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Modern day societies and economies are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the continued erosion of the stocks and flows of essential ecosystem services. Thus, the management of complex socio-economic systems to effectively provide these essential services has become a global priority policy and academic research area. Understanding how underlying processes and functions contribute towards the provision of final ecosystem services can facilitate improved dissemination of credible, legitimate and salient information to decision-makers. This paper presents an ecosystem service value chain analysis framework that applies basic system dynamics modelling in the form of causal loop diagrams to facilitate an alternative analysis of ecosystem service value chains. A scoping application of the framework is applied to a case study for flood attenuation services in the Baviaanskloof catchment in South Africa. The framework enables the identification of forward linkages and ripple effects in individual value chains of final ecosystem services as well as the identification and assessment of challenges and opportunities within individual causal pathways. Ultimately, providing the potential to advance strategies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of final ecosystem service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Consistency in the identification, assessment and management of ED substances is needed. [•] Scientifically robust weight-of-evidence approaches for regulatory decision making are needed. [•] More debates on socioeconomic benefits in the context of decision making are needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents visions of three different paradigms that might define the socio-economics of the future. Retention of most of what is found in mainstream academic economics and replacement of the assumption of economic man with richer concept of psychological economic man; Emphasis on issues of equity, justice and community; Incorporation of humanities and biology issues into the paradigm.

This paper examines the use of expressions related to futsuu 'ordinary' by contemporary Japanese younger adults. Under conditions of socioeconomic precarity, the achievement of an 'ordinary life' is falling out of reach for many younger adults in Japan creating a situation in which 'ordinariness' is framed as an aspirational goal. Analysis considers how younger Japanese adults use futsuu to discursively (re)-frame what counts as standard or desirable practice and to enfold otherwise marginalized practices into contextually dependent norms. In demonstrating how the deployment of futsuu expressions both reflects and shapes the ethnometapragmatic order of things, this paper argues that ordinariness itself is an interactionally contingent semiotic event. • Contemporary Japanese adults are negotiating 'ordinariness'. • The Japanese construction futsuu ni 'ordinarily' is part of this negotiation. • Younger adults are changing what counts as 'ordinary' or 'standard' practice. • 'Standards' arise through events of communicative semiosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the transition process of cropland-use intensification can help reconcile the relationship between food demand and ecological conservation. The transition of cropland-use intensification is a trend developing in the continuous reorganisation and optimization of factor inputs with the changes in socio-economics, policies and institutions. From the induced factor substitution perspective, a transition of cropland-use intensification occurs when the agricultural entities adjust the structure of factor inputs in response to changes in the relative prices of production factors. This paper established an analytical framework for identifying the transition of cropland-use intensification and conducted an empirical study based on evidence from China between 1978 and 2019. The empirical study revealed a four-phase transition process of cropland-use intensification in China, named the 'labour-force-driven intensification', the 'yield-increasing-factors-driven intensification', the 'labour-saving-factors-driven intensification', and the 'innovation-driven intensification'. This paper also investigated the transition trajectory of cropland-use intensification in nine different agricultural zones and explored the influencing factors that contributed to the heterogeneity of the transition trajectory among different zones. Furthermore, this paper discussed the policy initiative to accelerate the transition of cropland-use intensification to the fourth stage to benefit the ecological environment and farmers' livelihood and ultimately be of great significance in promoting the sustainable development of agriculture in China. • An analytical framework for transition of cropland-use intensification based on induced technological innovation theory. • Four-stage transition process of cropland-use intensification in China during 1979–2019. • The cropland-use intensification is expected to be driven by the innovation factor in the near future. • Policies may help accelerate the transition of cropland-use intensification towards the innovation factor driven stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from industrial capitalism to cognitive capitalism and the rise of the digital revolution have brought the subject of intellectual property rights to the forefront as a controversial issue. This paper holds that the theoretical apparatus and concepts belonging to the industrial phase of capitalism largely fall short with respect to the repercussions that intellectual property rights regime yields. Embracing the methodological precept that social theory must be moulded in order to address the contours of contemporary social reality, this paper engages in an autonomist Marxist update on the concept of intellectual property rights. It ultimately challenges the "intellectual property rights are a socio-economic need" thesis and speculatively argues that the current system of intellectual property rights, directed politically towards the enclosure of commons, constitutes a structural contradiction by i) forming a basis for a social crisis in terms of the established relations of production, and ii) curtailing a part of the socio-economic opportunities for innovation, profit-making, and growth. • The subject of IPR has become a controversial issue with the rise of cognitive capitalism and digital revolution. • The current theoretical and conceptual apparatus largely falls short to address the repercussions IPR regime yields. • The current regime of IPR forms a basis for a social crisis in terms of established relations of production. • The current regime of IPR curtails the socio-economic opportunities for innovation, profit-making, and growth. • Through the lens of autonomist Marxist theory, we explain why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ubiquitous high-speed fiber-based and mobile broadband availability is a key economic policy goal in the European Union and other developed countries. Policymakers seek to boost economic growth, productivity, and employment, especially in remote areas, through ambitious broadband targets and substantial public funding. This paper reviews the existing (empirical) literature on high-speed broadband Internet and its socioeconomic impact on key outcome variables. Our main findings are that (i) the socioeconomic benefits in terms of economic growth, productivity, house prices, and education, as well as economic resilience, are high but are also subject to diminishing returns beyond a certain broadband quality level, (ii) the effects on employment are more ambiguous, (iii) the positive socioeconomic effects take hold only after broadband adoption on the demand side, but not with mere availability on the supply side, and (iv) the effects of broadband differ significantly for urban vs. rural and high-skilled vs. low-skilled workers for some of the outcome variables. Based on these findings, we develop recommendations for a cost-effective and efficient broadband policy and identify an agenda for research. • We review the existing empirical literature on high-speed broadband. • We consider the most relevant socioeconomic effects of modern broadband. • We find huge benefits in terms of economic growth, productivity and resilience. • Effects on employment are more ambiguous. • Positive socio-economic effects take hold only after broadband adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinion platforms are the result of technological advances that have increased the importance for users to check other users' opinions about products and services before making a purchase. The aim of this research paper is twofold: (i) to analyse whether there is a direct and positive relationship between the privacy of Google Maps users and variables such as satisfaction and trust, and (ii) whether the E-WOM of Google Maps is related to the satisfaction and trust of its users. To achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was collected from users of Google Maps reviews in Spain. A total of 375 valid responses were analysed using PLS-SEM methodology. In particular, structural model analysis was used for the formative and reflective variables. This study sheds new light on opinion platforms and their usefulness for efficient business management, as well as specifying the importance of user privacy for their satisfaction. The importance of E-WOM for user satisfaction, trust and privacy is emphasised. The findings underline the importance of technological advances for different stakeholders and society. This study reduces the gap in the usefulness of opinion platforms, especially Google Maps, and contributes to the academic literature on the variables studied. • E-WOM and Google Maps have transformed business management by influencing its decision-making. • E-WOM is a variable of great importance for the management of companies that use Google Maps. • E-WOM has boosted satisfaction and trust by encouraging instant customer feedback. • The limited research on Google Maps hinders the understanding of its socio-economic and cultural impact. • The privacy management of E-WOM's platforms enhances user satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between August–October 2014 and July–August 2015 in a rural village located inside of a Tanzanian marine park. Through narrative responses elicited during interviews with village residents, coupled with ethnographic vignettes from a key interlocutor in the village, the paper reveals people's diverse perspectives on village out-migration. In doing so, it interrogates the claim that the marine park has forced people to out-migrate. Some respondents explained that men generally engage in circular forms of labour-related mobility in the context of seasonal fishing activities and short-term business ventures. Others said that people choose to out-migrate due to everyday hardships, leaving "in search of a good life." These narrative responses are at once commentaries on the macro-level political and economic drivers of rural out-migration, and on respondent's micro-level aspirations for future socioeconomic autonomy. Thus, they are both expressions of structural constraint and individual agency. While very few interviewees believed that people were forced to migrate because of the marine park, most respondents contended that it had deepened pre-existing experiences of a "hard life," and exacerbated lived experiences of vulnerability. However, migration has historically been woven into the sociocultural fabric of the community, and there are broader trends of rural population mobility in Tanzania, and fisher mobility in coastal areas, which long pre-date the establishment of the park. Furthermore, some respondents offered alternative narratives, noting that villagers may choose not to out-migrate, and that village in-migration may be increasing due to various pull factors. As such, the paper complicates the scholarly discourse on the relationship between marine protected areas and displacement of local communities. • I interrogate the claim that the marine park has forced villagers to out-migrate. • Coastal villagers are vulnerable to 'multiple livelihood stressors'. • Migration drivers are sociocultural, economic, psychological, political, and environmental. • Patterns of migration are historically embedded. • Migration from inside the MPA is a product of agency and structural constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines attempts by members of a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory (NT), Australia, to control alcohol use, and the impact of policy decisions taken by national, territory and local governments on those attempts between 2007 and 2017. The Australian Government's main policy instrument for reducing alcohol-related harms from 2010 was the Alcohol Management Plan (AMP), officially defined as a plan, negotiated at a local community level with a high level of community input, for the effective management of alcohol use by the local community. The paper shows that the policy as implemented had the unintended consequence of undermining rather than enhancing the capacity of the community to act collectively in managing alcohol, largely as a result of the interactions of four sets of factors: (1) the policies as formulated; (2) actions taken to implement the policies, (3) the responses of those affected by the policies, and (4) the socio-ecological context in which these events occurred. The paper seeks to identify the processes through which these consequences were generated, and the implications for future policy-making, policy implementation and community-level initiatives for managing alcohol in Aboriginal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Resource nationalism has become a fashionable approach to resource governance in many countries across the world. Motivated by the desire to make resource governance deliver to socio-economic development, governments in resource-rich countries have exploited resource nationalism to achieve their populist socio-economic goals. In 2017, the government of Tanzania instituted a strong resource nationalist governance regime. This paper examines Tanzania's re-adoption of resource nationalism to understand how the government was able to institutionalise the reforms. The paper draws on secondary scholarly sources and primary materials such as President Magufuli's speeches during his presidential campaigns in 2015 and afterwards during his government clampdown on Acacia. Like studies on neo-extractivism in Latin America have shown, President Magufuli used resource nationalism as a political strategy to both secure a stronghold in party and national politics and legitimise his economic policy. Faced with a strengthening opposition politics and competitive elections, President Magufuli exploited public dissatisfaction with a liberal resource governance approach and a popular appeal of socialist policies to re-introduce resource nationalism as a strategy not only to re-legitimise extractivism but also to delegitimise the opposition and multinational corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the African interface of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), identifying synergies between it and Africa's development agenda. Particularly assessed is its capacity to converge with the African Union's Agenda 2063's Aspirations 2, 4 and 5. The paper argues that the BRI appears to have developmental implications for Africa in terms of industrialisation and infrastructure rolling out and by extension boosting intra-continental trade, the African Peace and Security Architecture and intra-continental people-to-people exchange. The paper concludes with an empirical case for caution; indicating that for beneficiation levels to grow, a concerted effort on the part of both Africa and China is needed in order to synchronise infrastructure with socio-economic/demographic realities (rather than perceiving it as only an engineering problem), so that it is not only outward as was seen with colonial-era railways which were only coastally directed due to the extractive nature of colonial economies, resulting in infrastructural debilitation after independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Embrace of variety is a feature of lifestyle of professional and managerial classes. • Class distinction is expressed through tastes for different culinary styles. • The taste for 'ethnic' cuisine is symbolically significant and socially unevenly distributed. • Some culinary omnivores display exceptional enthusiasm for food. • Britain's 'foodies' have a distinctive profile. Abstract This paper examines social differentiation of tastes for meals out of the home in contemporary Britain. It reports results from a study of eating out based on a survey and interviews in London, Preston and Bristol in 2015. It focuses on the breadth of exposure to variety of restaurant cuisine styles in order to address debates about distinction, cultural omnivorousness and cosmopolitanism. The paper uses regression analysis of survey results to reveal social differentiation, with special reference to the effects of gender, age, ethnicity and class on culinary taste. The data reveal the social and symbolic significance of variety of experience in visits to commercial venues for meals and degrees of familiarity with diverse cuisines. The data show a consistent relationship between higher socio-economic position, frequency of eating out, and the experiencing of a wide variety of cuisines. Culinary preferences cluster into three bundles: popular, uncommon and exclusive. Significant social characteristics of their bearers include age, class trajectory, education and ethnic identification. Tendencies associated with cultural omnivorousness can be observed among the professional and managerial middle class. While it is important not to conflate internal goods deriving from enthusiastic engagement in this particular cultural field with achievement of social advantage, culinary tastes are a mark of social distinction. Diverse culinary experience of variety is a prerequisite for full membership of the professional and managerial class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Although the causes of asthma are inconclusive, it is fairly known that exposure to outdoor air pollutants can cause asthma, especially children's asthma morbidity. Whereas transportation is one of the major sectors that generate air pollutants, previous research that investigates the correlation between transportation and asthma narrowly focuses on the contribution of automobile traffic to children's asthma. Developing three spatial regression models (a spatial lag (SL) model, a spatial error (SE) model, and a general spatial (SAC) model), this paper investigates the roles of a variety of transportation factors in two distinct stages of children's asthma morbidity; asthma and severe asthma. With consideration to asthma-related socio-economic factors in the City of Seoul, the SE (R2 = 0.31) and SAC (R2 = 0.34) models consistently indicate that three out of four transportation factors associate with children's severe asthma at statistically significant level. They include the negative influence of bus transit and dense intersections, and the positive influence of active transportation activities on children's asthma severity. Interestingly, however, no significant contribution of transportation factors to children's asthma morbidity was identified by the SE (R2 = 0.29) and SAC (R2 = 0.28) models. Shedding more light on the complexity of children's asthma morbidity and severity, this paper proposes collaborative partnerships not only among multi- dimensional agencies, but also among multi-level government organizations. Highlights • Transportation factors become a significant contributing factor to children's severe asthma rather than asthma morbidity. • The transportation factors include bus transit, dense intersections, and active transportation activities. • The strong public health insurance program reduces the influence of socio-economic characteristics on children's asthma. • It is important to consider children asthma when planning transportation strategies such as Complete Streets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the introduction of unit-pricing (UP) schemes in waste management with regard to grassroots initiatives promoting bottom-up participatory processes in local communities, addressing several issues concerning environmental justice and degrowth. As waste service charges and fees increase in proportion of waste generated in presence of UP schemes, the paper explores and evaluates the socio-economic impact of these schemes at a local level, analysing data and information gathered from four municipalities in Spain. Findings indicate that UP schemes can provide a more balanced payment system for local residents, and help reducing free-rider behaviours associated with illegal and improper disposal practices. In addition, findings provide empirical evidence of the importance of grassroots initiatives in relation to increasing awareness regarding environmental issues among the public, and in view of facilitating change towards more sustainable practices within local communities. Conclusions gathered from this study offer valuable insights to local and national policymakers with regard to the design and delivery of UP schemes in waste management services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper deals with the geographically uneven distribution of urban sustainability experiments. It focuses on largely neglected demographic, socio-economic, and socio-cultural characteristics to explain where and why experiments are likely to emerge — or not. In doing so, it presents the first quantitative study to examine a systematic relationship between the incidence of experiments and neighbourhood-level indicators. Theoretically informed by transitions studies and urban geography, the study draws on unique data from an urban agriculture initiative consisting of nearly two thousand individual projects across metropolitan London. Applying spatial statistical analyses, its results suggest that, on the one hand, gentrifying and, on the other hand, income-deprived neighbourhoods provide distinct urban milieux in which initiatives emerge disproportionately often. In contrast, already gentrified or otherwise advantaged urban neighbourhoods are found to have a disproportionately low number of projects. The paper discusses the socio-spatially variegating roles of experiments and identifies implications of these findings for our theoretical understanding of the emergence of sustainability experiments, their interrelationship with differing socio-economic and cultural contexts, and their expected significance for wider societal sustainability transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Analyzes European household's willingness to mitigate climate change through changes in consumption behavior. • New analytical perspective through Qualitative Comparative Analysis in large-N design. • Highlights the contribution of health information for willingness to mitigate. • Demonstrates limitations of financial incentives to motivate behavioural change. • Points to need for different policy design to motivate household mitigation of GHG emissions. Abstract The climate change mitigation potential of the production side has been discussed very frequently, but private citizens and households have received less systematic attention. Thus, this paper focuses on the willingness of private households to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. While many scholars study the socio-economic characteristics of people to then recommend policies, we change the analytical perspective and look at the characteristics of climate mitigation actions that affect households' willingness to adopt these measures: Costs, emission reductions, behavioral change, and consumption sector. The paper uses data from HOPE (HOusehold Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in four European high-income countries), an interdisciplinary project investigating households' preferences for reducing greenhouse gas in four countries (France, Germany, Norway and Sweden). We use a fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA) to analyze which attributes are necessary or sufficient conditions for specific actions to be selected by participants of HOPE. The results of the fsQCA show that Food & Recycling actions are particularly popular. The general pattern that was found shows that people prefer actions that are easy to implement even though they often do not reduce the CO2e-Footprint by much. Therefore, the condition Behavioral Change is the most important lever in improving households' willingness to act on climate change. Moreover, the analysis of Health Information suggests that there is an urgent need to go beyond financial arguments in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper presents results from a study of commuting and non-work travel in a large, monocentric and a smaller, polycentric city region. • The study combines a questionnaire survey with qualitative interviews and includes cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses. • In both regions and for commuting as well as non-work trips, inner-city dwellers make a higher share of non-motorized trips and a lower share by car. • Commuting distances depend heavily on proximity to each region's main job concentration: inner Oslo and a suburban business park in Stavanger. • Local built environment characteristics play a greater role for trip distances to non-work destinations, particularly in Oslo. Abstract There is an extensive literature on relationships between the built environment and travel, but the vast majority of such studies rely solely on statistical analyses of available travel survey data, with limited possibilities for demonstrating causality. This article presents findings from a methodologically novel study drawing on a combination of a tailor-made questionnaire survey and in-depth qualitative interviews, including cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses. Our mixed-methods approach offers stronger evidence of causal influences than in most previous studies on the built environment and travel. We illuminate such relationships in two metropolitan areas differing considerably in their size and urban structure: the relatively monocentric Norwegian capital Oslo and the smaller, predominantly polycentric Stavanger area. The study encompasses travel distances and modes for both commuting and intra-metropolitan non-work purposes. The paper thus offers a comparison of the influences of built environment characteristics on travel across metropolitan contexts as well as for different travel purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates potential electric vehicle (EV) adoption among households in Atlantic Canada, a region lagging in terms of EV uptake. The data come from a 2015 S urvey for P references and A ttitudes of C anadians towards E lectric Vehicles or SPACE , with an intent to investigate electric mobility prospects in Canada through a series of socioeconomic, attitudinal, and stated preference (SP) questions. A latent class (LC) random utility model is used to segment Atlantic respondents based on their sociodemographic and environmental attitudes, and to estimate their willingness-to-pay for different vehicular features. A separate model is estimated for leading adoption provinces (Ontario and British Columbia), and compared to the Atlantic model. Results indicate that cash incentives and the quality of battery warranty are important features shaping the choice of vehicle powertrain in the Atlantic sample. Contrary to the model obtained from the leading provinces, electric range, maintenance cost, free parking, and access to high occupancy vehicle lanes are not significant attributes in the Atlantic model. With respect to segmentation, the adoption of EVs in the Atlantic model increases with youth, education, and progressive attitudes towards the environment, while income is not a determining factor. Our results imply some support for EVs among Atlantic consumers, though at less advanced levels than the leading adoption provinces in Canada. However, the high purchase price of EVs, lack of financial incentives, and limited public charging infrastructure are seen as key reasons for low EV deployment in Atlantic Canada. The demographic profiles of the plug-in oriented group, found in this study, suggest targeted decisions regarding policy and marketing. Highlights • Paper compares "leading" and "lagging" regions of Canada in terms of how consumers evaluate the choice among powertrains. • Data come from a 2015 S urvey for P references and A ttitudes of C anadians towards E lectric V ehicles or SPACE. • Latent class choice model outputs suggest a higher share of consumers in leading provinces appear open to electric vehicles. • Plug-in oriented consumers in Atlantic Canada make less nuanced evaluations about EVs than their leading region counterparts. • Leading region consumers more clearly evaluate differences between plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper explores potential future land use/cover (LUC) dynamics in the Attica region, Greece, under three distinct economic performance scenarios. During the last decades, Attica underwent a significant and predominantly unregulated process of urban growth, due to a substantial increase in housing demand coupled with limited land use planning controls. However, the recent financial crisis affected urban growth trends considerably. This paper uses the observed LUC trends between 1991 and 2016 to sketch three divergent future scenarios of economic development. The observed LUC trends are then analysed using 27 dynamic, biophysical, socio-economic, terrain and proximity-based factors, to generate transition potential maps, implementing a Random Forests (RF) regression modelling approach. Scenarios are projected to 2040 by implementing a spatially explicit Cellular Automata (CA) model. The resulting maps are subjected to a multiple resolution sensitivity analysis to assess the effect of spatial resolution of the input data to the model outputs. Findings show that, under the current setting of an underdeveloped land use planning apparatus, a long-term scenario of high economic growth will increase built-up surfaces in the region by almost 24%, accompanied by a notable decrease in natural areas and cropland. Interestingly, in the case that the currently negative economic growth rates persist, artificial surfaces in the region are still expected to increase by approximately 7.5% by 2040. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • We explore the land use/cover dynamics in Attica region (Greece) under 3 scenarios. • Scenarios reflect different economic performance realities and planning options. • Heterogeneous factors expressed in multiple scales, units and resolutions are included. • Transition potential with RF and CA modelling are used to project the LUC changes. • Simulation results are subject to a multi-resolution sensitivity analysis approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract How to protect the Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS) has become a practical problem to be solved due to its number increasing rapidly. To promote the industrial integration development (IID) in IAHS sites was an essential measure regarded widely. This paper first reviewed IID theories, and then analyzed resources characteristics in IAHS sites and IAHS conservation requirements. Then based on these aspects, an IID theoretical framework was built for IAHS sites. In the theoretical framework, the definition and connotation and the principles that IID should abide by were proposed first, and then an implemented procedure of IID was built. The implemented procedure drew an IID route for IAHS sites, which describes the key indexes of assessment on the IID level, how to analyze resources characteristics, which resource types can be used, how to achieve industrial integration, how to organize operating entities of industries and how to balance benefits of stakeholders. The theory indicated the distinctiveness and key aspects of IID in IAHS sites and suggested how to promote the IID in IAHS sites and which themes are research priorities. Highlights • Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS) conservation is a crucial work for IAHS sites. • Promoting Industrial Integration Development (IID) in IAHS sites is an essential protective measure. • IID in IAHS sites is restrained by conservation conditions but also has many resources advantages. • This paper proposes a theoretic framework of IID in IAHS sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The effects of structural change on CO 2 emissions are explored. • An econometric analysis framework is used, taking the period 1980–2015. • Unidirectional causality is found running from energy consumption structure to CO 2 emissions. • Unidirectional causality is found running from export and import structure to CO2 emissions. • Energy consumption structure and investment structure do significantly affect CO 2 emissions in the long run. Abstract This paper empirically explores the interactions between socioeconomic structures (i.e., energy consumption structure, economic structure, export and import structure, investment structure, and urban-rural structure) and CO 2 emissions in China, using time series data for the period 1980–2015, and employing an econometric analysis framework. Using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test, we surveyed the stationarity of the selected variables, all of which were found to be stationary at the first difference. Based on Vector Error-Correction Model (VECM) model, Granger causality test was further employed in order to detect the causal relationship among the competing variables. The results show the presence of unidirectional causality running from energy consumption structure, and from export and import structure, to CO 2 emissions. No causal link was found to exist in relation to the other two variables. An impulse response analysis and a variance decomposition analysis were subsequently utilized, the results of which demonstrated that the energy consumption structure and the investment structure do significantly affect CO 2 emissions in the long run and that the energy consumption structure is the most significant variable. This paper contributes existing scholarly research into the relationship between socioeconomic structure and CO 2 emissions, and our findings have significant implications for the government in the task of implementing policy measures in order to mitigate the growth of CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Grassroots initiatives are expressions of material, socio-cultural, and political-economic place-making. • As such, they are embedded in the gentrifying urban environment. • Paper draws on ethnographic case study of Peckham, South London. • Economic interests in neighbourhood development and aspects of identity (e.g. class, race) determine initiatives' evolution. • Initiatives' intended and unintended impacts, temporal and spatial limits, and social composition are critically analysed. Abstract This paper examines how grassroots sustainability initiatives take shape in a specific socio-economic context. It argues that such initiatives are best conceived of as exercises in material, socio-cultural, and political-economic 'placemaking' which is especially evident in the gentrifying urban environment. A gentrification perspective highlights the ways in which initiatives are influenced by their local socio-economic milieux and, vice versa, can influence the socio-economic restructuring of their neighbourhoods. The paper draws on an ethnographic case study in the neighbourhood of Peckham, South London. It describes and analyses how overarching economic interests in neighbourhood development as well as culture, class, race, and other aspects of identity—simultaneously and interdependently—determine initiatives' emergence and evolution. It draws attention to the fact that the distribution of costs and benefits associated with sustainability initiatives is not 'neutral'. In doing so, it questions common, overly positive views of grassroots initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The socioeconomic and environmental impacts of informal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Ghana are assessed in this paper. The paper includes a case study of an informal ASM-affected community located in the Western Region of Ghana. A two-phase mixed-method approach consisting of literature reviews, questionnaires, interviews, and water quality assessments was employed. The informal ASM was found to be a significant source of livelihood for many rural people who have few employment alternatives. However, it was observed to promote truancy, child labor, teenage pregnancy, and environmental degradation. Water quality was significantly affected by turbidity, followed by manganese and iron, leading to a water quality index at least 500% higher than the upper limit for potability. The authors describe economic, political, social, regulatory, and technological factors as major drivers for the informal ASM. Formalization of the informal ASM in Ghana could minimize the socioeconomic impacts and ensure environmental performance. Highlights • Informal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a major source of livelihood. • Informal ASM poses significant threat to health, safety, security, and the environment. • Economic, political, social, regulatory, and technological factors drive informal ASM. • Turbidity is the major water quality issue of ASM-affected waters in Ghana. • Measures to ensure sustainability and environmental performance of ASM are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The problem of employment access for the urban poor is often articulated across the urban-suburban divide in metropolitan areas, such that job opportunities concentrate in suburban areas, at a distance from areas of concentrated, racialized poverty in the inner city. The lack of public transit options that reasonably connect urban workers to suburban job opportunities only furthers this problem. However, transportation scholars have noted that a substantial population of the urban poor take this “reverse” commute. While these studies have grown knowledge on the characteristics of the reverse commuting population and their journey to work, they do not address, to the same extent, the demographic characteristics where reverse commuters live in the city and where they work in the suburbs. To learn more about the equity issues in the reverse commuting problem, this paper uses cluster analysis to develop typologies of commutes based on differences in key socio-demographic indicators between home (origin) and work (destination) geographies. This paper analyzes how commute patterns (intra-urban, suburb-city, etc.) and the number of jobs nested within these commute patterns, concentrate across socio-demographically defined commute typologies. Focus is given to how reverse commutes are distributed across these typologies. Reverse commutes constitute approximately 10% of all commutes in our sample and 10% of all primary jobs (the job that provides a worker the most income of all of their jobs) in the sample are accessed via reverse commute. The paper concludes with a number of transportation and social policy interventions that address issues facing particularly low-income, minority, reverse commuting workers. In light of the literature on metropolitan fragmentation, we recommend redistributive policies that build suburban, municipal accountability to urban, low-income reverse commuters. Highlights • Large numbers of workers take a reverse commute from city to suburb. • Many reverse commuters traverse socio-demographic disparity in the journey to work. • Policy should encourage suburban, municipal accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • GIS-based model using Interval Type-2-Fuzzy AHP is proposed for wind farm site suitability analysis. • The model takes into account the economic, social & environmental factors. • Northern part of Nigeria is favourable for wind farm location due to good wind resource. • Kano state has the highest numbers of suitable sites in Nigeria. • 42% of the total land mass in the country is suitable for wind farm development. Abstract The development of wind farm projects requires proper planning and evaluation. Most often, the suitability of locations for siting wind farms is based on the wind resource (i.e. wind speeds) of a location. However, other criteria such as environmental, economic, and social factors are also important during the planning stage at arriving at a robust wind farm siting decision. In this paper, a geographic information system-based model for wind farm site selection using interval type-2 fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is proposed and implemented to determine the suitable wind farm sites in Nigeria. The model focuses on the use of fuzzy sets to represent expert’s linguistic judgement with the aim of addressing the issues of uncertainty, vagueness and inconsistency in wind farm site selection decision making. The model uses two sets of criteria (weighted and constraint) which are either economic, social, or environmental in evaluating the suitable sites for wind farm development. The results of the study revealed that the best sites for wind farm development are basically located in the Northern part of Nigeria with Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, and Sokoto states being the most suitable locations for wind farm projects. The suitable area for locating wind farm in the country is evaluated to be approximately 125728.6 km2, out of which about 2650.1 km2 are considered to be extremely suitable for siting a wind farm. This paper could serve as a first-hand scientific information for decision makers and planners in selecting the optimal suitable site for wind farm development. Although, Nigeria is considered as the case study, the methodology can be severally applied to any region in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on China’s latest national railway network planning proposal, the connectivity and accessibility indices of China’s high-speed railway network (CHSRN) in different time periods are computed to evaluate the implications of high-speed rail (HSR) for Chinese cities. An overall index for measuring the connectivity-accessibility of cities on the HSR network is proposed based on three indicators: (a) the Beta index, to reflect the connectivity of the HSR, (b) the number of reachable counties by HSR within the 500-km domain of a city, to reflect the location-based accessibility of the HSR, and (c) the population of the reachable places by HSR within the 500-km domain of a city, to reflect the potential-based accessibility of the HSR. Finally, the differences in the normalized connectivity-accessibility levels of different categories of cities are qualified to measure the impact of China’s future national HSR network on the potential development of cities. It is found that “Mid-to-Long-Term Railway Network Plan (Revised in 2016)”, if fully realized, would profoundly change the HSR connectivity/accessibility of different cities. Most notably, cities in the Yangtze River Delta would suffer the most whereas cities of the central and western regions would gain the most. This could potentially contribute to, or bring about new changes in, the socioeconomic landscapes in China. The methodological contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, an overall index to evaluate the comprehensive connectivity and accessibility levels of the HSR network is designed. Secondly, this paper investigates how to qualify the impact of the future HSR network on different tiers of cities in different time periods according to the change of the overall connectivity/accessibility index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract To consider culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability implies new intellectual and political debate at both the theoretical and the empirical level, revisiting knowledge already established within economics and the sociology of development on the centrality of culture as a framework, a resource and a strategy for local and community development. When considered in the context of rural sustainability, rural territories pose specific problems. On the one hand, demographic and socioeconomic imbalances represent hard restrictions on the ways that resources and agents can be mobilized as part of development processes. On the other hand, the richness of material and non-material heritage, the vividness of oral traditions, a strong sense of community and cultural identity, are important local assets that can be transformed into effective instruments for development via appropriate policies and programs. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities for applying culture as an instrument of rural sustainability by exploring the specific case study example of a long-term artistic and cultural intervention project in Northern Portugal. The project involves a professional theatre troupe delivering performance-based, creative and educational activities within a number of rural communities. The project is itself a partnership between a group of professional artists and five municipalities in Northern Portugal; its aim is to use the rich non-material local heritage as a basis for collective involvement in a sustainable culture-driven development strategy. The paper traces the evolution of the project over a 10 year period since its inception in 2004 and reveals empirically the ways in which it has impacted upon local development, highlighting the potential of culture as an instrument in rural sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Set against a representation of much of rural America as an impoverished and socio-economically abandoned space, reaching out in desperation to the populism of Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential elections, this paper seeks to probe more critically and carefully the everyday geographies (represented, practiced, lived) of this space. It does this through engaging its artistic expression within a branch of Country Music known as Americana and, more specifically, through the American West articulated in the songs of musician and author Willy Vlautin, expressed by his bands Richmond Fontaine and the Delines. The paper shows both Americana in general and Vlautin's songs in particular to predominantly present a bleak and brutal picture of what is termed 'abandoned rural America', depicting rural to small-city lives destroyed by both 'internal' and 'external' forces. Moreover, this grim condition seems little assuaged through the kinds of residential migration and more everyday mobilities that may be associated with the West's Frontier myth of salvation or today's supposed era of mobilities. However, through a Gibson-Graham inspired reading for difference and sensitised by Neil Campbell's idea of an affective critical regionality, an alternative story of a more positive if fragile rural geography can be identified. Vlautin's songs well express this geography of hope as rooted in recuperative liminal but often deeply emplaced 'pauses' within a gruelling everyday life-course. Indeed, the abandoned rural West can be seen to present heterotopic existential life-rafts to its 'drowning' people, a position rural spaces today can be seen to adopt more generally, expressing, in sum, an affective critical rurality. Highlights • Americana music powerfully illuminates contemporary geographies of the rural US. • Willy Vlautin's songs powerfully illustrate a depressed rural West. • Further reading for difference show his rural as a source of recuperative hope. • The latter feeds into a broader status of the rural today as a heterotopic resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the connection between offence and morality in segments of an hour-long life-story interview with two Latin American migrants in London, in which the participants recount interpersonal conflictive moments with co-ethnics. It shows that causing and taking offence is largely about the translocalisation of values to a new space where social and moral orders become unstable as the organisation of the social group is contingent on new socioeconomic realities. This, in turn, may generate conflicting understandings of what constitutes "right" or "wrong" ways of acting. It maintains that in order to understand the valence and reverberations of the offensive actions reported and gauge whose moral grounds can be legitimately validated and by whom, the wider relational context in which the offender and offended parties' relationship is embedded and the place which it occupies within societal structures should be considered. • Moral evaluations are socioculturally constructed, space centred and emergent. • Social and moral orders become unstable generating conflicting understandings of 'right' and 'wrong'. • Agency and accountability in offence taking and attribution is distinct. • The wider relational connections in which interpersonal relationships are embedded is fundamental for understanding offence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘sharing economy’ is in the process of transforming numerous industries. Among these, the hotel sector is especially vulnerable to the strategic disruption that sharing platforms present. Companies such as Airbnb represent the epitome of this threat. This paper sets out to achieve two fundamental research objectives. First, it develops a set of exploratory research propositions based on a qualitative application of transaction cost theory (TCT) to the emergence of sharing platforms. Second, it offers specific strategic and tactical recommendations for the hotel industry based on the TCT analysis referred to above. The paper suggests that, in revising their business models to cope with the new competitive challenges posed by sharing platforms, hotel chains can leverage their superior capacity to deal with three key features of transactions drawn from TCT (frequency, uncertainty and asset specificity) and develop what this paper terms ‘integrated platforms’. By employing the TCT lens to understand the emergence of sharing platforms, this is the first study to systematically develop a theoretically grounded approach to understanding how transaction features impact the emergence of sharing platforms, and it hence has clear implications for numerous industries being impacted by these developments, not least the hotel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destructive fishing practices and overfishing are common throughout the Philippine archipelago. This, coupled with a rapidly increasing human population, puts the marine resources at risk as more and more people become reliant upon the fisheries for sustenance. This paper unpicks infant nutritional choices as a potential socioeconomic driver in fishing effort. Research from a larger study focusing on the viability of tourism as a supplemental livelihood for remote artisanal fishing communities in the Philippines unexpectedly exposed five cases of fishing families going into debt to purchase breast milk substitutes for their children. Building upon previous research that has demonstrated the influence of economic need on fishing effort, infant nutritional choices, specifically the unnecessary use of milk substitutes is discussed as a potentially overlooked driver in fishing effort. This paper discusses potential impacts of infant nutritional choices in the context of economic need, population growth and fisheries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architects working with city planners and developers in the shaping of urban environments typically consider multiple factors in isolation, from urban design and socio-economic relationships to data analyses. Analyses regarding urban life cycle scenarios are exemplar of this trend, with considerations made in isolation at the later stages of the design-development process when the scope for decisions which could ultimately affect the sustainability of an urban environment is much more limited. This paper defines our effort to introduce a new tool, named “Clark’s Crow”, which aims to address this shortcoming by promoting awareness of the impact of different design options through a biophysically based ecological accounting method in the early stages of urban design-development. The tool is used within existing architectural design environments with an aim to offer a socio-ecological analysis during the design decision-making process. Clark’s Crow is underpinned by the emergy analysis method, which aims to consider both the energy, material, and information flows of a system, such as an urban ecology, and to understand both the work of the techno-sphere in constructing our urban environments and that of the geo-biosphere in sustaining such development. Clark’s Crow facilitates emergy analysis in the early stages of urban design, thereby allowing queries regarding material and energy flows to be addressed in conjunction with design choices at this initial stage. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness and features of Clark’s Crow through a case study of development using next generation systems in Manhattan, New York, depicting how an emergy analysis approach can lead to an understanding of the value and impact of speculative buildings towards sustainable design-development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the value that households place on very high-speed internet access, explicitly focusing on the impact of eligibility for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology on property prices. Using a Spatial Discontinuity Design based on the border of fiber eligibility zones which have significantly expanded under France's Très Haut-Débit plan, I find that FTTH eligibility is a significant determinant of property prices, with an average increase of 0.9 percent. I also consider heterogeneities in FTTH valuation, accounting for socioeconomic characteristics, local factors, and the performance of legacy copper networks. These findings highlight the growing importance of fast and reliable broadband access for households and have important implications for policymakers and Internet service providers. • Analysis of household valuation of very high-speed broadband in France. • A spatial RDD shows that FTTH eligibility boosts property prices by 0.9 percent. • FTTH's higher value in rural areas calls for policy shifts to address digital divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000 s, average standardized test scores of Brazilian public primary and middle school students in both reading and mathematics on the national test, the SAEB, have risen substantially. Although the increases cut across all race and socioeconomic groups, the increases were unequal across groups and varied greatly across states and municipalities/school districts. In this paper, we describe student achievement gains in Brazil among municipalities in 2007–2017, with the goal of understanding the variation in these gains and the socioeconomic, race, and school resource correlates of that variation. Our results suggest that student social class and race were highly correlated with municipal test score gains: those municipalities with higher social class and proportionately more White students made significantly larger gains. However, municipalities with greater social class inequality made smaller gains. Certain average characteristics of teachers in a municipality and the incidence of school violence were also significantly related to student performance gains. Thus, our estimates suggest that it may be possible to soften the effects of social structural inequality among and within districts by increasing the quality of teacher resources and reducing school violence in lower academically gaining districts. • Student test score gains in 2007–2017 were large but varied greatly across districts. • Districts with higher average SES and lower proportions of Blacks made larger gains. • Controlling for SES and race, districts with lower SES inequality made larger gains. • Better-educated teachers and less school violence were also related to higher gains. • SES and race are closely related to school learning gains in an unequal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak has induced pivotal technological and socioeconomic changes, reshaping the global landscape. This meta-analytic review examines 52 studies from leading databases, offering a comprehensive insight into these profound shifts. The analysis highlights the acceleration in digital technologies adoption, encompassing remote work, e-commerce, and automation. Concurrently, it reveals notable socioeconomic transformations, including altered consumer behavior, flexible work arrangements, supply chain disruptions, and increased healthcare technology demand. The pandemic's ripple effects have further widened the digital divide and intensified social inequalities, reflecting variations across industries and regions. Government policies and regulations have emerged as influential factors, shaping the magnitude and nature of these changes. This review underscores the multifaceted impact of COVID-19, illuminating the complex interplay between technological advancements and socioeconomic dynamics. It emphasizes the need for strategic adaptation by policymakers, businesses, and individuals in navigating the post-pandemic era. In sum, this paper presents a nuanced understanding of the lasting technological and socioeconomic ramifications of COVID-19, offering valuable insights for shaping future strategies and policies and contributing to the broader discourse on global resilience and transformation. • COVID-19 has led to significant technological and socioeconomic changes with far-reaching effects on the global economy. • COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, particularly remote work, e-commerce, and automation. • COVID-19 has widened the digital divide and exacerbated social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The age-based digital divide is emerging as a major challenge with the integrated development of population aging and digital transformation. This study examines the dynamics of multifaceted age-based digital divides (perceived Internet importance, Internet access, and learning-oriented Internet use) as well as their socioeconomic differentials (urban-rural residence, gender, and education). Using longitudinal data from China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) from 2010 to 2020, the study found that despite increases in perceived importance and physical access, learning-oriented use showed a downward trend. Moreover, the age-based divides regarding importance and access persisted over time while the divides in learning-oriented use by age fluctuated, and these dynamics varied across different social groups. The largest difference was observed between high-educated and low-educated groups: while the age-based divides in perceived importance and access have widened among the low-educated, these gaps have been bridged among the high-educated populations. For the usage gap, this contrasting developmental trend was only observed between middle-aged and young people, but not for the elderly. • The paper focused on the evolution of age-based digital divides among Chinese from 2010 to 2020. • The age-based divides in attitude, access, and learning-oriented use persisted over years. • The dynamics of age-based divides varied across different social groups. • The age-based Internet perception and access divides have widened among the less-educated populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research has examined the disparities in road traffic safety among population groups and geographic regions. These studies reveal disparities in crash outcomes between people and regions with different socioeconomic characteristics. A critical aspect of the road traffic crash epidemic that has received limited attention is the influence of local characteristics on human elements that increase the risk of getting into a crash. This paper applies multilevel logistic regression modeling techniques to investigate the influence of driver residential factors on driver behaviors in an attempt to explain the area-based differences in the severity of road crashes across the State of Alabama. Specifically, the paper reports the effects of characteristics attributable to drivers and the geographic regions they reside on the likelihood of a crash resulting in serious injuries. Model estimation revealed that driver residence (postal code or region) accounted for about 7.3% of the variability in the probability of a driver getting into a serious injury crash, regardless of driver characteristics. The results also reveal disparities in serious injury crash rate as well as significant proportions of serious injury crashes involving no seatbelt usage, driving under influence (DUI), unemployed drivers, young drivers, distracted driving, and African American drivers among some regions. The average credit scores, average commute times, and populations of driver postal codes are shown to be significant predictors for risk of severe injury crashes. This approach to traffic crash analysis presented can serve as the foundation for evidence-based policies and also guide the implementation of targeted countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now established that energy use in buildings is a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions and that abatement by the building sector can provide significant social, economic and environmental benefits. This paper examines the application of socio-technical transition theory to the building sector with Australian energy policy as a case study. The relatively high level of local building construction offers significant opportunities for market transition with appropriate policy settings so this national case has international implications. Evolution of building energy efficiency standards through the Australian National Construction Code is scrutinized by benchmarking the building energy code against international best practice. The benchmarking underscores the contribution high performance energy efficient buildings could make to a low carbon transition with appropriate policy settings. Specifically government intervention in the building sector through direct regulation was shown to have substantial potential to effect this transition. Nevertheless, such intervention has proven to be politically controversial in Australia. The paper provides a twofold contribution to research in the domain of building energy policy. Firstly, by making the connection between transition theory and the role of building energy codes; secondly, by demonstrating the practical application and utility of a structured building code benchmarking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part I of this two-part paper introduced a building portfolio recovery model (BPRM) to forecast the stochastic recovery process of building portfolios within a community following an extreme hazard event. The BPRM models restoration of individual building-level functionalities as a discrete state, continuous time Markov Chain, while it models portfolio-level recovery by aggregating the building-level restoration processes in both temporal and spatial dimensions. In this paper, we illustrate the implementation of the BPRM to project the building portfolio recovery of a mid-size community following a predefined scenario earthquake. The recovery analysis integrates the engineering process of building reconstructions with available community resources and social-economic characteristics of different population groups. The spatial variations in recovery speed in different residential zones within the community reflect the disparities in resourcefulness and recoverability of homeowners with different social and economic status. In addition, sensitivity studies are performed to investigate the capability of the BPRM to quantify the impact of candidate pre-disaster mitigation strategies on the building portfolio recovery time and trajectory, illustrating the potential use of the BPRM in supporting risk-informed community resilience planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper explores the recent fall in female labour force participation and its socio-economic determinants in India. The major contribution of this paper is: to explore both micro- and macro-level factors which determine female labour force participation rate (LFPR); to examine the “U shape” female LFPR, by examining the likely income and substitution effects of the real wage increase, to identify the sub-sectors within manufacturing and service sectors that could create jobs for new female job aspirants and those older women displaced from agriculture in recent years; and thus to understand the conditions under which female LFPR could be raised. Using both macro-level and household survey (NSS) data, we find that the recent fillip in the process of structural transformation has pushed a large number of females out of agriculture. The growing mechanization in agriculture and rising capital intensity in manufacturing sectors together have limited the opportunity for females because of their low education and skill and due to other cultural constraints. We also found that the rise in real wages in rural areas and the consequent improvement in the standard of living has produced a strong negative income effect which outweighs the positive substitution effect and as a result female LFPR has declined substantially. However, with the massive increase in female enrollment in secondary and higher levels of education, it could be expected that the substitution effect of the increase in real wage would become stronger if appropriate measures are taken by the government, which are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on findings from a study of Indigenous housing in a regional Western Australian city, this paper examines the experiences of Indigenous peoples as a particular set of ‘right bearers’ within the right-to-the-city discourse. In settler-states, colonial discourses of absence, threat, and authenticity have informed policy frameworks that have militated against various Indigenous claims of belonging, rights, and aspiration in relation to urban places. Housing has been a representative domain of struggle in this respect. Consequently, today, Indigenous peoples have disproportionately high rates of dependence on more volatile and discriminatory forms of tenure than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The paper examines the incongruence between State aspirations to move (Indigenous) people along a housing continuum in urban environments, and the actual experiences of Indigenous urban residents, which fix discursively on barriers to such movements. It also traces the deleterious, displacing impacts for urban Indigenous households of the retreat of the State in its role as a landlord for the socio-economically disadvantaged, and in responding to market signals and particular sociological theses regarding poverty, with specific spatial logics. In so doing, we advance two interwoven arguments. First, we assert that Indigenous people face a unique precarity in the Australian urban housing system, which is a result of both colonial and racially discriminatory forces, and economically discriminating processes such as capital concentration and the commodification of land. Second, we contend that this precarity sets many Indigenous people on housing career trajectories that are antithetical to policy intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial goal of this study was to develop a predictive model that could serve as a pre-emptive method for curbing rhino poaching. During the development of the predictive model it became evident that only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, has been uncovered. The rhino poaching problem is even more complex than was initially thought and this paper serves as a reflective piece on how the research methodology for the complex and poorly understood rhino poaching problem was shifted towards developing a common understanding of major drivers and interactions, to allow for pre-emptive action on a variety of fronts. The global drivers dictating the rhino horn supply chain such as human trafficking and other socio-economic factors cannot easily be captured in a model of causal certainties. This is in spite of the fact that the motivation of the individual poachers may reduce to greed or the need to provide for their families. Although the authors initially thought that it would be possible to model these causalities it became clear that the system is highly reflexive and adaptive. The system has feedback and recursive causal internals that self-regulate by changing in response to the environment. As interventions are introduced, the system will try to respond to mitigate the effects or impact of the change which makes predictive causal modelling very challenging. The paper reflects on this understanding derived from the development of a methodology that combines different versions of a causal Bayesian Network model with a systems framework drawn from an integral ecology perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of intercity transport planning is not guaranteed, with broken intercity trunk roads (BITRs) as a major case in point. This paper reports a first exploratory analysis of BITRs in China. Our analysis identifies geographical patterns of broken intercity highways and conjectures the relationship between BITRs and their socioeconomic, political, and geographical underpinnings. More specifically, by comparing national highway plans in 2013 and completed highways in 2015, we identified 76 city dyads that are associated with BITRs. A subsequent logistic regression analysis suggests that fragmented landscape, large gaps in total GDP, and provincial boundaries will increase the likelihood of BITRs between city dyads. Our empirical framework can be extended to assess other inter-jurisdictional infrastructure projects such as power grids, railways, and pipelines, where planned but unfinished links are common. The paper concludes with city-regional and transport planning policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About three billion people worldwide use solid fuels for cooking and space heating. This fueling practice contributes to global forest depletion and disease prevalence. To abate the environmental and health threats caused by the inefficient burning of biomass fuels, large-scale initiatives were undertaken globally for the dissemination of fuel-saving and energy-efficient stoves, known as improved cookstoves (ICS). This paper examines the adoption of ICS in northwest Pakistan by using a logit analysis. The results show that the education of the respondent, number of working household members, and total income of the household had significant effects on the adoption of ICS. Conversely, the age of the respondent and possession of land did not exhibit any significant influence on adoption. The overall model was significant with p < 0.001 which reveals that the selected socioeconomic variables have a statistically significant relationship with the adoption of ICS. The paper concludes that the efforts to improve health and environmental conditions may be more successful if ICS programs take the socioeconomic, contextual, and market related factors into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) was an international agrarian knowledge-production programme created in 2003 by the CGIAR. GCP aims at developing drought tolerant varieties by reconciling upstream biotechnology based advanced research with the downstream development at the farmer's field. The objective of this paper is to apply the theory of Commons Based Peer Production (CBPP) to analyse the knowledge production process of GCP, especially the case of drought tolerant rice research network in Indian context (GCP-RRN). CBPP represents the theorisation of a mode of production that can be distinguished from market (private) and state (public) knowledge-production systems that was developed by observing the phenomena of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The organisational attributes of the CBPP mode applied in computer software production include the modulation of work, small-size granularity of components, and mechanisms that integrate these modules into an end product. Socio-economically, this form of production is based on cooperation, collaboration and collective action rather than property, contract and managerial hierarchies. This paper argues that GCP-RRN knowledge production is basically a hybridised one in which there are certain inclinations towards CBPP within certain larger context, and there are other attributes too that do not fall within CBPP theorisation. Further, this paper elaborates on the implications of this hybridised model for agrarian knowledge production discourse and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper addresses a lacuna in the literature relating to the concept of resilience. To date, cultural activity in relation to resilient communities has been given little attention and this paper will highlight how the lens of community heritage activities and the ‘bottom-up’ role of volunteer labour can act as a catalyst for building more resilient communities in rural areas. This develops from rural areas that have strong place identities, formed through the reproduction of traditional cultural practices alongside contemporary influences. These identities are performed and constructed through a varied repertoire of knowledges, histories, and customs. Their on-going production can be central to community identity as they attempt to make visible their own accounts of history and place. Beyond this, community heritage organisations have also begun to have grounded ‘impacts’ that move away from heritage interests alone, often revitalising buildings and providing community services. This will be used to highlight how such cultural heritage activity builds collective resilience. A further trend (in the UK) has been for community heritage groups to digitise collections, due to the perceived transformational effect for community regeneration, the strengthening of community cohesion and the potential socio-economic benefits. In partnership with community heritage groups, the CURIOS ( Cu ltural R epositories and I nf o rmation S ystems) project explores two case studies in rural Scotland asking how community activity, connectivity and digital archives can support interest in local heritage as well as help develop more resilient communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the 1990s the Taiwanese government deemed peasant folk religious activities such as temple festivals to be superstitious. Nowadays, inspired by the rural endogenous development paradigm, these activities are no longer a sign of backwardness but are a means for improving rural socio-economic wellbeing and sustainability. In some commentators' view, the arrival of endogenous development project is more democratic than centralized forms of political government. Inspired by a Foucauldian take on power, the alternative account argues that the project should be understood as a new mode of exercise of political power or neoliberal dispositif . Although Foucault's notion of governmentality has been employed by critical analysts to examine the neoliberal dispositif or the ongoing process through which durable orderings emerge, little attention has been paid to the contingency of associations, the fissiparous nature of affiliations, and the agency of material objects. To bridge this theoretical gap, this paper argues that we should think of dispositif and assemblage together. Assemblage thinking, which places more emphasis on the agency of material objects and the ephemeral nature of heterogeneous association, offers valuable insight into the government of rural culture in the neoliberal era. With reference to an ethnographical fieldwork conducted in a Taiwanese village, Zhulin village, I argue that Chinese religious practices involving diverse material actants, such as divination blocks, god statues, and spirit mediums, have a contradictory impact on the neoliberal dispositif . By drawing attention to the performance of local actants, this paper also expands the understanding of rural governance under neoliberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]