Dumiter Florin Cornel, Nicoară Ștefania Amalia, Nicoară Samuel
et al.
The oil price influences and tendencies have gained, lately major developments both at the European level and on the international level. Moreover, several interconnections between the energy sector and oil price influences have become the panacea of several important research and studies. In this article, we provide a qualitative and quantitative approach to the interconnections manifested between oil price movements and the developments of the energy sector. The study is focused on Central and Eastern European Countries which have similarities and differences both at the energy sector level and economy level. The econometric techniques used in this study reveal the importance of the causality relationship between oil price movements and the energy sector taking into account the macroeconomic context. The conclusions of this study highlight some important fine-tuning aspects that must be recalibrated in Central and Eastern European Countries to increase the economic outcomes, strengthen the energy sector, and respond properly to the oil price movement trends.
Regional economics. Space in economics, Economics as a science
Der Beitrag untersucht anhand eines prozessorientierten Verständnisses von Segregation die Entwicklungspfade junger migrantisierter Bewohner aus Berlin-Kreuzberg. Dieser Ansatz ermöglicht es, soziale und räumliche Dimensionen getrennt voneinander zu analysieren. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf Aspekten segregierter sozialer Nutzungen der Stadt und Erfahrungen mit urbanen Institutionen – aus der Perspektive der Heranwachsenden. Die longitudinale empirische Analyse basiert auf qualitativen Daten aus zwei zusammenhängenden Forschungsprojekten (2017/2018 und 2023/2024) mit Erst- und Folgeinterviews in einem Zeitraum von fünf bis sechs Jahren. Anhand von Vignetten stellt der Beitrag die teilweise kontrastreichen Entwicklungspfade ausgewählter junger Männer sowie deren Überschneidungen dar. Diese verweisen trotz tendenziell gesteigerter räumlicher Alltagsradien auf Muster einer dauerhaften sozialen Segregation.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Abstract Recently, some studies have shown that human movement patterns are strongly associated with regional socioeconomic indicators such as per capita income and poverty rate. These studies, however, are limited in numbers and they have not reached a consensus on what indicators or how effectively they can possibly be used to reflect the socioeconomic characteristics of the underlying populations. In this study, we propose an analytical framework — by coupling large scale mobile phone and urban socioeconomic datasets — to better understand human mobility patterns and their relationships with travelers' socioeconomic status (SES). Six mobility indicators, which include radius of gyration, number of activity locations, activity entropy, travel diversity, k-radius of gyration, and unicity, are derived to quantify important aspects of mobile phone users' mobility characteristics. A data fusion approach is proposed to approximate, at an aggregate level, the SES of mobile phone users. Using Singapore and Boston as case studies, we compare the statistical properties of the six mobility indicators in the two cities and analyze how they vary across socioeconomic classes. The results provide a multifaceted view of the relationships between mobility and SES. Specifically, it is found that phone user groups that are generally richer tend to travel shorter in Singapore but longer in Boston. One of the potential reasons, as suggested by our analysis, is that the rich neighborhoods in the two cities are respectively central and peripheral. For three other mobility indicators that reflect the diversity of individual travel and activity patterns (i.e., number of activity locations, activity entropy, and travel diversity), we find that for both cities, phone users across different socioeconomic classes exhibit very similar characteristics. This indicates that wealth level, at least in Singapore and Boston, is not a factor that restricts how people travel around in the city. In sum, our comparative analysis suggests that the relationship between mobility and SES could vary among cities, and such relationship is influenced by the spatial arrangement of housing, employment opportunities, and human activities.
Francis Régis Gonçalves Mendes Barbosa, Madalena Maria Schlindwein, Marcelo Corrêa da Silva
Amartya Sen's theory of Development as Freedom states the prediction of development by evaluating the expansion of individual freedoms. This study operationalizes this theory and its instrumental freedoms through the construction of a development index and multivariate statistics. Spatiality of municipal development provides empirical evidence for interrelations between instrumental freedoms defended by this theory. The determinants of development related mainly to income and its distribution, but also housing conditions and social vulnerabilities. The findings unmask the geographic structure of (under) development in a frontier in Mid-West Brazil, marked by higher deprivation of opportunities, precarious services and greater economic stagnation.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Background: The poor resolution of customer complaints in the domain of public service is often attributed to a lack of accountability, transparency, communication, leadership, competent personnel, and well-defined complaint-management policies.
Aim: This article examined the efficacy and efficiency of the processes and procedures used to carry out the customer complaints management policy within the public service.
Setting: The study focused on the Department of Employment and Labour in the Free State province.
Methods: A qualitative study design was adopted, with self-administered questionnaires used to collect data from 20 purposefully selected participants from the Department of Employment and Labour – Free State province.
Results: The research revealed several key findings. Firstly, there was a lack of consequences for subpar performance. Secondly, inadequate communication and coordination hindered the timely resolution of customer complaints, and minimal frontline staff training on the customer complaints management policy. Thirdly, it was discovered that a lack of capacity resulted in underreporting of complaints, which has a detrimental impact on how quickly and effectively customer complaints are handled.
Conclusion and contribution: The implications of this study, therefore, draw attention to redress mechanisms as a vehicle to turn around and improve public service delivery. The study recommends that the Department of Employment and Labour should consider increasing the capacity of staff in handling customer complaints, developing appropriate customer complaints management training manuals, and establishing a business unit or directorate that deals with customer complaints.
Political institutions and public administration (General), Regional planning
The steering of the residential development on the regional level is one of the major tasks of regional planning. Nevertheless, no nationwide information is yet available on the implementation of the planning instruments in regional plans. Moreover, for potential steering types, only one approach on the level of the German federal states exists. To reduce this information deficit, a plan content analysis is used to determine which positive planning instruments were implemented in the state development plans and regional plans valid in 2017. The data basis for negative planning instruments is the spatial development plan monitor of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBSR). With these data, a non-linear principal component analysis and a cluster analysis is carried out to identify specific steering types. As a result, six regional planning steering types of pre-use planning, quantitative control, settlement axes, positive planning location control, intra-municipal framework with extensive mono-functional open space protection and extensive location control through multifunctional open space protection can be identified. The different steering types are often spatially clustered, so that a significant influence of state planning requirements can be assumed.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
The Americans who came to Turkey, particularly during the 1950, as part of efforts to develop Turkish-American relations during the Cold War period, led to an increase in mutual cultural exchange and understanding between the two countries. One of these Americans was Elizabeth McNeill Leicester, who wrote a book entitled ‘Memories of 1950 in Ankara, Turkey' during the time she spent in Ankara on an official mission during this period when the cultural influence of America was felt most keenly. Another example of written memoirs is ‘Assignment in Ankara', which was written by Lucile Saunders McDonald and Zola Helen Ross. These books, which represent the written observations of the two women, contain profound insights into the social and cultural life of Ankara in the 1950s, and thus represent important first-hand historical sources. This study uses the books of Elizabeth McNeill Leicester and Lucile Saunders McDonald to help reveal the socio-cultural structure of Ankara in the 1950s while analyzing the authors' perspectives on Turkish women in Ankara and discussing the activities of Americans in Turkey. The insights provided in the books demonstrate that traditional structures were strongly maintained in Ankara, especially for women, despite the modernization of the 1950s.
Young adults in rural areas in many cases have limited educational opportunities. To obtain higher educational qualifications, rural youth often travel long distances. Therefore, many rural youths choose the “shorter” route and complete vocational training closer to home or drop out of their education prematurely. Against this background, this study examines the education policies of European countries and explores the extent to which these problems are addressed within their policy framework and what measures are taken to improve the situation. Using a unique dataset of policies of 31 European countries for the period 2010 to 2020, we examine more than 500 national and subnational policies that address formal and informal education and training. The results show that despite the sometimes high number of rural youths not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) and high early-school-leaving rates, only some countries have developed a respective policy strategy. The analysis presents the different measures implemented in the countries and furthermore shows that a high problem pressure in a country is not necessarily accompanied by a consideration in policy. Prospectively, there is a need for new policies that understand the multidimensionality of the issue and significantly improve the situation of rural youth.
Performance based analysis under seismic loads using the finite element method for wall-type reinforced concrete (RC) members in buildings and in important structures like liquid retaining structures, nuclear containment structures, offshore concrete gravity structures etc., necessitates the understanding of the non-linear behaviour of the constituent membrane elements. The current orthotropic formulation of the softened membrane model (SMM) can be strictly used only when the reinforcement is symmetric to the principal axes of applied stresses. When the reinforcement is asymmetric, shear strain is generated due to the normal stresses in the principal axes of applied stresses, which is referred to as shear-extension coupling. An anisotropic formulation is required to capture the generated shear strain. The current study quantifies the shear strain due to asymmetry in reinforcement, by testing panels under biaxial tension-compression using a large-scale panel testing facility. A model for the shear strain is proposed based on the tests data. The paper presents the experimental programme, important test results and the modelling of shear strain. Expression developed for the shear strain can be incorporated in the solution algorithm of the SMM for improved prediction of the shear behaviour of a membrane element. This further aids in accurate prediction of the seismic performance of the important structures mentioned earlier.
Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), City planning
ment strategy, as discussed by Sirianni, also took the form of civic groups working with government agencies to offer services, programs, and technical knowledge that are beneficial to other civic groups (especially grassroots and other generally less-resourced ones). For example, the Ocean Conservancy, a civil society organization, partnered with the EPA to develop the Volunteer Estuary Monitoring manual. It was developed with the goal of building the capacity of local groups and covered such topics as project planning, organizing volunteers, safety management, and all kinds of testing related to estuaries and water. While Sustainable Cities in American Democracy is a great resource, Sirianni could have devoted more attention to how race and class likely contributed to the limited impacts of federal farm policy on urban agriculture. As noted in the book, urban agriculture, unlike other areas of the sustainable cities field, did not attract the attention of mainstream environmental organizations, foundations, and other civic groups. The question is, why? While she offered several plausible explanations, Sirianni could have noted that the people who run and/or are members of these organizations tend not to benefit from (or even need) produce generated from urban agriculture. Proceeds from urban agriculture, which generally takes the form of community gardens, tend to go to social groups with limited access to fresh and nutritious food, which will include minoritized and low-income groups. I note this shortcoming not because I want to nitpick on Sirianni’s commendable work, but to point out that civic action may not be raceand class-neutral. The inadequacy of civic engagement with urban agriculture suggests that democratic civic action, like other areas of social life, is sometimes informed by vested interests. While Sirianni mentions the growth machine in a few places, I believe it would not have been out of place to offer a fullthroated discussion of growth machine theory, given its implications for sustainability in urban places. As demonstrated by the author, there is no question that the sustainable cities field has taken root in many cities across the country. Nevertheless, intensive growth, championed generally by local progrowth coalitions (i.e., the growth machine), remains an important goal of cities and localities across the country. A sufficient discussion of the growth machine theory that highlights the challenge pro-growth coalitions present to urban sustainability will help readers better appreciate the profound role of civic mobilization and action in bringing about the emergence and entrenchment of the sustainable cities field. Such a discussion will also help highlight how the growth imperative in cities and localities across the United States remains a formidable challenge to the sustainable cities field. Overall, Sustainable Cities in American Democracy, a product of a multi-methods research approach, is a solid book. It is well researched and well written. I love it! Its substantive relevance straddles several areas in sociology: environmental, development, political economy, urban studies, city and community, and collective behavior. The book can, and should, be used in graduate and upper-level undergraduate classes in sociology and related disciplines.
ABSTRACT:Two major forces are set to shape the quality of daily life in the twenty-first century: population ageing and urbanization. Both have become major concerns for public policy, with significant implications for all types of communities. Cities are now regarded as central to economic development, attracting waves of migrants and supporting new knowledge-based industries. However, the extent to which the new "urban age" will produce what the World Health Organization have termed "age-friendly" cities and communities, creating opportunities for older people as well as strengthening ties across different age and social groups, remains uncertain. This article examines the relationship between ageing and urbanization through the application of the concept of ageism. It argues that urban development, especially that operating over the course of the 2000s and 2010s, has both consolidated and introduced new inequalities in the lives of older people. This is examined in three main ways: first, in the context of research on urbanization and the field of urban sociology in particular; second, through examining a range of examples where ageism may be said to operate within the urban environment; and third, outlining the basis for promoting an "anti-ageist urbanism" focused upon challenging inequality and spatial injustice.
The recent literature on the “consumer city” and the “love of variety” argues that the provision of urban amenities makes a city more attractive. Meanwhile, polycentric urban development has been highlighted by academics and policymakers as a sustainable urban development regime, although its purported benefits need to be further investigated. Against this background, this paper empirically examines the relationship between polycentricity and the provision of urban amenities in 309 Chinese cities. After controlling for the size, population density, wage, and human capital, this paper finds that a higher degree of intra-urban polycentricity is associated with a larger number of urban amenities. Additionally, when all the covariates above are held, a higher degree of intra-urban polycentricity is associated with a greater diversity of urban amenities. Robust checks show that these findings are consistent with different polycentricity indices and diversity measures. Finally, possible explanations of the relationship between intra-urban polycentricity and urban amenities are provided from both the producer and consumer perspectives.
This study assessed the perception of urban residents of A'Seeb city, Oman, about the impact of their activities on environment. A sociological survey using questionnaire was used to know the residents' perceptions about urban gardening, municipal-waste disposal, and soil and water contamination. Viable pathogenic bacteria, water soluble metals, basic cations, salinity, and texture were quantified and identified in soil and groundwater in proximity of urban gardens and municipal-waste disposal sites. The majority of surveyed residents are not paying attention to the negative consequences of their activities on soil and environment. Although the measured heavy metals concentrations in some of the contaminated sites were significant but still below the international standards. Fecal contaminants reported in in some samples from gardens, garbage-disposal sites and groundwater. Human pathogens belonging to risk group-2 including Klebsiella pneumonia, Shigella spp and E. Coil were identified. More socio-environmental studies required to correlate the behavior of urban residents and pollution and to delineate the sources of the detected pathogenic bacteria. Our results set a foundation for future studies on urban soils and associated residence behaviors and practices in Oman and the neighboring Gulf countries.
W prezentowanej monografii zamieszczono dziesięć artykułów podejmujących tematykę badawczą związaną z gospodarowaniem gruntami na obszarach wiejskich. Składa się ona z dwóch części. W pierwszej poruszono problemy gospodarki gruntami z punktu widzenia planowania przestrzennego, geodezyjnego. Druga część poświęcona jest tematyce użytkowania gruntów na terenach wiejskich województwa wielkopolskiego. Problematyka ta stanowi ważny nurt badań nad obszarami wiejskimi. Należy pamiętać o tym, że zarządzanie gruntami i krajobrazem powinno opierać się nie tylko na dobrej znajomości warunków środowiskowych, ale również na ocenie predyspozycji danego terenu do pełnienia określonych nowych funkcji. W związku z tym prawidłowe gospodarowanie gruntami w gminach wiejskich jest kluczem do stworzenia harmonijnej przestrzeni, ochrony lokalnych zasobów oraz walorów środowiska przyrodniczego i zaspokojenia potrzeb społecznych. Publikacja powstała dzięki wsparciu finansowemu z budżetów Stowarzyszenia Geodetów Polskich Oddział Wielkopolski w Poznaniu i Wydziału Geografii Społeczno-Ekonomicznej i Gospodarki Przestrzennej Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu.
Political science, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
An important objective of the European Union cohesion policy is to remove economic disparities between the various regions. One of the factors capable of stimulating or slowing the development process is human capital. The specialist literature provides many alternative human capital measurement concepts. In quantitative research, various composite measures are most commonly used. Such a measure was also developed in this study. The main aims of the study were: to construct a human capital measure for the Visegrad Group countries’ NUTS 2 regions, to examine whether spatial relationships occur in the distribution of human capital in the studied area and to analyze regional convergence in terms of human capital levels in the years 2001–2015. The study applied the marginal vertical beta-convergence concept, which enables the determination of individual contributions of particular regions to the general convergence process characterizing all the studied objects. Dynamic panel data models were used to study convergence, and Moran’s global and local statistics were used for inference about spatial dependencies. As expected, no spatial autocorrelation was found. In contrast, the hypothesis of convergence was confirmed and regions that contribute to the weakening of its pace were identified.