Rural Analysis and Management: An Earth Science Approach to Rural Science

Description

This handbookpossesses two virtues that are becomingincreasingly dif?cult to ?nd together. The ?rst one is providing a novel and original scheme to analyze the rural areas of the planet in the context of Earth sciences. The handbook is so original in its plan that it actually de?nes what modern rural science is. The scheme followed, albeit new, is rooted in a venerable geographical tradition and presents a sensible balance between the academic and the applied viewpoints. This novel way of stu- ing rural areas represents by itself a valuable contribution to this complex ?eld. The second virtue of the book is the ability of synthesizing the most important aspects of the issues tackled, and there are many issues this book tackles, from physical to human geographyand from deontologyto matrix algebra. When writing a handbook in such a vast ?eld as rural science, it is indeed tempting to accumulate meaninglessinformationassisted by the wealth of available on-lineinformation. On the other side, the danger of forgetting essential aspects is always present. None of these problems seems to have affected the making of this book. The pictures and tables always have a place, the text never looses its coherence, and no comment seems super?uous. Also, the ambitious scope of the book is seemly effortlessly solved by a rational, clear, and logical scheme that dissects all the relevant issues up to the required point. Front Matter....Pages I-3 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 Methodological Notes on Analysis, Synthesis and Management....Pages 5-13 The Measuring Process in Rural Analysis....Pages 15-20 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 Environmental Elements in Rural Analysis....Pages 23-65 Dynamics and Processes of the Environmental Elements....Pages 67-71 Anthropic Elements in Rural Analysis....Pages 73-120 Dynamics and Processes of the Anthropic Elements....Pages 121-124 A Synthetic Approach....Pages 125-158 A Cartographic Overview of the Agrarian World....Pages 159-226 Regional Issues in the Rural Areas of the World....Pages 227-236 Front Matter....Pages 237-237 Approaches to Management....Pages 239-243 Management Tools: Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Expert Systems....Pages 245-254 The Concept of Rural Quality of Life....Pages 255-258 The Rural Areas in the Structure of the Territory....Pages 259-265 Rural Planning and Sustainability....Pages 267-270 Involving People in the Process....Pages 271-275 The Decision Guidelines Making....Pages 277-278 Public Participation and Information Technologies....Pages 279-283 Global Change Issues in Rural Planning....Pages 285-289 Public Dissemination Tools: An Example for Inventories....Pages 291-303 A Rural Plan....Pages 305-315 Back Matter....Pages 317-331