Many rural districts are facing economic decline because of a range of factors such as demographic change, changing socio-economic development patterns, farm amalgamations, the entry of large retail businesses, the so called ‘Big Box Retailing’ (BBRs), and a decline in rural infrastructure investment. These factors in turn affect the viability of many small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the primary employers and the engines for economic growth and employment in rural districts. The combined effect of these processes is that many rural districts struggle to keep young people, maintain economic and social diversity and attract new settlers and investment. This thesis seeks to answer the question as to how large scale retail businesses, rural farm amalgamations and declining rural populations impact on the viability of SME retail businesses in rural areas. In order to answer this question, this study identifies the key factors, which affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts using the South Taranaki District as a case study. The role of economic development agencies and district councils is also examined using case studies of small towns in rural districts of Australia and the United States of America (USA). This study found a number of factors affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts. For the South Taranaki district, these factors include the arrival of large-scale supermarkets, followed by large scale retail chains such as The Warehouse. These factors, combined with changing rural population structures and economic ‘spikes’ relating to sporadic energy development, have significant implications for the long term viability of many SMEs in the district. Case studies of similar rural districts in the USA and Australia provided examples of strategies that could be used to manage these impacts. This thesis recommends policies, initiatives and strategies that may be considered by territorial local authorities, regional councils and central governments to help address the economic development challenges facing rural districts.

This thesis has been focused on the widely discussed - development tendencies in the domain of small settlements in the Czech Republic. The objective of this work is to appraise significance of the main factors influencing situation of these settlements in the developing of habitation system and their economic possibilities with regard to the present and future economic environment. The analysis has been aimed.at the main local factors having impact on this development, above all employment, mobility and territorial utility systems. The general knowledge will be applied to the chosen territorial units in the administrative region Central Bohemia Region, above all to the district Benešov. Methods used in the work: SWOT analysis, research in the explored area, based on interview and also usual methods of statistical analysis, methods used for comparing microregions -- rate of diversification, growth indicators etc.

In depth studies of the vegetation of large parts of southern Africa, including detailed maps and descriptions of vegetation units are mainly limited to small areas. Meanwhile, various agricultural practises have led to destruction or deterioration of the quality of natural grassland ecosystems. The agricultural sector in developed and rapidly developing areas of southern Africa is confronted with problems like veld deterioration and the loss of natural areas that effectively contribute to the depopulation of rural areas. The necessity to identify, classify and describe the vegetation types and communities within the Grassland Biome was stressed by Mentis and Huntley (1982). The aim of the Grassland Biome Project is to integrate knowledge. comprehension and expertise, which will enable scientists to forecast the results of the available options of grassland management programmes. The phytosociological classification of northwestern KwaZulu-Natal forms part of this project. Known previous vegetation studies of this area were conducted on a large scale and a considerable time ago, which underlines the necessity for a more comprehensive and phytosociologically refined investigation of this area. The study area lies in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal and comprises the Drakensberg mountains and slopes in the west and undulating plains and bushveld valleys in the east and south. Relevés were compiled in 526 stratified random sample plots over an area of 9300 km2, comprising the northwestern part of KwaZulu-Natal. The vegetation was classified by means of TWINSP AN and Braun-Blanquet procedures. A phytosociological investigation of this vegetation revealed great variation in floristic composition. Further refinement of the data disclosed five major vegetation types containing nine plant communities. The topography and geology of the study area contributes greatly to the diversity of the vegetation, but poor agricultural practises have caused deterioration of the vegetation. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 1998. / Plant Science / unrestricted

This diploma thesis deals with the impact of turistification and decentralization of functions on the use of city centre of Třeboň. The aim is to evaluate how changed the functional use of buildings in the city centre over the past 20 years, who visits the city centre in a variety of daily and yearly periods and whether there is depopulation of the city centre. It has been shown that in Třeboň grows mainly outer zone of the city, while in the city centre is a gradual loss of permanent residents. Over the past 20 years there has been a change in functional use of buildings in the city centre in favor of commercial functions and services for tourism. Due turistification and decentralization leads to depopulation of city centre primarily during out of the tourist season.

This study focuses on the causes and consequences of depopulation in the Lower Mississippi Valley during the Protohistoric period (ca. AD 1500-1700). The Protohistoric period in the region is characterized by indirect and infrequent contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, dramatic population losses and/or regional abandonments accompanied the collapse, transformation, and coalescence of Native American societies during this period across the interior southeastern United States. The causes and timing of these phenomena, however, were often multiple and occurred in a time-transgressive manner. The goal of the research presented in this dissertation was the identification of the forces and processes of cultural and demographic change that were responsible for transformation experienced by a Late Mississippian population represented by the Tillar Complex in southeast Arkansas during the Protohistoric period. Multiple lines of evidence, including archaeological, historical and environmental data, were employed to test a multi-causal model of population decline, adaptation, and abandonment of Bayou Bartholomew by Tillar phase peoples sometime during the seventeenth century. The external forces hypothesized to have been catalysts that drove social and cultural transformations and eventual depopulation include the military expedition of Hernando De Soto, disease, and a series of prolonged droughts that impacted large areas of the Southeast in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

国内外の過疎地における地域活性化事例の成功要因を客観的に分析するにとどまらず、事例研究によって得られた知見を参考にしつつ、三重県津市美杉町という過疎化が進行する「何もない」地域を研究対象として、宿泊施設を核とし地域内外のセクターを繋いだ、革新的な地域包摂型ツーリズム・ビジネスの主体的創造を地域活性化のための仮説として措定し、その仮説を社会実験によって証明し、成果としての「美杉モデル」を提示する。 / 博士(ソーシャル・イノベーション) / Doctor of Philosophy in Social Innovation / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

This thesis explores the contributive role of architecture to the prosperity of a place. The research addresses the challenges and opportunities that rural regions face today by analyzing the general factors of marginalized rural communities through the lens of a specific community in mainland Portugal. A new approach for maintaining an authentic character, and a “sense of place” is presented which defends rural space as a genuinely experiential realm. The thesis proposes the design of a modern day treatment and research centre in the rural town of Manteigas, situated on one of the largest glacier valleys in Europe in the heart of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Once alive with all the quaint characteristics that typify an idyllic rural identity, this town now faces a steep population decrease. Situated in the centre of the Zêzere glacial valley overlooking the town, the design accepts and interprets the natural geology of the site, harnessing the therapeutic thermal waters that continue to flow from the glacier line of the valley. The new centre represents not just a place for leisure and relaxation, but also an investigative laboratory for modern day natural healing therapies. The town of Manteigas is situated within three very distinct landscapes: a fertile landscape, a socio-cultural landscape, and a landscape of health and wellness. The design intervention responds to all these conditions and is dependent on each in its operation. This thesis is a proposal for a sustainable cycle of local and regional rejuvenation that will not be easily broken. The design proposal aims to build an infrastructure that will revive the identity of the community as a place of study and implementation of natural healing. The proposed design will also act as a catalyst to fuel future development and stimulate the local and regional economies.

This thesis explores the contributive role of architecture to the prosperity of a place. The research addresses the challenges and opportunities that rural regions face today by analyzing the general factors of marginalized rural communities through the lens of a specific community in mainland Portugal. A new approach for maintaining an authentic character, and a “sense of place” is presented which defends rural space as a genuinely experiential realm. The thesis proposes the design of a modern day treatment and research centre in the rural town of Manteigas, situated on one of the largest glacier valleys in Europe in the heart of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Once alive with all the quaint characteristics that typify an idyllic rural identity, this town now faces a steep population decrease. Situated in the centre of the Zêzere glacial valley overlooking the town, the design accepts and interprets the natural geology of the site, harnessing the therapeutic thermal waters that continue to flow from the glacier line of the valley. The new centre represents not just a place for leisure and relaxation, but also an investigative laboratory for modern day natural healing therapies. The town of Manteigas is situated within three very distinct landscapes: a fertile landscape, a socio-cultural landscape, and a landscape of health and wellness. The design intervention responds to all these conditions and is dependent on each in its operation. This thesis is a proposal for a sustainable cycle of local and regional rejuvenation that will not be easily broken. The design proposal aims to build an infrastructure that will revive the identity of the community as a place of study and implementation of natural healing. The proposed design will also act as a catalyst to fuel future development and stimulate the local and regional economies.

This diploma thesis is focused on the development of linear features in agricultural area of the Pilsen region border area. Transformation in the landscape microstructure are researched by an evaluation of the linear features changes. The states in the middle of the 20th century and in the present are compared by the indicator 'density of the linear features in the agricultural landscape'. According to the assumption, the number of the linear features has noticeably declined. The biggest declined number refers to the linear features of communications. The number of the dry vegetation and wet watercourses linear features has slightly increased. Concerning length, the biggest decrease refers to the number of the narrowest and narrow linear features, while the number of wide linear features have increased. The decline of the linear features is more noticeable in areas struck by the expulsion of Czech Germans than in areas where Czech inhabitants have lived. The assumption, that demographical changes had influenced changes in the microstructure of the border areas, was proved. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:58:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 486171 bytes, checksum: 6151d75a5f5acc0b6817f61e10bf74cb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-25 / The expansion of soybean cultivation to the Cerrados region in Brazil started in the 1970s, and the state of Mato Grosso has become, since 2000, the largest soybean country producer. Soybean rust was first found on state in 2001/2002 crop season. Since then it has been causing major losses in soybean production. Many methods are indicated to manage the disease. An important disease regulatory method is the fallowing ( vazio sanitário) , and it is unknown whether the method is being effective in reducing rust intensity throughout the years. Therefore, to assess the effect of fallowing in the disease intensity, we analysed data collected from 2008 to 2012 in producing municipalities of Mato Grosso, regarding both the enforcement of soybean following and the data of occurrences of rust. The implementation of fallowing has been effective in reducing rust intensity in all producing regions, as well as to move the first disease ccurrence from November-December to January-February. Rust tis being firstly reported when the plants are in the beginning seed stage (R5), and the earlier plantings are the main source of inoculum for late plantings. Official monitoring is helping maintaining more than 88% growers in the fallowing program to control the soybean rust. / A partir dos anos 1970 ocorreu a expansão da cultura da soja para o cerrado, e o estado de Mato Grosso tornou-se, desde o ano 2000, o maior produtor nacional da oleaginosa. Desde a safra 2001/2002, quando foi detectada pela primeira vez, a ferrugem asiática tem causado grandes perdas. Entre as medidas de controle da doença, inclui-se a adoção do vazio sanitário, mas desconhece-se o efeito da medida em reduzir a intensidade da doença. Assim, analisaram-se dados coletados de 2008 a 2012 nos municípios produtores do Mato Grosso, coletados na fiscalização do vazio sanitário da soja, e os de ocorrências da ferrugem, coletados pelo consórcio antiferrugem, para avaliar o efeito da implementação do vazio sanitário na incidência da ferrugem asiática. A implantação do vazio sanitário da soja reduziu e tem mantido baixas as ocorrências da ferrugem, em todas as regiões produtoras, além de deslocar o período de ocorrências da doença, de novembro e dezembro para janeiro e fevereiro. As primeiras ocorrências acontecem com a planta no estádio de granação (R5), sendo os plantios precoces a principal fonte de inóculo para os plantios tardios. A fiscalização tem auxiliado a manter a adesão dos produtores ao programa de controle da ferrugem asiática da soja em índices superiores a 88%.