This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the indigenous management of geographically diverse small-scale agricultural production environments in Africa by investigating the effects of customary land allocation on the use of the land and sustainable agricultural development in Swaziland. This study addresses two questions: (a) to what extent has the heterogeneity of the natural environment been considered in the allocation of land for agricultural purposes; and (b) what are the implications of the existing land allocation system and current land allocation pattern on the development and sustainability of agricultural land use. The study focuses on semi-arid land. The land allocation efficiency is determined by comparing the spatial heterogeneity of the land with the pattern of land allocation. The analysis is carried out at a sub-regional scale, and a local scale in twelve study areas. Changes over time are studied by comparing current land allocation patterns with those at Independence (1968). This study has identified two apparent weaknesses in the customary land management system. The frrst is in the capacity to ensure an efficient land resource distribution at a subregional level. The second is in the ability to ensure consistent land allocation practices at a local level. The study provides evidence that these shortcomings are now affecting the production environment and opportunities for development, and that changes in the tenure system are required. The study findings partly support a recent land po licy initiative proposing a gradual devolution in land management responsibilities to local level management systems, but also raise two major concerns. First, the land policy initiative does not address the shortcomings in sub-regional land management. Second, the inconsistent land distribution found at a local level does not support the notion that devolution will necessarily lead to more sustainable levels of land use within communities. In the wider debate on the agrarian transformation in Africa, this study adds to the body of knowledge in identifying specific shortcomings of indigenous management systems in land distribution, and their effects on sustainable agricultural development and land management. The study thus extends the more critical strand of thought on the role of local and indigenous land management systems in this process, and thus on the effectiveness of the devolution of resource management to community levels. The study also demonstrates that land sufficiency and quality are important issues in the process of sustainable intensification in small-scale land use systems, and question the wider applicability of the optimistic development model, which is primarily based on economic considerations. Lastly, the fmdings support the critical view on the applicability of the evolutionary theory of land rights in conditions similar to those in Swaziland. The fmdings of this study confIrm the importance of considering spatial scale and diversity in land use related studies, and show that any inference from one level of scale to another can be highly misleading.

Management decisions taken on one 80,000 acre estate over the course of a century, are examined to determine the extent to which architectural and other environmental improvements corresponded to a consistent strategic plan. Inconsistencies and departures are shown to be largely those of innovation prompted by wider social and economic forces, and to a lesser extent prompted by the personal whims and interests of successive owners. The specific strategic plan examined is that of the four generations of the Earldom of Findlater in Northeast Scotland. The selected period begins with relative impoverishment in 1707, and ends in 1793 with the transformation of the estate and the lives of the more than 6,000 people comprising it, into a prosperous condition through the creative force of technological and social innovations which were on balance deliberately and carefully imposed. Crucial decisions in this process were at first made by visionary proprietors, but authority, was later delegated to professional administrators and eventually to the larger community. Decisions have been firmly placed within the context of the larger world. Chapter two presents the evolution of national and regional conditions favorable to a spirit of improvement. Chapter three analyzes the estate's organization as though it were a contemporary corporate entity. Chapter four explores changing corporate attitudes towards innovation resulting in diversification of capital investment and in new architectural forms. Chapter Five examines the impact of innovative land use policies upon the 20,000 acres immediately surrounding the estate nucleus at Cullen. Chapters six and seven provide a detailed stylistic analysis of Cullen House as a corporate headquarters; the chapters are divided between the stylistic objectives achieved over a long term and those attempted by the last Earl. The effectiveness of the estate's long term management is evaluated within the final chapter. Although it will be argued that a strategic plan existed, it was not explicitly articulated as a document for public scrutiny, nor was it a conventional planning process. Much of the evidence of a strategic plan providing management continuity from one generation to the next is apparent only as assumed personal confidence between father and son, and husband and wife, unrecorded, but strongly inferred by the details of the estate records.

No description available.

Severely nitrogen and phosphorus deficient restored opencast coal mine sites planting with Sitka spruce ( Picea sitchensis , Bong. (Carr.)) were treated with both sewage sludge and inorganic fertilizer. Cake sludge was applied before planting at the rate of 100 and 200 tds/ha and liquid sludge at the rte of 227 m3/ha at the age of 3 in selected plots. The highest treatments (S200L) supplied approximately 2051 kg N/ha and 983 kg P/ha which is sufficient to establish an internal nutrient cycle in such degraded sites. Sewage sludge significantly increased the tree growth and foliage N and P concentrations both over the control and inorganic fertilizer treatments. Foliage N concentrations up to 1.95&'37 increased the maximum height growth above which the height growth declined due to excess N concentrations. Both the mean needle weight and height growth increased in response to the increased foliar P concentrations and the response is still not complete. Whole tree sampling showed that there was significantly more tree biomass in sludge treatments in comparison to the control treatments. Regression equations based on independent variables of stem diameter at 5 cm from the ground were developed to estimate total tree dry biomass. Ground vegetation dry matter, nutrient content and species diversity significantly increased in sludge treatments. Soil pH increased, bulk density decreased and organic C, total N, available P, K and Mg increased following sludge application in comparison to the control treatments. Nitrate leaching losses increased immediately after the liquid sludge applications in highest sludge treatments but with time fell down and remained within the standard limit for potable water. Drain water nutrient leaching losses remained well below the soil leachate except for magnesium. Nitrogen mineralization potential increased with increased application rate indicating increased cycling of N within the ecosystem and hence long-term growth response potential to the applied treatments.

No description available.

This research is concerned with the use of aerial photographs for the measurement and recording of urban land use. A suitable land use classification scheme and a methodology for the measurement and recording of land use areas are developed. Use is made of these to obtain data for geographical research and as basic information for town planning. - A land use classification scheme suited to the requirements of geographical research, and compatible with the limitations of the air photograph as a data source, is formulated and tested for interpretational accuracy. Methods for the measurement and recording of land areas are discussed, and as a result grid systems are considered to be most suited to the requirements of the project. Tests are carried out to assess the characteristics of line grids and of dot grids used on maps and on aerial photographs. Experimental evidence indicates that the optimum system, balancing accuracy with practicability and economy, involves the use of orthogonal dot grids as overlays to the aerial photographs. The system is used over a seventy square kilometre area in and around Preston, Lancashire, to produce areal data of land use for the years 1946 and 1973. Computer programs are used to derive tabular data of land use, land use change matrices, and a range of computer maps. The results are used in an analysis of the changes in land use, and the relationship between land use and population over the period. The analysis indicates that, within the limits of the data, relationships exist between rates of change of land use and of population, whereas actual land use and population, at the two dates, appear both to be related to location (within the urban area) rather than to each other. The conclusion drawn from the research is that this method of measurement of changes in urban land use by means of aerial photography produces areal data of an accuracy, and in such a form, as to be suited to the purposes specified.

No description available.

The aim of urban land readjustment is to produce newbuilding land and to reorganise urban areas. The method used isdesigned to consolidate a group of adjoining land parcels fortheir unified planning and subdivision in an area with afragmented or an otherwise inappropriate property and ownershipstructure. The procedure can be considered either as a methodfor urban land development (by landowners) or as a tool forplanning implementation (by society). Different countries havereached different solutions depending on, for example, theplanning system already in existence and the attitude towardsthe responsibilities of the private and the public sectors inproducing urban land. The urban land readjustment procedure is very closely linkedto detailed local planning and other land use planning. Theprocedure is justified not only on the basis of cost andefficiency but also on the basis of its fair treatment oflandowners, improvements in plan quality, savings to thecommunity, and environmental benefits. In the readjustmentprocedure the land value changes can be fairly and equallydistributed among landowners. The procedure will therefore alsohelp to prevent planning speculation. As property boundariescan be disregarded when preparing the plan, the number ofpotential plan solutions will essentially be increased andfinally the quality of the plan itself improved. At the sametime the existing social structure can also be maintained. Theprocesses needed are, however, often very demanding andcomplicated and require those involved to display considerableexpertise. The decision-makers should also be familiar with theoperating mechanisms and options so that implementation of theprocedure is not jeopardised through ignorance. In 1997 a new Real Property Formation Act came into force inFinland which defined the Finnish urban land readjustmentprocedure. The strengths of the new procedure lie in itswell-defined structure and organisation, but it also has itsweaknesses. Although the aim of the procedure is to achievebetter detailed local plans, planners often do not know inpractice if the readjustment procedure can be carried out, dueto the extensive legal provisions. It seems, therefore, thatthe existing regulations are ineffective in meeting the needsof urban land readjustment, and further improvements areurgently required. Failure to take such measures will place injeopardy the future use of the procedure. By amending thestatutes and the proceedings the use of the urban landreadjustment procedure might become a familiar activity whendeveloping the urban structure in areas with fragmentedownership. <b>Keywords</b>: Land development, joint development, landmanagement, land use planning, plan implementation, propertyacquisition, cadastral procedure, law and economics.

<p>The aim of urban land readjustment is to produce newbuilding land and to reorganise urban areas. The method used isdesigned to consolidate a group of adjoining land parcels fortheir unified planning and subdivision in an area with afragmented or an otherwise inappropriate property and ownershipstructure. The procedure can be considered either as a methodfor urban land development (by landowners) or as a tool forplanning implementation (by society). Different countries havereached different solutions depending on, for example, theplanning system already in existence and the attitude towardsthe responsibilities of the private and the public sectors inproducing urban land.</p><p>The urban land readjustment procedure is very closely linkedto detailed local planning and other land use planning. Theprocedure is justified not only on the basis of cost andefficiency but also on the basis of its fair treatment oflandowners, improvements in plan quality, savings to thecommunity, and environmental benefits. In the readjustmentprocedure the land value changes can be fairly and equallydistributed among landowners. The procedure will therefore alsohelp to prevent planning speculation. As property boundariescan be disregarded when preparing the plan, the number ofpotential plan solutions will essentially be increased andfinally the quality of the plan itself improved. At the sametime the existing social structure can also be maintained. Theprocesses needed are, however, often very demanding andcomplicated and require those involved to display considerableexpertise. The decision-makers should also be familiar with theoperating mechanisms and options so that implementation of theprocedure is not jeopardised through ignorance.</p><p>In 1997 a new Real Property Formation Act came into force inFinland which defined the Finnish urban land readjustmentprocedure. The strengths of the new procedure lie in itswell-defined structure and organisation, but it also has itsweaknesses. Although the aim of the procedure is to achievebetter detailed local plans, planners often do not know inpractice if the readjustment procedure can be carried out, dueto the extensive legal provisions. It seems, therefore, thatthe existing regulations are ineffective in meeting the needsof urban land readjustment, and further improvements areurgently required. Failure to take such measures will place injeopardy the future use of the procedure. By amending thestatutes and the proceedings the use of the urban landreadjustment procedure might become a familiar activity whendeveloping the urban structure in areas with fragmentedownership.</p><p><b>Keywords</b>: Land development, joint development, landmanagement, land use planning, plan implementation, propertyacquisition, cadastral procedure, law and economics.</p>

In the masters work „The supervision and durability of railway points and their parts” I analyst the constructions of the existent railway points and their types, viewer the technical state of the railway points that „Vilniaus geležinkelių infrastruktūra”, a branch of „Lietuvos geležinkeliai” changed last year. The interaction of the railway points and the wheels of the railing – stock when a train rolls through the parts of the railway point is analysed. The ways and possibilities to enlarge the durability of the railway points and their parts is viewed. The rules and norms of the railway point service are examined. In order to explore the influence of the deflection of the railway point geometrical parameters to the wane of their parts, the works of levelling and measuring the geometrical parameters of 17 railway points and their parts fitted in 2003 has been done. The received measurement result data has been analysed. The economic affect of the railway point durability enlargement tentatively counted. At the end of the work, on the ground of the measurement results and their analysis, the conclusions are formulated and there are also proposals how to prolong the durability of railway points and their parts.