Geographia Polonica (1995) vol. 64

John I. Clarke, Chiirman, Committee on Population and Environment, International Union for the Scientific SUdy of Population and North Durham Health Authority, Appleton House, Lanchester Road, Durham DH1 5XZ, United Kingdom

Rościszewski, Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement du Territoire de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Pologne

Abstract

As a result of commmunist policy of central planning in the period following the second world war a number of areas in Poland became environmentally conta-minated. In 1980 there were 27 ecologically endangered areas inhabited by 1/3 of Poland's population. Currently, it is estimated that 4 million people are living in endangered zones, mainly in Upper Silesia, to the detriment of their health and lorgevity. The dangers are very serious, as they are referred to damages to the genetic code amongst children. The effects of this damage include a number of health problems and the slowing down of the psychological development of children. The number of children requiring psychiatric treatment is growing.In Poland, as in many other countries we are witnessing the reduction in the length of ife-expectancy, especially amongst men. This, amongst other reasons, is why the Po.ish Parliament, in 1991, decided to adopt national policy for environmental protection. As a result environmental protection legislation is being amended, environ-mental economic management is being reformed, and a preventative programme of health caie combatting heart diseases is being implemented. These activities constitute a response to the resolutions of the Global Action Programme — Agenda 21, adopted in Ric de Janeiro in 1992.

Keywords: Areas of ecological hazard, genetic code defects, ecological stress, eco-development

Stefan Kozłowski, Ecological Council under the auspices of the President of Poland, Committee "Man and Environment", Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Wiejska 10, 00-489 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The transition towards the market economy in Poland has already influenced the development of Warsaw capital city and its region. In the present phase of the development, the restructuralization of the economy and deindustrialization processes are very important. This paper focuses on social, demographic, economic changes, and environment in the city and the urban region of Warsaw.

Keywords: Restructuralization, deindustrialization, unemployment, environmental pollution, Warsaw, Poland

Alina Potrykowska, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The paper presents an attempt at defining the factors which cause a high decth rate in Warsaw as a result of civilizational diseases. It has been stated that the reason for this in the city area as a whole may be environmental pollution, namely air, drinking water and field crop pollution. In the city centre of Warsaw the higher death rate for civilizational diseases may be caused by too high concentration of transport-generated air pollution.

Keywords: Mortality, health status, environmental pollution

Zdzisław Biernacki, City Institute, ul . Mokotowska 57, 00-542 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

Since its founding in 1257, Cracow has developed in an evolutionary way. Post-war development has been dominated by the steel works and the associated Nowa Huta district which was included into the city in 1951. The industrial function has dominated all others with all the positive and negative consequences that might be expected. Over time, the negative factors have come to prevail over the positive ones contributing to unbalanced urban development. The impact of industrial activities has overwhelmed city infrastructure, as well as causing serious environmental degradation.

Keywords: Spatial pattern, social changes, environmental quality, Cracow

Zygmunt Górka, Institute of Geography, Jagellonian University, Grodzka 64, 31-044 Krakow, Poland
Andrzej Zborowski, Institute of Geography, Jagellonian University, Grodzka 64, 31-044 Krakow, Poland

Abstract

The changes in the climate of Cracow agglomeration during last forty years are discussed as example of the effects of urbanization in Poland. The alteration of climate was influenced mostly by industry. The human impact is shown by longterm variability of the climatic elements and phenomena. The study also concerns the changes in the industrial production and the effects of the formation of free market and economic recession.

Keywords: Urbanization, human impact, air pollution, local climate change, urban climate

Barbara Obrębska-Starklowa, Department of Climatology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow

Abstract

The costly task of maintaining a safe public drinking water supply in an industrial society is explored, and both technical and social aspects of the challenge are considered. Advances in testing and treatment techniques have positive health benefits but make the provision of safe drinking water increasingly expensive. These costs are differentially higher for residents of smaller cities and towns. The Polish case is presented; stresses on the resource are discussed; the approach to ensuring drinking water quality is outlined; and new institutions for water resource management are reviewed.

Keywords: Water supply-Poland; urbanization-environmental issues; water supply management; drinking water regulation

Sharon Moran, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University 950 Main Street, 01610-1477, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

La Wallonie est caractérisée par un axe central qui, orienté d'ouest en est selon les vallées de la Haine, Sambre, Meuse et Vesdre, est essentiellement urbanisé e^industrialisé. C'est dans ce cadre que cette communication propose une première approche de l'interaction entre population et environnement. Cette interaction est envisagée dans les deux sens et peut se résumer par les questions suivantes. En quoi l'urbanisation, la présence de fortes densités de peuplement et, par ailleurs, la présence d'industries est-elle synonyme de la dégradation de l'environnement? A l'inverse, l'environnement spécifique des milieux urbains et industrialisés a-t-il un impact sur le comportement démographique de ceux qui y vivent?

Michel Poulain, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Catholique de Louvain 1 Place Montesquieu, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique

Abstract

The paper analyses the demographic situation in East Germany which has changed fundamentally since 1989. Trends towards deindustrialization and a high level of unemployment especially among women are basic features of demographic devel-opment in East Germany. The dismantling of industrial capacities accompanying the economic transformation process in East Germany was not only the result of differences in productivity between East and West Germany, but also of regional strains on the environment. It has been proved that the one-sided economic policy in the GDR and the resulting environmental damages in East Germany have not lead to major changes in birth and mortality rates.

Keywords: Deindustrialization, environment, unemployment, family formation, fer-tility in East Germany

Jochen Fleischhacker, Humboldt University of Berlin, Faculty of Philosophy III, Unter den Linden, D-0-1086/D-10117 Berlin, Germany

Abstract

La Toscane, région d'Italie centrale, est caractérisée, à l'exception de son chef-lieu, Florence, par des villes petites et moyennes. La région n'est pas homogène ni du point de vue des densités de population ni du point de vue économique. Il existe une dichotomie entre le nord et le sud ainsi qu'entre la côte et l'intérieur. Notre intention est de comparer la courbe de la présence industrielle avec les dernières variations démographiques afin de mettre en évidence d'éventuelles correspondances. Au cours de ces dernières années se vérifient en effet une corrélation qui n'est pas forcément étroite entre désindustrialisation et pertes démographiques, et une chute de l'importance industrielle et démographique de la bande côtière. Il résulte surtout que les villes s'approprient de plus en plus des fonctions directives et de service et créent ainsi un continuum rurbain.

Keywords: Toscane, fonction urbaine, comportement démographique, industria-lisation, variations 1951/1991

Ubaldo Formentini, Département de Géographie, Université de Pise, 56126 Pisa, Via San Giuseppe 22, Italie

Abstract

This paper deals with North-East Estonia as the only urban agglomeration in the Baltic states that sprang up on the basis of mining industry. The focus is on three aspects: the phases of development that this relatively young industrial area has evolved through so far; how the mobility of the population and its composition have changed in the complicated political situation of the region; how industrialization has affected the environment and to what extent the local population is aware of it. Three trends — industrialization, urbanization and mobility of the population lie at the root of the peculiarities of the social environment.

Keywords: Population, environment, agglomeration, oil-shale

Ann Marksoo, Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, 46 Vanemuise St., Tartu EE-2400, Estonia
Juri Roosaare, Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, 46 Vanemuise St., Tartu EE-2400, Estonia

Abstract

The territory officially called the Great Hungarian Plain is typically the macroregion of Hungary, occupying 46% of the country's total area. The paper highlights some of its new regional conflicts which have arisen as a result of the current socio--economic change of regime. Most important environmental problems are as follows: the imbalance of the water-economy, the increasing amount of territories where soils are exposed to some danger, the functioning of the new land-use system based on agricul-tural privatization and the changing relationship between production and the natural environment.Owing to the change of regime, we have to face several new socio-economic conflicts, especially the decrease of industrial and agricultural production which is caused by the loss of the eastern markets. It is the main reason why the unemployment rate has become twice as high as the national average and why the income-creating ability of rural areas has decreased by half since 1990. As the new economic structure has been forming rather slowly, the main direction of social processes points towards pauper- ization.It is worth analyzing whether the East Central European regions of this kind are able to renew themselves on their own, to solve the task of modernization and to overcome their disadvantages within a reasonable period of time.

Keywords: Environment, socio-economic conflicts, unemployment, Great Hun-garian Plain

Balint Csatdri, Alfold Institute of the Research, Centre for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 11-6001 Kecskemet, Rakoczi ut. 3, RO. Box 261, Hungary

Abstract

This is a longitudinal study to investigate the association of total water hardness, and smoke particulate and sulphur dioxide air pollution, with premature adult mortality in England and Wales between 1971 and 1989. Associations were found, in the expected directions, but most of these were mitigated by socio-economic and geographic controls. Despite controls, men living in hard water areas were de-monstrated to have significantly lower mortality than those living in soft water areas.

Keywords: Longitudinal Study, water hardness, air pollution, mortality

Andrew Sloggett, Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London University, 99 Gower St., London WC1E 6AZ, United Kingdom
Adrian Downing, Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London University, 99 Gower St., London WC1E 6AZ, United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of the industrial disaster which shook the city of Bhopal during December, 1984, going into the debate as to why and how the incident occurred. Whether it was a human error, a technical flaw or a fait accomplie, the MIC gas leak from the Union Carbide plant damaged extensively the city's ecosystem. The impact lingers on. While welfare measures are in response to human sufferings, the dilemma of huge capital investment made in the Union Carbide project going to waste and a generation of people rendered physically disabled continues to haunt the nation.

Keywords: Industrial disaster, Bhopal, India

Sudesh Nangia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 39 Dakshinapuran, New Delhi 110067, India

Abstract

The steel and petrochemical complex of Cubatao, on the Atlantic coast 40 km from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, became in the 1970s and 1980s a symbol of environmental disaster. Built in the period of rapid import-substitution industrial-ization of the 1950s and 1960s, Cubatao's industrial complex developed without consi-deration of geographic features which concentrated air and water pollution. Effects on deforestation, geologic destabilization, poisoning of mangrove swamps and on the health of local residents were ignored until the early 1980s. This paper describes this process and identifies in a series of specific migration mechanisms part of the ex-planation of the delay in dealing with this serious problem.

Keywords: population, poverty, pollution, deforestation, Cubatao

Daniel Joseph Hogan, Population Studies Center-Nepo, State University of Campinas, 13081-971 Campinas-SP, Brazil

Abstract

Based on present migration trends and environmental factors in Mexico City, the paper combines census and survey data with qualitative techniques (focus groups), to explore the role played by environmental perceptions, as well as individual, family and social factors, in the out-migration decision making of middle-class families from Mexico City to medium-sized cities in the central region of the country. The results confirm that women have played an active role in the decision of the family to migrate as a survival strategy in response to the perceived negative health impacts of the environment on their children. The paper also addresses attitudes towards environmental activities and suggests lines for future research and interventions.

Keywords: urban environment, environmental perceptions, migration, family survival strategies, middle-class families, medium-sized cities, Mexico City

Haydea Izazola, El Colegio de Mexico, Calz. de la Romeria 143-2, Colina del Sur 01430 Mexico City, D.F., Mexico
Catherine M. Marquette, Fordham University, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill NC 27516, USA

Abstract

Adjusting to the historically unprecedented older age structures and high levels of urbanization now characteristic of industrialized countries requires changing both the built environment and human lifestyles. The ultimate goal is societies (a) where people are largely able to look after themselves, (b) where people are living lives of dignity and comfort as respected members of society, and where (c) lifestyles, social organization and physical layouts support coping, oneself, and the willingness and ability to render assistance and comfort to others. Prime intermediate goals to these ends are seen as: (a) less automobile usage, (b) livable cities, (c) provision of certain specific social services and facilities, (d) less use of age as a criterion for social participation, (e) devel-opment of coping and caring personality traits, and (f) more equal distribution of wealth and income.

Keywords: goals, means, ecological sustainability, demographic optimum

Lincoln Day, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute ,The Hague, The Netherlands Research School of Social Sciences, Department of Demography, The Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

Abstract

Using examples from the USA, Europe and Australia, this paper explores a model of perception of the environment as variables that mediate between demographic behaviour and environmental conditions, producingmodificationsinboth. Perceptions can themselves be agents of change. Public views that, for example, environmental toxins discriminate against low income populations, who often have little choice but to remain in polluted areas, can lead to plants closing, controls on industries, urban redevelopment, and large scale out-migration. Global perceptions of the environment and health are changing — shifting responsibility for reducing morbidity and mortality away from individuals and towards social policies that foster healthy conditions. These processes are illustrated by conference papers on environ-mental disasters in Poland, India and Brazil.

Keywords: perceptions, environment, intermediate variables, demographic beha-viour

Alice T. Day, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands Successful Ageing, Australian Commonwealth Territory 1st Floor Garema Arcade, Canberra 2602, Australia

Abstract

This paper draws together the general policy implications of research presented at the Seminar on "Population and Environment in Industrialized Regions" organized by IUSSP Scientific Committee on Population and Environment and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and held at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland and the Institute of Geography of the Jagellonian University, Cracow, Poland, 27-30 June 1994. Major points consid-ered include: the need for multisectoral information, analysis and planning; opportun-ities for more sustainable relationships in the "post-industrial" era; the need for risk-managment and responsibility; and urban areas as a critical focus for policy makers. Illustrative examples from current research and specific entry-points for immediate action are discussed.

Keywords: policy, multisectoral cooperation, sustainable development, deindus-trialization and restructuring, risk-managment and responsibility, urban areas

Catherine M. Marquette, Fordham University, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill NC 27516, USA

Alina Potrykowska, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland
John I. Clarke, Chiirman, Committee on Population and Environment, International Union for the Scientific SUdy of Population and North Durham Health Authority, Appleton House, Lanchester Road, Durham DH1 5XZ, United Kingdom