Geographia Polonica (1977) vol. 36

Michael J. Wise, The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

Jean Dresch, Professeur, Université de Paris VII, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France; Ancien Président de l'Union Géographique Internationale

Konstantin A. Salichtchev, Professeur, Université d'État M. V. Lomonossov, Moscou, U.R.S.S.; Ancien Président de l'As-sociation Cartographique Internationale

Abstract

White, coral sand beaches, interrupted occasionally by low limestone cliffs form the west coast of Barbados for 20 km between Harrison Point in the north and Fresh Water Bay near Bridgetown. Clear, usually calm seas wash the coral reefs that fringe the coast and sunshine exceeds 3000 hours in the year. It is hardly surprising that tourists from northern countries have increased ten fold in the past seventeen years to more than a quarter million persons annually. Although today they produce an income for the island comparable with that from sugar, the traditional economic leader, they have brought with them inevitably various environmental, economic and social problems. Not least of these is the danger that continuing pressure from hotel construction and from the new and large, if albeit transitory, population along the coasts will be fol-lowed by degradation of the inherently high quality coastal environment that attracted visitors in the first place.

Damage to the littoral physical environment may include pollution of the beach and adjacent terrace areas, pollution of inshore waters with destruction of the reefs, and alteration of the beach morphology and associated sediments. This third aspect forms the core of the present study. The environmental system of the shore zone is dynamically complex due to the interaction of physical vari-ables of both marine (waves, longshore currents) and terrestrial (fluvial, ground-waters, etc.) origins, biological variables (coral, beach vegetation), and man's activities since settlement commenced in the early seventeenth century. The basic environmental question facing recreational planners on the west coast of Barbados is whether a steady state exists between the interdependent variables, and over what duration of time this has been achieved; and particularly wheth-er changes in specific variables generate further changes, normally perceived as being degradatory, or do feedback relationships exist so that the system is selfregulatory at least until a specific threshold of disruption is reached.

J. Brian Bird, Professor, Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Abstract

The migrational movement are due to social-economic and historical-polit-ical reasons. The development of the migrational processes in Bulgaria are due to these two factors too. If the historical-political reasons have played an active part in the external migrations, then the greatest importance for the internal migrations during the capitalist and the socialist period have had the social-economic factors.

Ljubomir Dinev, Professor, Department of Geology and Geography, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Kenneth C. Edwards, University of Nottingham, Britain

Manuel Ferrer Regales, Department of Geography, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

Svetozar Ileśić, Institute of Geography Slovenian Academy of Sciences, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

W. A. Douglas Jackson, Department of Geography, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Lâszlo Kâdâr, Geographical Department of the Kossuth University, Debrecen, Hungary

Iwao Kamozawa, Institute of Geography, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

Gerald J. Karaska, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Benjamin H. Stevens, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Hendrik J. Keuning, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Horst Kohl, Department of Geography, Humbold University, Berlin, German Democratic Republic

Jaromir Korcak, Université Charles, Prague, Tchécoslovaquie

Ernesto Massi, Professeur, Institut de Géographie Économique, Université de Rome, Italie

Vintilâ Mihâilescu, Université de Bucarest, Roumanie

Abstract

For about 30 years the author has been elaborating—within the planning of the rebuilding of Dresden and its region — regularities in the development of cultivated landscapes, which may be important for the systematic arran-gement of functions in a limited territory. One of the results was published in a study 1951 dealing with the problem of causality in the development of culti-vated landscapes. The process systematically introduced by the society in order to secure the fixed necessities of life must be sharply separated from unexpect-ed side-processes leading to negative effects in the landscape. These processes cause the so-called side-effects. They play an important and steadily increasing role in environmental research work. At that time a constructive organization of the territory and the relations between man and environment were still not a problem. First of all the study was an analysis of historical examples. Mean-while the international interest has turned more and more to the problems of environment, and social sciences have begun to study the behaviour of social groups to environmental phenomena. The interpretation of the scheme publish-ed in the study mentioned above can give some hints for investigations in envi-ronmental problems. It shows that natural and social aspects must be combined in order to control environmental situations. It is one of the mtost important tasks of the organization of research work in the next years to avoid the isola-ted work of the different disciplines. The mental control of any discrepancy in the environment must be based on the analysis of natural and social sciences. First of all there are psychical and mental links which connect the starting point of (considerations about) negative changes in the environment with the decision to correcting actions.

Ernst Neef, Institute of Geography, Technical University, Dresden, German Democratic Republic

Erich Otremba, Institute of Economic and Social Geography, Koln University, Federal Republic of Germany

Philippe Pinchemel, Institut de Géographie, Université de Paris I, France

Nicolae Popp, Institut Pédagogique, Suceava, Roumanie

Carl Rathjens, Geographical Institute, University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Federal Republic of Germany

Josip Roglic, Institut de Géographie, Université de Zagreb, Yougoslavie

Sigfrid Schneider, Federal Board for Research in Applied Geography and Regional Planning, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Federal Republic of Germany

Arthur E. Smailes, University of London, Britain

Oscar H. K. Spate, The Research School of Pacific Studies; The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Abstract

For a long time activities in the public health field were organized principal-ly around the concept of disease control. More recently, applications of this ap-proach have tended to center upon efficiency analysis of health needs and cost effectiveness analysis of delivery systems, or on economic development. At the same time the idea of controlling environmental pollution gained prominence as a central concern of regulatory activities. A broader concept of human well-being in particular environments is now emerging. It draws together the other concepts and thereby emphasizes the harmonious relationship of human life to life-supporting systems, and thereby encompasses a wider range of human needs and of factors affecting their attainment.

Gilbert F. White, Department of Geography, and Director, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA