária eu explicam os fenômenos atuais, além de salientar as principais tendências teórico-metodológicas no início do século XXI
Abstract: This study aims at analyzing the process of transformation occurred in the theoreticalmethodological assumptions of Brazilian Agrarian Geography, based on ten scientific journals selected between 1939 and 2009, which attests the pluralism in methodological and themetic conceptions from the 1990s. Thus, this perspective demonstrated a determined methodologic coherence between the years of 1939 and 1965, based on inductive-descriptive-empirical method, rooted in the Frence Regional Geography. Until that moment, Agrarian Geography had chosen a mathematical-statistical language in order to explain space phenomena, based on logic positivism, during this paradigm current between 1965 and 1980. The critical renewal inserted in the agrarian studies a concern with the social datum and the analysis of the contradiction of capitalism, political and economic approaches, and the summit of that agrarian geography was between the 1980s and 2000s. From that moment on, there is a diversity of methodological approaches, which does not permit to affirm the existence of a main and paradigmatical trend in the Brazilian Agrarian Geography in the early 21st century
Doutor

Spatial Decision Making as a branch of decision making science deals with geographically related data in order to achieve complex spatial decision problems. Fuzzy set theory is one of the methods that can be used to come up with these types of problems. On the other hand, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is one of the most powerful tools that we can use to accomplish spatial decision problems. Selection of the suitable site or land-use for the real estate is also a spatial decision making problem. When we consider the initial dynamics of the suitably located property from the point of view of value and potential we observe that the &ldquo
good location&rdquo
is the dominating factor. This study reports on the development of a kind of decision support system for locational suitability of settlements that integrates the fuzzy set (FZ) theory, a rule-based system (RBS) and GIS. This study is thought as the assistant for the property managers that are buyers and sellers. It can function as the property consultant for the buyers when they are looking for a property to buy and also it helps the real estate agencies to sell their properties. On the other hand, different scenarios of the potential areas according to the different user&rsquo
s preferences are depicted and they are joined and compared with the results of the vulnerability to earthquake hazards&rsquo
of the same area. Odunpazari - Eskisehir area is selected for implementation of the case study because of the data availability. As a result of this study, it can be said that most suitable property changes depending on the people&rsquo
s preferences. In addition, it is seen that most of the buildings that are locationally suitable are highly vulnerable to the earthquake hazards.

Nesta tese apresentamos uma metodologia de mapeamento capaz de gerar representações em termos de grafos para sistemas biológicos de conectividade complexa. Tais sistemas são inicialmente armazenados na forma de imagens digitais e em seguida submetidos a um pré-processamento com objetivo de padronizar as imagens. As imagens pré-processadas são então utilizadas para gerar modelos tridimensionais dos sistemas de interesse. Um algoritmo de propagação de rótulos é utilizado para extrair os esqueletos dos modelos volumétricos e estes esqueletos são por fim, representados por um grafo, composto por vértices e arestas. Os vértices e arestas desse grafo armazenam propriedades do sistema original, como posição, comprimento e diâmetro, bem como as características topológicas de tais sistemas. Finalmente, os grafos resultantes são estudados através da teoria das redes complexas, dentro de um contexto específico para cada sistema. Nossos procedimentos foram aplicados com sucesso a diferentes sistemas biológicos, como artérias caríotidas, árvores arteriais, estruturas mitocondriais e poros em amostras de solo.
In the present work, we developed a mapping methodology able to build a graph representation for biological branched systems. Initially, such systems are stored as digital images and then they undergo a pre-processing in order to standardize the images. The pre-processed imagens are used to build tridimensional models of the interested systems. A label-propagation algorithm is used to extract the skeleton from the volumetric models and these skeletons are then represented by a graph, composed by nodes and edges. The nodes and edges of these graphs store properties of the original system, such as spatial position, lengths and diameter, as well as the topological features of such systems. Finally, the graphs are studied by using the complex networks theory within a specific context for each system. Our procedures were apllied sucefully to different biological systems, such as carotid artery, arterial trees, mitocondrial structure and pores in soil samples.

En cherchant à explorer la carte dans ses multiples déterminations, le mouvement de la pensée et de la recherche a conduit temporairement pour y penser à partir de la triade: langage, logique et médiation. Actuellement, traduite par le rapport : une « cartographie géographique » - conçue comme une langue qui organise, transmet et envisage une connaissance géographique, la méthode - basée sur la relation entre la logique formelle et matérielle de dévoilement dialectique et les aspects symboliques de la condition spatiale ( de la production / dans l’espace ) et la cartographie communautaire - le processus d'élaboration d' une série de cartes comme pertinentes pour la compréhension de la logique spatiale et appropriation de l'espace , en permettant la pratique de l'autonomie territoriale . Il s’agit d’une approche qui en partant de la théorie critique des représentations de Henri Lefebvre (2006) crispe la matérialisation de la symbolisation et de la production de l'espace sur les cartes, avec le bout d’atteindre la vie de l'espace de la triade espace perçu, conçu et vécu ainsi que des dimensions de sa production : les espaces de représentations, représentations de l'espace et de la pratique sociale. Cette proposition est réalisée dans un processus d’une cartographie communautaire, comprise comme un outil pour les communautés d'engagement (dans son sens de classe) à l'auto- gestion territoriale. Telle compréhension permet l'analyse critique des processus de cartographie participative qui aperçoivent l’élaboration / légitimation de politiques publiques dans un contexte politique qui favorise la participation populaire et les insèrent dans les « décisions prises » en incluant la possibilité de conflit et de lutte, toujours à la recherche d'un consensus pour tous les «secteurs» de la société. Le processus de recherche a permis de comprendre que la participation effective des populations dans les décisions au sujet de leurs propres exigences se fait à travers la lutte, à surmonter la contradiction forgée par le mode de production capitaliste de la condition humaine inégale d'être dans le monde, donc l'évaluation de processus historiques, les conflits, la continuité et les possibilités de la classe sociale. Cette proposition a lieu à partir de deux moments différents, toutefois liés entre eux : 1. La construction d'une pratique pédagogique pour la formation du géographe dont la cartographie géographique dans laquelle est une condition préalable pour le développement du raisonnement spatial, ainsi que pour la compréhension de la carte comme un produit social, qui forge et transmet les représentations de la société qui produit à partir d'une intentionnalité historiquement et spatialement déterminée. Revivifiée par la compréhension de la cartographie des processus que l'établissement des relations différentes entre la connaissance, la puissance et des représentations, ce qui en fait l'instrument de la lutte. 2. La production d'un mémoire sur l’Assentamento Roseli Nunes, au-delà de la compréhension de la carte comme outil de lutte se comporte comme la matérialisation de l'appropriation de l'espace quotidien, ainsi la possibilité de l'autonomie territoriale, en considérant son histoire et sa géographie. Ces moments, réalisés en praxis (en classe et dans le travail communautaire) ont fusionné et sont tombés d'accord que le processus de préparation et l'utilisation de cartes révèle des représentations subjectivisées engendrées objectivement, une pratique sociale qui produit de l'espace, mais aussi la médiation un discours sur la réalité étant objectivée. Par conséquent, la carte comme un instrument de lutte permet la compréhension et la perception d'une logique spatiale quotidienne donnée (comprise dans la relation entre les différentes échelles), tandis que la possibilité de réclamer des conditions objectives pour l'endurance dans l'espace et peut-être la possibilité de transformation sociale.
Ao buscar explorar o mapa em suas múltiplas determinações o movimento de pensamento e trabalho de pesquisa conduziu, temporariamente, a pensá-lo a partir da tríade: linguagem, lógica e mediação. Neste momento traduzida pela relação entre: uma ‘Cartografia Geográfica’ – pensada como linguagem que sistematiza, versa e veicula um conhecimento geográfico; o Método - partindo da relação entre as lógicas formal e dialética que desvela as facetas materiais e simbólicas da condição espacial (da produção do/no espaço) e o Mapeamento Comunitário – no processo de elaboração de uma série de mapas como mediação relevante para a compreensão da lógica espacial e apropriação do espaço, possibilitando práticas de autogestão territorial. Trata-se de uma abordagem que a partir da teoria crítica das representações de Henri Lefebvre (2006) tensiona a materialização e simbolização da produção do espaço a partir dos mapas, procurando alcançar a vida da tríade espaço percebido, concebido e vivido, assim como das dimensões de sua produção: os espaços de representações; as representações do espaço e a prática social. Esta proposta realiza-se em um processo de mapeamento comunitário, compreendido como instrumento para o engajamento de comunidades (em seu sentido de classe) à autogestão territorial. Tal compreensão dá-se a partir da análise crítica dos processos de mapeamentos participativos que vislumbram a elaboração/legitimação de políticas públicas inseridos num contexto político que fomenta a participação popular e as insere nas “tomadas decisões” subsumindo a possibilidade do conflito e da luta, sempre em busca de um consenso para todos os “setores” da sociedade. O processo de pesquisa levou ao entendimento de que a participação efetiva do povo nas decisões sobre suas próprias demandas se faz na luta, na superação da contradição forjada pelo modo de produção capitalista da condição humana desigual de ser/estar no mundo, portanto na valorização dos processos históricos, conflitos, permanências e possibilidades da classe social. Esta proposta se realiza a partir de dois momentos distintos, mas inter-relacionados: 1. A construção de uma prática pedagógica para a formação do geógrafo em que a Cartografia Geográfica é ponto de partida para o desenvolvimento do raciocínio espacial, bem como para a compreensão do mapa como produto social, que forja e veicula representações da sociedade que o produz a partir de uma intencionalidade historicamente determinada e espacialmente produzida. Revivificada pela compreensão do mapa como processo que institui diferentes relações entre saber, poder e representações, tornando-o instrumento de luta. 2. A produção de um Memorial do Assentamento Roseli Nunes que para além da compreensão do mapa como instrumento de luta o realiza como materialização da apropriação cotidiana do espaço, portanto na possibilidade da autogestão territorial, considerando sua história e sua geografia. Estes momentos, concretizados em práxis (sala de aula e trabalho comunitário) se fundiram e alcançaram um entendimento de que o processo de elaboração e uso dos mapas revela representações subjetivadas, engendradas objetivamente, de uma prática social que produz espaço, mas que também mediam um discurso sobre a realidade a ser objetivada. Portanto, o mapa como instrumento de luta viabiliza a compreensão e apreensão de uma dada lógica espacial, cotidiana (compreendida na relação entre as diversas escalas) e ao mesmo tempo a possibilidade de reivindicar condições objetivas para a resistência no espaço e quiçá a possibilidade da transformação social.
In seeking to explore the map in its multiple determinations the movement of thought and research led temporarily to think of it from the triad of language, logic and mediation. At this time translated by the ratio : a " Geographical Cartography " - conceived as a language which organizes, conveys and discusses a geographic knowledge , the method - based on the relationship between formal and dialectical logic unveiling material and symbolic aspects of the spatial condition (of production/in space) and the Communitarian Mapping - the process of developing a series of maps as relevant to the understanding of spatial logic and appropriation of space mediating , facilitating the practice of territorial self-government . It is an approach from critical theory of representations of Henri Lefebvre (2006) tenses the materialization of symbolization and production of space from the maps, pursuing the life of the triad perceived space, conceived and lived as well as the dimensions of its production : the spaces of representations , representations of space and social practice . This proposal is realized in a process of communitarian mapping, understood as a tool for engaging communities (in its sense of class) to territorial self-management. This understanding gives the critical analysis of participatory mapping processes that envision the development/legitimation public policies in a political context that promotes popular participation and insert them into the "decisions taken" subsuming the possibility of conflict and struggle, always in search of a consensus for all " sectors " of society . The research process has led to the understanding that the effective participation of people in decisions about their own demands is made through the fight , to overcome the contradiction forged by the capitalist mode of production of unequal human condition of being in the world , therefore the valuation of historical processes , conflict , continuity and possibilities of social class . This proposal takes place from two different times, but inter - related : 1. The construction of a pedagogical practice for geographer formation whose Geographical Cartography is a prerequisite for the development of spatial reasoning , as well as for understanding the map as a social product , forging and conveys representations of the society that produces from an intentionality historically and spatially determined. Revivified by understanding the process map as establishing different relationships between knowledge, power and representations, making it the instrument of struggle. 2. The production of a Memorial of the Settlement Roseli Nunes, which beyond the comprehension of the map as an instrument of struggle performs as the materialization of everyday appropriation of space, so the possibility of territorial self-government, considering its history and its geography. These moments, realized in practice (classroom and community work) merged and reached an understanding that the process of preparation and use of maps reveals subjectivized representations engendered objectively, a social practice that produces space, but also mediate one discourse about reality being objectified. Therefore , the map as an instrument of struggle enables the understanding and perception of a given everyday spatial logic ( understood in the relationship between the various scales ) while the possibility of claiming objective conditions for endurance in space and perhaps the possibility of social transformation.

Decisions are made with varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency and are influenced by a myriad of internal and external forces. Decision Support Systems (DSS) software can effectively aid decision making through processing the facts and producing meaningful outputs for use by the person or team in making the final choice. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a form of DSS, are very effective when locational data are present. This thesis talks about using GIS software in decision making procedures.

Widespread species have traditionally received much less attention than rare and endemic ones. However, they are crucial in macroecological patterns and in ecosystem structure and functioning. Thus, understanding the characteristics that allow widespread organisms to extend over large areas has a high interest from both theoretical and applied perspectives. One of the most frequent hypotheses to explain the success of widespread plants is that they show much wider ecological niches, and thus a high life-history and demographic variability. However, studies are often very specific and carried out over small spatio-temporal scales, which hinders a general understanding of intraspecific variation in widespread taxa. In this thesis, we span a large spatio-temporal scale and a large environmental gradient to analyze the magnitude and the possible causes of natural variation in the in the range centre and the northern periphery of the widespread herb Plantago coronopus. More precisely, we analyze variability in population dynamics, life-history traits, and genetic diversity in up to 22 populations in Europe and North Africa. We aim to explore the relation of such variability with the position of populations within the species’ range, since peripheral populations are traditionally expected to show a lower and more variable performance with respect to central populations. Additionally, we aim to analyze the effects of the most relevant environmental factors in population and individual performance at different spatial scales. In the first chapter, we found higher values in central populations in some vital rates, such as fecundity and growth, but recruitment and density were higher in northern peripheral populations, and there were no clear differences between regions in temporal variability of vital rates. Differences in population performance across the species’ range seemed to be correlated with local precipitation and intraspecific competition. In the second chapter, differences in mean values and variability of vital rates between central and peripheral areas led to no differences in stochastic population growth rates. In addition, recruitment was the most influential vital rate for population growth rates at different spatial scales, and we found the same pattern of differentiation in population dynamics in response to environmental conditions within central and peripheral regions. In the third chapter, we reported high variation among populations in seed traits along a steep environmental stress gradient. Moreover, patterns in seed production were opposite at the fruit and the individual scale, as a strategy of populations to maximize fitness in each set of local conditions. Finally, in the fourth chapter, we found no relationship within populations between phenotypic variability and genetic diversity. Phenotypic variation was mainly shaped by precipitation variability, suggesting adaptive variation, whereas genetic diversity was correlated with the central vs. peripheral position, probably in close relation with some random demographic processes experienced by populations in the past. Despite genetic diversity was higher in central populations, our results contradicted classical hypotheses predicting a lower demographic performance towards species’ range edges. In fact, environmental conditions seemed to have a higher influence on plant performance than the position of populations within the species’ range, which calls for the necessity of distinguishing between geographical periphery and ecological marginality in demographic studies. Overall, our study highlights the versatility of P. coronopus at different spatial scales in response to varying environmental conditions, complementing similar findings of previous research on the same taxon at smaller spatial scales. Such life-history variability seems to be a key factor for widespread plants to extend over large and heterogeneous ranges.
Las especies de amplia distribución han recibido tradicionalmente poca atención, a pesar de su importancia para la estructura y el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas. En esta tesis, se analiza la variabilidad demográfica, de historia vital y genética en una planta de amplia distribución en Europa y el norte de África (Plantago coronopus), en un total de 22 poblaciones a lo largo de gran parte del rango latitudinal de la especie (centro y periferia norte). Se pretende analizar la magnitud y las causas de esta variabilidad intraespecífica en relación con la posición de las poblaciones dentro del rango y con los principales factores medioambientales. Las poblaciones periféricas mostraron una menor diversidad genética, pero no mostraron en general un peor o más variable comportamiento demográfico en cuanto a densidad o tasa de crecimiento poblacional, contradiciendo así las hipótesis clásicas centro-periferia. Se encontró un mismo patrón de diferenciación demográfica dentro de las regiones tanto central como periférica, en relación con la variación en el régimen de precipitaciones. La tasa de reclutamiento de nuevos individuos fue el proceso del ciclo vital con mayor importancia para el funcionamiento de las poblaciones. Se encontró también una gran variación entre poblaciones en las características de las semillas (número, tamaño, mucílago y proporción de dos tipos de semilla dimórficos) en relación con el gradiente de estrés ambiental. Finalmente, la variación fenotípica dentro de las poblaciones se relacionó con la variabilidad ambiental, mientras que la diversidad genética se correlacionó con la posición central vs. periférica de las poblaciones y posiblemente con la historia demográfica de la especie. Globalmente, este estudio muestra la importancia de distinguir entre periferia geográfica y marginalidad ecológica, y sugiere que el éxito de las plantas de amplia distribución reside en una gran variabilidad demográfica y de historia vital a diferentes escalas espaciales.

Cette thèse constitue une nouvelle approche pour la prédiction des maladies des plantes dans une plantation par combinaison de fusion de données et modélisation spatio-temporelle. La maladie des plantes est un problème majeur dans le monde de l'agriculture. Par exemple en Malaisie, la maladie de la pourriture de basal de la tige (BSR) causée par le champignon Ganoderma Boninense est la maladie la plus grave pour les plantations de palmiers à huile. Le champignon infecte les palmiers à huile,causant des pertes de rendement et détruisant au final les arbres. Divers facteurs ont été précédemment signalés, qui influencent l'incidence de la BSR, tels que les cultures précédentes, les techniques de replantation, les types de sols et l'âge des arbres. Une gestion efficace et durable des stratégies pour contrôler le BSR se heurte principalement à un manque de compréhension des mécanismes d'établissement de la maladie, de son développement et de sa propagation. La présente recherche est une tentative d'appliquer la technique de fusion de données et la modélisation temporelle en système d'Information géographique (SIG) pour étudier le comportement des maladies des plantes dans un domaine particulier (zone artisanale). Cette recherche portera sur comment les SIG peuvent aider à évaluer la distribution des maladies des plantes dans une plantation de petite échelle. Avec les progrès simultanés dans les systèmes de positionnement global (GPS) et l'utilisation des systèmes d'Information géographique, ces techniques ont fourni de puissants outils d'analyse pour l'agriculture de précision. Les données pour l'analyse proviennent de palmiers à huile des expériences de densité de plantation aux stations de recherche MPOB à Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaisie.Dans le cas de la maladie de la BSR, les résultats de l'émission de modélisation prédictive ont observé une corrélation entre les maladies BSR prédites avec celles visuellement données par le BSR. Il a été constaté que la modélisation prédictive proposée a bien prédit la présence de la maladie de la BSR. Même si au début d'infection des maladies BSR, le modèle n'a pas fixé exactement la distribution de la maladie, la performance du modèle sera améliorée avec la sélection de la source de données. Dans l'ensemble, le modèle a bien prédit la présence de maladies avec une précision allant jusqu'à 98,9 %
This thesis represents a new approach for predicting plant disease in a plantation through combination of data fusion and spatio-temporal modelling. Plant disease is a major problem in the world of agriculture. Example in Malaysia, basalstem rot disease (BSR) caused by Ganoderma Boinense is the most serious disease for oil palm plantation in Malaysia. The fungus infects oil palm trees, initially causing yield loss and finally killing the trees. Various factors were previously reported to influence incidence of BSR, such as previous crops, techniques for replanting, types of soils and the age of trees. At present effective and sustainable management strategies to control BSR are hampered mainly by a lack of understanding of mechanisms of disease establishment, development and spread. The present research is an attempt to apply data fusion technique and temporal modelling in Geographical Information System (GIS) to investigate the behaviour of plant disease in a specific area (small skill area). This research will focus on how GIS can help to assess the distribution plant disease in a small scale plantation. With concurrent advances in global positioning systems (GPS) and the use of geographical Information Systems(GIS) techniques have provided powerful analysis tools for precision agriculture. Data for analysis were obtained from oil palm planting density experiments at MPOB research stations at Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia. In the case of BSR disease, the results of the predictive modelling show a significance correlation between predicted BSR diseases with visually observed BSR data. It found that the proposed predictive modelling has well predicted the presence of BSR disease. Although at the beginning stage of BSR diseases infection, the model has not fitted exactly the distribution of the disease, we believe that with the proper selection of the source of data, the performance of the model will be improved.Overall, the model has well predicted the presence of diseases with accuracy up to 98.9%

The objective of this work is to use complexity theory to propose a new interpretation of industrial clusters. Industrial clusters constitute a specific type of econosphere, whose driving principles are self-organisation, economies of diversity and a configuration that optimises the exploration of diversity starting from the configuration of connectivity of the system. This work shows the centrality of diversity by linking complexity theory (intended as "a method for understanding diversity"') to different concepts such as power law distributions, self-organisation, autocatalytic cycles and connectivity.I propose a method to distinguish self-organising from non self-organising agglomerations, based on the correlation between self-organising dynamics and power law network theories. Self-organised criticality, rank-size rule and scale-free networks theories become three aspects indicating a common underlying pattern, i.e. the edge of chaos dynamic. I propose a general model of development of industrial clusters, based on the mutual interaction between social and economic autocatalytic cycle. Starting from Kauffman's idea(^2) on the autocatalytic properties of diversity, I illustrate how the loops of the economies of diversity are based on the expansion of systemic diversity (product of diversity and connectivity). My thesis provides a way to measure systemic diversity. In particular I introduce the distinction between modular innovation at the agent level and architectural innovation at the network level and show that the cluster constitutes an appropriate organisational form to manage the tension and dynamics of simultaneous modular and architectural innovation. The thesis is structured around two propositions: 1. Self-organising systems are closer to a power law than hierarchical systems or aggregates (collection of parts). For industrial agglomerations (SLLs), the closeness to a power law is related to the degree of self-organisation present in the agglomeration, and emerges in the agglomeration’s structural and/or behavioural properties subject to self-organising dynamic.2. Self-organising systems maximise the product of diversity times connectivity at a rate higher than hierarchical systems.

This thesis seeks to formulate a theory that explains the geographically uneven development of privatisation. The New Zealand public hospital ancillary services are taken as a case study of uneven privatisation, and the process of privatisation is analysed within terms of the three major theoretical frameworks used in social geography; public choice theory, Weberian managerialism and Marxian class conflict. Empirically it is found that geographically uneven privatisation occurs within three dimensions; the spatial, the temporal and the sectoral. This raises the questions, why privatisation in region A but not B, why at certain times and why in certain industries or sectors of industry but not in others? The answers to these questions are sought in the context of the three theoretical frameworks used in the thesis, as applied to hospital ancillary services. The empirical research reveals that the implementation of privatisation policies is mediated by several regionally variable factors, such as the size of institutions, hospital authority management structures, location to major urban settlements, levels of financial restraint on hospitals, and the labour militancy of the work force. The explanatory significance of these factors varies substantially according to the time and place at which privatisation occurs and the particular sector of the public hospital system being considered. Many of the explanatory factors contradict each other, insofar as some may predispose public authorities to privatise whereas others may inhibit the process. The complexity of the uneven development of privatisation renders inadequate any single theoretical explanation of the process. Nevertheless the research presents an understanding of how privatisation develops across space and time and an insight is also gained into the likely future uneven development of public service provision.

Le contrat à distance a connu un véritable essor avec l'intrusion des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication qui ont suscité un passage accéléré du catalogue à l'écran et une révolution commerciale dont la vente à distance et essentiellement la cyber-vente constitue son point d'observation privilégié. L'initiative législative européenne, française et libanaise existante n'a pas été, malheureusement, à la hauteur du progrès technologique. D'une part, elle délimite le contrat à distance en tant qu'un contrat de droit de la consommation et non en tant qu'un contrat de droit commun. D'autre part, elle relie le rapport de force économique déséquilibré entre les parties contractantes à leurs qualités respectives (consommateur et professionnel) et non au défaut de négociation qui précède la conclusion du contrat à distance. Il convient, dès lors, de proposer une étude comparative simultanée qui permet de reconsidérer le contrat à distance à la lumière de la période qui précède sa conclusion en fournissant des solutions pour les lacunes et disparités juridiques existantes dans les droits positifs français et libanais et dans les directives européennes, afin de démontrer que le contrat à distance en tant qu'un contrat d'adhésion ou de gré à gré est un contrat de droit commun qui bénéficie d'un régime propre. En mettant en jeu diverses branches du droit, cette étude comparative permet ainsi de cerner ce régime juridique propre du contrat à distance afin de dégager sa notion
The distance contract knew a real development with the intervention of the new information and communication technologies which aroused an accelerated passage from the catalog to the screen and a commercial revolution of which the remote sale and essentially the e-commerce establish its privileged point of observation. The existing European, French and Lebanese legislative initiative was not, unfortunately, as high as the technological progress. On one hand, it bounds the distance contract as a contract of consumer law and not as a contract of common law. On the other hand, it connects the economic balance of power unbalanced between the contracting parties to their respective qualities (consumer and professional) and not to the defect of negotiation which precedes the conclusion of the distance contract. It is advisable, from then on, to propose a simultaneous comparative study which allows to reconsider the distance contract in the light of the period which precedes its conclusion by supplying solutions for the gaps and the existing legal disparities in the French and Lebanese substantive laws and in the European directives, to demonstrate that the distance contract as a contract of membership or by mutual agreement is a contract of common law which benefits from a appropriate regime. By involving diverse branches of the law, this comparative study allows to encircle this appropriate legal regime of the distance contract to release its notion

Geografisk profilering har blivit en av de mest kontroversiella och modernametoderna som används under brottsutredningar i nuläget. Framgången ochtillförlitligheten av metoden är ett debatterat ämne inom forskningsvärlden. Denhär studien ämnar att undersöka huruvida geografisk profilering är ett användbartverktyg för Polisen. Syftet med studien är att analysera hur väl metoden fungerarsom ett verktyg och komplement till en brottsutredning samt om geografiskprofilering är användbart inom bostadsinbrottutredningar. Genom att skapa ensystematisk litteraturöversikt och utföra nyckelpersonsintervjuer fann författarenatt geografisk profilering fungerar som ett utmärkt komplement till utredningar.Resultatet visade att de geografiska profileringsprogrammen inte alltid är merframgångsrika än andra metoder inom området men att de oftast är konsistenta itillförlitligheten. Resultatet visade även att metoden är användbar inombostadsinbrottutredningar så länge profilen är gjord ordentligt och utav enutbildad analytiker. Studiens slutsats är att geografisk profilering är mycket merän bara en gissningslek och kan identifiera gärningsmän om analysen är gjord aven erfaren utredare. Detta resultat diskuteras senare i studien, samt valet av metodoch möjligheter för framtida forskning.
Geographic profiling is considered as one of the most controversial andinnovative technologies used in criminal investigations today. The accuracy of themethodology has become a popular topic amongst scholars and has caused aheated debate regarding the success of geographic profiling. This study seeks toevaluate if geographic profiling is a useful tool for the police. Thus the aims ofthis study are to examine if the methodology is a viable tool during investigationsand further to establish to what extent geographic profiling has been successfullyapplied within the area of property crime, in particular burglary investigations. Byconducting a systematic literature review and key informant interviews this studyfound that geographic profiling can be a very useful tool for analysts. Further theresults showed that geographic profiling systems are not always more accuratethan simpler methods, however simpler strategies are not necessarily as consistentas a computerised system. Moreover the results indicate that geographic profilingcan be applied during burglary investigations, if done correctly and by a trainedinvestigator. The study concludes that geographic profiling is more than just aguessing game and if applied appropriately it will most likely identify theoffender. Lastly the results and shortcomings of this study, including the need forfuture research is discussed.

As a popular ‘scientific’ and educational journal, National Geographic, since its founding in 1888, has positioned itself as a voice of authority within mainstream American print media, offering what purports to be an unprejudiced ‘window onto the world’. Previous scholarship has been quick to call attention to the magazine’s participation in an imperialist representational regime. Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins, Tamar Rothenberg and Linda Steet have all argued that National Geographic’s distinctive, quasi-anthropological outlook has established hierarchies of difference and rendered subjects into dehumanised objects, a spectacle of the unknown and exotic other. A more nuanced understanding can be reached by drawing upon Mary Louise Pratt’s concept of the ‘contact zone’. Pratt defined the contact zone as ‘spaces where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power’. Photographs since National Geographic’s centenary edition in September 1988 have traced the beginnings of a different view of encounters within the United States-Brazil contact zone, driven by the forces of globalisation, which have resisted the processes of objectification, appropriation and stereotyping frequently associated with the rectangular yellow border. This is because they have provided evidence of a fluid and various population, which has selected and experimented with preferred elements of American and European dress, and used it to fashion their own, distinctly Brazilian identities. This thesis will examine both the visual and textual strategies that National Geographic and National Geographic Brasil (the Portuguese-language version of the magazine, established in Sao Paulo in May 2000) have used to fashion Brazil, but also the extent to which Brazilian subjects can be seen to have self-fashioned, through the strategic appropriation of clothing and ideas derived from an existing and dominant global culture. It will approach dress not simply as cloth but as a system of communication, whose many meanings are not fixed but continually informed and to an extent, even performed, by its visual, material, and textual representation. This thesis employs a multidisciplinary mode of analysis that draws on five Brazilian scholars, each of whom have used dress and fashion metaphors in their writings, which have encompassed poetry, film studies, poststructuralist theory, literary criticism and anthropology.

The thesis evaluates the effectiveness of micro-geographic economic policies (MGEPs) as tools for urban and economic development. Similar to other place-based policies though with a more refined spatial scale, MGEPs target a variety of incentives and resources at specific geographic areas or points with the goal of stimulating growth and development. Such programs have become increasingly popular since the 1980s largely through Enterprise Zones and other similarly modeled programs, but empirical evidence on their effectiveness remains mixed. It is the goal of the thesis to help the literature reach a clearer conclusion by applying a more holistic evaluation approach that incorporates key theoretical and methodological considerations along with traditional impact measurements. In particular, the thesis develops tests to consider the targeting accuracy of MGEPs, the quality of controls used in their evaluation, and the robustness of popular impact estimation approaches in the literature. To pursue this goal, I separate the thesis into four parts. Part I investigates the current literature in order to identify the underlying theory and design of MGEPs and the rationale behind their use of a micro-geographic scale. Part II identifies and examines the appropriateness of methodological approaches used in previous studies according to the theory outlined in Part I and develops an evaluation framework specifically for MGEPs. In Part III the thesis presents its empirical case studies, which includes seven policies in three cities, and its empirical evaluation strategy, which utilizes four unique counterfactual approaches for each policy in a variety of tests. Part IV presents the empirical results and the conclusions of the research. The thesis finds that MGEPs can and do produce significant and measurable impacts on a micro-geographic sc~le based on their theoretical design. These impacts can be produced in any citywide context and are sustainable over time if a policy remains in place. However, their impacts are mostly small to modest, appear unable to produce absolute changes to an area's trajectory or conditions, and are not self-sustaining if the intervention stops. Furthermore, they can potentially produce negative impacts. Based on its findings, the thesis argues MGEPs should be used as supplemental policies to catalyze already growing areas or to slow decline in particular areas, rather than as primary regeneration strategies.

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A tese desenvolve uma proposta metodológica complexa que visa a dois propósitos: servir como um paradigma científico complexo para o estudo do meio ambiente e como um procedimento prático de gestão ambiental participativa apoiada por um sistema computacional de informação georreferenciada. O método complexo está baseado em três fundamentações teóricas: concepção, procedimento e instrumento. Desenvolvidos a partir das noções de racionalidade ambiental, teoria da complexidade e sistema de informação geográfica, respectivamente. Como procedimento prático foi feita uma aplicação do método proposto na realidade da gestão ambiental do Jardim Botânico de João Pessoa, em que foram analisadas as condições de sustentabilidade desse órgão público na perspectiva social, ambiental, econômica, histórica, política, cultural, administrativa, e proposto um modelo conceitual de Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG). A Mata do Buraquinho, onde está inserido o Jardim Botânico de João Pessoa, é uma das maiores reservas ambientais de Mata Atlântica urbana do Brasil, no entanto, foi observado que ainda não está sendo praticado o desenvolvimento sustentável nesse importante meio ambiente. Visto que a visão de gestão adotada é baseada na racionalidade econômica, o procedimento não é integrado nem participativo e inexiste instrumento de acompanhamento para a gestão ambiental do Jardim Botânico de João Pessoa.
The thesis develops a complex methodological proposal that seeks two purposes: to serve as a complex scientific paradigm for the study of the environment and as a practical procedure of participative environmental administration supported by a georeferenced information computacional system. The complex method is based on three theoretical bases: conception, procedure and instrument. These are developed starting from the notions of environmental rationality, theory of the complexity and geographical information system, respectively. As practical procedure it was made an application of the proposed method in the reality of the environmental administration of the Botanical Garden of João Pessoa, in which the conditions of sustainability of that public agency were analyzed in the social, environmental, economical, historical, politics, cultural, and administrative perspective, and proposed a conceptual model of Geographical Information System (GIS). The Buraquinho forest, where the Botanical Garden of João Pessoa is inserted, is one of the largest environmental reservations of urban Atlantic forest of Brazil, however, it was observed that still the maintainable development is not being practiced in that important environment. Because the vision of adopted administration is based on economical rationality, the procedure is not integrated and participative and attendance instrument inexists for the environmental administration of the Botanical Garden of João Pessoa.

Scotland's tourist industry partly depends upon the quality of the Scottish landscape. However, despite demands for improved management of landscape resources, there is no standard method for the assessing landscape quality. This research takes a user-based approach to this problem and explores the use of Kelly's Personal Construct Theory (PCT) in eliciting underpinning attributes and dimensions of perception in a range of uses and across a range of Scottish landscapes. A novel aspect of the research is that it involves experimentation in mapping the resultant constructs through use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Sixteen key constructs were gained from one to one. interviews and used in the preliminary mapping experiments. These showed that it was possible to express the constructs spatially. To evaluate between user group/landscape type responses a questionnaire was designed, piloted and applied. A total of 1286 responses were analyzed. Differences were found between landscape type but were stronger between user groups. The research has demonstrated that the application of PCT coupled to GIS is a valuable way of exploring landscape perception/landscape quality and their spatial expression.

Fairy tales are enchanting geographical stories, which affectively organize space-time in socially, politically, and ethically significant ways. Despite this, fairy tales have been neglected in the discipline of geography, and the inter-discipline of fairy tale studies has rarely interrogated the spatialities of tales, or of storytelling more widely. This thesis addresses this lacuna by theorizing the relationship between fairy tales, storytelling, and geography through the subversive folkloric figures of the trickster and crone. It posits, first, that we understand fairy tales as iterative stories that constitute mythic communities; and second, that trickster and crone figures are enchanting territorializing and deterritorializing refrains that subvert this mythic community. These two concerns are explored through Nolan’s (2008) Batman film The Dark Knight, and Maitland’s (2009) short story Moss Witch. An experimental research approach provides insight into these ‘worldly,’ enchanting, and symbolically rich stories, without sacrificing their liveliness or ‘systematizing’ them for ideological gain. The research begins with an interpretive textual analysis to address the symbolic traditions of the fairy tale refrains. Collage enables a ‘retelling’ of the stories as materially and visually expressive media. Genealogical analysis traces the material-discursive matterings of the geographical refrains within academic ‘storytelling.’ These combined approaches ‘story’ the trickster and crone as spatial patterns with affective force. Trickster refrains are animating forces of destruction and chaos. They shift between the centre and periphery of mythic community, violently overturn its seemingly ordered realities, and unfold insecure and profane in-between places, where (human) community can no longer be sustained. The crone refrain enacts a ‘wilding’ in fairy tales, entangling the civilized, storied human polis (or culture more generally) with the nonhuman ‘environment,’ and undermining both relational accounts of being and more romantic discourses of dwelling. Going forward, continued engagement with this nexus of geography, storytelling, and fairy tales promises to enrich our multidisciplinary endeavours, highlight our theoretical ‘matterings’ of fairy tales, and enable more responsible engagement with these endlessly enchanting stories.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
A introdução do carro Flex-fuel no mercado brasileiro em 2003 mudou a forma de decisão do consumidor. Se antes era necessário escolher o combustível pelo tipo de veículo, movido somente a gasolina ou somente a álcool, hoje é possível escolher um tipo de carro com duas opções de combustível. O carro Flex funciona com gasolina, etanol ou qualquer mistura desses combustíveis em qualquer proporção. Essa flexibilidade gera uma vantagem econômica para o seu proprietário, mas qual o benefício financeiro de um carro Flex-fuel em comparação a um carro movido somente à gasolina? Geograficamente, onde se localiza o proprietário que se beneficia mais dessa flexibilidade? Este estudo aplica a Teoria de Opções Reais na análise do valor da opção do carro Flex para as cinco regiões geográficas do Brasil: Nordeste, Norte, Centro-Oeste, Sudeste e Sul. São atendidas tanto as diferenças de preços regionais quanto a preferência de automóvel do consumidor dessas regiões. Para esse propósito, são considerados que os preços históricos dos combustíveis são estocásticos e seguem o Movimento de Reversão à Média Aritmético. A previsão dos preços e o valor da opção são gerados através da Simulação de Monte Carlo. Os resultados indicam que a opção de escolher o combustível mais barato no abastecimento adiciona considerável valor para o proprietário do carro Flex em todas as regiões e modelos de carro considerados, sendo a região Sudeste a mais beneficiada pela opção Flex.
The introduction of the Flex-fuel car to the Brazilian market in 2003 changed the way of decision of the customers. If before it was necessary to choose the fuel by the kind of vehicle, fueled only by gas or only by sugarcane ethanol, today it is possible to choose one kind of car with two fuel possibilities. The Flexfuel car can run with gas, sugarcane ethanol or any mix of those fuels at any proportion. This resulting flexibility generates an economic advantage for the car’s owners, but what are the finance benefits of having a Flex-fuel car in comparison to a gas-powered car? Where is geographically located the owner which benefits more from this flexibility? This study applies the Real Option method to analyze the option value of the Flex-fuel cars in each of the five geographic regions of Brazil: Northeast, North, Central-West, Southeast and South. It regards regional prices differences and their customer’s car preference. For this purpose, it considers that the historical fuel prices are stochastic and follow the Arithmetic Mean Reverting diffusion process. Monte Carlo Simulation provides the forecasted fuel prices and option values. The results show that the option to choose the cheapest fuel at the refueling moment adds significant value for the owner of all the regions and car models considered. The Southeast region is the most benefited from it.

This thesis will argue that high levels of internal migration in Gilded Age America undermined the stability and growth of trade unions and labour-based parties. Most of the traditional ‘American Exceptionalist’ arguments which asserted a lack of class consciousness will be challenged. Significant weight will be given to the racial, ethnic, and gender divisions within the American working class as a source of relative organizational weakness. As archival sources reveal, however, despite their divisions, workers of all ethnic and racial groups drawn into wage-labour in the Gilded Age often displayed high levels of class consciousness and political radicalism through their actions, organizations, and hundreds of weekly labour papers. They also showed an awareness of the problems of frequent migration or ‘tramping’ in building stable organizations. Driven by the tumultuous conditions of uneven industrialization, millions of people migrated from state-to-state, country-to-city, and city-to-city at rates far higher than in Europe. A detailed analysis of the statistics on migration, work-related travelling, and union membership trends shows that this created a high level of membership turnover in the major organizations of the day—the American Federation of Labour and the Knights of Labour. Confronted in the 1880s with the highest level of migration in the period, the Knights of Labour saw rapid growth turn into continuous decline. The more stable craft unions also saw significant membership loss to migration through an ineffective travelling card system. The organizational weakness that resulted undermined efforts by American workers to build independent labour-based parties in the 1880s and 1890s. ‘Pure-and-simple’ unionism would triumph by the end of the century despite the existence of a significant socialist minority in organized labour.

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Debatemos a idéia de que existiu, no período estudado, uma fetichização da divulgação científica nas revistas Superinteressante, suas edições especiais publicadas em 2005 e na National Geographic Magazine, editada nos Estados Unidos e traduzida no Brasil. Nosso objetivo é investigar o que acontece com a ciência quando é transformada em mercadoria e submetida na mídia aos padrões do jornalismo que aparecem em algumas revistas: sensação, sucesso e relaxamento. A hipótese é que, quando a reportagem sobre ciência assume essa forma, ela fetichiza a divulgação científica, transformando-a em mero entretenimento. Note-se, portanto, que nossa meta não é fazer a crítica da ciência divulgada, analisando se a informação jornalística é fiel ou não ao ramo científico abordado, e sim observar como a ciência perde o potencial de crítica ao se submeter ao padrão fetichizado. Estamos interessados em demonstrar, assim, como a divulgação fetichizada falha ao não fazer da ciência uma ferramenta para entender a sociedade.
We discuss the idea that there is a fetishism of scientific journalism on Superinteressante Magazine, its special editions and on National Geographic Magazine, published in United States and translated to be published in Brazil. Our goal is to investigate what happens with science when it becomes a product, made specifically to sell magazines, and when it's subdued by magazine style's patterns: sensation, success and relaxing. The hypothesis is when science stories take this form, they become fetishism because it's transformed in simple entertainment. Observe, however, that our purpose is not to criticize the science on media analyzing if the texts are coherents to researches but point out how science looses the critic potential in this fetishism. Our interest is demonstrate how scientific journalism fails using science as an arm to understand society.

Orientador: Fátima A. Cabral
Banca: Isabel F. R. Loureiro
Banca: Wilson da Costa Bueno
Resumo: Debatemos a idéia de que existiu, no período estudado, uma fetichização da divulgação científica nas revistas Superinteressante, suas edições especiais publicadas em 2005 e na National Geographic Magazine, editada nos Estados Unidos e traduzida no Brasil. Nosso objetivo é investigar o que acontece com a ciência quando é transformada em mercadoria e submetida na mídia aos padrões do jornalismo que aparecem em algumas revistas: sensação, sucesso e relaxamento. A hipótese é que, quando a reportagem sobre ciência assume essa forma, ela fetichiza a divulgação científica, transformando-a em mero entretenimento. Note-se, portanto, que nossa meta não é fazer a crítica da ciência divulgada, analisando se a informação jornalística é fiel ou não ao ramo científico abordado, e sim observar como a ciência perde o potencial de crítica ao se submeter ao padrão fetichizado. Estamos interessados em demonstrar, assim, como a divulgação fetichizada falha ao não fazer da ciência uma ferramenta para entender a sociedade.
Abstract: We discuss the idea that there is a fetishism of scientific journalism on Superinteressante Magazine, its special editions and on National Geographic Magazine, published in United States and translated to be published in Brazil. Our goal is to investigate what happens with science when it becomes a product, made specifically to sell magazines, and when it's subdued by magazine style's patterns: sensation, success and relaxing. The hypothesis is when science stories take this form, they become fetishism because it's transformed in simple entertainment. Observe, however, that our purpose is not to criticize the science on media analyzing if the texts are coherents to researches but point out how science looses the critic potential in this fetishism. Our interest is demonstrate how scientific journalism fails using science as an arm to understand society.
Mestre

In order to store and process natural phenomena in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) it is necessary to model the real world to form computational representation. Since classical set theory is used in conventional GIS software systems to model uncertain real world, the natural variability in the environmental phenomena can not be modeled appropriately. Because, pervasive imprecision of the real world is unavoidably reduced to artificially precise spatial entities when the conventional crisp logic is used for modeling. An alternative approach is the fuzzy set theory, which provides a formal framework to represent and reason with uncertain information. In addition, linguistic variable concept in a fuzzy logic system is useful for communicating concepts and knowledge with human beings. In this thesis, a system to enhance commercial GIS software, namely ArcGIS, with fuzzy set theory is designed and implemented. The proposed system allows users to (a) incorporate human knowledge and experience in the form of linguistically defined variables into GIS-based spatial analyses, (b) handle impreiii cision in the decision-making processes, and (c) approximate complex ill-defined problems in decision-making processes and classification. The operation of the proposed system is presented through case studies, which demonstrate its application for classification and decision-making processes. This thesis shows how fuzzy logic approach may contribute to a better representation and reasoning with imprecise concepts, which are inherent characteristics of geographic data stored and processed in GIS.

Effective information communication and public participation in the planning process are important elements for facilitating successful environmental decision-making. Previous research has demonstrated the importance of such factors for delivering benefits to a wide range of stakeholders in the planning system by increasing the transparency and efficiency of the planning process. Given the current problems facing onshore wind farm planning in the UK there is an urgent need to investigate alternative approaches for enhancing the quality of information dissemination and public participation in the planning process. Planning information relating to the potential visual impacts of wind farms is particularly important in the case of the wind farm planning, given the high levels of concern amongst members of the public regarding the perceived negative visual impact of proposed wind turbines on the landscape. However, shortcomings associated with traditional techniques used to assess such impacts have been highlighted in previous research, along with drawbacks related to the dissemination of such information to the public during the planning stages of wind farm development. This has been shown to affect the overall quality of public participation in the planning process. This research is concerned with evaluating the potential of innovative digital landscape visualisation and Internet-based techniques for addressing some of the shortcomings in these areas. This thesis describes the implementation of two survey studies designed to meet these objectives. The first study uses a postal questionnaire approach in order to determine the current 'state-of-play' regarding the levels of use of such innovative techniques for improving impact assessment and information dissemination in wind farm planning. In addition to a review of the existing literature, the findings of the survey provide further rationale for conducting the second (Internet-based) survey study, designed to evaluate the potential of online visualisation-based approaches for improving the quality and dissemination of visual information, and enhancing public participation in wind farm planning. The survey is based on visualisations created for an actual proposed wind farm development in South Wales, UK. The findings reinforced much of the existing research literature, confirming that innovative visualisation and Internet-based approaches do have good potential for augmenting existing methods of visual information creation, dissemination and public participation although a variety of observations and concerns were raised by survey respondents that highlighted the potential limitations of such approaches. Further avenues for research are then identified.

Efforts to resolve environmental planning and decision-making conflicts usually focus on participant involvement, mutual understanding of the problem situation, evaluation criteria identification, data availability, and potential alternative solutions. However, as the alternatives become less distinct and participant values more diverse, intensified negotiations and more data are usually required for meaningful planning and decision-making. Consequently, questions such as "What collaborative spatial decision making design is best for a given context?" "How can the values and needs of stakeholders be integrated into the planning process?" and "How can we learn from decision making experiences and understanding of the past?" are crucial considerations. Answers to these questions can be developed around the analytic and discursive approaches that transform diffused subjective judgments into systematic consensus-oriented resolutions.
This dissertation examines the above issues through the design, implementation, and assessment of the Collaborative Spatial Delphi (CSD) Methodology. The CSD methodology facilitates spatial thinking and discursive strategies to describe the complex social-technical dynamics associated with the knowledge-structuring-consensus nexus of the participation process. The CSD methodology describes this nexus by synthesizing research findings from knowledge management, focus group theory, systems theory, integrated assessment, visualization and exploratory analysis, and transformative learning all represented within a collaborative geographic information system (GIS) framework.
The CSD methodology was implemented in multiple contexts. Its use in two contexts - strategic planning and management of urban green spaces in Montreal (Canada); and priority setting for North American biodiversity conservation - are reported in detail in this dissertation. The summative feedbacks from all the CSD planning workshops help incrementally improve the design of the CSD process. This dissertation also reports on the design and use of questionnaire surveys to incorporate local realities into planning, as well as the development of an evaluation index to assess the face validity and effectiveness of the CSD process from the perspective of workshop participants.
The accumulated evidence from the CSD implementations suggests that many core issues exist across spatial problem solving situations. Thus, the design and specification of a core collaborative process model provides benefits for knowledge exchange. General systems theory was used to classify the core technical components of the collaborative GIS design, and soft systems theory was used to characterize the human activity dynamics. Object oriented principles enabled the generation of a flexible domain model, and the unified modelling language (UML) visually described the collaborative process. The CSD methodology is used as a proof of concept.
This dissertation contributes to knowledge in the general areas of Geography, Geographic information systems and science, and Environmental decision making. The specific contributions are threefold. First, the CSD provides a synthesis of multi-disciplinary theories and a tested tool for environmental problem solving. Second, the CSD facilitates a fusion of local and technical knowledge for more realistic consensus planning outcomes. Third, an empirical-theoretical visual formalism of the CSD allows for process knowledge standardization and sharing across problem solving situations.