Author Archives: Peter

Multiple Impacts of Tourism Activity

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Source: K. Godfrey and J. Clarke, The Tourism Development Handbook (London: Thompson Learning, 2000), p. 31.

This chart here taken from “Global Trends in Coastal Tourism” prepared by the Center for Eco-Tourism and Sustainable development shows in detail many of the most prominent effects of tourism on an area. Road development is not specifically mentioned but facilitates all of these by providing access to the tourist. The outcomes all tend to be negative such as “acid rain, or vandalism” and give the impression that tourism is essentially bad for everything in a region except for the economy.

Do Parking Lots Cause More Traffic?

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In an article by Slate Magazine, Tom Vanderbilt explores whether planning policies mandating a minimum number of parking spaces when building urban and semi-urban areas is really a good idea. These policies took hold around the 1960’s, meaning they do not factor in the other forms of transportation that have developed since then and the initiatives of environmentally people to utilize them. Creating large parking lots fragments urban areas and makes walking unpleasant or impractical, which in turn leads to more people driving and then can lead to the need for more parking lots.

Some cities have already begun reducing the number of policy mandated parking spots, such as in Columbus, Ohio where they have reduced parking minimums for malls by 20%.

Parking lot in Downtown Baltimore

Global Health Map

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Linked is a site with a detailed Healthmap. This map represents all of the current notable disease activity throughout the globe and the level of activity at this area. A casual glance at this map shows that there is a definite correlation between developed areas (i.e; east coast of USA, Middle Europe) and the frequency of disease outbreak. This could be attributed to population mobility and/or density which are both products of developed areas. Oppositely, the more severe outbreaks occur in more secluded areas such as mid-west Africa and western Brazil. This may be an indicator of how much access these areas have to pharmaceuticals.

Avoiding Fragmentation

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Increasingly complex wildlife crossing structures are making it possible for larger animals to overcome roadway fragmentation. Wider, longer culverts in conjunction with tunnels and other unique transportation structures cater to even the most timid animals and show promise of mitigating some of negative effects of habitat fragmentation. Shown here is a Californian traverse designed to facilitate black bear movement.