Hasil untuk "Human settlements. Communities"

Aneta Ismail, Weihong Wang, Muhammad Arif

Françoise Okah Efogo, Paul Awoa Awoa

This article focuses on the challenges that uncertainty poses to countries in global and regional value chains. In this perspective, it focuses specifically on African countries and enriches the results with a comparative approach. Indeed, using a gravity model for 49 African countries and all their trading partners from 1990 to 2019, the paper proposes a comparative analysis of the effects of uncertainty on global trade in value chains and on trade in value chains within Africa. The robustness of the results shows that domestic uncertainty can drive the expansion of intra-African trade in value chains, while uncertainty in the partner country hinders the flourishing of trade relationships within a value chain.

Felix Creutzig, Sophia Becker, Peter Berrill et al.

Cities and other human settlements are major contributors to climate change and are highly vulnerable to its impacts. They are also uniquely positioned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead adaptation efforts. These compound challenges and opportunities require a comprehensive perspective on the public policy of human settlements. Drawing on core literature that has driven debate around cities and climate over recent decades, we put forward a set of boundary objects that can be applied to connect the knowledge of epistemic communities and support an integrated urbanism. We then use these boundary objects to develop the Goals-Intervention-Stakeholder-Enablers (GISE) framework for a public policy of human settlements that is both place-specific and provides insights and tools useful for climate action in cities and other human settlements worldwide. Using examples from Berlin, we apply this framework to show that climate mitigation and adaptation, public health, and well-being goals are closely linked and mutually supportive when a comprehensive approach to urban public policy is applied.

Fredua Agyemang

Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11) focuses on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Although the goal primarily addresses urban development, its principles also extend to rural areas, but the extent to which South Africa’s legal and policy frameworks empower traditional authorities to contribute to the development of their communities, particularly towards achieving SDG11, remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates how South Africa’s national legislative frameworks on traditional leadership have been applied to support the advancement of SDG 11. It examines the legal provisions within the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and relevant legislation to determine whether these frameworks provide a strong legal basis for promoting SDG 11 through the empowerment of traditional leadership. This study employs a desktop research methodology involving a comprehensive review of relevant laws, policies, and case law. Secondary data were gathered from case studies, journal articles, books, case laws, and credible internet sources. The findings suggest that the traditional authority system is deeply embedded within the South African Constitution, as well as legislative and policy frameworks, and has been effectively leveraged to advance SDG 11. Key insights emphasise the constitutional and legal recognition of traditional authorities and highlight the enforcement of traditional leadership roles and functions through various legal cases, and SDG 11-aligned programmes in South Africa. The areas where the role and functions of traditional leadership intersect with SDG 11 and rural development include security and safety, community participation, land management and sustainable settlements, cultural heritage and community identity, disaster management, and environmental stewardship. The empowerment of traditional leadership in South Africa has significant implications for achieving SDG 11 and rural development. These implications include enhanced local governance and service delivery, increased accountability and transparency, balanced rural-urban linkages, promotion of environmental stewardship, and the fostering of inclusive development. It also strengthens rural resilience, preserves cultural heritage, promotes sustainable resource management, and improves community engagement. However, challenges related to power dynamics, equity, and the need for policy integration and cohesion must be addressed to ensure that traditional leadership empowerment contributes effectively to sustainable development in South Africa.

Abdul Kholik, Asep Soegiarto, Wina Puspita Sari et al.

Seiring dengan perkembangan teknologi dan minat yang meningkat terhadap fotografi, banyak sekolah menengah yang mulai menawarkan kursus atau klub fotografi sebagai bagian dari kurikulum ekstrakurikuler. Namun, seringkali terdapat kendala dalam menyediakan ruang dan peralatan yang memadai untuk kegiatan tersebut. Dengan merancang ulang ruang fotografi menjadi sebuah Educational Space yang terintegrasi dengan baik di lingkungan sekolah, diharapkan dapat membuka peluang baru bagi pengembangan potensi kreatif dan akademik siswa dalam bidang fotografi. Metode pelaksanaan menggunakan model Hannafin and Peck dalam perencanaan pengabdian masyarakat ini akan mengikuti langkah-langkah yang terstruktur. Model ini terdiri dari lima langkah utama yang mencakup pengidentifikasian kebutuhan, perencanaan, pengembangan, implementasi, dan evaluasi. Hasil kegiatan yang dilakukan adalah dengan tahapan seperti melakukan diskusi terperinci mengenai pembagian tugas bagi tim pelaksana, yang mencakup peran-peran seperti fotografer, videografer, penyusun TOR (Terms of Reference), dan asisten program. Pengimplementasian program mencakup pengenalan fungsi alat, tata cara penggunaan alat fotografi, serta penyiapan laboratorium fotografi di sekolah. Terakhir, evaluasi hasil kegiatan berupa survei dilakukan untuk menilai efektivitas program secara keseluruhan, memastikan manfaat maksimal sesuai dengan tujuan yang ditetapkan.

W. Hayes, B. O'shea, M. Pierre et al.

Urban ecosystems are increasingly dominating landscapes globally, so it is critical to understand the effects of human settlements on biodiversity. Bird communities are effective indicators because they are impacted by the size and expansion of human settlements, exemplified by changes in their habitat use, breeding and foraging behaviours, as well as patterns of richness and abundance. Existing studies on bird community responses to human settlements have mainly focused on single ecoregions and large cities, leaving a gap in comparative research on how differently sized human settlements affect bird communities across various ecoregions. To address this gap, we examine species richness, bird abundances and community composition in human settlements, which exhibit variable sizes, populations, landscape configurations, and overall intensity of settlement in two tropical ecoregions in Guyana, Amazonia: forest and savannah. In each ecoregion we explored how different groupings of urban tolerance in birds responded to human settlements of differing population size and building densities. Overall, we found significant differences in bird communities across the varying levels of human settlement intensity in both ecoregions, with greater differences in bird community composition in the forest ecoregion than the savannah region. In both ecoregions, species richness and abundance were highest at the medium level of settlement of human settlement. Our findings suggest that bird tolerance to human settlements varies based on ecoregion and site-level factors. In the savannah, built features may be benefitting birds from all urban tolerance levels, but they have a negative impact on less urban-tolerant species in the forest ecoregion. Our comparative analysis reveals for the first time that the impact of human settlements on avian communities in northern Amazonia varies among ecoregions, indicating that species evolved to live in a savannah may be more tolerant to human settlements than those more evolved to a forest system.

Mirtha Graciela Villagra-Ferreira, María Lourdes Falcó-de Ayala, Patricia Johanna Cabrera

The objective of this study was to measure the perception of students in the last year of the Economics and Business careers of the Universidad del Norte, about the activities developed as university extension, based on a survey applied randomly to the students of the Central, Itauguá and Caacupé headquarters, during the first semester of the 2022 school year. The work corresponds to an investigation framed in the quantitative paradigm, of a descriptive, non-experimental and cross-sectional type. In this context, it could be verified that only 23% of the students want to do volunteer work, this is due to the fact that 77% of the students of the last year have a work activity and lack time. Regarding the preferences on the activities offered in the university extension department, they focus on consulting and social service offered to various communities as support for them, followed by participation and support for courses, seminars and congresses, then participation in general cultural activities and, as a last activity, research and scientific publications. Uninorte students from the three campuses stated that they value the activities offered by the institution and consider them an enriching experience that increases the value of the professional profile, which is a way to grow as future professionals and support some communities.

Xinyue Ye, D. Niyogi

The impact of climate extremes upon human settlements is expected to accelerate. There are distinct global trends for a continued rise in urban dwellers and associated infrastructure. This growth is occurring amidst the increasing risk of extreme heat, rainfall, and flooding. Therefore, it is critical that the urban development and architectural communities recognize climate impacts are expected to be experienced globally, but the cities and urban regions they help create are far more vulnerable to these extremes than nonurban regions. Designing resilient human settlements responding to climate change needs an integrated framework. The critical elements at play are climate extremes, economic growth, human mobility, and livability. Heightened public awareness of extreme weather crises and demands for a more moral climate landscape has promoted the discussion of urban climate change ethics. With the growing urgency for considering environmental justice, we need to consider a transparent, data-driven geospatial design approach that strives to balance environmental justice, climate, and economic development needs. Communities can greatly manage their vulnerabilities under climate extremes and enhance their resilience through appropriate design and planning towards long-term stability. A holistic picture of urban climate science is thus needed to be adopted by urban designers and planners as a principle to guide urban development strategy and environmental regulation in the context of a growingly interdependent world.

Wenbo Yu, Jun Yang, Dongqi Sun et al.

Resource-based urban agglomerations often encounter greater challenges in the sustainable development of human settlements. The aim of this study is to propose an approach to the coordinated development of competitiveness by analyzing the interaction of human settlements competitiveness (HSC) in resource-based urban agglomerations. Through the compound evaluation model of HSC and urban network analysis, this study finds: 1) the HSC measure increased from 35.12 in 1990 to 52.15 in 2015 and showed a downward trend from 2015 to 2019, with an average value of 47.82 in 2019; 2) The change trend of the relevance network density is the same as that of the HSC, while the difference network density reaches the lowest value of 0.441 when the HSC is the highest, indicating that the HSC of the urban agglomerations has improved to a certain extent but is more unsustainable, and 3) Communities in the relevance network are obviously bounded by the borders of provinces or urban agglomerations, while the communities in the difference network are differentiated into two types: high-competitiveness and low-competitiveness. Using the theory of “co-opetition” to analyze the sustainable development path of resource-based urban agglomerations, the study believes that a coordination mechanism and a guarantee mechanism for benefit distribution should be established between urban agglomerations to curb local protectionism, and promote regional dislocation development. The development gradient level also should be established within the urban agglomeration to narrow the gap between HSC of cities, and innovative development should be the core of promoting industrial transformation and upgrading.

Akash Jamil, Muhammad Zubair, S. Manzoor et al.

Somayeh Mohammadi Hamidi, C. Fürst, H. Nazmfar et al.

Lake Urmia, one of the world’s largest salt lakes, is rapidly losing water and drying up. This environmental hazard has raised concerns about the consequences and impact on the surrounding communities. In this paper, we use a futuristic view (horizon of 10 years based on medium-term planning) to identify the main environmental drivers in the surrounding settlements of the Urmia Lake basin. A qualitative method, based on cross-impact analysis, was used as a means of future research. We also used a Delphi-based expert panel method to collect data and extract the environmental impacts of Urmia Lake. After the three rounds of the Delphi process, the expert panel reached a high level of agreement (100%) on the top 17 environmental consequences. Then, these consequences were classified by driving force and dependency using the MICMAC method. The results show that reducing pasture area, soil and water salinity, groundwater decline and depletion, and destruction of surrounding agricultural lands play a significant role in environmental change in Urmia Lake. Overall, any small change in these variables may lead to fundamental changes in the entire system.

Diego Ramírez-Álvarez, C. Napolitano, Iván Salgado

Simple Summary The presence of carnivores near human settlements is a poorly studied topic that generates concern and perception of risk in some human communities, especially for medium to large felids. Apart from the conflict of the potential predation of livestock, there is the insecurity perception of a potential attack on people. To gain a better understanding of how, when, and how close pumas approached human settlements, we analyze 51 puma records near populated areas over eight years in central Chile. The results show that pumas approached human-populated areas; in 23.5% of the records pumas are found between 0 and 999 m from the nearest human settlement, 25.5% are between 1000 and 4999 m, and 51% are over 5000 m. We associate puma records with landscape features, such as mountain ranges, land-use, road, and urban infrastructure; and based on previous knowledge of puma biology, behavior, and habitat preference, we identify their area of occupation and the potential biological corridor used for their movements from the Andes Range to the coast. Our results show the adaptability of pumas to human-dominated landscapes, and their capacity to overcome landscape barriers, such as human infrastructure, contributing to a better understanding of the population dynamics in the study area. Studies on human–carnivore coexistence, through formulas that consider local realities and the reduction of implicit risks for humans, are urgently needed, both globally and locally, and likely the only way to secure the long-term conservation of pumas in human-dominated landscapes. Abstract The wildland–urban interface lies at the confluence of human-dominated and wild landscapes—creating a number of management and conservation challenges. Wildlife sightings near human settlements have appeared to increase in the last years. This article reports 51 records of presences, sightings, and livestock attacks of Puma concolor, a large-sized felid, collected from 2012 to 2020 across the O’Higgins region in central Chile. Puma records were concentrated in the east of the region in the Andes Range and foothills (90%). The number of puma records is higher in the last four to six years than in previously studied years. Of the 51 records, 23.5% are between 0 and 999 m from the nearest human settlement (classified as very close), 25.5% are between 1000 and 4999 m (moderately close), and 51% are over 5000 m (distant). Most of the sightings are recorded in the summer (35%) and spring (29%). We identify an area of approximately 9000 km2 of suitable habitat as the most probable corridor effectively connecting pumas moving between eastern and western areas, encompassing the Angostura de Paine mountain range. Our results contribute to the understanding of the presence and movements of P. concolor near urban areas and human settlements, confirming their persistence in and adaptation to human-dominated landscapes. We also provide insights into human–carnivore coexistence in the current global context in the densely populated central Chile.

G. Cirella, Samuel W. Mwangi, Katerina Streltsova et al.

Sandra Oliveira, A. Gonçalves, A. Benali et al.

The large wildfires of June 2017 disturbed many communities in central Portugal. The civil parish of Alvares was severely affected, with about 60% of its area burnt. Assessing the risk of large wildfires affecting local communities is becoming increasingly important, to reduce potential losses in the future. In this study, we assessed wildfire risk for the 36 villages of Alvares parish, by combining hazard, exposure and vulnerability analysis at the settlement scale. Hazard was obtained from fire spread simulations, which integrated exposure together with population and building density within each village. Vulnerability was based on the sociodemographic characteristics of the population, ranked with a hierarchical cluster analysis. Coping capacity was also integrated, considering the distance of each village to the fire station and the time needed for residents to reach a shelter. We simulated 12 different land management scenarios, regarding the implementation of a fuel-break network and the level of forest management activities. The potential effects of each scenario in the exposure and risk levels of the settlements were evaluated. The results show that, for a business-as-usual scenario, 36% of the villages are at high or very high risk of wildfires. Examining each risk component, 28% of the villages are highly exposed, 44% are highly vulnerable, and 22% do not have a potential shelter on-site, calling for different intervention strategies in each specific risk dimension. All the land management scenarios, even if designed for other purposes than the protection of settlements, could decrease the proportion of highly exposed villages at different levels, up to a maximum of 61%. These findings can contribute to adjust prevention and mitigation strategies to the risk levels and the characteristics of the population and the territory, and to prioritize the protection and emergency actions at the local scale.

Jules Siedenburg

This paper shares findings from a detailed empirical analysis of seven development projects in Kenya that supported remote pastoral communities facing food insecurity and other difficulties linked to environmental degradation and climate change. The projects sought to address these challenges by trialing various livelihood innovations in partnership with communities. These project activities were assessed using a tailored cost–benefit analysis methodology to identify those offering the best use of scarce funds, thus informing future policy and programing for such areas. This evidence suggests that (a) the difficulties communities face are creating a desperate situation, and (b) some of the innovations trialed hold promise while others are problematic. The evidence presented includes an array of local voices that vividly convey community-level dynamics and prospects. This evidence is set in context using the literatures on human security and its wider impacts, notably migration from the Sahel. This analysis found the circumstances of pastoral communities can significantly impact neighboring regions, with ongoing instability posing a threat while smart interventions that create local opportunities offer more synergistic outcomes. The paper concludes by calling for greater recognition of the options facing such communities and their wider significance as a basis for scaled up support measures.

Iryna Demko, Ana Claudia Sant’Anna, Kathleen Liang

In this policy and practice brief, we analyze the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP provided loans to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some businesses received timely relief from the PPP loans, while some were not able to acquire assistance. Production agricul­ture received 617,128 PPP loans totaling $17 billion.[1] The reach of PPP loans across the country was broad. In 80% of U.S. zip codes, at least one farm received a PPP loan. The average size of the loan in agriculture ($27,744) was substantially smaller than the national average ($74,156). The authors conducted interviews with PPP recipients and present some findings from those. The most recent data reveal challenges and opportunities for agricultural businesses, depending on their scale of operations and regional disparities. Community organizations working with small agriculture-related businesses need to be aware of various impacts while providing future assistance. [1] All currencies are U.S. dollars.

Fan Wu, Yue Liu, Yingyan Zeng et al.

With the improvement of social housing policies and an increase in the quantity of public housing stock, issues such as poor property management service, poor housing quality, and insufficient public services remain to be resolved. This study focuses on the human settlement environments of public housing communities in Guangzhou and establishes an evaluation system containing built environments and housing environments satisfaction criteria. In our analysis, the evaluation system was modified using data collected from surveys through factor analysis, which reduced dimensions to the indoor environment, the community environment, and social relations. Moreover, multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify the differences of needs among residents with different living environments and family backgrounds. The result shows that housing area, transportation resources, and public services have met the basic needs of residents who were generally satisfied with the community environment of their public housing. However, acoustic insulation and community amenities in the city were found to be relatively poor and still have space for improvement. Further, requirements on indoor housing environments and social relations of residents living alone need more attention. Specific recommendations based on this study can be used as a reference for future public housing construction and improvements.

Juan Sebastián Restrepo-Cardona, M. Echeverry‐Galvis, Diana Lucía Maya et al.

In human-transformed landscapes, predators may feed on domesticated animals, and thus affect human well-being, creating negative perceptions and leading to conflict with people that can result in the persecution of the predator. We studied the factors that influence the perception of the Black-and-chestnut Eagle (Spizaetus isidori) in four rural Andean communities in Colombia and compiled historical and recent evidence on the persecution and other causes of mortality of this species in the country. We applied 267 questionnaires and conducted 16 interviews with local inhabitants, via visits to homes and schools in the surroundings of S. isidori nests. The perception of S. isidori by the inhabitants was largely negative and influenced by different socio-demographic factors such as gender, chicken (Gallus gallus) ownership, and chicken management. The records we obtained indicate that 47 eagles were shot, 16 were captured (three for illegal trafficking) and two were electrocuted on high-tension wires. The persecution of S. isidori occurs as retaliation or as a preventative measure against chicken predation, and is a significant cause of mortality of this species in Colombia. Effective conservation planning for S. isidori in Colombia needs to go further than the protected areas system, and include a socioecological perspective in conservation practices applied at landscapes scales that are dominated by people. Education programs and socioecological research, along with participatory work in local communities are key to the conservation of S. isidori in breeding territories. This approach can also prevent conflict over food resources—G. gallus and other poultry—that are shared by humans and S. isidori in rural landscapes.

Lía Ramírez-Fernández, N. Trefault, M. Carú et al.

Seabirds and pinnipeds play an important role in biogeochemical cycling by transferring nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Indeed, soils rich in animal depositions have generally high organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Several studies have assessed bacterial diversity in Antarctic soils influenced by marine animals; however most have been conducted in areas with significant human impact. Thus, we chose Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, an Antarctic Specially Protected Area designated mainly to protect the diversity of marine vertebrate fauna, and selected sampling sites with different types of animals coexisting in a relatively small space, and where human presence and impact are negligible. Using 16S rRNA gene analyses through massive sequencing, we assessed the influence of animal concentrations, via their modification of edaphic characteristics, on soil bacterial diversity and composition. The nutrient composition of soils impacted by Antarctic fur seals and kelp gulls was more similar to that of control soils (i.e. soils without visible presence of plants or animals), which may be due to the more active behaviour of these marine animals compared to other species. Conversely, the soils from concentrations of southern elephant seals and penguins showed greater differences in soil nutrients compared to the control. In agreement with this, the bacterial communities of the soils associated with these animals were most different from those of the control soils, with the soils of penguin colonies also possessing the lowest bacterial diversity. However, all the soils influenced by the presence of marine animals were dominated by bacteria belonging to Gammaproteobacteria, particularly those of the genus Rhodanobacter. Therefore, we conclude that the modification of soil nutrient composition by marine vertebrates promotes specific groups of bacteria, which could play an important role in the recycling of nutrients in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems.

I. Kirtsideli, E. Abakumov, Sh. B. Teshebaev et al.

The composition and the structure of microbial communities in areas of Arctic settlements were studied. The main attention has been given to microscopic fungi. As result of observation of 5 Arctic regions 117 species of microscopic fungi are revealed in soils and anthropogenic substrates. The identification was carried out with the use ofmycological and molecular genetic methods. Most ofspecies belong to the Ascomycotina. Genus Penicillium is characterized by the most species diversity (24 species). Most offungi are destructors of various materials and potential human pathogens. Dominant species are revealed. The distribution of microorganisms in the living and working areas of polar stations, as well as the adjacent areas are described. Black-colored fungi adapted to unfavorable environment are often the dominated group of microorganisms on soils and anthropogenic substrates. The shaping of soil microbiota was shown to be related to the anthropogenic impact. Considerable similarity of microbial communities composition in the soil and man-made substrates is fixed. As result of mycological analysis of contaminated soils 76 species of microscopic fungi were observed, but 41 species of them (53.9%) were identified in the areas of Arctic polar stations on the man-made materials. These species include the representatives of the genera Alternaria, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Exophiala, Geomyces, Humicola, Penicillium, Mucor, Phoma, Rhodotorula, Trichoderma and Ulocladium. The obtained data show a significant similarity in species composition of contaminated soils and anthropogenic substrates. Human activity contributes to the distribution of cosmopolitan species, including opportunistic fungi, in the Arctic region. The high numbers of organotrophic bacteria were revealed in soil samples. Some species of microorganisms produce the organic acids in an external environment that promotes the erosion of materials.