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Recently, an emerging body of research has diagnosed a 'crisis of trust' in rural and peripheral areas. Yet, the majority of these works overlook local institutions as a potential alternative source of governance. Relying on original, nationally representative survey data from nine European countries, this article suggests that local institutions act as a safe haven for individuals with high levels of place-based resentment. Substantially, for these individuals, political trust in the local level significantly exceeds political trust in the national level. This dynamic is largely driven by concerns over representation. The stronger citizens feel that their place is overheard, the more they trust local relative to national institutions. This nuances the narrative of the 'crisis of trust' in an important way. Rather than conceiving it as a crisis haunting the political system in general, it seems to be better understood as a crisis of the national level specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban–rural temperature difference is widely used in measuring surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII), where the accurate determination of rural background is crucial. However, traditionally, the entire permeable rural surface has been selected to represent the background temperature, leaving uncertainty about the impact of non-uniform rural surfaces with multiple land covers on the accuracy of SUHII quantification. In this study, we proposed two quantifications of SUHII derived from the primary (SUHII1) and secondary (SUHII2) land types, respectively, which successively occupy over 40–50% of whole rural regions. The spatial integration and temporal variation of SUHII1 and SUHII2 were compared with the result from whole rural regions (SUHII) within 34 urban agglomerations (UAs) in China. The results showed that the SUHII1 and SUHII2 differed slightly with SUHII, and the correlation coefficients of SUHII and SUHII1/SUHII2 are generally above 0.9 in most (32) UAs. Regarding the long-term SUHII between 2003 and 2019, the three methods demonstrated similar seasonal patterns, although SUHII1 (or SUHII2) tended to overestimate or underestimate compared to SUHII. As for the multi-year integration at the regional scale, the day–night cycle and monthly variations of SUHII1 and SUHII were found to be identical for each geographical division separately, indicating that the spatiotemporal pattern revealed by SUHII is minimally affected by the diversity of rural landcover types. The findings confirmed the viability of the urban–rural LST difference method for measuring long-term regional SUHII patterns under non-uniform rural land cover types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is considered a promising alternative to fossil fuels for energy transportation and storage. Establishing a hydrogen supply chain is crucial for a widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Existing guidelines for establishing a hydrogen supply chain in urban areas have been developed based on the unique characteristics and requirements of urban environments. However, rural areas have different characteristics and requirements that need to be considered to ensure successful implementation of hydrogen technologies. In this study, we adapted the existing guidelines for establishing a hydrogen supply chain in urban areas in seven steps to rural areas. It starts with identifying the ecosystem and ends with the implementation of the use case and the upscaling towards a fully developed hydrogen ecosystem. A comprehensive review of literature on the unique characteristics and requirements of rural areas for hydrogen supply chain implementation was conducted. Thereby, key differences between urban and rural environments were identified and modifications to the existing guidelines to address these specific challenges of rural areas. The modified guideline aims for example the lower population density, longer transportation distances, and limited infrastructure in rural areas. Industrial companies are scatter over a relatively wide area, therefore a centralized hydrogen supply like in cities is not sufficient. The study also emphasizes the importance of community engagement, which is an essential factor, especially in rural areas because of the strong interconnections between the companies, and collaboration with local stakeholders like politicians and the communities to ensure the acceptance and sustainability of hydrogen technologies in rural areas. The study provides a valuable contribution to the field of hydrogen energy by providing practical guidelines for establishing a hydrogen supply chain in rural areas. The modified guidelines can help overcome the challenges of rural areas and accelerate the adoption of hydrogen technologies in these regions. • Interview study for identification of he industrial challenges in rural areas. • Analysis of rural areas to introduce hydrogen as a source of energy. • Guideline for stakeholders for establishing a hydrogen environment. • Important steps for the integration of new goods in existing economic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine the secular trends and urban–rural disparities in height of Chinese adolescents aged 18 years from 1985 to 2019. Methods: Data were extracted from the Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health from 1985 to 2019, and the heights of a total of 76 554 boys and 75 908 girls aged 18 years were measured. The Mann–Kendall trend test was used to analyze the secular trends in height. Changes in different periods and urban–rural disparities were tested by z‐tests and calculating the ratios of the coefficient of variation (CV) of height. Results: The height of Chinese boys and girls aged 18 years increased from 168.21 and 157.10 cm in 1985 to 172.15 cm and 160.11 cm in 2019, respectively, with a larger increase in rural areas. The secular trends in height were the largest for boys from 1995 to 2005 and for girls from 2014 to 2019, and the same results were observed in urban and rural areas. The urban–rural disparities for boys and girls decreased by 1.79 and 0.91 cm, respectively, with significant decreases for boys in all regions and for girls in the eastern region. The overall CVs of height increased by 0.13% and 0.25% for boys and girls, respectively, with the largest increase among rural girls. Conclusions: The height of Chinese adolescents aged 18 years continued to increase between 1985 and 2019. The urban–rural disparities narrowed, and inequalities within rural areas for girls increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International research has shown that residents in urban versus rural areas differ concerning their satisfaction in life. Researchers agree upon the relevance of economic aspects for explaining urban-rural satisfaction levels: life satisfaction is dependent on income levels and rural habitants usually have lower income levels and lower levels of life satisfaction internationally. However, there is a lot of variation unexplained: in several studies, researchers found that in some countries rural residents are unexpectedly more satisfied with their lives than their economic and objective life situation would suggest (e.g. in China, Thailand, and in Western European, post-communist, Anglo-Saxon, and Latin American countries). Some researchers argue that cultural and social aspects, in addition to economic aspects, are better to explain urban-rural differences in life satisfaction. The author will extend this research by focusing on cultural factors in relation to Cultural World Regions. In addition, she will use newer data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank. The guiding questions are 1) how relevant are economic-materialistic aspects for life satisfaction? And 2) in how far are there differences between cultural world regions, such as East and Central Asia, Western and post-communist Europe, Latin America, Anglo-Saxon countries, and Arabic and Sub-Saharan Africa? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance is a global health issue and extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are of particular concern. Whole genome sequencing analysis of isolates from the community is essential to understand the circulation of those multidrug-resistant bacteria. Our main objective was to determine the population structure of clinical ESBL-Ec and MRSA isolated in the community setting of a French region. For this purpose, isolates were collected from 23 sites belonging to 6 private medical biology laboratories in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. One hundred ninety ESBL-Ec and 67 MRSA were sequenced using the Illumina technology. Genomic analyses were performed to determine the bacterial typing, presence of antibiotic resistance genes, metal resistance genes as well as virulence genes. Analysis showed that ST131 was the major ESBL-Ec clone circulating in the region, representing 42.1% of the ESBL-Ec isolates. The blaCTX-M genes represented 98% of blaESBL with the majority being blaCTX-M-15 (53.9%). MRSA population consisted of mainly of CC8 (50.7%) and CC5 (38.8%) clonal complexes. Interestingly, we found a prevalence of 40% of the zinc resistance gene czrC in our MRSA population. We observed no differences in our ESBL-Ec or MRSA populations between urban and rural areas in our French region, suggesting no impact of population density or rural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous meta-analyses have revealed that in adult and older adult populations of developed countries, depression is more prevalent in urban than rural areas. No meta-analyses have identified the effects of urbanicity on the general age demographic for developing countries. We conducted a meta-analysis of urban-rural differences in depression across all age demographics for developed and developing countries. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies published between 1980 and 2020. Studies were included if they reported prevalences of urban and rural depression, or odds ratios comparing urban-rural depression prevalence. Studies were excluded for: nonrepresentative samples, non-standard measures of depression, and reporting continuous outcomes only. Meta-analytic models of urban-rural differences in the odds of depression were conducted across country development levels and age demographics. From 1597 records screened and 302 full texts assessed for eligibility, 80 studies (N = 539,557) were included for meta-analysis. Urban residence was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of depression in developed countries (OR = 1.30, 95 % CI [1.17, 1.46], z = 4.75, p <.001), which was primarily driven by urban-rural differences in the general population age demographic (OR = 1.37, 95 % CI [1.22, 1.54], z = 5.38, p <.001). Studies reporting urban-rural differences in depression in terms of continuous symptom severity scores were not included. Urbanicity appears to uniquely be associated with a higher prevalence of depression in developed countries, but not in developing countries. • In developed countries, depression is more prevalent in urban than rural areas. • This urbanicity effect is most observable in the general age demographic. • In developing countries, there is no effect of urbanicity on depression. • The impact of urbanicity on depression may be growing for developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Residential areas are considered part of the sociocultural aspect for determining health but are rarely studied in a cardiovascular disease-community study in developing countries. Jatinangor, considered a university area, has unique characteristics surrounded by urban and rural villages. We aim to investigate the association of residential areas in Jatinangor with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Methodology: A cross-sectional study from July to November 2018 was done in appointed rural and urban areas in Jatinangor district, West Java, Indonesia. Cardiovascular disease is defined using a self-reported questionnaire. Cardiovascular death was identified through a verbal autopsy performed by a general practitioner as an interviewer. The morbidity data were obtained from September to October 2018, while the mortality data were obtained from July to November 2018. Poisson regression was done to determine the association of residential areas to cardiovascular disease morbidity. Results: Data were obtained from 1469 respondents; 58.7% were from rural areas. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease morbidity is higher in urban than rural areas (5.6% vs. 2.5%, p=0.004). There were 42 cases of death reported during the study period, with 33 deaths considered caused by cardiovascular disease. The urban-rural differences in cardiovascular mortality showed no significant differences (p=0.388). The unadjusted model of the association of the urban-rural residential area with cardiovascular disease morbidity was (PR 2.253 (95% CI 1.262, 4.024)) while the adjusted model was (PR 2.264 (95% CI 1.257, 4.078, p = 0.007)) . Conclusion: Urban area is associated with two times higher cardiovascular disease morbidity but not with mortality than those who live in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testis cancer is highly curable. However, historical data point to differences between urban and rural areas with more advanced diseases at presentation and worse outcomes in the latter. In a cohort of 296 men with testis cancer diagnosed and treated at the Inselspital Berne between 2010 and 2020, we found no clinically relevant differences in presentation and outcomes depending on their residential area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the spatial accessibility of hemodialysis services and the differences between urban and rural areas in Sichuan Province, and to put forward corresponding policy recommendations. Methods The shortest patli method was used to calculate the proportion of population covered by hemodialysis services at a given time as an index of spatial accessibility, and the accessibility of different quality hemodialysis institutions and the difference of accessibility between urban and rural areas were compared and analyzed. Results There were more hemodialysis hospitals in Sichuan Province in the east than in the west, and the coverage of non-tertiary hospitals was slightly larger than that of tertiary hospitals, but 68.1% of the hemodialysis volume in the whole year was provided by tertiary hospitals. Most of the rural population (94.5%) and the urban population (99.5%) could reach the nearest hospital for dialysis within 2 hours, but the rural population (49.3%) could reach the nearest hospital for dialysis within 0.5 扎 which was significantly less than the urban population (81.9%). The higher the urbanization rate, the higher the accessibility of hemodialysis services. Conclusion The accessibility of hemodialysis in Sichuan Province is good, but the hemodialysis service still has room to expand, so it is necessary to expand the service scale of non-tertiary hospitals and increase the number of hemodialysis institutions in the western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE) has been investigated in many population-based studies in different regions of the world. However, reliable data are lacking for Eastern Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence, effect on quality of life, and treatment-related behaviors for ED and PE in a population-representative sample of Polish men. We used an Internet interview format and rigorously adapted, widely accepted instruments for ED and PE evaluation. The study included 3001 men, representative for age and place of residence and adequate proportions of respondents from urban and rural areas. The prevalence of ED was 30.1–61.1%, and the prevalence of PE was 19.3–38.1%; there were no differences between urban and rural areas. Whereas the prevalence of ED increased with age, the prevalence of PE did not increase. More than 50% of respondents with ED and more than 60% of respondents with PE had concerns about their quality of life. However, less than one fourth of participants with ED and PE were seeking treatment, most of whom received treatment. The results of our nationwide analysis, reflecting the entire Polish population of men, are consistent with other epidemiologic studies of ED and PE and may support educational campaigns and health improvement programs in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mass media can play critical roles in influencing parents' attitudes and practice toward the healthy upbringing of children. Objective: This study examined the association between the use of five types of mass media among mothers living in rural and urban areas and the early childhood development (ECD) of their children. Methods: We analysed nationally representative and internationally standardized Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data collected in 2013 and 2019 in Bangladesh. The ECD was calculated using four domains of development: physical health, literacy-numeracy, learning and social-emotional. Mothers' use of newspapers/magazines, radio, television, internet and mobile phones was the study factor. We used Poisson regression with robust variance. The dataset included 27,091 children aged three or four years. Results: Almost 21% of the children were living in urban and 78% in rural areas. Mothers/caretakers of 30% of the children used none, 39% used one, 25% used two, and approximately 6% used three or more of the five types of media. Mobile phones and television were the dominant types of media, both in terms of the number of users and the frequency of use. Overall, 68.87% of the children were on track in terms of their ECD and 31.13% were not. A significantly larger proportion of urban children (74.23%) than rural children (67.47%) were on track in their ECD. The prevalence of children being on track of ECD increases by 4% (aPR 1.04; 95%CI: 1.01–1.06) for each additional media use among women who lived in urban areas and increases by 7% if women live in rural areas. In terms of the individual formats of media, using newspapers, television and internet was found to be significantly associated with the children in rural areas being on track in terms of their ECD. In the urban sample, only radio use was found to be significant. Conclusions: Targeted and well-designed child development campaigns that are delivered through popular media types are likely to help mothers to take better care of their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While rapid urbanization promotes social and economic development, it exacerbates human outdoor thermal comfort, which increases the risks to human health. This paper uses four thermal comfort indices and multiple satellite observations to explore the urbanization effect on summer heat stress in Guangdong from 1979–2018, a coastal province of China. Two types of thermal comfort index are used here, namely the direct thermal comfort index (Heat Index, HI; Temperature–Humidity Index, THI; Discomfort Index, DI) and the physiological thermal comfort index (Universal Thermal Climate Index, UTCI). We compare the differences in the urbanization effects on the changes in the three direct thermal comfort indices (HI, THI, and DI) and a physiological thermal comfort index (UTCI). The results show that all four thermal comfort indices indicate an overall warming trend. Of them, urban sites show a higher warming trend than rural sites, indicating that heat stress changes are significantly influenced by urbanization from 1979–2018, which is consistent with the effect of urbanization on surface air temperature. However, except for the UTCI, this warming of direct thermal comfort indices affected by urbanization has become insignificant under the regional vegetation greening from 2004–2018 (also consistent with surface air temperature). This is primarily attributed to the different effects of wind speed on the physiological thermal comfort index in urban and rural areas: Decreasing wind speeds in urban areas lead to an increase in UTCI, while wind speeds in rural areas increase instead and decrease UTCI, thus widening the UTCI differences between urban and rural areas. Our results indicate that urbanization has a different effect on thermal comfort indices. When using the thermal comfort index, it is necessary to consider that different thermal comfort indices may bring different results. UTCI considers more factors that affect human heat perception, so it can better describe human outdoor thermal comfort. It also highlights the importance of urban ventilation and urban greenness in mitigating urban outdoor thermal comfort in the sustainable construction of future urbanization in coastal cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our study use the height and weight data of Chinese students aged 7–18 years from 1985 to 2014 to investigate the inequality and changing trend of height and weight of children and adolescents in different regions. Methods: Our study extracted data from the 1985, 2000, and 2014 Chinese National Survey on Students' Constitution and Health (CNSSCH) for a comparative analysis of the height and weight of children and adolescents aged 7– 18 years in a developed city (Shanghai) and an underdeveloped province (Guizhou). The coefficients of variation (CVs) of height and weight between urban and rural boys and girls were also calculated. Results: Since 1985, the height difference between urban and rural areas has decreased from 4.24 to 2.41 cm for boys and 3.72 to 1.99 cm for girls. The weight difference for boys and girls increased from 1.83 to 3.10 kg and from 0.97 to 1.80 kg, respectively. However, from 1985 to 2014, the height and weight differences between Shanghai and Guizhou increased. In addition, from 1985 to 2014, the coefficient of height variation was greater for rural students than urban students while the coefficient of weight variation was greater for urban students than rural students. Conclusions: Although the difference between urban and rural areas has recently decreased, the difference between developed area (Shanghai) and underdeveloped area (Guizhou) has increased. In particular, the difference in height and weight between children in developed areas (Shanghai) and non-developed areas (Guizhou) has become larger since 1985–2014, rather than gradually decreasing over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destination management organizations (DMOs) are gaining salience among stakeholders as actors that can develop and enable sustainable tourism by coordinating local actors and tourism resources. This study conducted a comparative analysis of DMOs in Japan using data of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses from the official documents to identify the urban and rural characteristics of DMOs. Correspondence analysis was applied to the DMOs. Similarities and differences between urban and rural DMOs were detected in terms of SWOT and their social and ecological contexts, and the results imply there is room for collaboration between urban and rural DMOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a country can be realized by bringing together many factors such as economy, education, health and justice and executing these factors in the best way. The effective implementation of these factors primarily depends on the equal rights of men and women living in the society. For this reason, the increase in the labor force participation rate of women living in approximately half of Turkey's population, will also contribute to Turkey's development. Because the more women's employment in a country increases, the higher the development level of that country will be. In addition, for the development of countries, the differences between urban and rural areas should be minimized. When Turkey's demographic and economic structure is examined, it is seen that agricultural activities make a great contribution to the country's economy. In order to ensure ruraldevelopment in Turkey, it is necessary to develop and support women'sentrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial activities of the female population, who are among the disadvantaged groups especially in rural areas, will make a great contribution to the country's economy. For this reason, in this study, the current situation of women entrepreneurs operating in rural areas, the problems they encounter and solution proposals will be emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the characteristics of precipitation diurnal variation is beneficial for understanding precipitation formation and underlying mechanisms. In this study, using hourly rain gauge data from 108 stations in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) from 1980–2021, the diurnal variations of the precipitation amount (PA), precipitation frequency (PF), precipitation duration (PD), and precipitation intensity (PI) were analyzed. The effects of elevation, distance of the station from the east coastline, and urbanization on the characteristics of different precipitation duration events were determined. The results indicated that (1) the spatial distributions of PA, PD, and PF were similar in short-duration (SD), long-duration (LD), and ultra-long-duration (ULD), with high values in the south and low values in the north. Most of PA, PD, and PF showed an increasing trend after breakpoint in LD and ULD, but precipitation characteristics in SD showed a decreasing trend before and after breakpoint; (2) the diurnal cycles of PA presented two comparable peaks in the late afternoon and early morning, which occurred SD and ULD precipitation events, respectively. A single peak in the late afternoon (15:00 local solar time [LST]) occurred during the diurnal cycle of PI. The start and peak times occurred mainly in the afternoon for SD and LD. In contrast, the peak time of ULD mainly occurred in the early morning, accounting for 63% of the stations. The start and peak times of LD and ULD occurred in the early morning mainly along the Yangtze River; (3) from the plains to the mountains, the diurnal peaks of PA and PI had gradual variations from noon to afternoon. In addition, dominant diurnal peak values of PA and PI, which are affected by the distance from the east coast, were observed in the early morning in ULD. The effect of urbanization on the difference between urban and rural areas changed from negative to positive after 2000. In addition, urbanization had a significant impact on SD. After 2000, the increase of PA in urban areas was mainly due to the obvious increase of PD and PF in SD, while the increasing trend of LD and ULD in urban areas was smaller than that in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies and strategies for tree management and protection on a national, regional, and local level have not sufficiently considered differences between rural and urban areas. We used expert knowledge to compare rural and urban areas in a case study evaluating the relative importance of ecosystem services (ES) in policy development. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and focus group discussions were used to rank 17 ES, representing four classes of services: provisioning, regulating, habitat, and cultural. The results indicated that effective protection strategies, beyond simply increasing general tree cover, should consider specific benefits trees provide to local communities. We discuss the role of objective prioritization of ES delivered by trees in urban and rural areas and their consequences for decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban development continues to face the dilemma of spatial inequality of public facilities, particularly educational and medical facilities. Identifying inequalities in various types of public facilities and their driving mechanisms is crucial in reducing social inequality. However, information on this topic is limited. This study took 10 typical cities in China as cases. We used the methods of the Gini coefficient and hedonic price model as bases in evaluating the equality of nine types of education and medical facilities, focusing on the differences between urban and rural areas. Moreover, we further analyzed the driving factors of facility equality. Results showed that equality of public facilities in urban areas was significantly higher than that in rural areas. Primary schools, middle schools, and health service centers were relatively equal, and kindergartens and pharmacies were unequal only in rural areas. However, the equality of facilities with large-size or commercial attributes was not optimistic. Furthermore, there remained a significant gap among counties (or districts), which was mainly driven by population, economy, and building density in the form of logarithm and logarithmic linear models. Our research contributes to an in-depth understanding of the inequality of public facilities and further supports decision-making to improve social equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the empirical verification of the influence of rural specificity on energy poverty across European Union countries, in the period 2010–2020. The research aimed at specifying the role of the agricultural character of a country, as well as economic disparities between rural and urban areas, in inducing problems of energy affordability. Based on the literature consensus about the most important determinants of energy poverty, namely income, energy prices, energy productivity, quality of dwellings, and climate conditions, a standard model was constructed concerning the role of the rural character of an economy, with its traditional features such as agricultural employment, and indices of rural–urban divide, in terms of median income and material poverty. Models for panel data with fixed effects were estimated. The results indicate agricultural employment as a factor increasing the subjective energy poverty of households. However, the scale of rural settlement cannot be specified as a factor determining energy poverty, neither concerning energy consumption nor self-reported difficulties. This suggests that only the traditional agricultural character of rural areas negatively influences energy poverty. The processes of gentrification of rural areas observable in many EU countries changes the typical pattern of the identification of villagers with the most excluded group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although more and more people choose to live in (large) cities, people in the Western world generally report lower levels of subjective well-being in urban areas than in rural areas. This article examines whether these urban–rural differences in subjective well-being are (partly) driven by selective migration patterns. To this end, we utilise residential mobility data from the United Kingdom based on 12 waves of the British Household Panel Survey. We explore urban–rural differences in life satisfaction as well as changes in life satisfaction of people moving from rural areas to urban areas (or vice versa), hereby paying specific attention to selection and composition effects. The results show that selective migration can, at least partly, explain the urban–rural subjective well-being differential through the selection of less satisfied people in cities and more satisfied people in the countryside. While the average life satisfaction of urban–rural migrants is higher compared to the life satisfaction of rural–urban migrants, we do not find – on average – long-lasting life satisfaction effects of migration. At the same time, there are differences between sociodemographic groups in that we find that a move from the countryside to the city is positively associated with the life satisfaction of students while it is negatively associated with the life satisfaction of people with a non-tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household consumption has become an important field of carbon dioxide emissions. Urban–rural disparity in the household carbon emissions (HCEs) of residents and their influencing factors are relevant to HCE reduction. Taking Fujian as the study area, the LMDI and SDA models were used to analyze the effects of influencing factors for the direct household carbon emissions (DHCEs) and indirect carbon emissions (IHCEs) of urban and rural residents from 2006 to 2018. The HCEs continue to rise, approximately 65% from the IHCEs in 2017, and urban areas occupied 67% in 2018. The gap between urban and rural per capita HCEs is narrowing. In 2017, approximately 75% of urban per capita HCEs came from the IHCEs, while the per capita DHCEs' occupation exceeded the IHCEs in rural areas. Per capita consumption expenditure has the largest positive effect on the DHCEs and IHCEs in urban and rural areas. With the urbanization process, the inhibition effect of rural DHCEs is larger than the positive effect of the urban DHCEs, while the positive impact on urban areas is more substantial than on rural areas in the IHCEs. Combined with regional differences, urban and rural areas should take "common but differentiated" emission reduction responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of neo‐populist parties in Western countries is a current issue in social sciences. Over the past two decades, and with increasing emphasis in recent years, a notable body of research has been preoccupied with explaining the complex relationship between populism and places. This paper fits in this literature and is aimed at verifying the role played by territorial inequalities and the urban‐rural divide on voting preferences in Italy. Through a detailed statistical analysis carried out at the municipal scale, we hereby compare recent trends in national (2013, 2018) and European (2019) Elections with socioeconomic and demographic data to shed light on the drivers of political change. In particular, we focus on the two main Italian parties labeled as populist: the Lega and the Movimento 5 Stelle. Analyses show that support for such parties is only partially related to rural areas, territorial inequalities, and place peripherality, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive explanation of the neo‐populist surge. Accordingly, we argue that besides demand‐side factors, other supply‐side ones should be considered, especially in Italy, where electoral behaviors are embedded in diverse local geopolitical histories that still play an important role in orienting voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile money (MM) is pivotal to improving financial inclusion and socio-economic well-being. However, many women in developing countries are excluded from its use. While there are existing studies that have interrogated the predictors of MM use by women, the problem persists in most low-and-middle-income countries probably due to the scarcity of location specific interventions in addressing the low rates. Thus, this study examines the determinants of MM use by women at a local context disaggregated along national, rural, and urban scales in Nigeria to achieve effective policy formulation tailored towards the uniqueness of the different geographical locations. Drawing on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, this study provides evidence that MM use by women varies substantially between urban and rural areas and these disparities are driven by spatial differences in socio-economic, enabling, and contextual factors. The study recommends that policy makers need to address women's socio-economic problems from a spatial viewpoint to ensure that they fully benefit from the advantages of MM. • Mobile money (MM) use by women in Nigeria is significantly low at 25.20 %. • The spatial analysis shows a significant concentration of MM non-use in Northern Nigeria. • MM use by women varies significantly between urban and rural areas. • MM use by women is determined by socio-economic, enabling and contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deeper understanding of the impact of urbanization on hourly extreme precipitation is essential for building sustainable and resilient urban environments. In this study, we used a high-resolution land cover dataset and long time series of hourly precipitation observations to assess the impact of urbanization on long-term trends and diurnal patterns of hourly extreme precipitation in typical urban agglomeration regions of eastern China, during the warm season of 1978–2021. The results showed that eastern China experienced an overall increase in hourly precipitation, while the intensity trends were 0.06 mm/h/decade and 0.03 mm/h/decade for urban and rural areas, respectively. Urban areas more likely to experienced strong precipitation with short duration, but urban-rural differences in extreme precipitation showed obvious regional characteristics. The difference in extreme precipitation intensity between urban and rural areas increased in the regions of the lower Yangtze River (LYR) valley, Sichuan Basin and southern China, but decreased in northeast China and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) regions. For the diurnal cycle, extreme precipitation enhancement in urban areas occurred mostly at peak hours. Urban stations had higher hourly extreme precipitation intensity than rural stations throughout the diurnal cycle, with the maximum difference of 1.79 mm/h occurring at 16:00 LST. It found that extreme precipitation amount and intensity in urban areas increased with urban heat island (UHI) effect, and UHI indeed plays an important role in the convective initiation and strengthening of local extreme precipitation. • The hourly precipitation intensity increased more in urban area than rural area. • The urban-rural differences in extreme precipitation showed obvious regional characteristics. • For the diurnal cycle, extreme precipitation enhancement in urban areas occurred mostly at peak hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy use between urban and rural areas is very important in the context of the global energy transition and climate change. However, it is difficult to measure the differences and inequalities in energy consumption due to data limitations. In this paper, a dataset distinguishing urban-rural energy consumption has been generated. We construct an energy inequality index (EI) to assess the difference in per capita energy consumption (PEC) between urban and rural areas. We find that the EI has decreased significantly from 10.42 in 2000 to 1.43 in 2020. Western China has a higher EI than the developed coastal areas. We further define 7 urban-rural types and find that the urban center has the highest PEC, while the rural cluster has the lowest. Cluster analysis shows that prefectures have different equalization trends, namely volatile decline, rapid decline, increase before decline, incremental decline. The urban-rural structure plays an important role in the different trends, and 4 modes of urban-rural energy consumption are summarized, namely urban-centered, urban-suburban double-centered, multi-centered and rural-biased. These results are valuable for understanding the energy consumption between urban and rural China. • A dataset distinguishing urban-rural per capita energy consumption (PEC) has been generated. • China's urban-rural energy inequality has decreased from 10.42 in 2000 to 1.43 in 2020. • Western China are facing a more urban-rural energy inequality than the developed coastal areas. • Among the 7 defined types, urban center ranked highest PEC, while rural cluster ranked lowest. • 4 modes of urban-rural energy consumption are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the satisfaction level differences between urban and rural areas with regard to their walking environment during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. This online cross-sectional research was conducted using a mobile health application. Overall, 1,032 local residents who participated in the mobile healthcare program of a public health center were classified as being from either urban (n = 481, 46.6%) or rural areas (n = 551, 53.4%) for the purpose of this study. The Walkability Checklist, which includes sociodemographic information, was employed using a Chi-square test and a multivariate logistic regression to investigate whether or not the participants were satisfied with the environmental factors associated with walking. It was found that both urban and rural areas were more likely to be unsatisfied with walking comfort (adjusted OR: 24.472, 95% CI: 14.937–40.096). Regarding the walking comfort aspects of the walking environment, urban residents chose poor landscape ("needed more grass, flowers, or trees"; aOR: 13.561, 95% CI: 3.619–50.823) as their primary dissatisfaction, and rural residents chose messy streets ("dirty, lots of litter or trash"; aOR: 29.045, 95% CI: 6.202–136.015). Compared with urban residents, rural residents were more discontented with the walking environment. Thus, to promote walking activities at the community level, it is necessary to focus on walking comfort, and implement efforts related to environmental beautification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: Antibiotic use and resistance represent a growing public health issue, with a specific risk of uncontrolled use of antibiotics in children. The aim of the study was to examine differences in parental knowledge, attitudes and practices about antibiotic use in children between urban and rural areas of the Republic of Srpska. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1459 parents of children under 6 years of age, out of which 1201 (82.3 %) lived in urban areas while 258 (17.7 %) lived in rural areas. The research is conducted among parents who brought their children to the selected primary healthcare centres and among parents of children in preschool institutions. Results: The majority of respondents (98.4 %) state that doctors are their main source of information. Only 61.2 % of respondents precisely know which drug is an antibiotic when offered different drugs and respondents from rural areas (54.3 %) more often (p = 0.012) gave more accurate answers when compared to respondents from urban areas (37.3 %). Among parents, 86 % agree with the statement that improper use of antibiotics reduces their effectiveness and leads to bacterial resistance, regardless of groups. More than a half of respondents (52.4 %) do not think that children with flu or common cold symptoms recover faster when they receive antibiotics, significantly more respondents from urban areas (p = 0.001). Respondents from rural areas significantly more often believe that antibiotics can produce harmful effects compared to respondents from urban areas (p = 0.049). Respondents from rural areas significantly more often think that antibiotic use can prevent complications caused by inflammation of the upper respiratory tract (p = 0.006). Parents from rural areas give their children antibiotics without a paediatrician’s recommendation significantly more often (4.3 %) compared to respondents from urban areas (0.6 %) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: There are differences in parental knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance among parents in rural and urban areas. There is need for additional education of parents and for greater engagement of paediatricians in providing guidance and explanations regarding the use of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that children in rural areas face excess risks of dying, but the little research on spatial inequalities in adult mortality has reached mixed conclusions. We examine rural–urban differences in mortality in 53 low- and middle-income countries. We consider how the rural–urban mortality gap evolves from birth to age 60 by estimating mortality based on birth and sibling histories from 138 Demographic and Health Surveys run between 1992 and 2018. We observe excess rural mortality until age 15, finding the largest differences between urban and rural sectors among 1–59-month-olds. While we cannot claim higher mortality among urban adults than those in rural areas, we find a reduced gap between the sectors over the life course and a diminishing urban advantage in adult mortality with age. This shift over the life course reflects a divergence in the epidemiologic transition between the rural and urban sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of heatwaves' severity have increasingly endangered citizens' health in the last decade. Evidence points to the environmental injustice of heatwaves: inequal heatwave exposure among socioeconomic groups. Failing to use an adequate indicator of thermal comfort at a large scale, the previous studies have not adequately scrutinized the environmental justice of heatwaves and their variations across a large-scale territory. This study is novel in an unprecedented analysis of psychological equivalent temperature (PET), a comprehensive measure of thermal comfort, across socioeconomic groups and the urban-rural gradient of the Netherlands, as a proxy for factors affecting heatwave vulnerability. The results show that heatwave inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) is higher in less urbanized areas. It shows that the population aged 25–44, immigrants, tenants, and females are the most heat-exposed groups across all levels of urbanization. However, the population aged 25–44 is more likely to be overexposed in urbanized areas, and immigrants are more likely to be overexposed in rural areas. The results open discussion on the necessity of location-specific policies protecting the most heat-exposed groups in different areas. It also paves the way for future studies using broader PET simulations and expanding their scope to include citizens' daily movements. • The study is novel in using PET to study environmental justice of heatwaves. • Heatwave inequality is higher in the less urbanized areas. • All social groups across urban-rural gradient experience heat stress. • The population aged 25–44, immigrants, tenants, females are the most heat-exposed. • Heat exposure of population aged 25–44 and immigrants differ by urbanization level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing ranks of nurse practitioners (NPs) in rural areas of the United States have the potential to help alleviate existing primary care shortages. This study uses a nationwide source of claims- and EHR-data from 2017 to construct measures of NP clinical autonomy and complexity of care. Comparisons between rural and urban primary care practices reveal greater clinical autonomy for rural NPs, who were more likely to have an independent patient panel, to practice with less physician supervision, and to prescribe Schedule II controlled substances. In contrast, rural and urban NPs provided care of similar complexity. These findings provide the first claims- and EHR-based evidence for the commonly held perception that NPs practice more autonomously in rural areas than in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Up to 30% of pediatric primary care visits include a cutaneous complaint, yet the pediatric dermatology workforce has historically been too small to provide adequate specialized care. This study assesses the geographic distribution of pediatric dermatologists to determine physician‐to‐patient ratios, analyzes urban–rural disparities, and determines post‐fellowship migration patterns. Methods: Board‐certified pediatric dermatologists were identified using the Society for Pediatric Dermatology's public database, and their demographics and credentials were subsequently verified by an online search. Analysis included physician density per 100 000 children for each state and region, along with geographic distribution for rural and urban areas, based on the United States Census Bureau's definitions. The distances between practice locations and the American Board of Dermatology‐approved Pediatric Dermatology fellowship training sites were reviewed. Results: An estimated 336 board‐certified pediatric dermatologists currently work in the United States with 76.8% being women and 71.1% practicing within 50 miles of the nearest fellowship program. 96.4% are located in urban areas and 3.6% in rural areas with an average ratio of 0.54 and 0.09 per 100 000 children, respectively. The average ratio of pediatric dermatologists in the United States was 0.46 per 100 000 children. On average (standard deviation), there are 6.6 (8.8) pediatric dermatologists per state but with 7 states having zero. Conclusions: The demand for pediatric dermatologists continues to outpace the current physician availability with a disparity between urban and rural areas. Further awareness and emphasis on training and recruitment of additional pediatric dermatologists are essential to addressing this important issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We hypothesized that the residency status (rural area [RA] vs urban clusters [UC] vs urban areas [UA]) affects stage and cancer-specific mortality (CSM) in contemporary newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PCa) patients of all stages, regardless of treatment. Methods: Newly diagnosed PCa patients with available residency status were abstracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004–2016). Propensity-score (PS) matching, cumulative incidence plots, multivariate competing-risks regression (CRR) models were used. Results: Of 531,468 PCa patients of all stages, 6653 (1.3%) resided in RA, 50,932 (9.6%) in UC and 473,883 (89.2%) in UA. No statistically significant or clinically meaningful differences in stage at presentation or CSM were recorded. Conversely, 10-year other cause-mortality (OCM) rates were 27.2% vs 23.7% vs 18.9% (p < 0.001) in RA vs UC vs UA patients, respectively. In CRR models, RA (subhazard ratio [SHR] 1.38; p < 0.001) and UC (SHR 1.18; p < 0.001) were independent predictors for higher OCM relative to UA. These differences remained statistically significant in fully PS-adjusted multivariate CRR models. Conclusion: RA, and to a lesser extent UC, PCa patients are at higher risk of OCM than UA patients. Higher OCM may indicate shorter life expectancy and should be considered in treatment decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent large-scale migration flows from rural areas of the Mekong Delta (MKD) to larger cities in the South-East (SE) region of Vietnam have created the largest migration corridor in the country. This migration trend has further contributed to greater rural–urban disparities and widened the development gap between regions. In this study, our aim is to understand the migration dynamics and determine the most critical factors affecting the behavior of migrants in the MKD region. We present an agent-based model and incorporate the Theory of Planned Behavior to effectively break down migration intention into related components and contributing factors. A genetic algorithm is used for automated calibration and sensitivity analysis of model parameters, in order to validate our agent-based model. We further explore the migration behavior of people in certain demographic groups and delineate migration flows across cities and provinces from the MKD to the SE region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a 30-year data (1983–2012) from 428 stations, we study summer precipitation differences between urban and rural areas in 5 Chinese climate regions: the Pearl River Delta (PRD), the Middle and Upper reaches of the Yangtze River (MUYR), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the North China Plain (NCP), and Northeast China (NEC). By analyzing heavy rain (HR) (24-h precipitation ≥ 100 mm) and light rain (LR) (0.1 mm ≤ 24 h precipitation ≤ 25 mm), we find that urbanization has had inconsistent effects on precipitation. Higher HR occurs over urban areas of the PRD and YRD than rural areas, and lower HR occurs over urban areas of the MUYR, NCP and NEC than rural areas. The urban LR is less than the rural LR in all climate regions. The correlation between precipitation and the convective available potential energy (CAPE) or humidity explains the regional differences in urbanization effects on HR. HR is greatly affected by the CAPE in the PRD and YRD, where the CAPE is high (> 600 J/kg at 14:00 LT), water vapor is abundant (> 45 kg/m2 at 14:00 LT), and the urban heat island increases the urban HR. However, HR is greatly affected by humidity in the MUYR, NCP, and NEC, where the CAPE and water vapor are less (≤ 500 J/kg and ≤ 40 kg/m2 at 14:00 LT) and the urban HR is mainly suppressed by the urban dry island. Our results indicate that urbanization promotes HR in wet climates but suppresses HR in dry climates during summer in central and eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-level multi-dimensional place-based approach to subjective well-being. • SWB in China is relatively high and has been increasing over time in recent decade, especially in rural areas. • Significant variations in SWB between and within the urban and rural contexts, with spatial contexts more important to SWB in rural areas. • Individual factors exhibit both similarities and differences compared to the West. • High quality physical and social infrastructure and rural economic growth promote SWB, while social issues such as inequality and perception of inequality negatively affect SWB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze the demographic characteristics of the State of Acre. In methodological terms, this work is characterized by being exploratory and descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The main results point to a growth of the Acre population between 2000 and 2010, but that most of its municipalities still have less than 50,000 inhabitants. In relation to the comparison between the urban and rural population, it was noticed that the largest percentage resides in the urban area, but concentrating on the capital Rio Branco, since many municipalities still have their largest population contingent in rural areas. Comparing the male and female sexes, it was observed that the female presence is greater in the urban environment and men are more present in the rural environment. By creating the age pyramid of the State of Acre, it was possible to visualize a tendency of shortening of its base and elongation of its surroundings, emerging a window of opportunities. However, this characteristic of the Acre age pyramid is late compared to Brazil as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing use of organophosphate esters (OPEs) largely due to the phasing out of various brominated flame retardants, much more attention has been paid to their occurrence, distribution and potential health risks. In this study, we investigated the occurrence and distribution characteristics associated to their potential health risks of selected 13 OPEs in outdoor dust with a comparison between urban and rural areas in Nanjing, China as well as seasonal variations. Ten out of 13 OPEs showed higher concentrations in urban dust than those in rural dust (p < 0.05). Six OPEs congeners exhibited significantly different concentrations with seasonal variations (p < 0.01) in rural dust. Halogenated OPEs were the dominant group in both urban (median: 56.8%) and rural (median: 45.9%) dust, and tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCPP) was found to be the most abundant OPE in both urban (median: 48.7%) and rural (median:26.4%) dust. Principal component analysis with multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR) and spearman correlations showed the different sources of OPEs in urban and rural dust. The non-carcinogenic (Hazard Index, HI < 1.62 × 10−5) and carcinogenic risks (CR < 2.28 × 10−9) of ΣOPEs were much lower than the theoretical threshold of risk, revealing a negligible risk to local residents from the exposure of OPEs in outdoor dust. Image 1 • Composition profiles of 13 OPEs between urban and rural dust were compared. • Significantly higher concentrations of OPEs in urban areas than in rural areas. • Concentration of ΣOPEs and six individual OPEs varied with seasons. • OPEs sources were traced by PCA-MLR and spearman correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented land use and land cover change (LULCC) has occurred across China over the past two decades. While urban heat island effects have been well documented, few studies identified the LULCC-induced temperature disparity within cities and nearby rurual areas. Through an integrated analysis of satellite observations and regional model simulations, this study quantifies LULCC effect on summer temperature in old urban areas (existed in 2003), new urban areas (developed after 2003) and rural areas (non-urban areas) over Eastern China in 2003–2019. The results show that LULCC causes urban areas to become warmer, with the effect being more pronounced in new urban areas than in old urban areas. Air temperature (2 m, T 2) and surface temperature (TSK) in new urban areas increase respectively by 1.69 °C and 3.40 °C, while in old urban areas, T 2 (TSK) increases by 0.10 °C (0.13 °C). Significant vegetation degradation is observed in new urban areas, whereas vegetation restoration occurs in old urban areas in recent years as a result of urban renewal. In contrast, LULCC cools and greens rural areas, with a 0.02 °C (0.03 °C) decrease in T 2 (TSK). Urbanization warming can spread to the suburbs, along with vegetation degradation. The analysis of surface energy budget reveals that the reduction in latent heat plays a dominant role in urban warming. Our study underscores that a much larger greenspace fraction and albedo management in urban areas are suggested as an inherent part of future LULCC policy to alleviate urban-rural temperature disparity. • WRF model with satellite-based land parameters is developed to quantify the impact of land use change on temperature. • New urban areas become warmer and less green, vegetation restoration occurs in old urban areas due to urban renewal. • A much larger greenspace fraction and albedo management are suggested in urban areas to alleviate urban warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A thermal comfort picture in Chinese residential buildings was illustrated. • Indoor thermal environment in rural dwellings were worse than those in urban area. • Residents in HSCW zones were the most tolerant to thermal environment. • Adaptive models were summarized, occupants in rural area have stronger adaptability. Amid the backdrop of the energy crisis, thermal comfort is crucial to achieve energy savings. Residential buildings are characterized by a wide range of adaptive comfort opportunities. However, there has been a lack of systematic refinement and review of residential thermal comfort field studies in China to provide valuable recommendations for energy conservation. We systematically reviewed studies on thermal environment and thermal comfort in Chinese residential buildings published in peer-reviewed journals up to 2020. A total of 34 studies were deemed to have provided sufficient information on both the thermal environment and thermal comfort. We found that in winter, there were obvious differences between urban and rural dwellings in Severe Cold (SC) and Cold (C) zones, with regard to their indoor air temperature (urban: 19.8 ∼ 25.0 °C v.s. rural: 11.3 ∼ 17.8 °C) and neutral temperature (urban: 17.6 ∼ 25.1 °C v.s. rural: 11.9 ∼ 23.45 °C). While in summer, the indoor air temperature in urban dwellings were slightly lower than those in rural areas due to their prevalent use of air conditioner (urban: 26.1 ∼ 28.9 °C v.s. rural: 29.5 ∼ 34.9 °C). Indoor air temperature and neutral temperature varied considerably in different climate zones in winter. In SC zones, the indoor environment was overheated, which could lead to energy wastage and overheating discomfort for residents. Residents in Hot-Summer and Cold-Winter (HSCW) zone were the most tolerant to the variation of thermal environment (the median coefficient of MTS or TSV equation: SC: 0.18; C: 0.20; HSCW: 0.13; HSWW: 0.23). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large body of literature exploring spatial disparity in access to healthcare services, and the resultant geographic inequality in the demand for medical travel. We are, however, unaware of any such study conducted in India in the past. The transportation implications of inequitable healthcare access, therefore, remains unknown to Indian planners and policymakers. We use a unique dataset, the 2014–15 Domestic Tourism Expenditure survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, to address this critical gap in the literature. We use trip-making information of 42,547 persons (13,525 urban and 29,022 rural residents) belonging to 28 Indian states in order to analyze the variation in individuals' medical trip destination choice, on average, across states. We analyze overnight trips (i.e., trips involving at least one night stay away from home) made for medical purposes only. Specifically, we isolate and compare the independent influence of state of residence (i.e., the state-effect) on residents' choice of within-district and out-of-state medical care location, after controlling for various personal and household factors that also govern choice. Additionally, we select a sub-sample of individuals who made out-of-state medical trips, and analyze state-level differences in the likelihood of long or >1500 km (vs. short or ≤1500 km) distance medical travel. We analyze urban and rural residents separately, and estimate a pooled model to explore intra-state urban-rural differences in medical trip destination choice. Our analyses reveal significant variation in urban and rural residents' destination choice for medical trips across India's states. We also find within-state urban-rural differences in destination choice to vary significantly across states. Our analysis provides new information on the geography of medical travel in India, underscoring the need for further research on the causes and consequences of the geographic disparity in healthcare access, and targeted action to improve healthcare access equitably across states. We expect our paper to stimulate further research to guide national and state health and transportation policies in India. • We use the 2014–15 Domestic Tourism Expenditure survey of India in this study. • We analyze variation in urban and rural residents' medical trip destination choice across India's states. • We also explore intra-state urban-rural differences in medical travel. • Our research provides insights on the geographic inequality of medical travel demand in India. • We underscore the need for action to improve healthcare access equitably across states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban‐rural differences in environmental concern are the primary way that place has been conceptualized within the social bases of environmental concern framework, yet there has been little convergence in empirical findings to support such differences. We assess the influence of place of permanent residence and other sociodemographic measures of the social bases of environmental concern approach alongside two social‐psychological constructs: place attachment and place outlook. Our work focuses on second homeowners in three rural, natural amenity communities of the northeastern United States (n = 405). Second homeowners who permanently reside in rural places exhibited lower levels of local environmental concern about their second home area than suburban and urban residents, when "rural" was defined at the county scale. We did not observe differences in local environmental concern based upon urban‐suburban‐rural permanent residence when place of permanent residence was defined at the tract, block group, or zip code levels. Place attachment and place outlook explain more variance in local environmental concern than all sociodemographic indicators combined. Our findings suggest that second homeowners' local environmental concern is not strongly or consistently shaped by the urbanity or rurality of their permanent residence, but that place‐based, social‐psychological constructs may offer mechanisms through which social‐structural forces shape environmental concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Opportunities to engage in phone use while driving in rural areas are limited. • Rural areas have access to less enforcement technology. • Road policing is a secondary activity for police officers in rural areas. • A total of 26 interviews were conducted with police officers in Queensland. Mobile phone use while driving continues to be a significant road safety concern, despite the severe legal countermeasures to reduce this behaviour. Phone use while driving-related crashes have been demonstrated to be an issue in rural areas, yet research into the impact of legal sanctions on phone use while driving has primarily focussed on urban areas. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate differences in enforcement of phone use while driving between rural and urban environments as reported by police officers. In addition, to provide necessary context, this study aimed to explore how the police officers perceive differences in drivers' engagement in phone use while driving between rural and urban environments. To address these aims, a total of 26 police officers from Queensland, Australia (18 with both rural and urban experience, 6 with only rural experience and 2 with only urban experience) completed an interview. A total of seven themes were developed from the data. Several differences between rural and urban environments were identified concerning different types of phone offending behaviour, as well as different resources, management and infrastructure that can impact police enforcement. For example, it was suggested that drivers in rural areas have less reasons to use their phone while driving. Nevertheless, when this behaviour does occur, it is more challenging to enforce this law in rural compared to urban environments. The results not only provide important contextual information for phone use while driving research, but also suggest that enforcement strategies for this behaviour may need to be recontextualised to incorporate the more nuanced aspects of rural policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to reveal the socioeconomic and environmental characteristic differences between supported and unsupported Local Action Groups (LAGs) from the LEADER programme in the Czech Republic in the programming period 2007-2013. Hence, the associations between the LEADER programme and rural differentiation in the Czech Republic are explored. The results of this study point out that highly rural and disadvantaged LAGs were supported significantly more often, while LAGs with strong urban characteristics and growing suburban LAGs were supported significantly less often in the LEADER programme. Two crucial dimensions of rural differentiation in the Czech Republic were tackled by LEADER, namely rural aspects and socioeconomic disadvantages. This study consequently shows that LAGs may be a highly relevant place-based instrument that compensates for urban-rural gradient and socioeconomic disadvantages of rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under intense fiscal pressure, China's local governments raced against each other to offer business-friendly policies to mobile industries. Lax environmental enforcement was widely adopted across the country and many poor regions became havens for polluting factories. We argue that this adverse effect went deeper than the interjurisdictional competition argument. Within each jurisdiction, urban and rural communities engaged in a similar rivalry. Local governments, facing stronger societal environmental pressure from urban communities, prioritized urban environment and allocated fewer administrative resources to rural environment enforcement. As a result, polluting enterprises found refuge in the rural part of these jurisdictions. We merge a national firm registry database with a national survey of polluting enterprises firms and find strong evidence supporting this hypothesis. Our research extends the scope of the pollution haven hypothesis from an inter-jurisdictional dimension to the urban-rural divide, a source of environmental injustice that is understudied in the literature. Our study of firm location choices also complements current researches on Chinese rural pollution by highlighting the political and economic causes of pollution. • Regional competition for investments pushes Chinese local governments to relax environmental regulations. • Rural communities are particularly vulnerable to this pressure. • We find that polluting enterprises concentrate in rural areas and face lower probability of termination. • Heavy polluting enterprises in rural areas emit more pollutants than urban ones. • These pollution havens lose their appeals as the central government tightens control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, protest voting, voting for populist parties and, specifically for Europe, votes for parties opposed to European integration, have increased substantially. This has focused the attention of researchers and policy makers on the causes behind this trend. Most of the existing research looked at voters' characteristics, mainly values, education and age, or economic insecurity, such as rising unemployment or a declining economy more in general. This paper focuses instead on the urban-rural divide in anti-EU sentiment, and tries to explain why cities – and urban areas in general - in Europe tend to vote less for Eurosceptic parties. Using electoral data for national elections at the electoral district level for the years 2013–2018 and political parties' orientation as assessed by the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we find robust statistical evidence of a lower anti-EU vote in cities, towns and suburbs than in rural areas. We also find that drivers of voting for anti-EU parties differ significantly between urban and rural areas in the EU and UK, despite some similarities. We show that three factors are associated to a higher anti-EU vote in all areas: growth in unemployment, a low turnout and a higher share of people born outside the EU. A sluggish economy is associated to a higher anti-EU sentiment in rural areas, but not in cities and towns and suburbs. Higher shares of university graduates, people aged 20–64, and of people born in a different EU country reduce anti-EU voting in rural areas and towns and suburbs, but have no impact in cities. • Based on voting data for 27 EU countries plus UK, we show that people in rural areas are more likely to vote for anti-EU partiesthan people in cities. • This result holds after controlling for territorial economic and for socio-demographic characteristics. • In rural areas, economic decline, a less educated workforce and higher shares of middle-aged people are linked to more votes to Eurosceptic parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. However, rural areas lag behind cities, leading to increased urban-rural economic disparities. As China's traditional agricultural zone, the "Three Mountains and One Beach"(TMOB) area is the collective name for the four concentrated poverty areas in Henan Province, including Dabie Mountain, Funiu Mountain, Taihang Mountain and Yellow River Beach Area. In 2014, nearly 4 million people lived under China's poverty line. Poverty is a manifestation of rural system decline and the result of uncoordinated development. This study constructed a theoretical analysis framework for regional rural poverty formation and rural development. Then, a case study was developed in the TMOB area to identify key constraints on rural development and discuss development strategies for different types of poverty-stricken rural areas. The results show that key constraints to rural development in the case area are rapid labour loss, weak urban driving force, lagging infrastructure and public services, a single industrial structure, and poor economic foundation. Four types of constraints on rural development are drawn: natural resource-constrained type, industry-constrained type, infrastructure-constrained type, and human resource-constrained type. Poverty-stricken rural areas should implement policies according to their constraint types and adopt function-oriented poverty reduction and development strategies. • A theoretical analysis framework for rural poverty formation and development was established. • Constraints of rural development in the study area are multifaceted, including labour, economy, and infrastructure. • Rural areas in the impoverished region of Henan can be summarized into four types according to their constraints. • The specific development direction and model for different rural types are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Primary species exhibited significant urban–rural difference. [•] Spatial distribution of secondary components was more homogeneous. [•] Cholesterol should be used with caution as meat cooking tracer in rural areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

During the last two decades, India has experienced substantial economic growth; yet there is still large socio-economic inequality in rural and urban areas. This inequality ultimately affects nutritional status, health and the well being of the population. The present study aimed to investigate the differences in nutritional status and physical body dimensions of rural and urban adult Santal males of West Bengal. The present cross-sectional study was conducted among the Santals of West Bengal, as part of a larger bio-medical research project. A total number of 380 adult males were measured for different anthropometric traits, of which 206 males were from rural areas of the Bankura district, and 174 males were from urban areas of the Santragachi, Howrah district. Socio-demographic information was collected; Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to assess nutritional status of the study population through standard BMI cut-off values. Descriptive statistics and t-statistic were used to show the differences between groups. The majority of the Santals from the rural group were engaged in agricultural activities, while most of their urban counterparts were engaged in services in the private and public sectors. The nutritional status of the study population indicates that around 60% were classified as 'normal' irrespective of residential status. However, 3% of the rural and 38% of the urban individuals may be classified in the 'overweight' category; the remaining individuals from both rural and urban areas have been categorized as 'underweight'. Rural males showed significantly lower mean values in almost all physical body dimension traits compared to their urban counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural-urban health disparities in life expectancy are large and increasing, with the rural-urban disparity stroke mortality serving as a potential contributor. Data from Vital Statistics shows an unexplained temporal pattern in the rural-urban disparity in stroke-specific mortality, with the magnitude of the disparity increasing from 15% to 25% between 1999 and 2010, but subsequently decreasing to 8% by 2019. This recent decrease in the magnitude of the rural-urban disparity in stroke mortality appears to be driven by a previously unreported plateauing of stroke mortality in urban areas and a continued decline of stroke mortality in rural areas. There is a need to better understand the contributors to these temporal changes; however, a general lack of temporal data on potential contributors prevents this investigation. However considering contributors to the rural-urban differences pooled across time, an overall a higher stroke incidence in rural areas appears to be a contributor to the higher rural stroke mortality, with this higher incidence potentially associated with a higher prevalence of stroke risk factors in rural areas. Conversely, studies assessing rural-urban disparities in stroke case fatality show smaller and inconsistent associations. To the extent that disparities in case fatality do exist, there are many studies showing rural-urban disparities in stroke care could be contributing. While these data offer insights to the overall rural-urban disparities in stroke mortality, additional data are needed to help understand temporal changes in the magnitude of the rural-urban stroke mortality disparity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]