Abstract. Land-use planners often make complex decisions within a short period of time when they must take into account sustainable development and economic competitiveness. A set of land-use suitability maps would be very useful in this respect. Ideally, these maps should incorporate complex criteria integrating several stakeholders' points of view. To illustrate the feasibility of this approach, a land suitability map for housing was realised for a small region of Switzerland. Geographical Information System technology was used to assess the criteria requested to de ne the suitability of land for housing. An example dealing with the evaluation of noise levels illustrates the initial steps of this procedure. Because the required criteria are heterogeneous and measured on various scales, an outranking multicriteria analysis method called ELECTRE-TRI was used. However, using it to assess the suitability of any point in a territory was impractical due to computational limitations. Therefore, a mathematical function to evaluate closeness relationships and classify the study area into homogeneous zones was used. This function is compatible with the outranking function of ELECTRE-TRI used to assess the suitability index. The resulting maps lend e cient support to negotiation and are very useful in dealing with inherent con icts in land-use planning.

In land management, conflicts are more frequent and stronger. Any important project on land becomes difficult to implement. MAGISTER (Multicriteria Analysis with GIS for TERritory) model proposes a decision support method to integrate multiple actors of land management. It is based on geographical information systems and multicriteria analysis. In land use problems, the study area is described by a set of homogeneous zones to reduce the numbers of alternatives. The homogeneity quality is assessed by use of a valued closeness relation developed in the domain of rough set theory. This function is based on the same principle as the valued outranking relation used in ELECTRE, which is then used to select the best zones, or classify them in predefined category. One application of the MAGISTER model concerns the realisation of a land suitability map for housing. Through eight criteria, this map integrates simultaneously the particularity of each place and the general principles of land management, which should be determined by decision‐makers.

Involving a wide-range of stakeholders at different moments in the planning of urban adaptation to climate change can help to overcome different barriers to adaptation, such as a lack of common perception, or control over options. This Article argues for an approach that involves a wide range of actors throughout the planning process in order to confront the challenges of urban adaptation to climate change. It builds on the results of a three-year participatory action research project to identify the catalysts with which local administrations can overcome the lack of data, the low level of engagement around the climate issue, and the cause-and-effect linkages of climate change impacts on the urban environment. Significant factors include territorial rootedness, leveraging actors' experience, interaction between actors, as well as the valuing of local actors as experts of territorial management rather than as novices with regard to climate change adaptation. In addition to contributing towards the engagement of a large number of stakeholders around adaptation issues, a planning process that involves representatives from various sectors and during several stages contributes to a greater understanding of these issues and their linkages. It follows that such a process will bring changes to urban practices by better articulating local concerns about climatic issues. Policy relevanceAlthough participation is commonly advocated in policy responses to climate change, only few empirical studies have investigated the ways in which local actors' knowledge can be integrated into climate change adaptation planning processes. The article builds on the results of an action research project carried out in Québec City, Canada, to address the relevance of involving a progressively broader range of actors as the adaptation process moves through its various phases. Given that a multitude of barriers to adaptation are at play at different times in a municipality, collaborations between local stakeholders emerge as a key factor. These collaborations provide greater insight into the linkages between climate change impacts and the urban environment and, in doing so, bring into question ordinary urban management and design practices.

Les premières banlieues pavillonnaires nord-américaines sont problématiques pour le vieillissementà domicile. Malgré la dépendanceà l'automobile, les banlieusardsâgés aspirentà y vieillir. Plutôt que de déménager, ils adaptent leur quotidien et leurs déplacements. L'accèsà la mobilité est un enjeu majeur au maintien d'une expérience résidentielle positive, notamment pour les individus en perte d'autonomie. Or, parce qu'elle estétudiée avec le concept de déplacement, la mobilité des aînés demeure mal comprise en tant qu'expérience individuelle et collective. C'est dans cette optique que les pratiques et les significations de la mobilité quotidienne de 87 banlieusardsâgés de 55à 82 ans de l'agglomération de Québec au Canada sont icí etudiées. En croisant des méthodes quantitative et qualitative ainsi que des techniques d'analysesDaily mobility of aging and elderly suburbanites: trips, aspirations and meanings of mobilityThe post-War suburbs of North America are problematic for aging in place. Despite their high level of car dependency, elderly suburbanites would rather grow old at home. Rather than move, they make changes to their daily routines. Gaining access to mobility is a major issue for older people, particularly frail seniors, who wish to ensure that their residential experience remains positive. Given that the study of mobility draws on the concept of trip patterns, our understanding of the individual and collective experiences of elderly mobility is incomplete. In this light, this paper explores the practices and meanings of daily mobility for 87 elderly suburbanites aged from 55 to 82 years and currently residing in the greater Québec City area, [Cet article aété soumis avant que Marius Thériault devienne rédacteur pour les textes en français et le processus de révision á eté entièrement réalisé par Rodolphe Devillers./ This manuscript was submitted before Marius Thériault became French editor and the review process was entirely managed by Rodolphe Devillers.] The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 53, no 3 (2009) 357-375 C / Canadian Association of Geographers / L'Association canadienne des géographes 358 Sébastien Lord, Florent Joerin and Marius Thériaultspatiales, l'article développe une typologie de mobilité pour explorer les stratégies d'adaptation des aînésà leur environnement socio-spatial. Les résultats montrent que, sans véritablement entrer dans un processus de décision, les banlieusards choisissent implicitement de vieillir en banlieue en adaptant de manière continue leurs modes de vie. La conservation de l'indépendance et l'attachement au «mode de vie banlieusard» sontà la source des aspirations résidentielles. Cette mobilité quotidienne en transformation risque aussi d'influencer les trajectoires résidentielles, alimentant les réflexions sur la requalification de ces milieux vieillissants.Mots clés: vieillissement, mobilité quotidienne, mobilité résidentielle, banlieue, méthode qualitative, méthode quantitative, analyse spatiale Canada. Combining both quantitative and qualitative me...

Purpose -This paper is an attempt to bridge the gap between, on the one hand, the mobility behaviour of households and their perception of accessibility to urban amenities and, on the other hand, house price dynamics as captured through hedonic modelling. Design/methodology/approach -In order to analyse the mobility behaviour of individuals and households, their sensitivity to travel time from home to service places is estimated so as to assess their perceived accessibility, using "subjective" indices based on actual trips, as reported in the 2001 origin-destination survey designed for Quebec City. For comparative purposes, both objective and subjective accessibility indices based, in the former case on observed travel times and, in the latter case on fuzzy logic criteria, are computed and used as a complement to a centrality index in a hedonic model of house prices. Findings -Findings indicate that there are statistically significant differences in the way accessibility is structured depending on trip purposes and household profiles. They also suggest that, while an objective measure of accessibility yields good results, resorting to subjective, and more comprehensive, accessibility indices derived from fuzzy logic provides greater insight into the understanding of commuting patterns and travel behaviour of people. Practical implications -Better understanding the complexity of individuals' and households' mobility behaviour should result in more adequate initiatives and decisions being taken by transportation and city planning authorities. Originality/value -Accessibility to jobs and services has long been known as a major determinant of urban, residential and non residential, rents. Yet, it is more often than not assumed to derive from a rather straightforward process, which this paper shows is not the case.

BackgroundIn 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiated the Global plan of action for Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR). The main goal of this plan is to reduce further loss of genetic diversity in farm animals, so as to protect and promote the diversity of farm animal resources. An important step to reach this goal is to monitor and prioritize endangered breeds in the context of conservation programs.Methodology/Web portal implementationThe GENMON WebGIS platform is able to monitor FAnGR and to evaluate the degree of endangerment of livestock breeds. The system takes into account pedigree and introgression information, the geographical concentration of animals, the cryo-conservation plan and the sustainability of breeding activities based on socio-economic data as well as present and future land use conditions. A multi-criteria decision tool supports the aggregation of the multi-thematic indices mentioned above using the MACBETH method, which is based on a weighted average using satisfaction thresholds. GENMON is a monitoring tool to reach subjective decisions made by a government agency. It relies on open source software and is available at http://lasigsrv2.epfl.ch/genmon-ch.Results/SignificanceGENMON allows users to upload pedigree-information (animal ID, parents, birthdate, sex, location and introgression) from a specific livestock breed and to define species and/or region-specific weighting parameters and thresholds. The program then completes a pedigree analysis and derives several indices that are used to calculate an integrated score of conservation prioritization for the breeds under investigation. The score can be visualized on a geographic map and allows a fast, intuitive and regional identification of breeds in danger. Appropriate conservation actions and breeding programs can thus be undertaken in order to promote the recovery of the genetic diversity in livestock breeds in need. The use of the platform is illustrated by means of an example based on three local livestock breeds from different species in Switzerland.

No abstract

For mid-latitude cities, higher summer temperatures due to climate change are a cause for concern because they aggravate the urban heat island phenomenon and reduce thermal comfort inside buildings. By acquiring the appropriate knowledge and skills, architects and urban designers can become key actors in adaptation to climate change. Two workshops bringing together architects and urban designers provided evidence of deficiencies in this area. We hypothesize that a design support tool (DST) focused on the issue of adaptation of midlatitude cities to rising summer temperatures could help improve knowledge and skills of professionals in the field. The first section presents the results taken from a review and classification of DSTs, which highlight the tools' features that are likely to reach this goal. Tools of the "hybrid" category seem most appropriate. To verify this, seven DSTs were selected and tested by fourteen students enrolled in a graduate-level architecture design studio. The second section presents the results from this test, including an analysis of the final projects, a webbased questionnaire and two focus groups. The relevance of hybrid approaches is established, but the results bring into question the capacity of a single DST to meet the individual and multiple needs of professionals.Please cite this article as: Dubois, C., et al., Design support tools to sustain climate change adaptation at the local level: A review and reflection on their suitability. Frontiers of Architectural Research (2015), http://dx.