Journal Archives

Creating the Image of Bucharest in art (1850 – 2017)

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‘Kunstgeographie’ – the study of the geographical dimension of art is a relatively undeveloped field, at least in English language studies. This article, which is developed from art history research at Sussex University, studies the images of Bucharest in art as it grew from a loosely organised collection of village-like groups to the capital of a new state – over the same period that Romanian art broke away from the religious art of the Orthodox church to become westernised as exchanges with western Europe grew. The growth of Bucharest has been analysed by Guiseppe Cina (2010) in four distinct phases, and these are used as the basis of this analysis.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Student housing and the slummification of the University of Zululand village in KwaDlangezwa, South Africa

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This paper examines the slummification of a university village in post-1994 South Africa. Universities are considered to be the main influence on the character of the host town and its spatial development. Although little work has been done in global southern rural contexts, researchers have studied the impact of students on host towns, and processes such as studentification. By examining the heterogeneous associations at play here it can be argued that relationships among actors are characterised by disconnections, and incongruent, often conflicting actions. In consequence, and ironically, these planning processes have transformed the village into a slum, a paradoxical response to the need for student housing. Drawing on qualitative methods, this paper examines the institutional actors and processes that led to the slummification of the village, drawing out the complex and conflicting roles of local and traditional authorities and the actions of the University.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Virtual space utilization in the Digital SMEs Kampongs: implementation of Smart City and Region

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Efforts to integrate the use of ICT in various aspects of urban and regional development is the embodiment of the implementation of the smart city and region. One of the efforts is by developing a smart economy and smart business through Digital Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Kampongs. This research is aimed at; 1) identifying the existence of Digital SMEs Kampongs, 2) identifying the Digital SMEs Kampongs’ activities, 3) analysing the implications of the use of virtual space on the Digital SMEs Kampongs’ activities. The primary data have been conducted through observation and in-depth interview. The results show that the existence of the Digital SMEs Kampongs can increase the use of virtual space, make the smart economy and smart business opportunities, improve the ability of community in running businesses and develop advanced SMEs. It has contributed to the achievement of smart city and region.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Drivers of urban sprawl in two large Middle-eastern countries: literature on Iran and Egypt

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This paper reviews the relevant literature of Iran and Egypt as two large countries of the region and concludes that four phenomena are common between the two countries and are accountable for sprawling, namely (1) wholesale land selling to the lower economic class, (2) deficiencies of planning systems in controlling development plans, (3) fast and uncontrolled increase in urban population, and (4) rural-urban migration. These drivers are categorized in two classes of demographic and planning-related trends. Besides, there is a number of peculiar trends that have nationwide causes but are uncommon in Iran and Egypt. The authors of this paper consider that the demographic drivers or sprawl addressed by the Middle Eastern scholars are not actual causes but only consequences, or there is a correlation between the demographic factors and sprawl. More in-depth historical and socioeconomic studies are needed to find the associations between sprawl and unstudied phenomena like change in technologies, culture, and lifestyle.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Exploring the symbolism of traditional Szekely gates in heritage tourism

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Gates represent an important component of the Romanian domestic life since historical times. They function as a barrier between the sacred family space from inside the household and the space and potential dangers from outside it. Traditional wooden gates have been inscribed with specific elements, thus functioning simultaneously as a household utility and conserving a common identity through their symbolism. Szekely gates represent a lesser-known and studied element of ethnocultural heritage, although the area where they are located has been in the last few years and will probably continue to be a very dynamic and sought after tourism destination. The wooden Székely gates, found in areas inhabited by this ethnic minority, represent a true accumulation of both Romanian and Székely rituals and symbols. The aim of the study is to highlight the importance of the gates for the traditional ethnographic heritage of this ethnic minority with real implications for the development of local cultural and heritage tourism. The objectives of the study consist in identifying the main areas of distribution for Székely gates in Transylvania, the significance of their main symbols and the level of their current national and international promotion. The research methodology included direct observations, GIS techniques, and field investigations. The results of this exploratory study show the location of the traditional Székely gates and their diversity, and the coexistence of a Romanian symbolism with one that is exclusively local through specific motifs and colours. This diversity and coexistence of symbols gives the possibility of inserting Székely gates as added cultural values into an already visible and viable tourism area.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Urbanization and risks: case of Bejaia city in Algeria

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Urbanization is a worldwide process, occurring rapidly with adverse consequences on the environment and people. More exactly, urbanization aggravates natural risks and creates additional artificial risks; this is a key issue for urban planning, which can reduce the exposure and negative outcomes if its provisions are properly enforced. This article is based on observations from Bejaia, Algeria. Each year, the city suffers from disasters including floods, forest fires and landslides. This situation has led to the question whether urban planning observes the regulations from other domains. In order to answer it, different risks threatening the city were modeled and mapped. The results consist of computing the number of buildings situated within non-aedificandi zones by the type of risk. The results show that 15,832 buildings violate the law. Moreover, natural hazards (78.31%) are a more important threat than the artificial ones (21.69%). The most important natural risks are due to forest fires (44.82%), and the explosion of the industrial zones (15.24%) is the dominant artificial risk. The findings show that planning can help reducing the risk exposure within the urban areas, if the planning provisions are properly enforced. Moreover, the article makes a significant contribution to demonstrating the possible consequences of sacrificing long-term safety for short-term political interests.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018

Using cellular automata to simulate tourism growth. Case study: Iaşi city

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The analyse of land-use change has a meaningful importance in scholars research. Hence, the influence of the urbanisation beneath the conditions that lead to the increase of tourism activity in urban areas it is connected with the extinction of the land-use space. Given the fact that the development of urbanisation leads to tourism development, this paper aims to shape a model of urban growth for the city of Iaşi which emphasises the spatio-temporal growth of the city with impact on tourism growth. The data used was Corine Land Cover (CLC) for 2000 and 2006 years. The type of land use, the areas and the relationship of the driving factors were identified for further analysis. The methodology included Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis and statistic functions of it. In order to obtain the model of urban growth which sustains the hypothesis that the urban increase leads to tourism development, an urban growth simulation was made through Pyhton language programming by cellular automata (CA) method.

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Issue: Volume 12, Issue 1, 2018
About journal

Title: Human Geographies - Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography
ISSN online: 2067-2284
ISSN print: 1843-6587
Imprint: University of Bucharest
Frequency: Biannual (May&November)
First volume: 1/2007
Current volume: 17/2023
Language: English
Indexed in: SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO (SocINDEX), ProQuest (Social Science Journals, SciTech Journals, Natural Science Journals), Index Copernicus, National Technical Information Service (NTiS), Bodleian Libraries, ExLibris SFX, DOAJ, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, Google Scholar, Ulrich
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EDITORS


Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

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