Five priests are dead, brutally murdered by the people God sent them to save. One survived, the young Francis who was enslaved and tortured by the Indians, but who refuses to testify against the killers. And what of the old Indian, the Acueran who speaks many tongues? Does he allow himself to be held prisoner of the Spanish sergeant? Is Father Pareja wise to use the old man in his language studies, and what dangers does he present for the priest, the mission or the young altar boy, Juan de Coya? And what hope is there for the Indians who have no defense against the arquebus and musket, and no magic for the pox and plague the Invaders bring? The year is 1601. The place is the Catholic Mission San Juan del Puerto where the ancient Timucuan River of the Sun flows into an uncertain future.
Meandering through Orange, Lake, and Seminole Counties, this "purest form of Central Florida nature," as described by one of its champions, is also bordered by some of the region's most densely populated suburban sprawl. The Wekiva River makes up some of the best protected waters in the state with laws designed for its preservation, as it is recognized as a regional "jewel" and a resource worth saving in public trust as parks, preserves, and forests. Today visitors who paddle, boat, and hike here discover a sanctuary that seems unchanged since its earliest history, when ancient tribes piled fresh water shells, sand, bone, and pot shards to create midden mounds, and when Clay Springs and other early settlements helped draw river traffic and railroads hauled out its forest products. Its cooling springs have provided recreation for generation after generation.
Smart Cities Policies and Financing: Approaches and Solutions is the definitive professional reference for harnessing the full potential of policy making and financial planning in smart cities. It covers the effective tools for capturing the dynamic relations between people, policies, financing, and environments, and where they are most often useful and effective for all relevant stakeholders. The book examines the key role of science, technology, and innovation (STI) - especially in information and communications technologies - in the design, development, and management of smart cities policies and financing. It identifies the problems and offers practical solutions in implementation of smart infrastructure policies and financing. Smart Cities Policies and Financing is also about how the implementation of smart infrastructure projects (related to the challenges of the lack of financing and the application of suitable policies) underlines the key roles of science, technology and innovation (STI) communities in addressing these challenges and provides key policies and financing that will help guide the design and development of smart cities. - Brings together experts from academia, government and industry to offer state-of- the-art solutions for improving the lives of billions of people in cities around the globe - Creates awareness among governments of the various policy tools available, such as output-based contracting, public-private partnerships, procurement policies, long-term contracting, and targeted research funds in order to promote smart infrastructure implementation, and encouraging the use of such tools to shape markets for smart infrastructure and correct market failures - Ensures the insclusiveness of smart city projects by adequately addressing the special needs of marginalized sections of society including the elderly, persons with disabilities, and inhabitants of informal settlements and informal sectors - Ensures gender considerations in the design of smart cities and infrastructure through the use of data generated by smart systems to make cities safer and more responsive to the needs of women - Demonstrate practical implementation through real-life case studies - Enhances reader comprehension using learning aids such as hands-on exercises, checklists, chapter summaries, review questions, and an extensive appendix of additional resources
Provides complete travel information on the cities, small towns, and resorts of Florida with advice on transportation, dining, sightseeing, accommodations, sports, shopping, and other attractions
Losing It All to Sprawl is the poignant chronicle of award-winning nature writer Bill Belleville and how he came to understand and love his historic Cracker farmhouse and "relic" neighborhood in central Florida, even as it was all wiped out from under him. Belleville's narrative is eloquent, informed, and impassioned, a saga in which tractors and backhoes trample through the woods next to his home in order to build the backbone of Florida sprawl--the mall. As heavy machinery encircles Belleville and his community--the noise growing louder and closer, displacing everything Belleville has called home for the past fifteen years--he tells a story that is much older, 10,000 years older. The story stretches back to the Timucua and the Mayaca living in harmony with Florida's environment; the conquistadors who expected much from, but also feared, this "land of flowers"; the turn-of-the-century tourists "modernizing" and "climatizing" the state; the original Cracker families who lived in Belleville's farmhouse. In stark contrast to this millennia-long transformation is the whiplash of unbridled growth and development that threatens the nearby wilderness of the Wekiva River system, consuming Belleville's home and, ultimately, his very sense of place. In Florida, one of the nation's fastest growing states (and where local and state governments encourage growth), balancing use with preservation is an uphill battle. Sprawl spreads into the countryside, consuming not just natural lands but Old Florida neighborhoods and their unique history. In Losing It All to Sprawl, Belleville accounts for the impacts--social, political, natural, personal--that a community in the crosshairs of unsustainable growth ultimately must bear, but he also offers Floridians, and anyone facing the blight of urban confusion, the hope that can be found in the rediscovery and appreciation of the natural landscape.
