High Ground, Low Ground: Explorations in Topography and Neighbourliness in Coastal Dune Settlement

<p>The desire to live close to the ocean often brings about settlement that sprawls along the beachfront, parallel to the coastline. This settlement structure is problematic as it diminishes the importance of community while exposing beachfront housing to coastal hazards. The coastal dune settlements of Waikanae and Paraparaumu, where this research has been undertaken, exhibits this problematic settlement structure. Using these sites as a case study, the research seeks to re-examine the New Zealand coastal land settlement formation. It explores what could happen if the current coastal settlement pattern re-organised as a more social structure? The research is investigating an approach to settlement through re-examining the idea of neighbourhood by looking at its whole relation to the coastal dune topography, ecology, and wider landscape relations. However, not only does this research look at the social potentials of coastal settlement but how disaster planning can become a device to achieve this outcome. Essentially, it aligns itself with the attitude that flooding and coastal hazards should not just be looked at as an engineering problem but an opportunity to alter the way in which we settle coastlines in a way that builds community.</p>

High Ground, Low Ground: Explorations in Topography and Neighbourliness in Coastal Dune Settlement

<p>The desire to live close to the ocean often brings about settlement that sprawls along the beachfront, parallel to the coastline. This settlement structure is problematic as it diminishes the importance of community while exposing beachfront housing to coastal hazards. The coastal dune settlements of Waikanae and Paraparaumu, where this research has been undertaken, exhibits this problematic settlement structure. Using these sites as a case study, the research seeks to re-examine the New Zealand coastal land settlement formation. It explores what could happen if the current coastal settlement pattern re-organised as a more social structure? The research is investigating an approach to settlement through re-examining the idea of neighbourhood by looking at its whole relation to the coastal dune topography, ecology, and wider landscape relations. However, not only does this research look at the social potentials of coastal settlement but how disaster planning can become a device to achieve this outcome. Essentially, it aligns itself with the attitude that flooding and coastal hazards should not just be looked at as an engineering problem but an opportunity to alter the way in which we settle coastlines in a way that builds community.</p>

Ventspils apkārtnes apdzīvojums 17.–18. gadsimtā

The article deals with questions relating to the settlement in the area of Ventspils. Attention is gi-ven to environmental factors that could have had a greater or lesser influence on the settlement structure. The stream bank erosion along the River Venta had a relatively small impact on populated areas, while the wind erosion (sand deposition) caused the individual farms as well as villages to be abandoned. The Great Plague epidemic of 1710 was particularly devastating in the Ventspils area, during which about 40% of farms disappeared and most of them were not restored until the end of the 18th century. Final abandon-ment of farms, their renovation or addition of the former farmland to the land of the manor caused chan-ges in the population structure.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE “MOSCOW –SAINT-PETERSBURG” MACROREGION. CASE STUDY OF NOVGOROD REGION

The article is devoted to the process of transformation of the spatial structure of the analytical Russian inter-capital space in the context of global settlement. The emergence of the phenomenon of inter-agglomeration territories is substantiated. A method for determining inter-agglomeration territories through the paths of isochronous transport accessibility of settlements is proposed. The main problems and trends in the development of demographically decreasing territories in the zone of inter-agglomeration influence are outlined. The main historical stages and factors of the restructuring of the settlement system of the macro-region "Moscow-St. Petersburg" in the XVII-XXI centuries are considered. The assessment of social assistance based on data on the transport accessibility of settlements has been carried out. The analysis of the spatial area of settlement of the Novgorod region of the geographic visualization of the database has been carried out. It includes data on the population and the geographical coordinates of the settlements of Russia. The comparison of historical fragments of the settlement structure and their current state is performed on the basis of historical maps and data on the population census. The issue of preserving sustainable spaces in the context of urbanization processes and in connection with modern challenges and threats to the functioning of the city is considered. Competitive advantages and factors of development of inter-agglomeration territories are indicated. The main scenarios of the development of the settlement system of the inter-capital region are considered on the example of the Novgorod region.

Pravěké osídlení v okolí velkomoravského kostela ve Starém Městě – „Špitálkách“

A rescue excavation was carried out in the Staré Město – “Špitálky” location in 1949–1950 by J. Poulík who examined an enclosed sacral area with the remnants of a Great Moravian church and a smaller inhumation cemetery containing more than 40 graves. The church and the immediate surroundings later became part of a national cultural monument. A new evaluation excavation took place there in 2020 in connection with its complex revitalisation and focused on the area north of the church’s foundations. The survey proved that although neither the ecclesiastical area nor the cemetery continued in this direction, it did document intensive prehistoric occupation. Besides the settlement features (Moravian Painted Ware culture – MPWC, Urnfield culture – UFC), two graves were also discovered. Based on the inventory and funeral rite, one grave can be dated to the final phase of the Corded Ware culture while the other is represented probably by a UFC pit cremation burial. The study assesses the newly uncovered archaeological situations set in the context of the settlement structure in the Staré Město area in the individual prehistoric periods.

Resources and structure of horsemussel Modiolus kurilensis settlements in Peter the Great Bay (the Sea of Japan)

Modiolus kurilensis F. R. Bernard, 1983 (Mollusca, Bivalvia) can be found in Peter the Great Bay (the Sea of Japan) both on soft and hard substrates, often together with the mussel Crenomytilus grayanus (Dunker, 1853); it is a promising commercial species. This mollusc is a by-catch when catching C. grayanus. The aim of the work was to assess M. kurilensis resources and settlement structure in Peter the Great Bay. The research was carried out in 2007–2018 by scuba-diving methods of hydrobiological research at the depths of down to 20 m. In total, the data were analyzed for 2,409 stations; M. kurilensis was found at 308 stations. Sampled molluscs were measured and weighed. The material was processed statistically and cartographically; the mean biomass and distribution density of M. kurilensis settlements were calculated. In total, 870 horsemussels were analyzed for studying the settlement structure. The following indicators were estimated: index of settling (ratio of the abundance of juvenile molluscs with a shell length of 1–30 mm (spat, yearlings) to the abundance of adults with a shell length of > 50 mm); index of maturation (ratio of the abundance of pre-reproductive molluscs with a shell length of 35–50 mm to the abundance of adults with a shell length of > 50 mm); index of replenishment of the commercial stock (ratio of the abundance of molluscs with a shell length of 95–100 mm (recruits) to the abundance of molluscs of commercial length of > 100 mm). The state of M. kurilensis population in Peter the Great Bay is stable: the ratio of molluscs of non-commercial length varies 52 to 86 % in most settlements, which indicates active natural reproduction and regular replenishment of the benthic part over many years. Replenishment of settlements with settling of both spat and yearlings depends on the presence of pelagic larvae in the plankton, while replenishment of the mature molluscs depends on favorable conditions for juvenile survival. In 2007–2018, the mean values of the indices of settling and maturation in M. kurilensis settlements in Peter the Great Bay were of (0.18 ± 0.07) and (0.05 ± 0.01), respectively. M. kurilensis resources are estimated at 27.1 thousand tons, and the commercial stock – at 16.4 thousand tons. The annual replenishment of the commercial stock of M. kurilensis in Peter the Great Bay is possible in a volume of more than 3 thousand tons. The mean value of the index of replenishment of the commercial stock is of (0.21 ± 0.03).

New Perspectives on the Pitted Ware Culture in Northern Sweden

During the last three years the number of coastal Pitted Ware sites in southern Norrland has increased immensely. The northern border of this cultural expression has been pushed to the northernmost part of Hälsingland, that is as far as our new surveys have reached. In 1993 the site of Fräkenrönningen was excavated. Due to the fact that the cultural layer on this site was excavated in it s totality - not just sampled — an analysis concerning the relation between artefacts and constructions on the site have been possible. These new sourcematerials has enabled us to pose questions about settlement structure and settlement patterns that would have been impossible to pursue without these large and consistent materials.

Rural Development in Sparsely Populated Areas. Vranov Na Dyjí Micro-Region in Moravia

The article analyses the possibilities of development of one of the most peripheral micro-regions of Moravia on the basis of the theory of sustainability. It notes its above-average focus on agriculture and tourism, which is linked to seasonality, lower education of the population, depopulation and higher unemployment. The settlement structure with predominantly very small villages conditions a worse infrastructure, which is partially balanced by a high-quality natural environment. Possible solutions are seen in the focus on qualitative development and support of social capital. The transition to post-productive development and counter-urbanization gives to regions of this type new opportunities associated with the development of housing and tourism.

Analysis of changes in the administrative-territorial status of monoprofile cities of Donbas (late 1940s – 1980s)

Transformations of the administrative-territorial status of monoprofile cities of Donbas in the context of development of structural-settlement structure of the region in the late 1940s and 1980s are considered. The urgency of the study is due to the reform of decentralization in Ukraine – changes in the order of local self-government and territorial organization of power. Its goal is to create communities that are self‑sufficient and effective in the economic, administrative and socio‑cultural dimensions. In the course of reform, monoprofile cities often acquire the status of centers of united territorial communities. In assessing the relevance of such decisions to the purpose of the reform, it is advisable to examine the relationship of structural-settlement, socio-economic and administrative-territorial status of these cities in historical retrospect. It turns out that the monoprofile cities of the region are an industrial-urban phenomenon, the genesis of which influenced the formation of the specifics of the settlement structure of Donbas. During the study period, the number of such cities more than doubled, reaching more than sixty cities in the late 1980s. Their share among the settlements of the region with the administrative status of a city was at that time two thirds. The emergence of monoprofile cities in the region in large numbers in the 1940s – 1980s is associated with government-industrial policy. At the same time, the structural and settlement importance of these settlements was reflected in their acquisition of the administrative-territorial status of region or district cities. From the beginning of the study period, the vast majority of cities with a narrow industrial base in the region belonged to the cities of district subordination, as they did not meet high enough urban criteria. In the urbanized region, in the presence of other, more powerful urban centers, the corresponding role in the administrative-territorial organization programmed the secondary nature of their structural settlement development. In particular, it did not contribute to the formation of micro-regions around these cities, which must be taken into account in the current conditions of reforming local self-government and territorial organization in the country.