We have been conducting a project on the “Development of Open-Access e-Learning Materials for GIS Education Based on the Existing Core Curriculum and the Body of Knowledge.” This project aims to develop and publish online GIS materials for GIS exercises in higher education. The materials were compiled following a textbook of GIS standards published in a past project, mainly using free software. The educational resource package of the materials is provided on the GitHub platform with an open license to enable secondary use. Here we report the process of developing the materials and discuss their advantages in comparison with existing GIS learning materials.

This paper explains the city planning decisions on building large-scale retail stores outside the built-up areas of Nara. The city approved a strategic plan under the Act on Vitalization of the City Center in conformity with the master plans of Nara prefecture and the city of Nara. Both master plans are aimed at accumulating more stores in the city center and developing retail areas along main roads in order to overcome existing deficiencies. Therefore, planning councils did not examine the negative effects of large-scale stores in the city center and decided that built-up areas should be expanded to accommodate large-scale stores. However, large-scale stores clustered in residential districts and it was clarified that the actual land use does not match the assigned type of zoning.

This paper describes the development of the tourism and conservation area of the Shichahai historical district in central Beijing following the 2008 Olympics. Shichahai has beautiful waterfront areas and scenery. Many traditional houses known as siheyuan and small alleys known as hutong can be found within Shichahai. In 2002, this area was designated as a “townscape conservation and reconstruction area in Beijing.” Moreover, in 2001, the International Olympic Committee decided that the 2008 Summer Olympics would be held in Beijing. Following that decision, many young people from other areas of China opened European-style bars and shops within Shichahai. Thus, Shichahai developed into one of the most famous tourism destinations in Beijing.

Since the 2008 Summer Olympics, however, Shichahai’s socioeconomic environment has been changing. These changes, such as the sudden rise in land prices, strengthened restrictions on tourism development, and strong competition among tourism operators, have had significant effects on Shichahai. This paper analyzes the changes within Shichahai empirically.

This article examines the trajectory of the ger area redevelopment project in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and the status of residents who are perplexed by the project itself. After the transition from a socialist regime, ger areas expanded as migrants from rural areas gravitated to the capital city. Because the living environment lacks basic infrastructure such as water supply and sewage systems, ger areas are recognized as the epicenter of urban problems. The ger area redevelopment project in recent years is one measure to improve the living environment. However, its progress has been hindered by the ideal development goals set without concrete measures to achieve them. Moreover, the project has been affected by frequent changes of parties in administrative power. Some apartment buildings have been constructed and people have moved into them. While the tenants appreciate the convenience of life in apartment housing, they also complain that they have lost flexibility in lifestyle arrangements and the leeway to improve the environment in ger areas by themselves. The project has not only been mostly hampered so far but has also reduced the free agency of residents in ger areas: those who are anticipating the results of the redevelopment project are likely to abandon their own attempts to improve the living environment. It is not realistic to demolish ger areas and construct apartment buildings with the required infrastructure in a short period of time. A viable alternative is to embrace and support the praxis undertaken by residents in ger areas, notwithstanding the limited resources they can mobilize.

This paper reports the current status and issues of initial teacher training reform in England, especially in school geography. In England, the reforms have led to fragmentation of the teacher training system, and the center of training routes has shifted from university- to school-based routes. As a result, some universities are withdrawing from teacher training, there is increased competition rather than cooperation between universities and schools as teacher training institutions, and the contents of teacher training courses are becoming increasingly centralized. Although Japan’s teacher training reform often refers to English examples, these problems should not be overlooked from the viewpoint of the development of professional subject competence.