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Discussion
of Case Study Themes
At
A Glance
Both Andalucia and Iceland are located in the Hinterlands
of Europe. Both areas depend on the careful management
of resources as mainstays of the economy. One of the
environmental challenges facing Iceland, severe cold,
can be contrasted to the Mediterranean environment of
Andalucia. The history of each country differs greatly:
Andalucia was once central in Europe while Iceland has
always been in the Hinterlands. The role of government
in each country is critical to providing the vision,
infrastructure investment programs, and economic policies
that may maintain and improve, current and future living
standards.
Case
Study 1 -- Andalucia: Developments in the Hinterlands
Andalucia's
Role Changes From Core to Hinterlands
Situated at one meeting point of the Islamic, Jewish,
and Christian worlds, Andalucia was central and powerful
during the Middle-Ages. In the seventeenth century
it became a money-changing center between the Mediterranean
and Atlantic worlds. Seville, the region's capital,
has conserved in its monumental architecture the flamboyance
of a period that saw all the riches of a New World
pass through its gates.
Subsequently,
the Europe of conquistadors gave way to that of industrialists.
Despite its mineral resources, the region suffered
from the inertia of the ruling class and was left
behind by the Industrial Revolution. Spain became
progressively more marginal in Europe and Andalucia
more marginal in Spain.
Economic
Geography is Key to Andalucia's Future
Less than fifteen years ago, almost all of the Andalucian
coastline was just sand, palm trees, and tourist homes.
Today, thousand of new inhabitants from Spain's interior
have colonized these plains under a sea of plastic
greenhouses. Many new highways transport tomatoes
and other fresh food products directly to the great
consuming markets of the European core. In this way,
Andalucia could be regarded as an integrated hinterland.
Leaders
in the region, however, want to be more than "an
orchard for Europe." While maintaining its prodigious
tourist economy and certain agricultural advantages,
Andalucia wants to attract different sectors of commerce
industry, technology, and services. Initially conceived
as a world fair commemorating the five hundredth anniversary
of the discovery of America, the Expo Cartuja '92
was, in the end, dedicated to the celebration of the
new frontiers of science and technology. After the
Expo ended, it was hoped that its new buildings would
attract high-tech industries. Even with new transportation
links to the European core, though, planners found
that it is not so easy to reproduce on command the
experience of California's Silicon Valley or other
places where technological development goes hand in
hand with a good quality of life. People continue
to feel the need to leave the region to seek better
opportunities.
Case
Study 2 -- Iceland: Edge of the Habitable World
Humans
Interact With the Environment in Iceland
Icelanders depend on a hostile environment for their
survival. The ocean fisheries surrounding Iceland
supply eighty percent of the country's exports, bringing
wealth to many and fueling Iceland's strong service
economy. While the northern Atlantic Ocean brings
fortune, it can also bring misery when frequent wind,
rain, and blizzards create hazardous conditions. In
one small town on Haemay Island, five hundred fishermen
out of five thousand inhabitants have lost their lives
in the stormy seas since 1860.
The
ocean provides the abundant seafood stocks that support
the island's high standard of living. Here problems
and prospects are a function of physical geography.
Powerful ocean dynamics -- the meeting and mixing
of the warm Gulf Stream and an ice-bearing Arctic
current -- are at play in the shallow waters of the
Icelandic coasts. This mixing of warm and cold creates
an upwelling of nutrient-rich water that feeds a strong
fishery.
Iceland
is literally located on the edge of the North American
and Eurasian tectonic plates. The continuous separation
of these plates along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge makes
Iceland one of the most volcanically active places
in the world. Millions of years ago, volcanoes on
the ocean floor erupted to create the islands now
called Iceland. Lava and waves created one of the
country's finest natural harbors on Haemay, providing
shelter in the midst of Iceland's most productive
and most dangerous waters.
Resource
Management in Response to a Harsh Environment
Despite the bounty brought about by Iceland's physical
geography, Icelanders were facing a fish shortage.
The technologically advanced fleets of these islands
had depleted the fishery resource. Today, they still
have the capability to vacuum the ocean-floor clean.
Scientists
believed that with careful regulation of this technology,
the fish stocks could be stabilized. The government
has imposed and monitors quotas on the size of every
fisherman's catch. But the struggle to balance the
health of the fishery resource with the financial
concerns of the fishermen continues.
Whether
meeting the challenges of the earth or the sea, Icelanders
have always lived on the edge. Their future depends
on their ability to overcome the disadvantages of
their physical geography and maintain a foothold in
this unique physical environment.
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