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In the last two decades, the towns of Funes and Roldán showed the greatest demographic and housing growth in the Metropolitan Area of Rosario. They stand as suitable places for recreation and rest due to their natural landscape, lower prices, and high level of security. For that reason, they are chosen for permanent residence despite their incomplete infrastructure and services. This work is intended to analyze the characteristics of residential developments, delving into the classification of new typologies (open neighborhoods, closed neighborhoods, condominiums, country clubs, and ranches). The central aspects are linked to weighing the progressive occupation of land (transition from rural to urban) and classifying the new types, identifying whether they respond, for instance, to real demand. In conclusion, the urbanization process has practically tripled since 2001, increasing the population and expanding the urban plan. Half of the surface (51.2%) keeps the traditional urban fabric, 42% is occupied by new developments and 6% by industrial parks, popular neighborhoods, and social housing. Various developers are involved but the main undertakings concentrate few actors. Urbanizations are completed and lots are sold, but not all of them are built over and inhabited, sometimes leading to a process of oversupply and capital protection.

Copyright of Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Comunicación is the property of Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Diseno y Comunicacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urbanization pattern monitoring requires a Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing–based approach for data provision and implementation of Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). This study investigates land use land cover changes (LULC) in Islamabad over the past 42 years by analyzing urbanization patterns and their relationship with demographic growth. The LULC classification was performed using the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) algorithm with four land cover classes dominating the study area, i.e., vegetation, water, built-up area, and bare soil. Our analysis showed a massive increase in built-up areas by 111.20 km2 in the past four decades. A population increase was observed from 168,745 to 1,129,198 over time, depicting a significant role in urbanization extension. The current research revealed that demographic growth aggravates built-up area expansion; hence, a strong connection exists between these two factors. The study can assist in preparing and installing suitable strategies for monitoring sustainable urbanization in metropolitan cities, demonstrating the potential of satellite imagery and GIS as practical tools for decision-makers in planning and monitoring the urbanization process in order to modify space management approaches under fragile environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Africa's role in the changing demographic picture of the world in the context of the global transformation of the world order, taking into account modern economic, social, and military challenges. Based on the analysis of current demographic trends, the author suggests that the center of global demographic growth has already largely shifted towards sub-Saharan Africa, where the population growth rates average 2.5% per year. Despite certain discrepancies in subregional and national trends, it is the African continent that, starting from 2035, will shape the dominating demographic trends on the planet and, to a large extent, determine the quantitative and qualitative structure of the future of the global labor market. This, in turn, will fundamentally change the structure of the world economy, since the mass consumer of a significant share of goods and services will be located not in the countries of the Global North, where the population will steadily decline, but in the Global South. This article reviews Africa's main demographic indicators: birth rate, mortality, population growth rates, fertility, life expectancy, etc. The main economic and social factors affecting the dynamics of these indicators against the background of similar changes in other countries and regions of our planet are analyzed. As a result of this analysis, it is posited that Russia should developed a new system of foreign economic relations, focusing, among other things, on the rapidly growing market of goods, services, and labor of the African continent. The humanitarian sphere should become the most important area of cooperation. Russia is able to make a significant contribution to improving the quality of Africa's human capital through the promotion of its educational and scientific schools and broad cooperation in the technological sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As this article is less about charity per se than it is about the relationships between place and institutional policies of benevolence, my intention is to look at how practices and laws of public charity operated in a city whose economic and social geography was changing after 1700, when the streets were populated with vulnerable people driven into poverty and when the subjects of pauperism and poor laws “engaged the attention of the legislature with increasing frequency” (Purdy 287). This article looks at the modus operandi of private and public philanthropic societies in eighteenth-century London in order to observe how both religious- and secular-driven charitable societies were motivated by the same goal of social reform, whether prompted by the Enlightenment or religious values. While the notion of Pietas Londinensis indicated the existence of various operating charities and casual philanthropic acts in the London area, charitable institutions had not been set up until the eighteenth century. In late Stuart and Georgian Britain charitable, London was shaped both by economic forces and by the various cultural meanings people attached to its space, and this new paradigm transferred all matters concerning the poor from parochial obligation to civic responsibility. The article will focus on the mechanisms which made this transfer possible while considering acts of public charity and philanthropic societies that emerged in the long eighteenth century, from hospitals and infirmaries to almshouses and charity schools, with a view to observing the changes in English mentality as a result of charitable activity.

The current panorama that concerns the urbanization of the cities, takes place through the city-to-city migration in addition to the vegetative growth. For this, the present study seeks to carry out a population projection until the year 2040 for the municipality of Santa Isabel do Pará. For this study, IBGE data were used added to the use of statistical tools to obtain more adequate, reliable and important results. for a territorial ordering through the public management of the municipality and private companies. In this study, among the estimated demographic models for population projections in the municipality of Santa Izabel do Pará, the most convenient method among those tested in this research was the Geometric, because it presents consistent results observing the populations of the 1991 to 2010 Demographic Censuses. Also, the one that best fit the census data (1991, 2000 and 2010), observing the R² coefficient, presented a positive result of 0.98, indicating that the two variables express a strong correlation. The conception of long-term hypotheses for demographic factors is of paramount importance in the development and execution of projections, as it indisputably contributes to the excellence and accuracy of the applied model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency has established as a trending topic in scholarly research in the last four decades. Lately, the purpose of that research strand has broadened so to tackle the increase of greenhouse gas emissions and the issues related to climate change. Human beings and their mass production and consumption activities are thought to be a primary source of climate-altering emissions. However, that assumption has been seldom tested. Here we aim to provide a methodological and empirical framework to check for the causal nexus that allegedly ties together demographic growth, economic development, and climate change. The analysis is based on the historically reconstructed series of several variables that span over the last centuries. Besides, it is based on the class of ARIMAX-ARCH models. The results show evidence for bidirectional causation between human growth and climate change. In particular, we find that solar irradiance and gross domestic product are significant predictors of temperature anomalies. Furthermore, temperature anomalies and solar irradiance are found to exert a positive feedback effect on the growth rate of gross domestic product. As regards the causality measures, despite the strength of the univariate component, the contribution of the exogenous factors is strongly significant in all the estimated models. The analysis we carry out suggests framing climate change within a set of long-run trends.

The Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford (CAMKOX) Corridor is the fastest growing region in the United Kingdom. The UK National Infrastructure Commission proposes to add 780,000 housing units and 1,450,000 people to the existing CAMKOX population of around 3,300,000. However, it is highly likely that the conditions under which this objective would be met by 2050 will be substantially different from those of today. The direct and indirect impacts of projected climate change, demographic growth and technical innovation must be considered in relationship to current conditions. In this context, a two-day workshop was organized among interested stakeholders by the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis of University College London, with the participation of 20 professional planners and academics with CAMKOX experience. Geodesign modifies geography by design at intentional change. It tightly couples the creation of proposals for change with impact simulations informed by geographic contexts and systems thinking. Coming to a politically acceptable planning strategy inevitably implies negotiation among local people, aided by geographic scientists and design professionals, supported by information technologists. The digital tools to enable a collaboratively negotiated consensus are based on diagrams of policies and projects to produce an outcome only indicating that “It can be…or might be… something like this”. Participant teams each applied one of three scenarios of early, late, or non-adoption of systems policy and project innovations, reporting the designs and their impacts at three time-steps, 2020 (existing), 2035, and 2050. These were compared and negotiated to one final design.

Copyright of Strategy & Development Review is the property of Strategy & Development Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The exacerbation of the concentration of population and economic activities in a few core metropolitan areas has become an urgent issue for China's regional development, and necessitates a more polycentric spatial development pattern. Transportation infrastructure improvement can serve as a vital instrument to achieve the objective of polycentric spatial development. Focusing on the 10 megaregions of China, this research examines a fundamental issue for China's urban and regional development in the context of massive investment in highway and railway: the impacts of road and rail network on the spatial pattern of growth and development. Using the county-level national censuses of 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010 and the historical transport network geographic information system (GIS) data, this paper analyzes the differentiated effects of road and rail for population growth. The research results revealed the stronger positive growth impacts of rail compared with road, and further examination indicates that railway has stronger positive impacts for regional growth in the less-developed areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slope processes are active in the rolling plateau landscapes of Nunavik, Northern Québec, Canada. There are a few short but very steep escarpments in this region. On January 1st, 1999 a powerful snow avalanche struck Kangiqsualujjuaq, one of the 14 Inuit villages in Nunavik. Nine people died and 25 were injured. This village and its surrounding are located within a glacial valley, in a periglacial environment. There is significant population growth, as well as in the other villages in Nunavik. As early as 1999-2000, there was a significant spatial reorganization of the village's infrastructures to avoid the impact of other snow-avalanche events. The main objective of this paper is to examine the village expansion in response to snow-avalanche process and population growth, within an area constrained with permafrost thawing and steep slopes. From naturalist geomorphologic methods, written sources such as archive documents and aerial photographs, the results show that slopes above Kangiqsualujjuaq are prone to release snow avalanches during blizzards from uncommon directions, and that the newly built housing may be at risk in some places, due to the conjunction of snow avalanches and permafrost thawing.

This paper aims to portray the situation of access to basic sanitation in Brazilian regional capitals as mid-sized cities. It also intends to demonstrate the prospects of access to basic sanitation through projections, considering the advance of demographic growth and the targets set by the Federal Government for a 20-year horizon. Data from the demographic censuses of 1991, 2000, and 2010 were used upon 64 regional capitals. The results show that access to basic sanitation has progressed in recent decades, although serious deficiencies persist, especially due to the country’s regional disparities. The projections highlight a scenario of expansion and, sometimes, the universalization of access, but indicate cases in which the situation should be unsettling, demanding imminent public policies and investments in infrastructure that meet the new local demand

India and China have become countries of rapid economic growth and at the same time of socio-economic contrast. The classical old-age security arrangement has focused mainly on the formal sector and excluded a majority of the population working in the informal sector. Consequently, along the road of economic growth, increasing living standards and higher wages, a good proportion of the population are threatened by old-age poverty. Elderly people in rural areas, people in precarious employment situations, such as migrant workers, disabled and sick people belong to the high risk-group of people at risk of old-age poverty due to the lack of old-age security arrangements for these groups in the informal sector. In times of rapidly aging societies and growing socioeconomic disparity, New Delhi and Beijing have realized the increasing importance and urgency of extending pension coverage to all parts of society. In recent years decision-makers in both countries have made huge efforts to reform their pension systems and to alleviate poverty among the elderly today and in coming years. The political commitment is closely linked to the demand for output legitimacy to gain public support from these groups. Contrary to the theoretical imperative of the superiority of democracies, China seems to be doing much better than India in the provision of universal coverage for the informal sector. To answer the puzzle, this article examines the impact of institutional features and socio-economic characteristics on the pension policy process. It is argued that country-specific institutional settings and political commitments affect the learning ability in the policy making process, which determines the output performance of pension politics and the realization of universal coverage for old-age security in the informal sector.

This paper aims to portray the situation of access to basic sanitation in Brazilian regional capitals as mid-sized cities. It also intends to demonstrate the prospects of access to basic sanitation through projections, considering the advance of demographic growth and the targets set by the Federal Government for a 20-year horizon. Data from the demographic censuses of 1991, 2000, and 2010 were used upon 64 regional capitals. The results show that access to basic sanitation has progressed in recent decades, although serious deficiencies persist, especially due to the country's regional disparities. The projections highlight a scenario of expansion and, sometimes, the universalization of access, but indicate cases in which the situation should be unsettling, demanding imminent public policies and investments in infrastructure that meet the new local demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Universitaire des Sciences Humaines et Sociales is the property of University of Kasdi Merbah Ouargla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Natural Sciences, Life & Applied Sciences is the property of Arab Journal of Sciences & Research Publishing (AJSRP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Dirassat in Humanities & Social Sciences is the property of Research & Development of Human Recourses Center (REMAH) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is an enormous body of literature on the population growth that sub-Saharan Africa witnessed over the course of the past few decades. The majority of these works argue that reducing birth rates is an essential step in the fight against poverty, and that policy of a fertility reduction is necessary these contexts. And, though the term of « overpopulation » is rarely used explicitly, it is nevertheless this neo-Malthusian impulse that undergirds the mechanical association of population growth and the reduction of land resources.Despite these arguments, several sub-Saharan African countries and regions have led successful campaigns to absorb this population growth without seeing a threat to their food security. Furthermore, one could argue that it is thanks to the diverse responses of rural communities to population growth that the « urban explosion » in African cities has been able to partially contained. This case study, conducted in Koumbia, attempts to show how this region of Burkina Faso has been able to successfully absorb a sustained growth in population resulting both from natural growth as well as significant immigration of both mossi and fulani ethnic groups into the region. We observe that the increase in population density has led to a double process of both intensification (much like Esther Boserup’s analysis) and extensification (such as clearing new lands to make way for agriculture).

Since the 1950’s, the population of the Algerian Sahara continued to grow faster than the northern one. Therefore today, more than one Algerian in ten lives in the Sahara, against one in fifteen in the early 1960s. This population is increasingly urban and important cities are not rarer in the Sahara. This evolution is mainly due to a natural demographic increase which still remains high and to the developmental and controlling policies of the territory leads by the Algerian state. But this general trend is not uniform on the whole saharan regions and between the periods. This paper aims to analyse the demographic growth and structures of the Saharan population, in link with and the urbanization movement which deeply affected the Algerian Sahara since 1950.

Puerto Vallarta es un claro ejemplo de ciudad donde ha prevalecido el interés por brindar una mejor y mayor oferta turística, sobre el de dar respuesta a las necesidades de infraestructura mínimas requeridas por su población, por lo que, el objetivo principal del presente proyecto de investigación ha sido la elaboración de un diagnóstico de la población urbana de pobreza extrema en Puerto Vallarta. La metodología realizada fue mediante prácticas de campo localizando en el polígono el número de hogares, y con base en una muestra aleatoria se seleccionaron las viviendas para la aplicación de encuestas y entrevistas; encontrándose un notable desequilibrio en la planeación y organización de la ciudad; con un alto índice en el surgimiento de asentamientos irregulares, donde en la mayoría de los casos se carece de vialidades pavimentadas, suministro de agua potable, instalaciones de drenaje sanitario, suministro de energía eléctrica, alumbrado público y equipamiento urbano. Puerto Vallarta is a clear example of a city where the interest of bringing a bigger and better touristic offer has prevailed, over answering the minimal infrastructure requirements of its population; therefore, the main objective of this research project was the development of a diagnosis of the urban population in extreme poverty in Puerto Vallarta. The methodology was carried out through field practice locating in the polygon the number of households, and based on a random sample households for the implementation of surveys and interviews they were selected; finding the noticeable imbalance in the planning and organization of the city; with a high rate of appearance of irregular settlements, most of which lack paved roads, access to drinking water, wastewater installations, electrical power supply, street lighting and urban equipment.

A basic Kaleckian model is enriched by three simple, intuitive assumptions. First, there is a redistributive system of the wage bill between employed and unemployed workers, the latter receiving subsistence income. Second, only individuals with an income above the subsistence level build savings. The combination of these two assumptions gives rise to an autonomous consumption component whose rate of growth depends on population growth. Consequently, the rate of capital accumulation spontaneously converges towards the rate of population growth (the supermultiplier effect), a dynamic that offers a solution to one of the two Harrodian instability problems. The third assumption corresponds to entrepreneurs' attempts to adjust investments to restore the normal rate of capacity utilisation. Although this assumption usually generates knife-edge instability, we show here that the stabilising properties of the supermultiplier, provided that the accelerator effect is not overly strong, help overcome this instability and realise the normal rate of capacity utilisation. Therefore, the model may offer a simple, simultaneous solution to the two Harrodian instability problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact and mono-centric cities in southern Europe have recently experienced a chaotic expansion, in partial contrast with the spatially-balanced development typical of western European cities. Our study investigates long-term changes (1951-2011) in the spatial structure of Naples - a representative example of compact cities grown through sequential urbanization waves - discussing the weakness of its actual metropolitan organization, considered spatially-unbalanced and with a limited potential to growth. Changes over time in the spatial distribution of three variables at the municipal scale (resident population, total workers, employees in industry and services) were analyzed with the aim to identify deviations from a mono-centric growth model. Descriptive statistics and maps, non-parametric correlations and principal component analysis were used to assess spatio-temporal trends in Naples' expansion over different economic cycles with the final objective to discriminate 'residential suburbanization' from a polycentric development based on the consolidation of 'employment sub-centres'. The Naples' metropolitan region was characterized by persistent divides between urban and suburban areas, with downtown Naples concentrating a relevant share of jobs in the metropolitan region. Resident population increased more than employment in the majority of fringe municipalities, reflecting population dispersion and residential suburbanization without employment growth. These evidences suggest that policies promoting a spatially-balanced regional development were substantially ineffective in Naples. Partial failure of a polycentric development strategy is common to other socioeconomic contexts experiencing similar urbanization processes. Reconnecting regional economic dynamics with local patterns of urban growth allows an in-depth understanding of present and future trends in Mediterranean urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THERE CAN BE NO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT FULFILLING SOCIAL CONDITIONS WITHOUT CHANGING THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK. HOWEVER, MUCH OF THE ECONOMIC LITERATURE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REMAINED SOMEWHAT INDIFFERENT TO THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF THE PHENOMENON, IGNORING THESE CONDITIONS WITHOUT WHICH THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS COULD NOT EXIST. TO THE EXTENT OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THE FUNCTIONS OF THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SUFFER CERTAIN CHANGES. WITHIN SO-CALLED "TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES", EDUCATION MAINLY REFERS TO THE TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE, THE FORMATION OF A PUBLIC OPINION, THE ACHIEVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF A BROADEST SOCIAL CONSENSUS. THERE ARE ALSO NEW FUNCTIONS OF THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, WHICH ARE OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE. SUCH A FUNCTION REFERS TO THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION AS AN AGENT FOR RECRUITING AND DISTRIBUTING THE INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS TO DIFFERENT ROLES OR ECONOMIC POSITIONS WITHIN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1950's, the population of the Algerian Sahara continued to grow faster than the northern one. Therefore today, more than one Algerian in ten lives in the Sahara, against one in fifteen in the early 1960s. This population is increasingly urban and important cities are not rarer in the Sahara. This evolution is mainly due to a natural demographic increase which still remains high and to the developmental and controlling policies of the territory leads by the Algerian state. But this general trend is not uniform on the whole saharan regions and between the periods. This paper aims to analyse the demographic growth and structures of the Saharan population, in link with and the urbanization movement which deeply affected the Algerian Sahara since 1950. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contributions to Oriental Philology / Prilozi za Orijentalnu Filologiju is the property of Orijentalni institut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Bitacora: Revista de Arquitectura is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Arquitectura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For several decades, Brazil has been experiencing a process of religious transformation, of which Evangelists, and particularly Pentacostalists, have been the main protagonists. The aim of this article is to outline a number of current questions that are relevant to understanding this religious group: the role of demographics, the configuration of religion within the family, economic ethics, political activity, religious intolerance and the expansion of Pentecostalism from within Brazil. In summary, we aim to consider the spread of Pentecostalism in its variations and reinventions.

In Europe, in the last ten years, many areas (mainly rural) have found a path to demographic growth after several decades of decline. However, this recovery should not obscure the continual downward trajectory of certain territories. Moreover, this apparent demographic renewal has to be thoroughly examined in order to assess its durability.The goal of this article is to explore the demographic dynamics of four states of southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, France and Italy) during the two last decades. After studying the role of migratory and natural dynamics in this growth, we analyse the age structures of the territories in order to raise questions about future dynamics. Scenarios vary according to region, each having its own distinctive characteristics. The final result is a reconsideration of the demographic renewal in two respects. First of all, there remain a significant number of territories which have not experienced growth. They are likely to continue their decline. Then, the recovery observed in the last decade could prove very short-lived.

A literatura ainda negligencia a importância do espaço nas interações entre população, desenvolvimento e meio ambiente: responde pouco a respeito das vantagens de diferentes padrões de distribuição populacional para a sustentabilidade. Os conceitos de capacidade de carga, pegada ecológica e espaço ambiental são úteis para fins de gerar consciência ambiental, mas não para diferenciar o mérito relativo de diferentes formas de ocupação do espaço para a sustentabilidade. O conceito do "uso sustentável do espaço" é oferecido aqui como uma ferramenta mais prática para enfocar essa questão. O argumento de que a distribuição da população sobre o espaço afeta a sustentabilidade é exemplificado com relação à concentração urbana.La literatura aún es negligente con la importancia del espacio en las interacciones entre población, desarrollo y medio ambiente: responde poco respecto a las ventajas de diferentes padrones de distribución poblacional para la sustentabilidad. Los conceptos de capacidad de carga, huella ecológica y espacio ambiental son útiles a fin de generar conciencia ambiental, pero no para diferenciar el mérito relativo de diferentes formas de ocupación del espacio para la sustentabilidad. El concepto del "uso sustentable del espacio" es ofrecido aquí como una herramienta más práctica para enfocar esta cuestión. El argumento de que la distribución de la población en el espacio afecta la sustentabilidad, es ejemplificado en relación a la concentración urbana.The literature still ignores the importance of space in interactions among population, development, and environment. In other words, it responds poorly to the advantages of different patterns of demographic distribution for sustainability. The concepts of weight capacity, ecological traces and environmental space are useful for generating environmental awareness, but not for distinguishing the relative merit of different forms of occupation of space for sustainability. The concept of the "sustainable use of space" is offered here as a very practical tool for focusing on this issue. The reasoning that the distribution of the population in space affects sustainability is exemplified in the case of urban concentration.

Despite the rainfall decrease and a heavy demographic growth, Southern Malian agriculture has considerably changed during the past three decades. The Malian Company of Textiles (CMDT) provided technical assistance and cotton production endowed peasants with credits. With the acquisition of animals and harnessed equipments, many farmers could replace their former slash and burn cropping systems by permanent cultivation so that fields are cultivated every year, without a fallow period. These fields are located on a more or less fertilized ager with organic matters coming from reverted lands used for animal grazing (saltus). During that period some farmers have also been diversifying their farming systems. Nowadays, the better off families gradually cease growing cotton, and develop other commercial productions (corn, bananas, mangos, cashew nuts, animal breeding, etc). Nevertheless, because they lack equipments, many peasants cannot live on agriculture only and depend on extra-agricultural income opportunities. Changes in agriculture and rural areas will also be contingent upon the evolution of land property rights: some families start enclosing low land areas to grow perennial or vegetable crops, and new relationships will probably have to be worked out between sedentary farmers and transhumant stockbreeders.

In many respects the worsening water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa has become an object-lesson in the water crisis facing the wider world as climate change becomes a reality. Although northern and southern temperate zones are likely to see increases in precipitation, the equatorial region will face increasing desertification as access to water declines in the face of continuing demographic growth. Competition over increasingly scarce resources will have major geopolitical and security implications and the Middle Eastern and North Africa region will act as a paradigm of what happens in a biome of water scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papeles de Población is the property of Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)