Is land cover an important asset for addressing the subjective landscape dimensions?

This paper explores which physical landscape components relate to subjective landscape dimensions. The ways in which people describe their surrounding cultural landscape was analyzed through an assessment of their representations of it. A special focus was placed on assessing the role of land cover as a means to communicate landscape meanings regarding a specific geographical region. The methodological framework was built on the basis of a questionnaire survey, multivariate statistical analysis and mapping approaches. This research shows that there is a set of physical landscape components that relate to subjective landscape dimensions which can be disclosed through the assessment of social representations. Enhancing and safeguarding those physical landscape components associated with the subjective landscape dimensions are important aspects in both framing and targeting land cover/use policies and decision making. Results also suggest that land cover can be understood as an important asset for describing landscapes as more than 30% of respondents referred to it when asked to represent the case study region of Alentejo in southern Portugal. This might mean that in addition to objective ecological and biological functions, land cover is also an important asset for evaluating subjective landscape dimensions in line with place attachment and landscape identity. Finally, the ways in which the empirical material gathered here can be used to inform policy and planning are explored.     

The Reform of Support Mechanisms for Upland Farming: Paying for Public Goods in the Severely Disadvantaged Areas of England

The incomes of hill‐farmers in ‘Less Favoured Areas’ of the UK have traditionally been supported by payments related to their production levels. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and changes in policy objectives within the UK imply a need to change this basis of support. We investigate the option of paying for public goods produced, focusing on landscape features and habitats. A choice experiment study is used to estimate willingness to pay for different landscape features in four Severely Disadvantaged Areas of England. We find significant differences in the value of landscape features, both within and across regions, and parallel differences in the aggregate value of different policy options for upland areas. We discuss briefly how this information could be included in a spatially differentiated payments scheme.     

台湾社会福利制度对大陆的启示

台湾进入后工业社会时期以来,积极推进社会福利制度,特别是在劳工社会保险、全民健康保险、农村社会福利、国民年金制度等方面取得重要进展,但也存在着财政负担过重、社会保障欠公平、社会福利保障体系不够健全等问题。台湾社会福利制度的经验和教训对大陆社会保障制度的建立和完善,具有重要的启迪和借鉴意义。     

Public preferences for pasture landscapes in Germany—A latent class analysis of a nationwide discrete choice experiment

Biodiversity, landscape aesthetics and grazing livestock have considerable relevance for agricultural production, however rarely considered in public landscape preferences research. This paper studies public preferences for pasture usage by the means of a discrete choice experiment using a representative sample of 449 individuals from Germany. Graphical representations of the choice sets were used to assess the preferences for the presence of livestock and typical pasture landscape elements. To account for preference heterogeneity, the paper utilised a latent-class logit model. Four different latent classes were identified. The results showed different preferences between the latent classes, not only in terms of the magnitude of the estimated parameters, but also in terms of the parameter signs. This indicated that there are multiple types of preferred pasture landscapes. Within the groups, the preference for livestock presence did not depend on its density. Furthermore, it was found that point elements were more important for the landscape preference than linear elements. The class membership probabilities were influenced by multiple sociodemographic variables, including the individual’s residence.     

A century of change in coastal sedimentary landscapes in the Canary Islands (Spain) — Change,processes, and driving forces

A global understanding of landscape dynamics, through local case studies, is a prime topic in land change science. Consequently, this approach should be urgently applied to changing and heavily transformed environments, such as coastal areas. The aim of this work is to study landscape changes, comparatively, by focusing on three coastal sedimentary landscapes in the Canary Islands (Spain). We examine changes in main land cover types and identify their driving forces, actors and institutions, analyze their inter-relationships, and match each case to a case-specific development model. The three landscapes reveal very different change processes with regard to population density, land cover, and major land change processes (i.e., resource extraction, urbanization, tourism, and nature protection). We found that socioeconomic, political, and natural/spatial driving force types are of highest importance, while the local level is dominant in all three cases. The findings of this study can be used to interpret other similar landscapes worldwide. Driving-force and organizational-level patterns may be expressed in a synthesized manner as we demonstrate in this paper.     

Preserving permanent mountain grasslands in Western Europe: Why are promising approaches not implemented more widely?

To protect grasslands and maintain the ecosystem services they provide, many European countries have been offering agri-environment measures aimed at maintaining extensive grazing by cattle, sheep or goats. Yet, despite more than two decades of agri-environment measures, semi-natural mountain pastures are still seen as threatened by abandonment and subsequent shrub encroachment. Building on a three-round Delphi inquiry, we analyse the perception of a range of experts on how measures aimed at maintaining mountain grasslands are designed and implemented in Austria, France and Norway. Results show that the experts see the need for a stronger involvement of diverse regional actors, the need to increase the flexibility given to farmers in managing mountain grasslands, and the need to reconceptualise monitoring as a social learning process. While these approaches are implemented in some ‘best practice’ examples, they are not widespread. Understanding these approaches as requiring double-loop learning may contribute to explaining their limited spread. Indeed, they build on a radically different conceptualization of farmers and of researchers, and thus of how agri-environment measures need to be designed and implemented to be effective. Yet, such radical changes are likely to be resisted.     

Changing landscape and ecotourism development in a large dam site: a case study of Tehri dam,India

This paper presents an analysis of the historical change in the local landscape of Tehri dam, the highest earth and land filled dam in India, and surroundings focusing on changes that transpired due to dam construction. Based on the qualitative data collected using interviews and participant observation, past changes in physical, economic, and social landscapes were examined from the perspective of displaced populations. The transformation involved the initial emergence of energy landscape followed by the recent development of tourist landscape in the region. This emerging tourist landscape from the existing energy landscape was found to be promising for the local economy and potential tie point for social and cultural life. Persistent efforts on part of locals, tourists, and government can effectively enhance ecotourism. There is a need of understanding the current and future landscapes in light of past, evolving the therapeutic dimensions of natural landscape.     

The sector perspective in social development

Agricultural society, industrial society, and post-industrial society are well-known terms for societies at different stages of development. All three are named after the dominant sector in the economy. These terms reflect a sector perspective in social development. This article discusses four different types of sector models, against the background of the future prospects that the respective models give rise to. The image of the future is influenced by the choice of sector classification.     

打造长寿旅游规划形象战略

长寿是环重庆城市旅游度假带中的重要区域，如何进行市场营销策划从而重新打造长寿旅游成为长寿旅游业发展规划的重要内容。用形象战略与营销策划整合，县长寿规划的新尝试，望对长寿文脉的传承起到积极的作用。     

后产业组织时代的市场特性研究

“抑制规模垄断、促进市场竞争活力”是各国产业组织政策长期以来致力于解决的问题，也是产业组织理论研究的核心问题。结构学派和效率学派的主要分歧正是在抑制集中度，重视结构绩效和忽略集中度，追求行为效率方面各有侧重。今天，经济全球化和活跃的技术变革，改变着市场边界和市场竞争关系，单纯的大规模不再构成市场垄断的主要力量，我们进入了后产业组织时代。新时期的竞争关系和市场垄断特征，应该是我国正在制定中的反垄断法的主要依据。