Dennis Conway

Re-branding alternative tourism in the Caribbean: the case for 'slow tourism'.

Slow tourism represents a progressive genre of alternative tourism for remote locales in the Caribbean beyond mass-tourism complexes. We propose this new form of slow tourism as a viable promotional identity for alternative tourist offerings, which are in need of re-branding, through the decentralized medium of information technologies. A further contribution to this new constructs identity is our recognition of the potential for the Caribbean diaspora to participate as stakeholders in slow tourism ventures in under-developed spaces of the Caribbean that lack the requisite resources and bundle of social and economic advantages that mass- tourism relies upon. Thus, the unevenness of tourism-driven development in the Caribbean can be countered progressively, and more inclusively, than in times past. In addition to developing the theoretical construct of slow tourism, we offer several prototype examples to demonstrate quality offerings already in praxis.

Determinants of Deforestation in Nepal's Central Development Region

The process of deforestation in the Central Development Region (CDR) of Nepal is diverse in space and time, with rapid deforestation still occurring in areas outside the national parks and wildlife reserves. This paper identifies the spatial driving forces (SDFs) of deforestation in the CDR for 1975-2000 using satellite data of 1975 (MSS), 1990 (TM), and 2000 (ETM+) along with socio-demographic and socioeconomic variables. Radiometrically calibrated satellite images are individually classified into seven distinct classes and merged together to cover the entire CDR. Classification accuracies are also assessed. Areas of land use and cover within the areas of each Village Development Committee (VDC) and municipality represented by GIS polygons are calculated from the classified images by overlaying vector files of 1845 polygons representing sections of VDCs and municipalities in 30-1199 m, 1200-2399 m, 2400-4999 m and >5000 m elevation levels. These elevation levels were estimated from the DEM compiled from 24 ASTER scenes taken on different dates. Only the first three elevation levels are used in the analysis because area >5000 m is under permanent snow cover where human related forestry activities are almost negligible. A transition matrix is generated for 1975-1990 using classified images of 1975 and 1990 and then this product is used to further develop another transition matrix for 1990-2000 with the classified ETM+ 2000 images as the final stage. The GIS polygon layer is overlaid on the transition matrices to calculate deforestation areas for 1975-1990 and 1990-2000. Biophysical and socioeconomic information collected from various sources is then brought into a GIS platform for statistical analyses. Six linear regression models are estimated using SAS; in effect, two models for each elevation range representing the 1975-1990 and 1990-2000 periods of change to identify SDF influences on deforestation. These regression analyses reveal that deforestation in the CDR is related to multiple factors, such as farming population, genders of various ages, migration, elevation, road, distance from road to forest, meandering and erosion of river, and most importantly the conversion of forestland into farmland.

Urban Vulnerabilities in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Visualizations of Human/Hazard Interactions

Excessive unplanned urban growth leads to many vulnerabilities and impacts on urban environments to varying degrees. However, the majority of the extant literature focuses on the problems related to location and socioeconomic conditions, rather than vulnerability processes and related environmental degradation. This paper analyzes the scope of urban vulnerabilities for five rapidly urbanizing and highly-congested cities in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. First, the historic context of the Valley’s uncontrolled urbanization sets the scene. Second, the optic is narrowed to focus upon the geographical features of the resultant urbanized Valley landscape that includes spatial arrangements and of houses, population densities, road networks, vehicular densities, garbage problems, and available open spaces. Additionally, seismic vulnerabilities in the urban areas are also considering in this examination. Third, three-dimensional visualizations of selected urban locations are presented to differentiate between vulnerable and relatively safe locations. The intent of this research is to contribute to the methodological understanding of human/hazards interactions in rapidly urbanizing cities of the Third World, which share similar socioeconomic conditions and environmental contexts.

Step-wise migration: toward a clarification of the mechanism

There exists a state of confusion in the migration literature over the concept of step-wise migration. Inconsistencies occur in the specification of the scale at which the process operates and there are a host of alternative definitions of what constitutes a step-wise progression. This article presents an operational definition of step-wise migration that appears consistent from both conceptual and methodological points of view.

Frontier Migration and Upward Mobility: The Case of Nepal

The objective was to investigate how frontier migration affects migrants socioeconomic improvements in the Tarai which is regarded as Nepals land frontier as well as its agricultural backbone. The investigation was based on personal observations and field survey data collected in the Tarai frontier districts of Chitwan and Nawalparasi in 1988. It was proposed that socioeconomic mobility at the frontier is predicated on: 1) the timing of migration and settlement 2) migrants previous socioeconomic positions and 3) the availability of employment opportunities. In 1988 Nepal was ranked as the fourth poorest country in the world. The average per capita holding of farm land is 0.16 hectare. Large-scale migration of people took place from the highland villages in the hills to the Tarai frontier in the plain stretching east-west along the Nepal-India border. According to the 1981 census the number of internal life-time migrants increased from 445000 in 1971 to almost 930000 in 1981. The sample comprised 407 migrant households from the hills. In terms of land-acquisitions they were grouped into government grantees purchasers self-occupiers and landless. There were 84 migrants (21%) who were landless in the hills and 166 (41%) near landless. To model migrants Tarai landholdings (TLAND) as the dependent variable was regressed against a set of predictor variables: the year of settlement (SETTLE) capital asset in the hills (ASSET) family size (FAM) education (ED) wage earning (WAGE) and Tarai settlement experience (INTERACT). Tarai landholdings were expected to be positively correlated with the first 4 variables but inversely with WAGE and INTERACT. The regression results showed that all of the predictor variables were significantly correlated with TLAND as expected. The year of settlement (SETTLE) was the dominant variable in explaining land acquisitions (TLAND) followed by capital assets in the hills (ASSET). These 2 variables explained 40% of the variance in the dependent variable TLAND.

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON SQUATTER SETTLEMENTS, INTRAURBAN MOBILITY, AND CONSTRAINTS ON HOUSING CHOICE OF THE THIRD WORLD URBAN POOR

Accelerated rates of growth of Third World cities in the last 30 years has produced several uncontrolled processes: mass in-migration, mushrooming squatter settlements, and virtual anarchy in the urban land and housing spheres. This review documents the vacillating opinions, perspectives, policies, and evaluations of the changes taking place during this contemporary phase of uncontrolled urbanization. We appear to know more now than when these processes first attracted attention, but the record emerges far from complete or satisfactory. Specifically, a preoccupation with housing provision has ignored what appears to be the more crucial issue, the creation of a sufficient supply of developed and appropriately located land to meet the housing space requirements of the Third World urban poor.

Repetitive Visiting as a Pre‐return Transnational Strategy among Youthful Trinidadian Returnees

Abstract Building upon existing Caribbean research by Condon and Duval, we assess how repetitive visiting is, or is not, important to youthful return migrants in their 30s and 40s, who have decided to return more permanently to Trinidad. Is it influential in their social and economic adaptations on return, and does this transnational practice lead to a more permanent return? Our analysis is based on 40 detailed narratives which were collected in 2004–2005. For some returnees, repetitive visiting is influential, for others one visit is enough and for a few, it makes no difference. Yet it is certainly a common practice for ‘keeping in touch’ among our transnational informants.

The Geography of Urban-Rural Interaction in Developing Countries

Economic geography Wikipedia Tue, 10 Jul 2018 20:53:00 GMT Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the world.It represents a traditional subfield of the discipline of geography.However, many economists have also approached the field in ways more typical of the discipline of economics.. Economic geography has taken a variety of approaches to many different subject matters ... Urbanization Wikipedia Tue, 10 Jul 2018 17:11:00 GMT

Why remittances shouldn't be blamed for rural underdevelopment in Mexico: A collective response to Leigh Binford

Leigh Binford, borrowing from Jones (1995a), suggests two major thematic positions in Mexican–US migration and development research: first, neoMarxist critiques and structural inquiries of the 1970s and 1980s; and second, ‘apologetic’ functional models of the 1980s and 1990s, which come to positive rather than negative conclusions concerning remittance outcomes. Neo-Marxists and structural models are represented in Binford’s article by Mines (1981), Reichert (1981) and Wiest (1984). These researchers approached migration and the conspicuous consumption of remittance investments as distorting forces that perpetuate dependency, intensify social inequalities, and trap rural sending households in cycles of migration. Functionalists (including work by the authors, among others, e.g. Cohen, 2001, 2002; Conway, 2000; Conway and Cohen, 1998, 2002; Durand et al., 1996a; Jones, 1992, 1995a, 1995b, 1998; Massey and Parrado, 1998; Massey et al., 1994) are portrayed as ‘reductionists’ because we focus on the role remittance outcomes can play in the maintenance of migrant households. We are also faulted as apologetic, because we argue that remittances sometimes become the basis for micro-economic investment and small business incubation. Binford argues that migration between Mexico and the US and remittance outcomes will contribute to rural economic development when, and if, it leads to a future marked by local/regional growth of the sort that will Comment

Issues in population pressure, land resettlement, and development: the case of Nepal.

This analysis considers the question of whether resettlement schemes really relieve population pressure or help achieve a better regional balance between population and resource distribution in a manner consistent with Nepals national objective of agricultural growth with social justice. The 1st part of the analysis discusses population pressure, followed by the conceptualization of ecodemographic relations and sociodemographic relations. The 2nd part of the analysis considers Nepals agrarian economy along with a case-study examination of its contemporary resettlement project in Chitwan district. Finally, information is presented from a field survey conducted in Chitwan in 1979, which support the assertions that: the sociodemographic relations -- not population pressure as such -- are the primary roots of agrarian development problems in a country like Nepal; and resettlement schemes, when implemented without due consideration of the pervasive sociodemographic relations, are a deficient technical fix to imbalances in ecodemographic relations. Nepal provides a typical example of ecodemographic imbalances in the regional distribution of population and resources. Although the Hill and Mountain regions make up almost 60% of Nepals total population, they share less than 30% of the total land under cultivation. The Tarai region, which is the northern extension of the Gangetic Plain in India, occupies over 70% of the cultivated land and supports only slightly over 40% of the population. As the case study illustrates, development strategies such as land resettlement are invariably formulated and implemented as a technical solution within the framework of ecodemographic relations. Little attention is directed to addressing the social dimension of these programs, i.e., the structual problems directly associated with the existing sociodemographic relations. Development, or land resettlement in the present case, is not simply a technical issue concerned with land reclamation and its management. It is also a social issue, because the sociodemographic relations determine significantly the direction (or directions) that resettlement programs take. When development policies make little effort to tackle the underlying forces of these relations, resettlement schemes result in the reconstitution of class divisions and disparity in the ownership of resources in newly resettled areas.