Dominique BADARIOTTI, Christiane WEBER. Urban residential mobility. Cellular automaton and multi-agent applications for modelling in Bogota (5 fig.)
An analysis of the interactions between different forms of mobility and urban change is key to understanding an urban system. A number of complex processes are involved in these interactions, including behavioural trends, residence choice criteria, individual patterns and economic change affecting the urban fabric, such as the emergence of shanty-towns or the concentration of economic activities. These interactions lead to changes in transport behaviour and infrastructure and influence planning decisions. To approach this topic, we intend to use artificial intelligence applications (cellular automata and multi-agent systems) to model residential mobility and its impact on the urban structure. We have chosen Bogota (Colombia) as our research site because it offers the characteristics of a developing country, a large quantity of high-quality data and the desired project team composition (PSIG98).
keywords: CELLULAR AUTOMATA, COLOMBIA, DISTRIBUTED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MULTI-AGENT SYSTEM, RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY, URBAN STRUCTURE
Mounir MAMOGHLI. Factors in social marginalisation in Seine-et-Marne (4 tabl., 5 fig.)
Unemployment encourages risk-taking behaviour, but to widely varying degrees depending on the environment. Rapid population increase, lack of infrastructure and poor public transport facilities all contribute to problems. Regarding juvenile delinquency, the efficiency of the contrats de ville (programmes to create jobs and revitalise residential areas) has reduced the negative effects of unemployment on criminal behaviour in the areas that have benefited from them.
keywords: MARGINALISATION, MODELLING, SEINE-ET-MARNE
Yveline PONCET, Christian MULLON, Marcel KUPER. Spatial organisation of an exploited ecosystem: spatial choices in the integrated model of Malis interior delta of the Niger River (5 fig.)
In the Mali Delta, a flat region that is seasonally flooded, the dynamic of water directly and indirectly conditions the social and technical processes of production and influences most development prospects, on all scales: the circulation of water is the motor of the ecosystem. The spatial organisation defined by water is the basic element in an integrated model of the physical, biological and social processes at work in the delta. In our presentation of this model, we emphasise the way it deals with the spatial dimension. This emphasis on the spatial dimension has made it possible to develop a concrete, visible interface, in the form of statistical and kinetic maps, between the concepts, the data and the mechanisms that constitute the model.
keywords: DELTA, ECOSYSTEM, MALI, SPATIAL MODELLING, WATER
Isabelle SURUN. The discovery of Timbuktu: deconstruction and reconstruction of a geographical myth (3 fig.)
This paper seeks to study interactions between geographical discovery and mythical representation of a place, using the case of Timbuktu. The accounts of four European travellers who reached Timbuktu in the 19th century raise a question: did experience supplant myth when travellers laid eyes on Timbuktu for the first time, or did the myth persist in travellersÕ descriptions of the city?
keywords: DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, MYTHICAL PLACE, MALI, TIMBUKTU, TRAVEL
François-Michel LETOURNEAU. Mapping settlement in a pioneer area: Brazilian Amazonia (3 fig.)
Using conventional methods to map pioneer phenomena in Brazilian Amazonia poses numerous problems. In particular, the administrative mesh referred to in statistics is too large to provide an accurate picture. Geographical information systems, which can process and compare spatial information, offer new perspectives here. This paper presents two examples: one involving the calculation and mapping of population densities based on a comparison between the municipal mesh and cleared areas, and one attempting to assess the correlation between the presence of roads and deforestation. In both cases, although they raise new questions, the maps produced seem to provide a more accurate picture of the scale and location of pioneer phenomena in Brazilian Amazonia.
keywords: BRAZIL, GIS, MAPPING, METHODOLOGY, PIONEER FRONT, SETTLEMENT
Frédéric ALEXANDRE, Marianne COHEN, Alain GÉNIN, Michel LECOMPTE. Phytogeography in Western Alps between Rhône and Pô valleys (1 tabl., 3 fig.)
The geography of the spontaneous ligneous flora of the Alps is analysed along a transect of 200 km between Vercors and the upper P Valley. Floristic change linked to altitude occurs in a continuous mode, comparable across all the slopes observed, yet not uniform: changes begin above 1,300 m and intensify above 1,800 m, where an altitudinal floristic revolution occurs. Below 1,300 m, the absence of any floristic expression of variations in altitude and the correlative uniformity of vegetation point to the existence of a thermal threshold marking the upper limit of a "phytogeographical domain" of plains and low mountains. Given that a second thermal threshold separates the non-forest landscapes of the high mountains from the forest landscapes of the middle altitudes, three phytogeographical domains stretch along the altitudinal continuum: the first is a floristic domain, the other two are only landscape domains, since the flora there varies continuously with altitude. The variations in flora over the whole transect do not reflect rainfall variations: the vegetation on these middle Western Alps does not show any major hydric stress.
keywords: ALPS, FLORISTIC CONTINUUM, PHYTOCLIMATOLOGY, PHYTOGEOGRAPHY
Christophe FLEZ, Philippe LAHOUSSE. Management of torrential hazard in the municipality of Serre-Chavelier in the French Alps: protagonists and issues (2 photos, 3 tabl., 6 fig.)
As a consequence of the development of the Serre-Chevalier mountain resort, the municipality of Saint-Chaffrey has expanded rapidly since the mid-1960s. On 9 July 1981, the new buildings on the alluvial fan of the Verdarel torrent were partly destroyed by a debris flow. After that event, the civil authorities implemented a torrent correction policy, which rapidly helped restore a sense of security among the population. Urban development also resumed. However, the combination of catastrophic floods in July 1995 and a new national policy on natural hazards led to the introduction of more cautious measures. A construction-free zone was imposed on the council of Saint-Chaffrey by the Mountain Land Protection Service. This measure is perceived as a refutation of the local torrential correction policy carried out by the council of Saint-Chaffrey for the last 20 years.
keywords: DEBRIS FLOW, FRENCH ALPS, NATURAL HAZARD, TORRENT REGULATION SYSTEM
Sébastien VELUT. Argentine, géographie dune crise
keywords: ARGENTINA, ECONOMIC CRISIS, MERCOSUR, SPATIAL DISPARITIES
Book reviews
In this issue of l’Espace géographique, you will find critical reviews of the following books
BESSE Jean-Marc (2000). Voir la Terre. Six essais sur le paysage et la géographie. Arles: Actes Sud/ENSP/Centre du Paysage, 162 p.
BONNEMAISON Joël (2001). La Géographie culturelle. Paris: CTHS, 152 p.
CORTÈS Geneviève (2000). Partir pour rester. Paris: IRD Éditions, coll. «À travers champs», 521 p.
FRANQUEVILLE André (2000). La Bolivie dun pillage à lautre. Paris: PUM/IRD Éditions, coll. «Hespérides Amérique», 292 p.
GÉNEAU DE LA MARLIÈRE Isabelle, Staszak Jean-François (2000). Principes de géographie économique. Paris: Bréal, coll. «Grand Amphi-Géographie», 448 p.
GOELDNER-GIANELLA Lydie (2000). LAllemagne et ses polders, Conquête et renaissance des marais maritimes. Paris: CTHS, 254 p.
PUMAIN Denise, Saint-Julien Thérèse (2001). Les Interactions spatiales. Paris: Armand Colin. Coll. «Cursus», 192 p., avec la collaboration de E. Dumas et H. Mathian.
RIVIÈRE DARC Hélène, dir. (2001). Nommer les nouveaux territoires urbains. Paris: Unesco/MSH, coll. «Les mots de la ville 1», dirigée par Jean-Charles Depaule et Christian Topalov, 279 p.
ROSSI Georges (2000). Lingérence écologique, Environnement et développement rural du Nord au Sud. Paris: CNRS-ÉDITIONS, coll. «Espaces et Milieux», 248 p.
ROUX Jean-Claude (2000). La Bolivie orientale. Confins inexplorés, battue aux Indiens et économie de pillage (1825-1992). Paris: LHarmattan, coll. «Recherches et documents - Amérique latine», 317 p.
VIEILLARD-BARON Hervé (2001). Les Banlieues: des singularités françaises aux réalités mondiales. Paris: Hachette, 288 p.
L’espace géographique 1/02
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Last modified: June 11, 2002