Hasil untuk "City population. Including children in cities, immigration"

O. Popova, P. Jenniskens, V. Emel'yanenko et al.

Zilin Wang, Saeed Rahmani, Daphne Cornelisse et al.

While autonomous vehicles have achieved reliable performance within specific operating regions, their deployment to new cities remains costly and slow. A key bottleneck is the need to collect many human demonstration trajectories when adapting driving policies to new cities that differ from those seen in training in terms of road geometry, traffic rules, and interaction patterns. In this paper, we show that self-play multi-agent reinforcement learning can adapt a driving policy to a substantially different target city using only the map and meta-information, without requiring any human demonstrations from that city. We introduce NO data Map-based self-play for Autonomous Driving (NOMAD), which enables policy adaptation in a simulator constructed based on the target-city map. Using a simple reward function, NOMAD substantially improves both task success rate and trajectory realism in target cities, demonstrating an effective and scalable alternative to data-intensive city-transfer methods. Project Page: https://nomaddrive.github.io/

Guo-Shiuan Lin, Denise Hertwig, Megan McGrory et al.

Cities host most of the world population with diverse services and activities. One key challenge in urban modelling is the quantification of intra- and inter-city mobility patterns and the associated space-time dynamics of population density and anthropogenic activities. To address this, we apply the novel agent-based urban model DAVE (Dynamic Anthropogenic actiVities and feedback to Emissions) to simulate population behaviour and mobility in the Vaud and Geneva Cantons, a system of small- to medium-size cities in Switzerland. Simulation results provide detailed temporal (10 min) and spatial (500 m) population dynamics for different age groups and day types. DAVE further models the time-varying population distribution in 11 different microenvironments (e.g., home, work, leisure, outdoor) and the travel flows by different modes. Simulation results align with observations, confirming the possibility of driving urban system modelling with statistical information on residents' behaviour. Sustainability and health indicators like daily driving distance and walking time for each neighbourhood are also reflected by the model with urban-rural gradients displayed. This work serves as a foundation for future applications of DAVE to study bottom-up human-built environment interactions, from anthropogenic emissions and building energy to urban climate, exposure, and health in cities around the world.

Vince Yalçin

Abstract Earlier approaches to migration have largely focused on structural causes to explain why migrants move while overlooking the significance of their ability to enact agency. Yet, notions of (im)mobility, circularity and urbanity as fluid, dynamic processes of individual and collective experience, prompt an analysis of migration decision-making which emphasises migrants’ ability to actively negotiate their experienced inequalities and constraints. This paper explores how urban context impacts migrants’ decision-making processes through an analysis of their aspirations and capabilities while integrating perspectives on their ability to choose from a range of possibly (un)acceptable and/or (un)attainable alternatives, offering a more meaningful understanding of the agentic roles of migrants. Drawing from fieldwork with Sub-Saharan African migrants in urban centres in Morocco – Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, and Nador – the findings suggest an inherent interlinkage between the aspirations-capabilities framework and the presence of alternatives within specific socio-urban contexts. The evidence shows the multiple alternatives at stake. Their examination suggests that (un)attainable and/or (un)acceptable alternatives deriving from one’s context may impact migrants’ aspirations and capabilities through various mediums, thus affecting their migration decision-making and (im)mobility patterns. When the urban context offered sufficient conditions to meet aspirations, the effects of alternatives were reduced, while precariousness accentuated the alternatives, making them integral to one’s decisions. Herein, the tangible aspirations-capabilities and alternatives nexus offers a window into the mediums of agency that impact migration decision-making processes.

Tone Sommerfelt, Mathilde Bålsrud Mjelva, Jørgen Carling et al.

Abstract With a burgeoning literature on migration, taking stock of what is known about a topic, pattern, or process is challenging. In many scientific fields, systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are a widespread response to this need. In migration research, SLRs are relatively rare. Most existing literature reviews are non-systematic and often geographically specific. The rarity of comprehensive SLRs might partly reflect migration researchers’ sensitivity to context-specificity and variation, and their well-founded scepticism towards empirical generalizations. In this article, we make a case for the value of SLRs for synthesizing quantitative findings on migration across diverse contexts. However, we foreground the interpretative nature of quantitative research in migration studies and explore approaches to synthesis that recognize exceptions and diversity as much as the search for unifying answers. Our discussion seeks to increase comparability in syntheses across contexts, all the while allowing reviews to convey disparity of findings. In contrast to common advice to narrow down research topics in SLRs, we demonstrate the feasibility of broader review questions. We exemplify our approach with reference to an extensive review of determinants of migration aspirations, drawn from survey-based research, in which determinants were differentiated in terms of the relative consistency and certainty of results.

Yijun Chen

The integration of digital technologies into urban planning has given rise to "smart cities," aiming to enhance quality of life and operational efficiency. However, the implementation of such technologies introduces ethical challenges, including data privacy, equity, inclusion, and transparency. This article employs the Beard and Longstaff framework to discuss these challenges through a combination of theoretical analysis and case studies. Focusing on principles of self-determination, fairness, accessibility, and purpose, the study examines governance models, stakeholder roles, and ethical dilemmas inherent in smart city initiatives. Recommendations include adopting regulatory sandboxes, fostering participatory governance, and bridging digital divides to ensure that smart cities align with societal values, promoting inclusivity and ethical urban development.

Philip Coppack

<p dir="ltr">Fertility rates, especially in developed countries, are declining rapidly, and there is broad consensus that population size will also decline and age concurrently. This demographic shift is expected to produce a support crisis as the growing proportion of elderly individuals will place increasing demands on social and medical services. A solution often proposed is increased immigration, which can bolster the working-age population. A fundamental question that arises is “will there be enough immigrants, and from where? This paper, building on and expanding a 2000 study by the Guttmacher Institute, presents evidence that by 2050, higher-income and upper-middle income nations will be facing significant shortfalls of support cohort populations and will also be facing immigration deficits as well. This paper estimates population support ratios (PSR) available in 2050 for U.N. national and regional geographies. The PSR uses support cohort populations 15 to 64 year old and net migration forecasts made by the U.N. to estimate support population shortfalls by 2050. The PSR are the number of support (or working) population 15 to 64 years of age to the number of 65+ year old populations in U.N. geographic regions, subregions, and nations.</p>

Sofia Ntaliou

Zsolt Kapelner

Abstract Anti-immigrant backlash has emerged in recent years as a considerable threat to democracy. In many countries illiberal and anti-democratic political forces driven in part by anti-immigrant sentiment have damaged or threaten to damage the proper functioning of democratic institutions. Should policymakers try to avert this threat by implementing more restrictive immigration policy? If they do so, they may expose immigrants to unjust exclusion. If they do not, they may risk democratic dysfunction, even democratic failure. I will call this the Democratic Dilemma for immigration policy. In this paper I argue that this is a hard ethical dilemma that does not lend itself to a straightforward resolution. I propose an analytic and evaluative framework for assessing possible policy responses to the Dilemma to aid policymakers’ as well as the public’s ethical judgement.

Ari Klængur Jónsson

Iceland is one of the Western countries that have experienced an unexpected fertility decrease in the 2010s. In this study, the aggregate Icelandic fertility decline is dissected to explore which fertility components are the main drivers behind the decline since 2010 in order to better understand whether the development is associated with compositional changes or linked to changes such as increased propensities of childlessness and decreased propensities to have another child. As such, it contributes empirical evidence to ongoing theorisation within current fertility debates. Official administrative register data are analysed by means of event-history analysis. Findings are presented as parity-specific birth risks and in the form of Kaplan-Meier estimates of synthetic period-based cohorts of women and men progressing to parity one over calendar years. In terms of results, we find that the fertility decline was concentrated around first births, and the decline can principally be attributed to women under the age of thirty. Propensities to remain childless have increased slightly since 2013, while there were no declines in the intensities to have a second and a third child. Hence, the development in Iceland appears to be driven by clear postponement of parenthood but not altered childbearing behaviour in terms of propensities to have a second and a third child. Results do not necessary contradict theories under the umbrella of the gender-relations framework, but they highlight the importance of exploring other factors impacting the transition to parenthood, such as perceived global and welfare uncertainties. Socioeconomic differentials in first-birth fertility and factors affecting postponement and ultimate childlessness should be explored further, as well as short-term developments in higher-order birth intensities during adverse circumstances, such as the 2008 economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, during which periods the third-birth intensities increased.

Patrícia Nabuco Martuscelli, Bayes Ahmed, Peter Sammonds

Abstract Resettlement to a third country offers a durable solution for refugees who cannot integrate into their asylum or transit countries. While most studies focus on the experiences of refugees after their arrival in resettlement countries or on the political aspects of resettlement, fewer studies explore refugees’ perspectives prior to resettlement. This paper examines how Rohingyas in Malaysia view their resettlement opportunities. We collected qualitative micronarratives from 56 adult Rohingyas living in Malaysia between March and September 2019, to explore the complexities of their decision-making processes. The findings indicate that most Rohingyas aspire to resettle in another country to gain legal status or citizenship, providing a better future for their children, including access to education and healthcare. However, preferences among Rohingyas vary: while some are eager to resettle, others express a strong desire to return to their home country in Myanmar. Still, others wish to reunite with family in Myanmar or Bangladesh, and a significant minority are reluctant to resettle in non-Islamic countries, reflecting broader concerns about cultural and religious compatibility. This study highlights the varied resettlement preferences among Rohingyas, underscoring the need for resettlement policies to consider these diverse priorities to enhance the effectiveness of resettlement programs.

Michèlle Bal, Eszter Aradi, Mara A. Yerkes

In 2015, the inflow of immigrants to Europe increased dramatically. More than 1 million people fled from wars and conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly affecting transit countries along the Western Balkan route. Of all the transit countries, the Hungarian government was particularly vocal in its negative attitude towards immigrants, launching several anti-immigration campaigns which had a detrimental effect on residents’ hostility towards these immigrants. In this study, we focus on the mechanisms behind this increased hostility in a transit-country context by combining insights from integrated-threat theory and contact theory. We find that perceptions of realistic and symbolic threat increased negative attitudes towards immigrants. Importantly, these threat perceptions were shaped by people’s positions in society and personal circumstances, in combination with their contact with immigrants. Specifically, in the harsh and negative Hungarian context, contact negatively influenced threat perceptions, especially amongst people who were at risk of experiencing negative consequences supposedly caused by the influx of immigrants. This in-depth country case study emphasises the importance of contextualising research findings on attitudes towards immigration in a broader social and political context.

Noshaba Aziz, Ali Raza, Shaoxiong Yang et al.

Abstract The concept of happiness is becoming an increasingly significant area of focus in the evaluation of overall quality of life. This research examines the impact of migration on the well-being of women who remain in their place of residence following the migration of their family members. The study employs data from the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (2017–2018) in Punjab, Pakistan, and addresses sample selection bias through Propensity Score Matching (PSM). Moreover, as the dependent variable is ordinal, the study employed ordered logistic regression to examine the correlation between migration and happiness, taking into account migration status and other variables. The findings indicate that women from migrant backgrounds tend to benefit from migrating, primarily in terms of enhanced financial resources. In order to gain insight into the varying effects of migration on women’s happiness, the study employed heterogeneity analysis, which revealed that the influence of migration on women’s happiness differs across various areas. In conclusion, the combination of propensity score matching (PSM) with ordered logistic regression and heterogeneity analysis represents a robust methodology for evaluating the impact of migration on women’s perceptions of happiness. The study demonstrates that migration has the potential to improve the quality of life of women who remain in their home countries, particularly those residing in financially disadvantaged households.

Li Yang, Zhipeng Luo, Shiming Zhang et al.

With the digitization of modern cities, large data volumes and powerful computational resources facilitate the rapid update of intelligent models deployed in smart cities. Continual learning (CL) is a novel machine learning paradigm that constantly updates models to adapt to changing environments, where the learning tasks, data, and distributions can vary over time. Our survey provides a comprehensive review of continual learning methods that are widely used in smart city development. The content consists of three parts: 1) Methodology-wise. We categorize a large number of basic CL methods and advanced CL frameworks in combination with other learning paradigms including graph learning, spatial-temporal learning, multi-modal learning, and federated learning. 2) Application-wise. We present numerous CL applications covering transportation, environment, public health, safety, networks, and associated datasets related to urban computing. 3) Challenges. We discuss current problems and challenges and envision several promising research directions. We believe this survey can help relevant researchers quickly familiarize themselves with the current state of continual learning research used in smart city development and direct them to future research trends.

Andrei Khurshudov

Cities worldwide are rapidly adopting smart technologies, transforming urban life. Despite this trend, a universally accepted definition of 'smart city' remains elusive. Past efforts to define it have not yielded a consensus, as evidenced by the numerous definitions in use. In this paper, we endeavored to create a new 'compromise' definition that should resonate with most experts previously involved in defining this concept and aimed to validate one of the existing definitions. We reviewed 60 definitions of smart cities from industry, academia, and various relevant organizations, employing transformer architecture-based generative AI and semantic text analysis to reach this compromise. We proposed a semantic similarity measure as an evaluation technique, which could generally be used to compare different smart city definitions, assessing their uniqueness or resemblance. Our methodology employed generative AI to analyze various existing definitions of smart cities, generating a list of potential new composite definitions. Each of these new definitions was then tested against the pre-existing individual definitions we have gathered, using cosine similarity as our metric. This process identified smart city definitions with the highest average cosine similarity, semantically positioning them as the closest on average to all the 60 individual definitions selected.

Zhenhui Li, Hongwei Zhang, Kan Wu

Cities play a pivotal role in human development and sustainability, yet studying them presents significant challenges due to the vast scale and complexity of spatial-temporal data. One such challenge is the need to uncover universal urban patterns, such as the urban scaling law, across thousands of cities worldwide. In this study, we propose a novel large-scale geospatial data processing system that enables city analysis on an unprecedented scale. We demonstrate the system's capabilities by revisiting the urban scaling law across 21,280 cities globally, using a range of open-source datasets including road networks, nighttime light intensity, built-up areas, and population statistics. Analyzing the characteristics of 21,280 cities involves querying over half a billion geospatial data points, a task that traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) would take several days to process. In contrast, our cloud-based system accelerates the analysis, reducing processing time to just minutes while significantly lowering resource consumption. Our findings reveal that the urban scaling law varies across cities in under-developed, developing, and developed regions, extending the insights gained from previous studies focused on hundreds of cities. This underscores the critical importance of cloud-based big data processing for efficient, large-scale geospatial analysis. As the availability of satellite imagery and other global datasets continues to grow, the potential for scientific discovery expands exponentially. Our approach not only demonstrates how such large-scale tasks can be executed efficiently but also offers a powerful solution for data scientists and researchers working in the fields of city and geospatial science.

Lodrick Samgwa Mbukwe, R. T. Tende, R. Ndi

The rapid population increase in world cities, not excluding Africa and sub-Saharan African cities has had a considerable effect both on the space occupation and on the inhabitants themselves. Cameroon in general and Obala town in particular have witnessed a rapid increase in their population. Such a rapid increase has opened flood gates for land grabbing, creating problems including inadequate electricity supply, the absence of portable water, insecurity, and anarchy in construction. It is in furtherance of these issues that this paper seeks to examine the trend of urban spatial expansion and its implications for socio-economic development in the town of Obala. The research made use of secondary source data (published articles, reports, and theses). Primary source data was sourced from the administration of 116 questionnaires, some of which selected 13 quarters of the Obala urban space. Interviews and focus group discussions were organised with the objective of gathering information in Obala. To determine the rate of urban spatial expansion, a time series analysis of the years 1987, 2004, and 2020 was conducted with the use of multiple temporal Landsat satellite images. The result reveals that migration (immigration), the rehabilitation of the National Road, and the searches for employment opportunities have accelerated the urban spatial expansion in Obala. That is why urban space increased from 7.01% in 1987 to 9.01% in 2004, and in 2020, it hit 16.9%. In the social domain, the extension of electric poles and the construction of health centres and educational facilities have moved forward. In the economic domain, the emergence of commercial institutions (banks), market installations, and an increase in investment rates have increased the magnitude of economic activities in Obala.

E. Tsybikova, M. Kotlovskiy

Significance. Over the past 40 years, the number of patients with diabetes has quadrupled worldwide and currently stands at more than 500 million people. The main reason for the increase in the number of patients with diabetes mellitus is a rapid population growth, including in older age groups (55 years) in large cities and metropolitans. The purpose of the study was to analyze incidence of diabetes mellitus, including type I and type II diabetes, among various age groups of the Moscow population in 2013-2022. Material and methods. The study used information from the Federal Statistical Observation Form No. 12 and Rosstat data on the average annual population of Russia, the Central Federal District and Moscow for 2013-2022. The analysis was carried out using the StatTech v. program.3.1.1 (developed by Stattech LLC, Russia) Results. In Moscow, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the diabetes incidence decreased by 32.4% compared to 2019 and equaled to 132.3 per 100,000 population. In 2021-2022, the diabetes incidence remained at the same level, which was lower than years before the outbreak of the pandemic (2013-2019). This situation was caused by the dynamics in the incidence of type II diabetes, the average share of which in the diabetes incidence structure equaled to 95.3% in 2013-2022. At the same time, 97.5% of cases of type II diabetes were registered among people aged over 18 years. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the incidence of type II diabetes decreased by 32.8% compared to 2019 and amounted to 125.6 per 100,000 population. In 2021-2022, the incidence of type II diabetes did not change and was lower compared to all years before the outbreak of the pandemic. Dynamics in the incidence of type I diabetes in Moscow in 2013-2022, including the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, was characterized by plateaus with fluctuations in values ranging from 6.7 to 10.1 and an average of 7.8 per 100,000 population. The age structure of the incidence of type I diabetes included groups of children under 17 years. The study results showed that during the pandemic in Moscow, the decrease in the diabetes incidence, especially type II diabetes, among age groups ≥18 years was more pronounced compared to Russia as a whole and the Central Federal District. One of the reasons for this situation could be the impact of restrictive measures (lockdowns) introduced during the pandemic, and for a longer time for older age groups (≥55 years). As a result, the implementation schedule of measures aimed at timely detection of patients with diabetes has been shortened, resulting in a decrease in the number of newly diagnosed patients, substantiating the decreased incidence of diabetes, and primarily type II diabetes, among older age groups. In the coming years after the pandemic, resuming the implementation schedule of measures aimed at timely detection of diabetes in the metropolitan population may contribute to a rise in the number of cases of diabetes and higher incidence of diabetes. Conclusion. Currently, the search for ways to improve effectiveness of measures aimed at timely detection of diabetes, and especially type II diabetes, among older age groups of the metropolitan population remains one of the urgent and socially significant tasks the Moscow healthcare is facing.

N. Temple

An epidemic of obesity emerged in the USA in 1976–1980. The epidemic then spread to many other Westernized nations. Many interventions have been carried out with the goal of lowering the prevalence of obesity. These have mostly taken the form of various types of health promotion (i.e., providing people with education, advice, and encouragement). These actions have achieved, at most, only limited success. A strategy with a better chance of success starts with the recognition that the fundamental cause of obesity is that we live in an obesogenic environment. It is therefore necessary to change the environment so that it fosters a generally healthy lifestyle, thereby leading to enhanced health for the population, including improved weight control. A major goal is to increase the intake of healthy foods (especially fruit, vegetables, and whole grains), while decreasing intake of unhealthy foods (especially ultra-processed foods such as sugar). This will require major changes of many government policies. Some of the required policies are as follows. Schools should implement policies that create a healthy environment for children. For example, they should adopt a policy that only foods of high nutritional quality are sold in vending machines or given to students within school meals. Policies need to go well beyond the school setting; a broad strategy is needed that creates a healthy environment for children. Another important policy is the manipulation of food prices in order to shift the diet toward healthy foods. This requires using subsidies to lower the price of healthy foods, while adding a tax to less healthy foods to increase the price. This policy has been implemented in many cities and countries in the form of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The advertising of unhealthy foods (including fast-food restaurants) should be banned, especially where children and adolescents are the major target. Such a ban could be extended to a complete ban on all advertising for unhealthy foods, including that directed at adults. The proposed policy measures are likely to be strongly opposed by food corporations.

Magdalena Ślusarczyk

The assumption that people live in one place with their lives guided by a singular set of national and cultural norms no longer holds true. The same applies for migrating due to various reasons with the aim of finding a better place to live. Instead, contemporary transnational migrants are accustomed to operating in several contexts of employment, leisure and political interests that extend beyond national borders. Yet, state borders still cut through the very core of the family life, forcing migrants to take difficult decisions about leaving, separation or arranging care of children and elderly, but also creating a certain degree of choice between two or more socio-political social and cultural contexts. Events of recent years have shaken established beliefs about the potential of transnational care networks. As the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, what once seemed to be enduring rules can be suspended for long periods of time. For Poland, one of the countries affected by intense mobility to and from the country, discussions about the effects of migration on care networks are of paramount importance. As a direct consequence of mobility, the expectations and obligations that migrants (especially women) have towards the family they leave behind may change, shift or even remain unrestricted in spite of living abroad. Yet, establishing family care strategies for elderly family members in ageing societies is also based on the assumption of availability of migrant labour. Drawing on two sets of data, this article asks how intergenerational obligations were negotiated during the Covid-19 pandemic and whether the associated long-term restrictions on crossing national borders caused changes in patterns of care provision. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Demographic Developments in Eastern and Western Europe Before and After the Transformation of Socialist Countries”.