Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-11-14DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040039
Ronnie Donaldson, Tina Odinakachi Iirmdu, Musfiqah Majiet, Pauline Van der Spuy
{"title":"Residents and Stakeholder Opinions on Township Tourism in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa","authors":"Ronnie Donaldson, Tina Odinakachi Iirmdu, Musfiqah Majiet, Pauline Van der Spuy","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040039","url":null,"abstract":"Township tourism has become more varied, offering a wider range of products, experiences and services. In this paper, we examine residents and stakeholders’ opinions on township tourism in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa; an area characterised by crime, unemployment, housing backlogs and poverty. Using a qualitative approach, this paper reports on empirical evidence conducted with key tourism stakeholders to understand some of their perceptions regarding township tourism development in Langa. Concerns about safety, poor infrastructure and a lack of interaction between tourists and the local community are raised by Langa residents and community leaders. Their dissatisfaction with tour guides and tour routes serves as a reminder of the need for more inclusive practices. While business owners are aware of the potential of tourism in promoting cross-cultural dialogue, deepening understanding and creating priceless experiences, they are constrained by perceptions of crime, a lack of tourist exposure to local establishments and the exclusion from decision-making processes. Despite these difficulties that township tourism faces, it is crucial to promote ethical tourism practices that put emphasis on genuine encounters and local community empowerment.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134992157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-11-05DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040038
Ailton Alves de Carvalho, Marcelo José Gama da Silva, Fabiane Rabelo da Costa Batista, Jucilene Silva Araújo, Abelardo Antônio de Assunção Montenegro, Thieres George Freire da Silva, Thayná Alice Brito Almeida, Marcos Vinícius da Silva, Joelma Dias, Iara Tamires Rodrigues Cavalcante, Jhon Lennon Bezerra da Silva
{"title":"Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Physico-Hydrological Trends in Rainfall, Runoff and Land Use in Paraíba Watershed","authors":"Ailton Alves de Carvalho, Marcelo José Gama da Silva, Fabiane Rabelo da Costa Batista, Jucilene Silva Araújo, Abelardo Antônio de Assunção Montenegro, Thieres George Freire da Silva, Thayná Alice Brito Almeida, Marcos Vinícius da Silva, Joelma Dias, Iara Tamires Rodrigues Cavalcante, Jhon Lennon Bezerra da Silva","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040038","url":null,"abstract":"The detection and monitoring of changes in land use and land cover play a crucial role in understanding land degradation and are fundamental to preserving agroecosystems. Their association with hydrological information allows essential responses to changes in hydrological patterns to be identified, contributing to water security in watersheds. Therefore, this study aimed to assess spatio-temporal dynamics and physico-hydrological trends in rainfall, runoff and land use in the Paraíba watershed. The study was conducted in the Paraíba watershed, using land use data and information from pluviometric and fluviometric stations with temporal series of more than 30 years. The Mann-Kendall statistical test was adopted to verify trends. Results indicate annual reduction trends for both native forest area and water bodies in the Paraíba watershed. On the other hand, the area designated for agriculture showed a significant increase. The correlation analysis between water bodies and forests (R² = 0.63) highlights a strong association between the decrease in forest area and the reduction in water availability, influencing the decrease in annual flow. These results serve as a warning to expand water resource management for the region, aiming to preserve and to enhance sustainable use. Therefore, the implementation of conservation measures, monitoring procedures, and adequate management is required to face the challenges imposed by climate change and land use and occupation, ensuring the water availability for the future.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135725120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040037
Hartwig H. Hochmair, Gerhard Navratil, Haosheng Huang
{"title":"Perspectives on Advanced Technologies in Spatial Data Collection and Analysis","authors":"Hartwig H. Hochmair, Gerhard Navratil, Haosheng Huang","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040037","url":null,"abstract":"The motivation to organize this Special Issue originated from the observation of rapid changes taking place in the domain of geographical information science and systems over the past few decades [...]","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135973472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-10-29DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040036
Efthymia Sarantakou
{"title":"Contemporary Challenges in Destination Planning: A Geographical Typology Approach","authors":"Efthymia Sarantakou","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040036","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to outline a framework for reviewing the issues faced by tourism destination planning in the 21st century. This paper documents the use of tourism destination typologies as a framework for policy analysis and as a basis for decision making. The main research hypothesis of this study is that typologies based on, or primarily focused on, geographical dimensions have historically been the appropriate framework for strategic planning. This study proposes the use of a basic geographical typology, according to which destinations are categorized into urban, island, coastal, and mountainous. This paper refers to the evolution, key features, and challenges faced by each type of destination. Through a review of international best practices, this study maps out the fundamental objectives, developmental patterns, and strategies for each geographical type of destination, offering valuable insights for future research. Emphasis is given to contemporary trends in tourism planning in the first few decades of the 21st century.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136136844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040035
Nadja Gomes Machado, Névio Lotufo Neto, Juliana Barbosa da Silva Lotufo, Luiz Octavio Fabrício dos Santos, Marcelo Sacardi Biudes
{"title":"Spatiotemporal Dengue Fever Incidence Associated with Climate in a Brazilian Tropical Region","authors":"Nadja Gomes Machado, Névio Lotufo Neto, Juliana Barbosa da Silva Lotufo, Luiz Octavio Fabrício dos Santos, Marcelo Sacardi Biudes","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040035","url":null,"abstract":"Dengue is a serious infectious disease worldwide and a climate-sensitive disease. Thus, our goals were to (i) evaluate the relationship between dengue incidence and meteorological variables (rainfall and air temperature); (ii) identify the spatiotemporal pattern of dengue incidence in the municipalities of Mato Grosso from 2001 to 2020; and (iii) verify the spatial dependence of dengue incidence in the dry and wet seasons. We used dengue data from 2001 to 2020, monthly rainfall estimates from GPM, and daily air temperature estimates from ERA-5. The municipalities of the Mato Grosso state are included in 16 healthcare territories. The seasonal rainfall pattern indicates that the peak of the dengue endemic occurred in the wet season. However, drier and/or warmer places had a lower incidence of dengue in the dry season. Furthermore, a lagged effect of meteorological variables on dengue incidence has been identified, ranging from 0 to 7 months. Hotspot areas were identified which might have the potential for an intense spreading of dengue in Mato Grosso. They were mainly concentrated in the healthcare territory of Teles Pires (ID 14) in the dry season, while they were concentrated in the healthcare territories of Garças Araguaia (ID 5), Oeste (ID 11), and Teles Pires (ID 14) in the wet season. In addition, they are located in the Am climate and in the Amazon Forest and Brazilian savanna biomes, which have higher dengue incidence values. These results help to highlight which municipalities decision-makers must intervene in the public health system to prevent and control future epidemics.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135730014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-10-05DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040034
Adelar Fochezatto, Eduardo Rodrigues Sanguinet, Patricia Batistela, Rodrigo Valdes
{"title":"Income Leakage Regional Effects: Supply and Demand Shocks during the Pandemic in Brazil and Chile","authors":"Adelar Fochezatto, Eduardo Rodrigues Sanguinet, Patricia Batistela, Rodrigo Valdes","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040034","url":null,"abstract":"During the COVID-19 pandemic, regions were affected by a combination of economic crises: weak demand and constrained supply. Several studies have sought to analyse the heterogeneous effects of supply and demand shocks on the labour market, economic growth, and the environment. This study has a different focus, estimating both direct and indirect effects of demand and supply shocks adopted during the pandemic in Brazil and Chile. Afterwards, the paper compares the degree of regional absorption (leakage) of income resulting from each of these shocks, applying an interregional input–output model for each country. The results of this study show that income absorption by the poorest regions is relatively greater in the case of a supply shock. It can be said, therefore, that this type of shock improves the retention of income generated in the poorest regions, favouring the development of these localities and the reduction in regional inequalities. The main reason for this result is that supply policies have restricted essential sectors to a lesser extent, and these sectors are generally less concentrated in large urban centres in both Brazil and Chile. In other words, much of the interregional leakage is driven by the demand for non-essential products, mainly in the richest urban economy centres. Finally, the geographical dimension of regional inequalities leads to the economic benefit of prosperous areas in the country when shocks occur in vulnerable regions, highlighting the centre–periphery pattern in both countries.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135482336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-10-02DOI: 10.3390/geographies3040033
Gamal El Afandi, Hossam Ismael
{"title":"Spatiotemporal Variation of Summertime Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Its Correlation with Particulate Matter (PM2.5) over Metropolitan Cities in Alabama","authors":"Gamal El Afandi, Hossam Ismael","doi":"10.3390/geographies3040033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3040033","url":null,"abstract":"More than half of the global population lives in urban areas, which can cause the phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island (UHI). UHI is a phenomenon where urban areas experience higher temperatures compared to their rural surroundings. The occurrence of UHI in large cities is primarily due to urbanization and increased vehicular emissions. Factors such as wind speed and direction, solar flux, and the thermodynamic properties of surface materials determine the intensity of UHI. It can cause thermal air circulation, leading to high concentrations of urban air pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5). These pollutants can remain suspended in the air and cause asthma and allergies. It is essential to understand the characteristics of UHI intensity and its effect on air quality. This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of UHI and their correlation with PM2.5 concentration in three Alabama cities, namely Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile, during the summer seasons of 2002, 2012, and 2022. The study also compares UHI in these cities with nearby rural areas to determine the effect of urbanization by calculating the Normalized Difference Building Index (NDBI). To achieve these objectives, the Land Surface Temperature (LST), UHI intensity, and NDBI Datasets were analyzed. The results showed that PM2.5 concentrations in the cities have been decreasing annually since 2002, leading to an improvement in air quality. There was a negative linear correlation between UHI intensity and PM2.5 concentration. However, LST remained consistently high throughout the study period. The correlation between UHI intensity and NDBI was positive. The findings of this study can help us better understand the dynamics and driving mechanisms of the urban heat environment. Furthermore, they can assist urban metropolitan planners in developing more efficient mitigation strategies that reduce the negative impacts of UHI and PM2.5 concentrations on the environment.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135830739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-09-17DOI: 10.3390/geographies3030032
Adolfo Quesada-Román, Manuel Peralta-Reyes
{"title":"Geomorphological Mapping Global Trends and Applications","authors":"Adolfo Quesada-Román, Manuel Peralta-Reyes","doi":"10.3390/geographies3030032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3030032","url":null,"abstract":"This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 735 research papers on geomorphological mapping published in English between 2000 and 2021 using the Web of Science database. The analysis focuses on key metrics such as annual publication rates, journal distribution, common keywords, and frequently cited papers. The results demonstrate sustained investment in geomorphological mapping research over the past two decades, driven by advancements in data analysis, GIS technologies, and cross-institutional and cross-country collaboration. While European universities and research centers lead the field, researchers from Latin America and Asia are also making noteworthy contributions. However, research concentration remains largely in Europe, particularly at low altitudes. The study highlights the vital importance of investment in geomorphological mapping research and the benefits of collaboration to advance understanding and knowledge production. It also emphasizes the need for greater geographic and cultural diversity among researchers to ensure a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to research in this field.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135257903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-09-16DOI: 10.3390/geographies3030031
Innocensia Owuor, Hartwig H. Hochmair
{"title":"Temporal Relationship between Daily Reports of COVID-19 Infections and Related GDELT and Tweet Mentions","authors":"Innocensia Owuor, Hartwig H. Hochmair","doi":"10.3390/geographies3030031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3030031","url":null,"abstract":"Social media platforms are valuable data sources in the study of public reactions to events such as natural disasters and epidemics. This research assesses for selected countries around the globe the time lag between daily reports of COVID-19 cases and GDELT (Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone) and Twitter (X) COVID-19 mentions between February 2020 and April 2021 using time series analysis. Results show that GDELT articles and tweets preceded COVID-19 infections in Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Italy, the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the U.K., while for Poland and the Philippines, tweets preceded and GDELT articles lagged behind COVID-19 disease incidences, respectively. This shows that the application of social media and news data for surveillance and management of pandemics needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis for different countries. It also points towards the applicability of time series data analysis for only a limited number of countries due to strict data requirements (e.g., stationarity). A deviation from generally observed lag patterns in a country, i.e., periods with low COVID-19 infections but unusually high numbers of COVID-19-related GDELT articles or tweets, signals an anomaly. We use the seasonal hybrid extreme Studentized deviate test to detect such anomalies. This is followed by text analysis of news headlines from NewsBank and Google on the date of these anomalies to determine the probable event causing an anomaly, which includes elections, holidays, and protests.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135308417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human GeographiesPub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.3390/geographies3030030
B. Netto, K. Macario, Ayrton Assumpção, Maikel Diaz, Stewart J. Fallon, Xiaomei Xu, I. Chanca, Carla Carvalho
{"title":"Background Tests and Improvements at LAC-UFF Aiming at Sample Size Reduction in Foraminifera 14C Measurement","authors":"B. Netto, K. Macario, Ayrton Assumpção, Maikel Diaz, Stewart J. Fallon, Xiaomei Xu, I. Chanca, Carla Carvalho","doi":"10.3390/geographies3030030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3030030","url":null,"abstract":"Foraminifera are widely used in paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic studies, providing information about past ocean conditions. However, in order to use these tracers, it is essential to obtain an accurate chronology. Radiocarbon has proven to be a powerful tool in developing robust chronologies. Sample sizes of a few milligrams of carbonate material are needed for precise radiocarbon determination using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). In the specific case of paleoceanographic and paleoenvironmental studies, Foraminifera microfossils are the most important indicator of oceanic conditions. However, for establishing the chronology of deposition, sample availability is often limited. In AMS facilities using solid ion sources, such as the Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Universidade Federal Fluminense (LAC-UFF), in Brazil, CO2 samples need to be converted to graphite after physical and chemical pre-treatment to remove contamination. Reducing the sample sizes increases the relative contribution of contamination and can favor increased background levels. In this work, we tested different amounts of 14C-free carbonate samples as a means to evaluate the pattern of contamination. For the sealed tube Zn/TiH2 graphitization method, we tested prebaking the graphitization tubes and compared storage procedures. As a result, the background for regular-sized samples was decreased, and accurate measurement of carbonate samples containing ca. 0.5 mg C could be performed. Prebaked graphitization tubes can safely be stored in desiccator cabinets for up to 4 weeks. Foraminifera samples with mass as low as 1 mg (ca. 0.1 mg C) can now be measured at the LAC-UFF AMS facility, provided that C contamination can be estimated and corrected. The developments presented in this work allowed for the study of species-specific Foraminifera and other small-sized carbonate samples.","PeriodicalId":38507,"journal":{"name":"Human Geographies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78238440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}