Geography

Winston Churchill once described India as a mere geographical expression that cannot be taken as a single country than the equator.

It seems he was right   since there is no other country in the world that has embraced an extraordinary mixture of ethnic groups with incomprehensible languages living in a variety of topography and climates exhibiting varying cultural and religious practices with ranging levels of economic developments than India (Tharoor, 1997).

This is what describes India. It is country with a mixture of ethnic groups which are held together by invisible threads which are like a myth, a dream or a vision held for generations.  India is a country with more than 940 million individuals from different ethnic backgrounds but living together in a land of snow peaks and tropical jungles.

The country has more than 51 percent of its population illiterate but at the same time it has the world’s second largest pool in terms of trained scientist and engineers who have been the backbone of its economic growth.  India has teaming cities overflowing with people but four out of five Indians earn their living by scratching the soil.

The culture religious life of the people is rich. It boasts with an ageless civilization which gave birth to four major world religions with different traditional classical dances which attract millions of tourist. The food and drinks culture cannot be compared to any other in the world with more than three hundred ways of cooking potatoes.

We still don’t understand how, but the cultural life of India resisted two hindered years of   British culture imperialism to remain intact as it is today. From colonialism India has risen to become the world’s largest democracy with more than 85 political parties but all competing in one country.

It is the combination of al the cultural, geographical, and political life of the people that has led to great economic development. To understand the soaring economy of India, one has to understand the   contribution of the three spheres of life.

Soaring economy of India

Since the country gained independent from British, it has been bracing to position itself in the world economy.   It has been improving its pace of economic development. In the last few decades, all the major cities in India have undergone radical infrastructural change which is in preparation for more economic development.

The county has diverse economy which encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, modern industries existing along handicrafts, and a highly developed service industry.  The service sector has developed to be an important sector in the economic growth   with more that50% share of India’s output. But with less that a third of the labor force. Agriculture is another important sector which employs more than three fifths of the workforce.

The economy has been recording a growth rate of more than 7% since 1997 which has led to poverty reduction by more than 10%. In 2006 and 2007, the country achieved an economic growth of about 9.6%. From the 2007 estimates, the country has a GDP of about $2.965 trillion measured by the purchasing power parity while it stands at $894.1 billion measured by official exchange rate.  However due to the large population, the GDP per capita still remains low at $2,700.

The service sector contributed 55% of the GDP with the industry sector following with 28.4% while the agriculture sector contribute only 16.6% but employing more that 60% of the labor force.  The rate of unemployment remains at 7.2% while 25% of the population lives below the poverty line (CIA world Fact book, 2004).

India has the twelfth largest economy in the world and third largest in Asia after Japan and China. This has seen an emergence of a middle class of about 325-250 million people with a large disposable income. The growth of Indian economy has been contributed by enabling growth atmosphere contributed by the political, geographical and political life of the country (Sankara, 2004).

Much of America history is recorded from the time Columbus and his team of explores landed in the Caribbean region.

The first reaction to establishment of Spanish in the Caribbean region was the policy of extermination in which millions of the original inhabitants lost their life.  Although it has become controversial on the exact number of inhabitants living in the region before the coming of the Columbus, it remains clear there were a large number of indigenous people and the coming of Columbus really changed their life.

The nature of the Native Americans remains a controversial issue since it is argued that on his arrival Christopher Columbus mistook the inhabitants for Indians. This is because he though he had arrived in East Indies since he was seeking sea route to India.

The culture of Amerindian before Columbus

The pre-Columbian civilization in the region is though to have been quite advances more that what was projected at the time. It has been revealed that there was a high level of development from social organization to development in agriculture and other sciences which were applied in agriculture and in political expansion.

Notably among this civilization was the expansive Maya empire which had flourished and expanded from Mexico to Central American but which later collapsed owing to social and political strife, diseases and other ecological disasters, and man other factors (Mann, 1999).

The geography of the region shows a very fertile soil and seasons of heavy rainfall. This means that the area had a very high agricultural potential which was well exploited by the inhabitants.

The economic landscape of the people before the coming of Europeans is mixed. While a good number of the indigenous inhabitants were hunters and gatherers, there was also a good number which practiced aquaculture and agriculture.

There is evidence that some of the people lived on mixed agriculture keeping animals and growing crops. Therefore we can say that before the coming of Columbus, the original inhabitants had their own organized social life and varying economic activities in line with the rich agricultural potential of the land.

When the European came and conquered the region, there were several changes that took place. First they immediately realized the rich agricultural potential of the land and their settlement pattern was concentrated in rich agricultural areas. What followed was mass extermination of the indigenous inhabitants so as to set up large scale lands for the Europeans.

It is in this land that they grew sugar plantations and other cash crops. This led to massive enslavement of the indigenous people in order to provide labor in these large plantations. The setting up of plantations changed the approach that Europeans were using in dealing with the native.

The policy of mass extermination   quickly changed to mass enslavement to provide free labor. There was also discovery of mineral like gold which led toe increased trade and setting up of industries. (Mann, 1999)

Conclusion

It is still controversial whether Columbus discovered South America or not. However there were original inhabitants in the land who Columbus referred to as Indians.

The inhabitants were social organized and they practiced agriculture although a good number were hunters and gatherers. When European came they realized the agricultural potential of the land and immediately set up large plantation where they enslaved the indigenous people to provide free labor.

Reference:

Mann, C. (1999): New Revelation of the Americans before Columbus. New York: Knopf Publishing

Atacama border conflict is one of the longest border conflicts in the world.  It was a border conflict between Chile and Bolivia in the 1800s and ended up with signing of the Peace Treaty between Chile and Bolivia in 1904 and Chile and Bolivia in 1929.

At the end of the conflict, Chile annexed all the coastal strip of Bolivia and the southern tip of Peru.  At a point in the course of the conflict, Argentina was drawn into the conflict resulting to its annexation of Bolivian territory which as controlled by Chile.

Even after the signing of the peace treaty, the conflict seems to be going on since Bolivia still claim to be granted the sovereign access to Pacific Ocean even after annexation of its costal strip.  Although the area as owned by Bolivia and Peru, Chile continued with mining mineral rights even after the signing of the treaty which as Bolivia list it entire coastal line making it landlocked country.

The main cause of the conflict was the abundance of mineral in the Atacama Desert. Atacama Desert is the driest desert on either with little human inhabitation. However, it is very rich in minerals especially sodium nitrate.

This paper will review the Atacama Desert conflict. The paper will first review the geographical background of the Atacama Desert before going into details of the course of the conflict.  The paper will review the main factors that may have fueled the conflict, the course of the conflict and the results of the conflict.

Geographical background of the region

The region of conflict was lying in the Atacama Desert.  Atacama Desert it located in Chile and it covers more than one third of the northern side of Chile stretching for more than 1000 Km. It straddles the Southern border of the country with Peru.

The desert is bound on its Westside by dry hills and mounts and on the pacific cost side extending eastward to the Andes Mountains (MundonAndino, 2009).  Atacama is about 13,000 feet high making it the highest and the coldest desert in the world.

The atacama is the direst place on earth.  It is very sterile since it is blocked from the getting moisture by the Andes Mountain and the coastal Chilean Coast Ranges.

The center of the   desert has been referred by climatologist as the absolute desert on earth. As long as climatologists have recorded rainfall in the world, there is no rain that has been recorded in the central part of the desert.  However, some areas in the desert have recorded annual average rainfall between 0.6 and 2.1 mm leading to growth of sparsely distributed vegetations.

In the area where no rainfall has been recorded, the only moisture in these areas comes from the dense fogs which are called camanchaca formed from the association of cold air and ocean currents which originate from the Antarctic regions.  Life in Atacama is one of the most complexes since this fog is harvested by both plants and animals alike.  The human beings living in Atacama harvest the fog and use the fog nets which capture the fogs and turn it to drinking water (Veblen and Kenneth 2000, p. 26).

The landscape is the same as it meteorology.  The landscape consists of plateaus covered by lava flows and basins of salt.  From the image above, the conspicuous white area is a Salt Flat which is located few miles south of one of the small village in San Pedro which is regarded as the epicenter of the desert.

Atacama is one of the sparsely population areas on earth.  However, there is an oasis at the middle of the desert which is elevated 200 meters where the village of San Pedro De Atacama lies.  Apparenlty this is a church which was constructed by Spanish conquerors around 1577 (Fernand 1984, p. 59)).

Before the conquest by Spanish, the area was mainly inhabited by Atacameno tribe which is credited with the construction of the some fortified towns referred to as pucaras. With the coming of Spanish Empire, there was remarkable growth of cities and tow along the coast   which were mainly due to growth of silver trade mined in Potosi and other mines around the desert.

Archeological evidence also shows that San Pedro de Atacama could have been the center for Paleolithic civilizations. Other important mines which are located in the desert include Escondida mine and Chuquicamata mines.

Despite the ragged and dry landscape, Atacama is very rich in minerals.  It is a rich source of copper and nitrates which has been the subject of conflict for along time.

The whole desert is awash with abandoned nitrate mines. Apart from this, the desert has scientific importance as it is being used by scientists to study the possible survival tactics used by the inhabitants (Absolute Astronomy, 2009). Scientists have showed that the soil at the center of the Atacama Desert is like that in mass and the life in the desert could give important clues to possibility of life in mars.

British Columbia is Canada’s western border province. At its north are Yukon and the Northwest Territories while its northwestern border is the U.S. State of Alaska.

On its eastern border is another province, Alberta, and on the southern border are the U.S. States of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It is the third-largest province in Canada and encompasses 9.5 percent of the country’s total land area, which makes it around four times the size of Great Britain or more than twice as large as Japan. (Information on BC, 2006, par. 1)

Physical Geography

Topography. British Columbia boasts of great mountains.  Its highest peak is Fairweather Mountain which is 4,663 meters high and its lowest is Hallam Peak which is just 3,205 meters high.  (Statistics Canada, 2002) Volcanoes also abound in British Columbia although most are dormant. The largest of the seventeen volcanoes is Ruby Mountain and the smallest is called Mount Garibaldi.

Water Forms. The Fraser River is one of the most important means of transportation in British Columbia because it directly flows to the Pacific Ocean nest. The province’s Columbia River is the location of 14 hydroelectric dams which is a major power source for its population. Other rivers that lead to the Pacific Ocean are Skeena and Kootenay while the Peace River drains toward the Arctic Ocean.  British Columbia is also the host of many large natural lakes including the Babine, Atlin, Kootenay, Ootsa, and Okanagan. (British Columbia, 2007, p. 1)

Climate

The climate in British Columbia can vary depending on the area’s location from the Pacific Ocean and the mountain ranges but the province is known for its mild temperature. Snow rarely falls on the coast even during winter but the interior lands can experience very cold temperatures and snow between the months of November to March.

The warmest days in summer can be experienced in the interior lands, most especially in the south with temperatures that can go further than 30ºC while the coast enjoys a temperature range of about 22 to 28ºC. (Climate and Weather, n.d., par. 1-4)

Government and Municipalities

British Columbia espouses the parliamentary form of government headed by a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Canadian Governor-General. However, executive power truly emanates from the Premier who comes from the legislative branch because it is the position that appoints 20 ministers to the cabinet that maintains and makes the policies for the province.

British Columbia has the Legislative Assembly (unicameral legislature) which has 79 elected members with five-year terms.  British Columbia is also represented by 36 members in Canada’s House of Commons and has 6 senators all of whom are appointed by the Governor-General.

This project was challenging from the beginning. We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them.

Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly. If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation.

However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning. We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper.

Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly. If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end.

I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning. We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions.

I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly. If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went.

We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning. We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around.

Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper. This project was challenging from the beginning.

We had difficulty identifying what we were going to center our project around. Once we got going however we did get a lot of productive work done. I didn’t contribute a large direct contribution to the paper, but I did the introduction and conclusion portions. I also worked closely with Yibo and Bobby to structure their arguments in their portions of the paper. Bobby found my assistance very helpful and him and I constantly worked on revising portions of the paper as we were writing them. Yibo asked for help and we gave him help as well as outlined how his paper should go, but he was unable to structure his part of the paper accordingly.

If I were to re-do the project I would have liked to work more closely with Yibo on his part of the paper, and ensured we all cited our work as we went. We got mixed up in a few of our sources and it was a headache to fit them at the end, but we were able to crunch it out at the end. I felt the presentation fell upon my lap for the most part and I would have liked more contributions from the other members as far as setting up the presentation. However I was very grateful that each of the members had their own knowledge about their sections of the paper.

The paper “Alaskan Aviation” will provide with a thorough examination of aviation in the region of Alaska, employing the knowledge of the three main spheres: Alaskan environmental conditions, history of its aviation, and the ethics of flying.

The Chapter I of the paper will outline the geographic characteristics and weather conditions which determined the functions and the influenced the evolution of Alaskan aviation. Then Chapter II will proceed to the study of the Alaskan aviation itself. Fist, the historical approach will be used to distinguish the development of the two main categories: military and civil aviation.

Second, the history of the military aircraft will be given in a more general way, while the description of civil aircraft will consist of the particular examples of the histories of Alaskan airlines, and bush flying. This difference in historical views on military and civil aircrafts is dictated by the thing that the detailed examination of the military aircraft branch is beyond the scope of the paper.

And finally, the third chapter of the paper will focus on the personality of an Alaskan pilot, with the discussion of the conduct and character traits required by the ethics of flying and directed to overcome the difficulties of the profession. The main points and the findings of the paper will be summarized in the conclusion. The purpose of the study is to characterize the aviation in Alaska, to show its critical role for the region and to mention the challenges of the profession of a pilot. Challenging conditions of Alaska’s diverse environment.

Alaska’s Geography

The state of Alaska is the forty-ninth state, which entered the Union in 1959. It is situated in the extreme northwest of the North American continent. Also Alaska is the largest peninsular in the Western Hemisphere. The total area of Alaska goes up to 591, 004 square miles and includes 15, 000 square miles of inlets and fjords, 34, 000 of intended tidal coastline and 6,600 miles of the coast that fronts the open sea. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004)

On the north and northwest the land of Alaska borders the Arctic Ocean and on the west it is washed by the Bering Sea and the Bering Strait. The Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Alaska border the territory of the state on the south. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004) About 1.150 miles of high mountains separate the state from the neighbouring British Columbia province and the Canadian Yukon Territory.

(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004) On the land of Alaska Mount McKinley, the highest peak of the North America, is situated. The height of the peak is 20,320 feet. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004) The capital of Alaska – Juneau is situated in the southeast of the panhandle region.

Alaska consists of nine different environmental and physiographic regions. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004) Most of the mainland panhandle region is composed of the Boundary Ranges. Also the area of Alaska contains a number of large ice fields, peaks, for example, Mount St. Elias that is 18,009 feet high, Arctic deserts, swamps, immense forests, active volcanoes and countless islands. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004)

The western part of Alaska-Yukon border is the Chugach Range, which looks like a giant arc at the northern edge of the Gulf of Alaska. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost state, the westernmost state, and also the easternmost state of America, because the Aleutians extend over the 180th meridian into the Eastern Hemisphere. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004)

The Panhandle, starting some 500 miles north of Seattle, nevertheless has the moist climate and thick forests associated with coastal Washington. It consists, on one side, of a 30-mile strip of mountainous mainland bordering British Columbia and, on the other, of the countless islands of the Alexander Archipelago — the remnants of ancient mountains submerged at the end of the ice age.

The result is one of the world’s most beautiful fjord areas, seen easily from ferries from Seattle which ply the famed Inland Passage along this coast. Towering forests of spruce and hemlock cover most of the lands, and the region holds the bulk of Alaska’s pulp and timber industry in its 550-mile length.

Tongass National Forest, a magnificent wilderness along the region’s glacier-capped fjords and waterways which includes 100-mile-long Admiralty Island, packed with wildlife (salmon, bald eagles, and brown bears), virtually the only island in the archipelago still largely in its primeval condition (Terris, 1962).

The U.S. Forest Service has committed itself to clear-cutting practically every marketable stand of spruce and hemlock in the Tongass National Forest. The lumber would not relieve any U.S. housing shortage but would be for export to Japan. Outside of lumber, the major income of the Panhandle is from fishing (especially salmon) and tourism (scenery plus the colorful Tlingit totem pole culture).

The Central Plateau, bigger than all of Texas, is a vast, rolling upland spotted with mountains. It rolls from the Canadian border to the Bering Sea, from the southern wall of McKinley and other peaks of the Alaskan Range to the northern barrier of the Brooks Range. The mighty Yukon River and its tributaries, dotted with native villages along the banks, flow out of Canada and through this region to the Bering Sea. Alaska’s big-game hunting centers here — for moose, caribou, bear, sheep, and, along the Bering Straits, for polar bear.

Introduction

Strategic spacial planning is arguably an attack which rails against the discourse of the scientific rational comprehensive theoretical accounts of be aftering which has and still does keep a big influence in current manners of planning. This short essay will hopefully explicate to contrivers why a strategic spacial planning attack is more contributing in the current context which we find ourselves in. This will be done through replying a set of inquiries which will clear up the attack, its intent and methods, how it differs from rational comprehensive attacks of maestro planning and land usage planning, why contrivers should utilize it, what can be expected from it, and its utility.

What is Strategic Spatial Planning?

Strategic spacial planning is a method to assist work out complex spatial jobs through making strategic visions and new spacial individualities. Harmonizing to Kaufman and Jacobs ( in Albrechts, 2001 ) strategic systems originated in the US around the 1950 ‘s due to the demand for quickly altering and turning corporations to be after efficaciously and pull off their hereafters at a clip when the hereafter seemed ill-defined. In Europe, strategic spacial planning dated back to the 1920s and 30s, and was used to direct the activities of others ( Mastop in Albrechts, 2001 ) .

From Albrechts ( 2006 ) it can be understood that the word ‘spatial ‘ brings into focal point the ‘where ‘ of things, the creative activity and direction of particular ‘places ‘ and sites every bit good as the interrelatednesss between different activities in an country, and important intersections and nodes within an country. This spacial focal point allows for a more effectual manner of incorporating different dockets – such as, economic, societal, and cultural – and their spacial impacts ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

The word ‘strategy ‘ has its roots within a military context ; in ancient conflict ground forcess would work out a scheme prior to the conflict on how best to get the better of the enemy. It is understood that this type of scheme had four basic elements – an accurate apprehension of the existent state of affairs, realistic ends, focused resources in countries where they would be most effectual, and continuity of the action until the coveted result is achieved ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . These elements are strongly rooted in systems of strategic spacial planning.

In its entireness, strategic spacial planning is a procedure which is directed at a limited figure of strategic cardinal issue countries. It determines an countries strengths and failings in the context of its chances and menaces ; it scans external tendencies, and the resources that are available. It gathers major public and private stakeholders and allows for a wide and diverse procedure of engagement. It develops a realistic long-run vision along with schemes in order to pull off and act upon spacial alteration. Importantly it is orientated towards determinations, actions, consequences, and execution, in the short, average and long-run ( Albrechts, 2001 ) . “ It is so impossible to understand material topographic points and societal nodes such as ‘the metropolis ‘ , ‘the city-region ‘ and ‘the part ‘ in footings of a unidimensional hierarchy of graduated tables ” ( Albrechts, 2010:6 ) .

This definition illustrates that strategic spacial planning is non a individual construct or process, but it is a set of constructs, processs and tools that are tailored carefully to whatever state of affairs is presented ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . Furthermore it is a development-led attack and a transformative and integrative, public sector-led, and socio-spatial procedure through which a vision, consistent actions and agencies for execution are produced ; these are so able to determine and border what a topographic point is and its potency of what it may go ( Albrechts, 2006 )

How does it differ from MASTER PLANNING and LAND USE PLANNING?

In order to understand the difference one needs to understand the principle of land usage planning and maestro planning.

Land usage planning is a procedure of be aftering which is concerned with the location, strength, signifier, sum, and harmonisation of land development required for a assortment of spacial utilizations ; such as lodging, industry, diversion, conveyance, instruction, and agribusiness. A land usage program in this case fundamentally embodies a proposal as to how land should be used within a set of considered policy as enlargement and restructuring advancement in the hereafter ( Albrechts, 2004 ) . Traditional land usage planning is a more inactive planning attack aimed at commanding land usage through a zoning system and through ordinances.

This harmonizing to Albrechts ( 2006 ) seems unfit for bridging the spread between plan-making, political decision-making and execution. This was one of the grounds why the demand arose for a different type of be aftering – a move off from regulative policy and instruments to a development-led attack which aims to step in more straight, coherently and selectively in societal world and development – strategic spacial planning ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . For Albrechts ( 2001 ) strategic spacial planning is to a certain extent rendered towards an integrated socio-economic class of action that supersedes the mere focal point on land usage planning.

For Master Planning on the other manus, Friedman ( 2007 ) found that it is about a universally recognized signifier of planning pattern. His study found that in state after state, metropoliss through their authoritiess are mandated to bring forth maestro programs. Basically within these maestro programs states specify future land utilizations and location determinations. Maestro planning is a wholly inactive pattern and harmonizing to Friedman ( 2007 ) it needs to be rethought as it is out of line with the dynamic flows of globalization.

Friedman ( 2007 ) defines master be aftering as being typically municipal programs instead than regional programs, and as being entirely concerned with land usage instead than with the entire spectrum of urban policy issues. They are drawn up by a specialised subdivision of municipal authorities instead than through a wider procedure of collaborative deliberation, and the procedure used to pull up maestro programs and acquiring them approved takes old ages therefore rendering them out-dated by the clip they can be implemented. Besides they are top-down, with comparatively minimal citizen engagement, and in conclusion when it comes to big scale undertakings ; maestro programs are frequently set aside to let for necessary alterations in land usage and circulation forms ( Friedman, 2007 ) .

Opposing this, spacial planning is derived non from an functionary, compulsory character like maestro planning but from a function that coordinates instruments closely intertwined with urban policy formation and the design and execution of large-scale undertakings. Spatial be aftering involves a scope of histrions that include communities, authorities functionaries and private stakeholders. The chief intent of spacial planning is non to mandate peculiar land uses – as is in the case of maestro be aftering – but to let for a better coordination of urban policies and large-scale undertaking developments across infinite, to prove alternate policies and designs through revising their societal deductions, and to let for an informed public discourse about them ( Friedman, 2007 ) .

In metropoliss such as the new downtown peninsula of Vancouver, maestro planning has been abandoned for systems of spacial planning in which be aftering returns by manner of affecting public hearings, bargaining, and dialogues. The consequences of this passage over a period of 25 old ages are testimony to the viability non merely of the Vancouver theoretical account but besides of the more abstract spacial planning theoretical account ( Friedman, 2007 ) .

What are its chief PURPOSES and METHODS?

Strategic spacial planning as mentioned earlier is used for complex jobs where governments at different degrees and different sectors and private histrions are reciprocally dependent ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . The theoretical account designs plan-making constructions and develops content, images and determination models which can act upon and pull off spacial alteration. It is about building new thoughts and processes that can transport these constructions through, therefore bring forthing ways of apprehension, ways of consensus, and ways of organizing and mobilising for the intent of exercising influence in different spheres ( Albrecht, 2006 ) .

Both is the short and long term, strategic spacial planning focal points on bordering determinations, actions, undertakings, consequences and execution, and incorporates monitoring, feedback, accommodation and alteration of the result. Its intent therefore is non a new political orientation prophesying a new universe order but as a method for making and maneuvering a better hereafter for a topographic point based on shared values ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

Albrechts ( 2006 ) goes farther on to explicate that the seven chief purposes of a strategic undertaking are – to develop an incorporate advanced attack for the assorted undertaking types ; to develop a to the full operational model based on sustainability ; to develop tools for quality direction ; to broaden the multi-actor/multi-level policy scenes and to measure current scenes ; to circulate the attack ; to develop an educational theoretical account ; and to set up a web of cognition between research workers, professionals, and authoritiess ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

The capacity for these undertakings to present the coveted result is dependent foremost on the system itself and on the conditions underlying it – such as structural restraints, and political, cultural, and professional attitudes towards spacial planning. The planning procedure is non intended to flux swimmingly from one stage to the following. It is a dynamic and originative procedure wherein new positions and facts that arise today may change the determinations made yesterday ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . This illustrates that it is ne’er a fixed procedure but is in a uninterrupted start of alteration from get downing to stop.

The visions and frames which guide this procedure are ne’er ‘a given ‘ , instead they are to be constructed. The procedure of picturing is the procedure by which groups develop visions of future provinces for themselves, their administrations, metropolis, or their part that are clear, powerful and realistic. Basically this means that the visions are to be constructed within a specific context and scale sing issues that are of involvement within that infinite and within a peculiar combination of histrions. This is to be done within a method that to the full recognises the conditions of power, inequality, and diverseness. “ The vision describes a metropolis or part as it may look like in the hereafter, and it must appeal to the long-run involvements of histrions who have a interest in the metropolis or part ” ( Albrechts, 2010:8 ) .

Why do this sort of planning?

Strategic spacial planning undertakings conduct an in-depth survey of the country, therefore giving penchant to the location being affected over anything else. With this these undertakings study external tendencies and the resources available hence leting for a wide and diverse procedure. Besides, by doing usage of this type of planning, contrivers are able to aim a assortment of countries ; including urban, rural, and economic countries ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

In the case of urban countries, strategic urban undertakings are utile as they aim to consolidate, transform, restructure or recycle the urban countries for new and emerging demands from public and private histrions. With respects to rural countries, strategic undertakings are utile as they aim to transform rural and suburban kineticss into a more sustainable and qualitative signifier of development while non burying to heighten the cultural significance of these infinites. Last, economic countries are seen as an of import portion of the attempt to maintain up international economic fight. Strategic undertakings seek to turn away from the old construct of concern Parkss spacial construct and direction to a focal point on the demands of houses that are to be translated into specifically designed employment locations ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

And what can we anticipate from it?

This inquiry can be divided into two parts ; ‘we ‘ as contrivers and ‘we ‘ as the populace and private histrions. First, the essay will mean to the reference the latter portion.

Strategic spacial planning undertakings are strategic to accomplish visions, ends, and aims from a assortment of policy sectors, and are to incorporate the community being affected. Visions is arguably one of the most of import factors of strategic undertakings as they are expected to be placed within the specific context, topographic point, clip and degree, and are to see specific issues that are of involvement to the different histrions ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .

Basically what can be expected from strategic spacial planning undertakings is a critical analysis of the chief procedures and structural restraints which form infinites, which adds into a realistic, dynamic, integrated, and declarative long-run vision. It will supply a program for short-run and long-run actions, a budget, and a flexible scheme for execution ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .

In footings of the undertakings eventual execution, it will supply believable committednesss to action battle and a clear and expressed nexus to the budget therefore leting for citizens, private-sector, different degrees of administration, and contrivers to come in a consensus ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .

‘We ‘ as contrivers will anticipate a different set of tools, tools which will steer the contriver on what to anticipate when moving as a strategic spacial contriver. For Albrechts ( 2010 ) , he finds it unthinkable that the contriver should move simply as a impersonal perceiver and chorus from playing a function in the building of visions and images. Alternatively, Albrechts suggests that contrivers should be needfully involved, and instrumental in confirming, explicating and implementing images and visions.

This is a logical position, as if contrivers simply observe, there expertness in certain state of affairss are non shared, and their utility would be greatly undermined. Strategic spacial contrivers are to alternatively, challenge their ain ‘mental discourse ‘ which limit their creativeness, and get down afresh therefore leting for their creativeness and resourcefulness to flux and to be used in formulating, designing, and constructing new constructs and discourses ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .

How utile is it?

Strategic spacial planning is a flexible procedure that trades with complex jobs and is able to repair to a broad scope of jobs, but besides trades with each job unambiguously. This characteristic makes the attack really utile as it applies to a scope of different issues. For illustration ; the metropolis of Barcelona started utilizing a strategic planning attack in 1988 in order to heighten the cooperation between the public and private sector with the hope that the sweetening will beef up the place of the metropolis as a campaigner for the Olympic Games ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .

The metropolis of Turin which was inspired by Barcelona besides undertook a strategic attack in the mid 1990 ‘s, for Turin this formed the footing for rethinking the potency of a former monopolistic town that had been extremely affected by the rise of the car industry. The purpose for Strategic spacial planning here was to transform Turin into a European city – “ a metropolis of activities and know-how ” ( Albrechts, 2010:5 ) . For the metropolis of Bilbao, the vision was to transport the metropolis into the economic, fiscal, and cultural capital of the Atlantic Arc. Last, for Prague, strategic spacial planning focused on incorporating the metropolis into European constructions ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . From this it is clear that strategic spacial planning is applicable to a diverse scope of issues and can accommodate easy to what is required in the context for which it is visualizing, therefore rendering it a utile attack to planning.

Decision

From the information discussed in this essay the attack of strategic spacial planning has been explained. Through utilizing such an attack to be aftering it can be deduced that infinites can be become more active and synergistic both on a local graduated table – and the sectors within that scale – and on an international graduated table.

“ In short, episodes of strategic spacial planning informed by “ relational complexness ” constructs which accumulate sufficient power to “ go ” efficaciously and have digesting stuff and mental effects should be judged in the long-run in footings of their capacity to enrich the inventive resources, originative energies and administration civilizations through which quality of life and experience of diverse citizens and stakeholders in peculiar topographic points are likely to be enhanced. ” ( Healey, 2006:19 )