Pushing the CZMA Envelope: California: The First State to Litigate the New Federal Law

As noted often by the former California Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas, the history of how the California coast was saved is a great repository of untold stories. Although the Commission has had a dramatic and tangible impact on California's coastal geography, the public is largely unaware of many of its early accomplishments. This article begins to chronicle the rich stories of California's coastal legacy by telling the story of how the Commission utilized the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) to prevent Southern Pacific Railroad from developing a seven-mile stretch of the Monterey Bay shoreline. In so doing, the Commission helped make possible the creation of the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail, a public bicycle and pedestrian path that has grown to sixteen miles in length and runs through the heart of John Steinbeck's world-famous Cannery Row. The controversy also was the subject of the first judicial challenge of a state's federal authority under the CZMA and precluded private commercial and residential development that would have dramatically altered the urban form of the Monterey Peninsula. It is important to tell the story as the Coastal Commission's role in this remarkable accomplishment has been almost completely overlooked.     

The Offshore Wind Power Debate: Views from Cape Cod

Wind power resources on the eastern U.S. continental shelf are estimated to be over 400 GW, several times the electricity used by U.S. eastern coastal states. The first U.S. developer proposes to build 130 large (40 story tall) wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, just outside Massachusetts state waters. These would provide 420 MW at market prices, enough electricity for most of Cape Cod. The project is opposed by a vigorous and well-financed coalition. Polling shows local public opinion on the project almost equally divided. This article draws on semistructured interviews with residents of Cape Cod to analyze values, beliefs, and logic of supporters and opponents. For example, one value found to lead to opposition is that the ocean is a special place that should be kept natural and free of human intrusion. One line of argument found to lead to support is: The war in Iraq is problematic, this war is “really” over petroleum, Cape Cod generates electricity from oil, therefore, the wind project would improve U.S. security. Based on analysis of the values and reasoning behind our interview data, we identify four issues that are relevant but not currently part of the debate.     

Exploring Participants' Views of Participatory Coastal and Marine Resource Management Processes

It is generally accepted that stakeholders, including resource users, scientists, conservationists, government and nongovernment organizations, and the general public, can contribute positively to management processes and may even benefit from such processes. However, we continue to struggle with how to design processes that effectively involve these stakeholders. To illuminate potential improvements to traditional processes, this study examines participants’ perceptions of coastal and marine resource management processes. Through semi-structured interviews, respondents describe how they feel about various elements of participatory processes. Responses offer insight into the multiple dimensions of participatory process elements described in the literature, such as influence on decisions, exchange of information, access to the process, transparent decision making, and others. Responses also identify additional elements that have received limited attention in the public-participation literature: hosting meetings at various scales, recognizing differences within interest groups, and considering the context of a process. Results from this study will help to inform the design of participatory coastal and marine resource management processes.     

Public Perception of Ocean Governance and Marine Resources Management in Taiwan

Understanding public perception of the oceans, and relationship between society and the sea is an important key to the sustainable management of marine resources. This research reports the first population-based survey on Taiwanese public knowledge, attitudes, and actions on marine-related issues. The stratified random sampling by county was completed with 1,120 telephone respondents from October to December 2010. More than 60% of the respondents have heard about global warming, sea-level rising, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the coral reef bleaching crisis, and Japan whaling fisheries. However, less than 20% of the respondents are aware of Taiwanese domestic marine policies, such as the Ocean White Paper. On resources conservation, 74.7% of the respondents support the bluefin tuna catches regulations and 76.6% agree that the shark fin fisheries will impact shark resources. Education and age are the major affecting variables for resource conservation and knowledge. Higher education and age 40–49 are most supportive of conservation measures. For marine recreational activities, 42.2% of the respondents can swim, and 44.2% of the respondents had not visited the beach in the previous year. The results suggest that the government could establish a specialized agency to strengthen its marine policy and take more actions to protect ocean environment and conserve marine resources. To encourage more Taiwanese to participate in ocean recreational activities, the government could build a safe facility for marine recreation, cooperate with the private sectors in education, and provide outreach to raise public awareness of the oceans.     

高速磁浮线车站内线路主要技术标准的探讨

结合高速磁浮线路轨道的特点及其车辆特征,对车站内线路的主要技术标准,如纵断面坡度、横坡角、平面曲线半径等进行了研究,对车站内列车通过的速度与平面曲线半径的关系作了分析,并提出了相应的研究结论.     

城市公共交通用地综合开发若干问题的思考 ——以北京市为例

为推进城市用地与交通的融合发展,提高城市公共交通用地综合开发效率,促进城市公共交通用地综合开发更好地适应城市交通发展需求,采用文献检索法、专家咨询法及实地调研法等开展研究。首先,对北京市客运交通枢纽综合开发、车辆段上盖物业、轨道交通站点综合开发及公交场站用地综合开发四大类城市公共交通用地综合开发项目发展现状进行了剖析。然后,结合规划、建设及投融资等方面存在的主要问题,分析了城市公共交通用地综合开发项目推进困难的症结所在。最后,提出了相关政策建议：推出城市公共交通用地综合开发统一指导意见;优化土地出让政策,最大化利用公共交通用地;创新投融资机制,减轻政府及企业投资压力;搭建市级平台,统筹协调相关工作。     

基于系统集成理论的城市道路景观设计

在我国城市道路景观实践过程中,由于建造时序的不同,城市道路的“景观破碎、缺乏集成”和“豪华奢侈、脱离实际”,不利于城市系统的和谐发展。鉴于此,本文在深入分析城市道路景观建设目标的基础上,独辟蹊径从系统范畴的角度探讨了一种“集成”的道路景观设计理念,为城市道路景观的建设提供了一个新的思路。     

迈向可持续的公共交通之路——首尔公交改革的经验与成就(续)

2004年7月1日,首尔市政府在全市开展了深刻的针对公交系统的整合性改革,这一举措成为迈向可持续性城市交通的重要一步。这次公交改革成功实施的关键在于它将管理机构、创新技术、基础设施的建设以及公交的组织和运营融为一体。经过一系列改革之后,首尔的交通面貌焕然一新:通过进一步协调交通运输容量和需求之间的矛盾,提高了运营效率,增加了乘客人数,使公交运营商的收入自启动集成收费系统之后得到增加。     

城市公共交通多元票制初探

借鉴国外先进经验,引进多元化公交票制是国内推进公交优先发展的重要措施.多元票制,即将乘客进行科学的分类,根据乘客的出行需求,设置不同种类的车票,以提高公交吸引力.就国内公交发展现状来看,换乘优惠的票制改革是推广多元票制的最佳切入点.     

台北公共交通月及无车日活动回顾与展望

台北国际无车日自2002年起举办了5次,由最早的骑自行车活动扩大至包含“走路上学日”与“公共交通月”丰富多彩的系列活动,渐渐获得民众认同。无车日活动的目标是通过活动的倡导和社会参与来改变民众使用交通工具的行为,潜移默化的效应可促使形成可持续交通政策,当可持续交通政策与基础设施建设落实后又可具体改变交通环境,形成良性的循环机制。首先说明了“无车日”的由来,并回顾台北都会区过去5年来举行无车日系列活动的内容与经验,同时基于活动的发展与成果归纳出无车日活动的成功要素,最后提出未来活动将扩大举办的内容、方式与展望,以期能为其他城市作参考。