Robert B. Kent

NEIGHBORHOOD GENTRIFICATION: A DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF A HISTORIC DISTRICT IN CLEVELAND, OHIO

This study examines one gentrifying neighborhood, Ohio City, in Cleveland, Ohio. It utilizes block group-level data and discriminant analysis to identify key variables associated with the gentrification process. Two discriminant functions resulted from the analysis. One function is highly associated with the percentage of college-educated residents and the other associated with a high proportion of white population, aged 25 to 40, with high median incomes. The discriminant power accounted for by the two discriminant functions is 89%. The results of this study argue for increased use of block group data to examine gentrification, since these data allow more accurate analysis of gentrification borders, neighborhood change, and gentrification modeling.

A Midwestern Chinatown? Cleveland, Ohio in North American Context, 1900–2005

The Chinatowns in North Americas major cities have received considerable attention from scholars, but few have considered the experience of Chinatowns in interior, non-gateway cities. This paper seeks to explore such a Chinatown in Cleveland, Ohio and place its cultural-historical development and evolution in a broader context. The characteristics of Chinatowns in larger North American cities are reviewed and a framework is developed that identifies four different types: traditional, revitalized, commercial, and satellite. This framework is then applied to Cleveland to see how the citys historical and current Chinatowns fit into that wider perspective. The results show that, in fact, Cleveland has had three Chinatowns. The first Chinatown formed in the urban core in the early 1900s and has long since disappeared. Another arose on Rockwell Avenue in the 1930s and is now almost abandoned. Beginning in the 1980s, a vigorous new Chinatown neighborhood has developed in the Midtown neighborhood. While the citys first two Chinatowns can be clearly categorized as traditional, Clevelands most recent Chinatown represents more of a hybrid type and reflects a certain uniqueness which distinguishes it from the Chinatowns currently evolving in North Americas major urban centers.

MAP USE IN REGIONAL NEWSPAPERS IN THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES 1930-1985

Map use in three metropolitan newspapers in Ohio, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Columbus Dispatch is sampled between 1930 and 1985. Each has daily and Sunday circulations between 250,000 and 500,000. The frequency of map use, the thematic focus of map-illustrated articles, and the geographic area mapped are all examined. Overall, map use has been limited. Similar temporal trends in map use are demonstrated by each of the newspapers, with increases in the 1940s, 1960s and 1980s. Military conflict dominated the focus of most maps, accounting for 40% of all maps published. Economic resources/development/transportation and tourism/ travel/sports are also important foci of map-illustrated articles, together representing another 25%. Newspapers generally have increased the range of article topics they supplement with maps. In a geographic sense, most maps have focused on areas outside the borders of the United States, almost 60%. Maps focusing on a newspapers respective metropoli...

The African honeybee in Peru: an insect invader and its impact on beekeeping

Abstract In 1956 scientists introduced a honeybee race, Apis mellifera scutellata, from East Africa into Brazil. This honeybee subsequently escaped from captivity, hybridized with existing honeybee populations and has diffused over much of South America. This paper examines the impact of this diffusion in one South American country, Peru, comparing beekeeping practice and management techniques in the region infested with the aggressive hybrid and in the region free of the hybrid. The study reveals consistent differences between the two regions in almost all criteria examined. Beekeepers in the African region are characterized by the use of more modern equipment, better management techniques, and more successful and commercially orientated beekeeping operations. While the presence of the African honeybee has been bothersome to those Peruvian beekeepers with it in their apiaries, the bee has proved to be neither as damaging nor as disruptive as is frequently suggested. Indeed, Peruvian beekeepers have adapted to the bees presence with comparative ease and with no organized assistance from public or private agencies. The results of this study suggest that the impact of the African bees arrival in central and northern Mexico and in the southern United States will not be nearly as disruptive and severe as many people believe.

CADASTRAL MAPPING FOR DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 1960–1980

Cadastral mapping and land registration activities in Central America and the Caribbean between 1960 and 1980 are examined in this study. It evaluates them as development tools, focusing particularly on their contribution towards the improvement of property tax systems. In most cases, the countries studied sucessfully executed the cadastral mapping and land registration projects they embarked upon, although lengthy delays in execution occurred frequently. While technically successful, the projects commonly were ineffective in realizing improvements in the property tax system because of subsequent political and administrative decisions. Policy makers and mapping scientists involved in the planning of cadasters in developing countries should evaluate realistically the time required for their execution, the degree of planimetric accuracy needed, and their immediate potential for contributing to the development process prior to the initiation of a cadaster.

The Municipal Development Institute and Local Institution Building : Recent Bolivian Experience

come common components in the governmental structure of many Latin American nations. Municipal development institutions function in Brazil, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Bolivia, Honduras, and Peru (Gall, 1976: 28,30). Generally these institutions are charged with financing the construction of urban infrastructure through loans to municipalities and in some cases to other community groups or governmental agencies. A secondary emphasis is normally given to promoting municipal autonomy and the training of municipal employees through a combination of direct tech-

Review: Planning Los Angeles

worth reading for a good orientation in the field and even inspiring in parts. However, there is only one single chapter in the book that stands out: The chapter by Michael Batty on complexity in city systems really grasps the key issues of the book and gives a fascinating introduction into the potential power of complexity theory. It makes clear that simulation and modeling has gone far beyond the simplistic cybernetic thinking introduced in planning a few decades ago. Unfortunately, the remainder of the book hardly offers theoretical thoughts that go further than vague concepts, unfulfilled promises, and ambiguous transdisciplinary perspectives backed only with the help of associations. Important links to the existing knowledge in related fields of planning theory are neglected. Examples of these works are the nature of “wicked problems” introduced by Rittel and Webber (1973), major strands of systems theory in the tradition of Luhmann (1995) or Willke (1995), and the debate on urban governance and power relations in complex planning processes and their consequences (Flyvbjerg 1998). Incorporating these discussions would have been illuminating in chiseling the contours of a new avenue for interdisciplinary research. A possible alternative to looking beyond the worn-out paths of traditional planning theory and to incorporating inspiration from other disciplines takes the reader onto a wide and interesting yet eclectic trip into the world of economics, the social sciences, and natural sciences. However, this alternative has already turned out to be less fruitful a few years ago when the ideas of chaos theory were imported into planning theory. This import unfortunately produced too many narcissistic approaches and too little substantial results, and one hopes that the same will not happen to complexity theory in planning in general and the disappointing read A Planner’s Encounter with Complexity in particular.

Residential toponyms and urban change (1890–2000) in a seaside resort town, Benicàssim, Spain

Abstract This paper examines the naming patterns of residential dwellings in a seaside resort town, Benicàssim (Valencia), on Spains Mediterranean coast. The fieldwork encompassed a survey of over 500 dwelling units along the towns coastal margin which has been developed over the last 100 years. Names, specifically personal names and surnames, are most commonly used, with womens names being most frequent. Almost invariably these are associated with single-family dwellings. Geographical referents, usually of invoking exotic destinations and references to the sun and sea represent other significant categories. These names are used as toponyms for apartment buildings and other multi-unit residences. Recent naming patterns, usually for apartments, include a number of made-up names using prefixes or suffixes referring to the local area.