Impervious surfaces are the most significant feature of human settlements. Timely, accurate, and frequent information on impervious surfaces is critical in both social-economic and natural environment applications. Over the past 40 years, impervious surface areas in China have grown rapidly. However, annual maps of impervious areas in China with high spatial details do not exist during this period. In this paper, we made use of reliable impervious surface mapping algorithms that we published before and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to address this data gap. With available data in GEE, we were able to map impervious surfaces over the entire country circa 1978, and during 1985-2017 at an annual frequency. The 1978 data were at 60-m resolution, while the 1985-2017 data were in 30-m resolution. For the 30-m resolution data, we evaluated the accuracies for 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Overall accuracies reached more than 90%. Our results indicate that the growth of impervious surface in China was not only fast but also considerably exceeding the per capita impervious surface area in developed countries like Japan. The 40-year continuous and consistent impervious surface distribution data in China would generate widespread interests in the research and policy-making community. The impervious surface data can be freely downloaded from http://data.ess.tsinghua.edu.cn.
First paragraph:
Organizing Eating: Communicating for Equity Across U.S. Food Systems draws together recent research from scholars on organization and communication exploring how to move toward food justice, as edited by Sarah E. Dempsey. It is not coincidental that this book was published in 2023, just a few years after the COVID-19 pandemic. As Dempsey explains in the opening chapter, COVID-19 epitomizes the ways intersectional systematic forms of oppression threaten people’s ability to access food, a basic human right. However, exerting power through food did not just start during COVID-19: from post-Emancipation to New Deal legislation, the American legal system uses food both as a mechanism and outcome of power. The authors in this collection illustrate that U.S. society, as a whole, needs to bring equity to the conversation around food, organization, and power to dynamically reorganize our food system. . . .
A PATRIOT OR A REBEL?INDEPENDENCE ACTIVITIES OF THE PRIEST GRZEGORZ MOSZORA DURING THE SPRINGTIME OF THE PEOPLES IN THE LIGHT OF LVIV AND VIENNA ARCHIVES
Abstract, Grzegorz Moszoro (1812-1881) was born in an Armenian family in Łysiec (Eastern Galicia). In 1838, he graduated in philosophy and theology from the University of Vienna and became a priest of the Archdiocese of Lwów within the Armenian rites. In 1839, he joined in Lwów a secret society called “Sons of the Fatherland”, for which he was accused of high treason, sentenced to death and deprived of his nobility. In 1845, the Emperor Ferdinand I pardoned him, ordering penance. In 1848, Moszoro became a vicar of the Armenian parish in Stanisławów, where he got involved in independence activities again. He participated in the work of the Regional National Council – an organisation striving for introduction of democratic changes and regaining independence by Poland. During sermons within the Armenian Church, he encouraged the faithful to rebel against the Austrian authorities. Gubernium in Lwów and starostvo in Stanisławów collected extensive material documenting the priest’s activity. On its basis, the activities of Moszoro were recreated – in the context of socio-political changes, occuring in Galicia at that time. In 1849, Moszoro became a rector of the Armenian parish in Tyśmienica, devoting himself exclusively to priestly work.
O rio Paraopeba, afluente do São Francisco, desempenhou um papel fundamental nas expedições paulistas pelas futuras terras de Minas Gerais nas últimas décadas do século XVII. Inicialmente, a região do médio Paraopeba foi alvo da busca pelo ouro, mas desenvolveu um caráter agropecuário em parte do período colonial e imperial. No entanto, no início do século XX, a construção da Variante do Paraopeba pela Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil (EFCB) transformou a dinâmica do território, que antes funcionava fora do controle direto das administrações centrais. Com base na visão holística do território de Saverio Muratori (1967), este estudo reavalia os efeitos da ferrovia na reversão das estruturas de longa duração observadas em duas cachoeiras deste rio e em ruínas presentes na paisagem. São analisados a rota de exploração (1670-1690) e quatro períodos morfológicos distintos: a colonização inicial (1690–1730), a distribuição de sesmarias (1730–1810), a estagnação e transição para a mineração de ferro (1810–1910) e a era ferroviária (1910–1940). Nos anos que se seguiram, enquanto a ocupação do fundo de vale era incentivada, os empreendimentos mineradores se estabeleceram em cotas superiores. Essa dupla condição estrutura parte dos dilemas entre as ocupações e o avanço da mineração na contemporaneidade.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Dyah Lestari Yulianti, Ika Nuriyati, Rini Rahayu
et al.
Cendol drink is a traditional Indonesian beverage made from rice flour and widely consumed in East Java. Many household-scale cendol entrepreneurs are located in Jetis, Mulyoagung Village, Dau District, Malang Regency, where production is still manual and limited to around 3 kg/day. Financial management, production processes, and marketing strategies also remain suboptimal. This community service program aimed to enhance partners’ knowledge and skills in financial management, production techniques, and marketing strategies to improve business performance. The program was implemented through knowledge transfer methods, including counseling sessions, demonstration plots, and mentoring conducted over three months. Program success was measured through improvements in production capacity, product quality, financial management practices, production efficiency, and marketing reach. The results showed that the integration of knowledge transfer and appropriate technology increased production capacity from 3 kg/day to 10 kg/day and raised household entrepreneurs’ profits by approximately 50 percent. The adoption of simple yet applicable technology provided tangible benefits for micro and small enterprises, particularly in improving operational efficiency and business sustainability. This activity also reflected effective collaboration between academia and the community in supporting local economic empowerment. Follow-up programs are recommended to include training in creative content development and social media management, supported by periodic mentoring to ensure sustainable implementation of production and marketing strategies.
Francisco Martin Villarreal Solis, Mario Alberto García Meza, Jose Gerardo Ignacio Gómez Romero
Este artículo analiza el impacto de la presencia del crimen organizado en las remesas en México durante la pandemia de covid-19. La hipótesis plantea que el crimen organizado ha capitalizado el incremento en los flujos de remesas como una estrategia para introducir dinero ilícito tras el cierre de fronteras. Se analizó el comportamiento de las remesas en 74 municipios de 23 áreas metropolitanas y se compararon los periodos previo y posterior a la pandemia. Los resultados muestran un aumento de 23% en las remesas en regiones con alta presencia del crimen organizado, frente a 8.47% en otras zonas urbanas.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Climate change-induced extreme weather events have been at their worst increase in the past decade (2010–2020) across Africa and globally. This has proved disruptive to global socio-economic activities. One of the challenges that has been faced in this regard is the increased coastal flooding of cities. This study examined the trends and impacts of coastal flooding in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Making use of archival climate data and primary data from key informants and field observations, it emerged that there is a statistically significant increase in the frequency of flooding and consequent human and economic losses from such in the coastal cities of the province. Flooding in urban areas of the Western Cape is a factor of human and natural factors ranging from extreme rainfall, usually caused by persistent cut off-lows, midlatitude cyclones, cold fronts and intense storms. Such floods become compounded by poor drainage caused by vegetative overgrowth on waterways and land pollution that can be traced to poor drainage maintenance. Clogging of waterways and drainage systems enhances the risk of flooding. Increased urbanisation, overpopulation in some areas and non-adherence to environmental laws results in both the affluent and poor settling on vulnerable ecosystems. These include coastal areas, estuaries, and waterways, and this worsens the risk of flooding. The study recommends a comprehensive approach to deal with factors that increase the risk of flooding as informed by the provisions of both the Sustainable Development Goals framework and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 in a bid to de-risking human settlement in South Africa.
Agritourism is a complex activity, a chance maybe today to ensure both human health and the “health” of the environment and rural settlements in order to achieve a most wanted desideratum, the sustainability of the rural environment. The idea of this paper starts from the trend of the current period, meaning the strong emphasis on natural, organic, bio, in all human activities, health and environment, in a word, sustainability. The necessity of implementing the sustainability of activities, health and environment in rural areas, taking into account the agritourism field, was a subject pursued in the study, taking as area of study the mountainous rural environment, the reason of this choice deriving from the fact that the mountain area offers great opportunities for agritourism development, the practice of which is even necessary in the current period. The sustainability of agritourism on rural health and environment cannot be dissociated from the economic, social and cultural life of the community in which it manifests itself, and has a multiplier effect on all the domains with which it interacts. So the purpose of the paper is to follow the development of the agritourism field and, based on some present information, to make a future forecast for some specific indicators, to highlight the representative aspects related to the development and capitalization of guesthouses from a rural mountain environment through agritourism and to come up with a forecast for future transformations that need to take place in the studied area in order to support the sustainable development of the human environment through agritourism.
There is a significant role for the mining and minerals industry to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a global level, through supplying the raw materials needed for technological progress, human development and cleaner economic growth, and at a local level, through socio-economic development and support, environmental protection, and good governance. While mining companies support the SDGs at the corporate level, there is a lack of evidence to show whether they are being implemented at the mine site level. There is also a lack of clarity on who the mine host communities are and what happens to the SDGs commitments after mine closure. The aim of this study was to identify all the host communities in the West Wits goldfield in South Africa and measure a comprehensive set of local SDG indicators, to explore the local variations that are hidden at national and municipal level, and the implications for communities achieving the SDGs in the context of mine closure. The West Wits is home to over 300,000 people living in 47 diverse communities—towns, mine villages, townships, informal settlements, industrial areas and rural areas. While 23 local SDG indicators were selected, only 13 indicators across 8 SDGs could be measured using census data. The findings show significant inequality between communities and deprivation in many communities, particularly the informal settlements. There are low levels of education, internet access and employment across the communities, indicating high vulnerability to mine closure. Without major intervention the SDGs will not be met by 2030 and thousands of people in these communities will be left behind. This is even more concerning given the majority of mines are expected to close in the next 10–20 years and the local economy in the West Wits is largely reliant on mining. Achieving the SDGs will require collaboration between multiple mining companies, local government authorities, civil society and communities, and significant urgent interventions on education and skills development, internet access and employment creation beyond the mining industry.
Informal settlements are often the hotspots of vulnerability as evidenced by the recurrent environmental and climate-related shocks and stressors. Despite this exposure and susceptibility, their role in spearheading disaster risk preparedness and response is often overlooked. This exploratory research profiles four local community initiatives for climate mitigation and adaptation within Korogocho informal settlement in Kenya. Findings from 10 purposefully sampled key informants and 30 stratified sampled residents across nine villages within the informal settlement demonstrated the impact of locally led initiatives in creating awareness and developing the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of communities for climate resilience. The research findings elaborate on the outstanding performance of community derived initiatives, whilst putting emphasis on the need for active dialogue and collaboration between communities, policy makers and practitioners. Additionally, the climate agenda ought to be able to simultaneously promote environmental benefits and the socio-economic wellbeing of the people. This study accentuates the role of smart approaches to climate literacy based on existing community structures that leverage on local experiential knowledge. These include digital storytelling, comics, art, music, local radio stations, community opinion leaders and chief barazas. A key takeaway is the significant role of children in transformative climate resilience. This is facilitated by the fact that they may comprehend climate change implications better than adults augmenting the possibility of human behavioral change toward pro-environmental deeds1.
Abstract The human-centric energy transition is required to foster efficient buildings and communities by combining users’ engagement and technical solutions. In this view, the present study aims at evaluating for the first time the influence of users’ holistic experience on the feasibility of Net Zero Energy (NZE) communities in laggard countries for their application. The human-centric role is analyzed from a twofold perspective: the influence of user-building interaction on the expected final energy performance and the psychological factors affecting willingness towards the exploitation of NZE communities. To this aim, different scenarios for user-building interaction, obtained varying the family typology and occupants’ energy-related attitude, are assessed via validated dynamic simulation. In addition, an extended Technology Acceptance Model is examined through the submission of an extensive survey to investigate consumers’ intent to live and invest in buildings within NZE communities. Findings show the clear impact of users’ energy-awareness and knowledge of the potentialities of this solution on both buildings NZE performance achievement and consumers’ willingness towards NZE settlements implementation. Accordingly, this study brings to light how people engagement in energy communities is of fundamental relevance to reach the expected energy transition towards peer-to-peer renewable energy market, especially in laggard countries (e.g. Italy), where these concepts are currently being exploited.
Leticia Abigail Pérez Pulido, María de Lourdes Romo Aguilar
El desarrollo urbano en las ciudades de la frontera norte de México ha quedado marcado por los flujos de población y la llegada de la industria. Ciudad Juárez no es la excepción porque, pese a la cantidad de planes y programas de desarrollo urbano, los problemas en materia urbana han aumentado, en particular, la expansión de la ciudad, acompañada de carencias en equipamiento e infraestructura. Este artículo analiza la participación de la planeación urbana en el proceso de expansión de Ciudad Juárez al suroriente, con el propósito de visualizar los planes de desarrollo urbano como instrumentos de legitimación del crecimiento.
Human settlements. Communities, Demography. Population. Vital events
It is widely acknowledged that firms require an efficient regulatory environment: if transaction costs generated by business regulations are not onerous, firms grow more and develop more quickly, attract more foreign direct investment, and employ more workers. But what does it induce alterations in the basic institutional framework? In this paper we intend to test North’s thesis by which as trade expands and the size of the market grows, transaction costs increase requiring that more and more resources should be devoted to improving existing regulations and, then, reducing such costs. The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 introduces. Section 2 provides the theoretical background. Section 3, based on World Bank data on 30 Chinese cities, investigates whether there is a correlation at urban and provincial levels between efficient business regulations on one side and economic outcomes (gross domestic product, foreign direct investment, employment, etc.) on the other. Section 4 addresses the pilot question mentioned above and tests whether simpler and less costly ways of meeting legal requirements for starting and running a business are associated with long-run trade. Section 5 discusses results in the light of theoretically assumed causal links and proposes a 2SLS regression model, whereby a geographical instrumental variable is used to investigate the causal relationship between business regulations and exports.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Couples' residential decisions are based on a large variety of factors including housing preferences, family and other social ties, socialisation and residential biography (e.g. earlier experience in the life course) and environmental factors (e.g. housing market, labour market). This study examines, firstly, to what extent people stay in, return to or leave their hometown (referred to as ‘migration type’). We refer to the hometown as the place where most of childhood and adolescence is spent. Secondly, we study which conditions shape a person’s migration type. We mainly focus on variables capturing elements of the residential biography and both partners’ family ties and family socialisation. We focus on the residential choices made at the time of family formation, i.e. when the first child is born. We employ multinomial regression modelling and cross-tabulations, based on two generations in a sample of families who mostly live in the wider Ruhr area, born around 1931 (parents) and 1957 (adult children). We find that migration type is significantly affected by a combination of both partners' place of origin, both partners' parents' places of residence, the number of previous moves, level of education and hometown population size. We conclude that complex patterns of experience made over the life course, socialisation and gendered patterns are at work. These mechanisms should be kept in mind when policymakers develop strategies to attract (return) migrants.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country