Search

Urban air mobility (UAM) is a revolutionary approach to transportation in densely populated cities. UAM involves using small, highly automated aircraft to transport passengers and goods at lower altitudes within urban and suburban areas, aiming to transform how people and parcels move within these environments. On average, UAM can reduce travel times by 30% to 40% for point-to-point journeys, with even greater reductions of 40% to 50% in major cities in the United States and China, compared to land transport. UAM includes advanced airborne transportation options like electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones). These technologies offer the potential to ease traffic congestion, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and substantially cut travel times in urban areas. Studying the applications of eVTOLs and UAVs in parcel delivery and passenger transportation poses intricate challenges when examined through the lens of operations research (OR). By OR approaches, we mean mathematical programming, models, and solution methods addressing eVTOL- and UAV-aided parcel/people transportation problems. Despite the academic and practical importance, there is no review paper on eVTOL- and UAV-based optimization problems in the UAM sector. The present paper, applying a systematic literature review, develops a classification scheme for these problems, dividing them into routing and scheduling of eVTOLs and UAVs, infrastructure planning, safety and security, and the trade-off between efficiency and sustainability. The OR methodologies and the characteristics of the solution methods proposed for each problem are discussed. Finally, the study gaps and future research directions are presented alongside the concluding remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional networking strategy is widely implemented in China as a normative policy aimed at fostering cohesion and enhancing competitiveness. However, the empirical basis for this strategy remains relatively weak due to limitations in measurement methods and data availability. This paper establishes the urban networks by the enterprise investment data, and then accurately measures the network's external effects of each city by the method of MGWR model. The results show that: (1) Regional networking plays a significant role in urban development, although it is not the dominant factor. (2) The benefits of network connections may vary depending on the location and level of cities. (3) The major cities assume a pivotal role in the urban network. Based upon the aforementioned research conclusions, this paper presents strategic measures to enhance the network's external impacts, aiming to offer insights for other regions in formulating regional development strategies and establishing regional urban networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's increasingly complex stock era, resilient community planning for uncertainty risks is important for building resilient cities and communities and for realizing the refinement, process, and systematization of planning. Therefore, this paper proposes the concept of community planning resilience based on resilience theory and explores a framework system for evaluating the planning resilience of renewal and transformation community by taking renewal and transformation future community planning of Zhejiang as the research object. At the same time, the technical path of realizing public participation in community planning is explored through the method, mechanism, and technical platform of fuzzy group decision-making. Finally, the feasibility of the aforementioned framework and approach is experimentally explored and verified based on a typical case of renewal and renovation of future community planning. In order to make community regeneration planning more planning resilient, this paper develops a community planning group decision-making study from the perspective of community planning resilience, which provides a new research perspective for the field of community resilience and provides a reference for community planning evaluation and the construction of resilient communities. Practical Applications: In China's advancing urbanization, major cities are grappling with diverse risks, necessitating urban planning and governance with heightened resilience to face unforeseen black swan events and foreseeable gray rhinoceros challenges. This urgency is particularly pronounced in community renewal, prompting a vital shift from rigid to resilient planning methodologies. To address this shift, this paper advocates for resilient community construction to be a focal point in both policy and practical implementation of community regeneration. A novel approach utilizing the fuzzy decision-making method is proposed to establish a comprehensive resilient community renewal decision-making technology support system. This system employs a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, integrating an empowerment approach to simplify the complexities of a multicriteria index system. By mitigating the risks inherent in resilience planning, our approach enhances the scientific foundation and feasibility of decision-making in community renewal. A case study on the Future Community in Zhejiang Province validates the effectiveness of our approach, providing practical insights for constructing resilient community renewal models and system technology platforms. This research contributes to the ongoing exploration of strategies and technologies capable of addressing diverse challenges in urban development, providing references in enhancing urban resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space efficiency in North American skyscrapers is crucial due to financial, societal, and ecological reasons. High land prices in major cities require maximizing every square foot for financial viability. Skyscrapers must accommodate growing populations within limited spaces, reducing urban sprawl and its associated issues. Efficient designs also support environmental sustainability and enhance city aesthetics, while optimizing infrastructure and services. However, no comprehensive study has examined the key architectural and structural features impacting the space efficiency of these towers in North America. This paper fills this gap by analyzing data from 31 case study skyscrapers. Findings indicated that (1) central core was frequently employed in the organization of service core; (2) most common forms were setback, prismatic, and tapered configurations; (3) outriggered frame and shear walled frame systems were mostly used; (4) concrete was the material in most cases; and (5) average space efficiency was 76%, and the percentage of core area to gross floor area (GFA) averaged 21%, from the lowest of 62% and 13% to the highest of 84% and 31%. It is expected that this paper will aid architectural and structural designers, and builders involved in shaping skyscrapers in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes an improved undesirable output DEA model to measure the eco-efficiency of cities in five major urban agglomerations in China during 2006–2020. It employs the Theil Index and Geodetector to investigate the spatial-temporal distribution differentiation characteristics and driving factors of urban eco-efficiency. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, the eco-efficiency of all urban agglomerations showed a fluctuating upward trend, but the eco-efficiency performance of different urban agglomerations in China shows a stratification characteristic. Specifically, the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration consistently ranks first in China, while the mean values of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration are lower than the national average. Secondly, the overall differences in the urban eco-efficiency of all sample cities show a consistently fluctuating downward trend. The factor that affects the level differences of eco-efficiency in different cities is the intra-regional differences. Last but not least, the top three factors affecting the spatial distribution difference of urban eco-efficiency in the whole sample are environmental pollution control investments, innovation level, and environmental infrastructure investments. In the end, this paper proposes that reducing the intra-regional differences is the primary task to achieve the coordinated improvement of urban eco-efficiency in urban agglomerations, and then puts forward some policy suggestions to improve eco-efficiency for the five major urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the post-Nigerian Civil War developments that led to the establishment of Natsinta Army Barracks, Katsina. Prior to 1966, the total strength of the Nigerian Army was merely 10,000. However, at the end of the war, the figure had risen to 250,000. This posed a serious challenge because the available barracks could not contain more than 10% of the personnel. In view of this, the Nigerian Army instructed the soldiers to leave the East because the region was saturated with artificial barracks. On the May 1, 1970 the 82-battalion arrived Katsina from Uli-Ahiala. They were accommodated at Sabongida, Gidan Kwakwa, Kayalwa, GRA and some hotels, as well as rented apartments in the city. By 1977, the project for a permanent barracks was completed at Natsinta Village. The barracks housed the 82 battalion and in 1996 the 35 battalion replaced them. The scope of the paper is 1970-2020 because it was in 1970 that 82 battalion arrived Katsina. The year 2020 is the terminal end of the paper because it was in that year that residential quarters for the personnel of 17 brigade was constructed in the barracks. The paper argues that the establishment of the barrack was a landmark in the history of modern Katsina metropolis. Natsinta had impacts on the socio-economic and security aspect of Katsina. Primary and secondary sources of historical research were used in writing this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects upon the aftermath of the eviction of working-class communities from the core locations of Delhi to Narela, over 42 kilometres from Delhi's centre. The evictees were previously residing in 'informal settlements', which are colloquially known as bastis or labelled as 'slums' in policy documents. Drawing on interviews and focused group discussions, the paper examines the impact of displacement as experienced by the basti residents. I highlight the struggles that residents faced while making 'home' in their new area. Familiarity, repetition, networks, and safety are the few aspects I engage with to explain the process of placemaking in the city. I argue that displacement should be understood beyond the idea of physical dislocation. It should be seen through the lens of 'place' and how a place is constructed over a period of time against the larger spatial order that is produced in the cities. The paper contributes to academic understanding of the varying experiences of displacement within the affected communities and the contestations which produce spaces on the margins of cities in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The business environment is a critical element in promoting high-quality urban economic development. To evaluate the quality of the business environment in Chinese cities, we first build a business environment evaluation system in this paper. Then using the entropy weight, Dagum Gini coefficient, β-convergence model, and Markov chain method, we evaluate and analyze the development level, spatial differences, and dynamic development patterns of the business environments in 278 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. Our findings reveal that the overall business environment level in Chinese cities is not high. There are significant differences in business environment levels between megacities, large cities, and small–medium-sized cities, and within-group differences and between-group differences are the main reasons for the differences in business environment levels. However, the contribution rate of within-group differences shows a downward trend, while the contribution rate of between-group differences shows an upward trend. In addition, the business environment levels in Chinese cities have spatial correlation, and the national and three major city groups' business environment levels exhibit strong absolute and conditional β-convergence processes. Finally, the business environment levels in Chinese cities demonstrate path dependence, which is typified by low mobility and makes achieving upward mobility challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the cross-fertilization between different art forms in two of Oscar Wilde's city lyrics: 'Impression du Matin' (1881) and "Symphony in Yellow" (1889). These impressionistic poems epitomise Wilde's synaesthetic sensibility and transformative intertextuality whereby the poet translates his visual and aural experiences into poetry. The paper also investigates the functions of intermediality in Wilde's aesthetic and ideological standpoint, and demonstrates how the Wildean dandy figure, aligned with the Baudelairean "painter of modern life", conveys his perception of metropolitan modernity in these two poems of intermedial significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The Assyrian Trade Colonies Age, from the EBA to MBA, marked a shift in the trading system between Anatolia and Mesopotamia due to increased mineral trade. Assyrian traders transported tin, textiles, and valuable stones and metals, paying taxes to local rulers. They established settlements and established Karum colonies in major cities and Wabartum stations in smaller ones. It is known that donkeys and mules were used as caravan animals towards the end of the Early Bronze Age in Central Anatolia. However, we have not identified enough archaeological material to prove the existence of mules in particular. Animal bone remains recovered from the Derekutuğun mining settlement were examined, and especially the teeth of equids were further examined by the researcher. This study mentions the existence of the oldest known possible mules, especially based on the dental remains of equids found in Derekutuğun. This paper discusses the discoveries of early donkey and the earliest mule remains in Central Anatolia from the site Derekutuğun. This site represents the remains of a village dating back to the Early Bronze Age and Assyrian Trade Colonies period, associated with mining. The archaeofaunal assemblage was studied by the author and his team using classical archaeozoological methods. The dental remains of the Equidae found at Derekutuğun have been re-examined and are described in this article. The dental evidence indicates that donkeys, and possibly the earliest mules ever found in Central Anatolia, were kept at this site. Although the paper is based on the archaeozoological remains, written sources from the period also support the faunal identification. Derekutuğun was a small settlement that specialized in processing copper ore, and which was an important hub for a trade network because of its extensive mining and extraction operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines designerly intervention, a novel art of governing cities, by investigating reflexive technologies in urban planning/design that transformed infrastructure for street vendors in Seoul, South Korea. Influenced by behavioural economics and cognitive sciences, designerly intervention endeavours to be human-scaled, inclusive and participatory. It focuses on designing little devices as an interface between individuals and the environment to elicit city dwellers' behaviour that enacts massive infrastructure in everyday life. This paper traces how street vendors are incorporated into urban fabric through relational, affective and administrative changes created by the mediation of little devices — standardized street vending stalls. This paper develops new modes of critical inquiry to diagnose the power relations of designerly intervention that are often hidden and implicit in its seemingly reflexive methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the convenience of the Online Product Recommendation (OPR) system, concerns persist regarding deception practices in online shopping, especially among consumers from the Generation Z demographic cohort, for which less attention has been given in the previous literature. Methodology/Approach: The impact of independent variables, namely Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Enjoyment, and Perceived Risk, on Susceptibility to e-commerce fraud among Gen Z consumers has been studied. By conducting a mall intercept survey in four major metropolitan cities in India with a usable sample of 488 responses, the study empirically tested the data using SmartPLS 4.0. Findings: The study concludes that Perceived Usefulness and Enjoyment positively influence continuous usage intention, while Perceived Deception and Perceived Risk are negatively connected with continuous usage intention. It depicts that the Gen Z consumer's belief categories formed during their early years as digital natives sharpen their alertness to deception practices. Research Limitation/implication: The study may not be generalised to represent Gen Z consumers as it collected data only from those who visited malls in the metropolitan cities of India. Originality/Value of paper: This paper exclusively investigates the interrelation of belief categories to continuous usage intention. Further, the intersection of perceived Deception is proved in light of the E-commerce practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose an innovative and efficient process in urban policy-making that combines a divergent and creative method with a convergent and strategic one. At the same time, the purpose is also to propose a useful innovation to enforce the usability of both methods. On the one hand, mission-oriented policies run the risk of being overly focused on the present and of not being able to develop preparedness in organization. On the other hand, scenario development has the reverse problem it often does not point out how to use scenario narratives to inform and devise short-term strategic actions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper proposes an innovative methodological approach, the mission-oriented scenarios, which hybridizes Mazzucato's mission-oriented public policy framework with Jim Dator's Manoa school four futures method. The proposed methodological innovation emerges from a urban foresight academic-led project carried out in the context of the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy, where a first application of the mission-oriented scenarios was tested on six different focal issues (from reindustrialization to cultural policies) and the scenario narratives were used as sources for the grounding of 12 missions and 48 strategic actions towards 2030. Findings: Mission-oriented scenarios can contribute to the generation of more sustainable and inclusive urban public policies. This methodological proposal is based on an original mix of knowledge exchange procedures borrowed from methodological approaches with different backgrounds: the mission-oriented and the archetypal scenarios. Their conjunction could support the formulation of ambitious yet pragmatic policies, giving a plurality of actors the opportunity to act and establish fruitful and lasting partnerships. Originality/value: The paper reconstructs one of the first urban foresight projects carried out in a major Italian city by two prestigious universities and exposes a methodological innovation resulting from reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the project, which opens the door to the development of a new scenario technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Investors often utilize brokers to assist them in property acquisitions. These brokers are compensated through a cooperative commission, or bonus, that is publicized on the listing service. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between advertised compensation packages and selling price, time-on-market and listing characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: To examine variables likely to influence earnings of the buyers' broker, this study utilizes multiple and logistic regressions. Given the range of prices found in the 196,276 listings, the data was sorted on listing price and then split into ten, approximately equal, deciles. Findings: The explanatory power of models with cooperative commission as the dependent variable was highest in the lowest deciles with type of financing, size and distressed status being highly significant. When comparing list- to selling price the average was 96.1%. As cooperative commission increased, the higher priced parcels sold at a higher price relative to list price. This potentially justifies higher cooperative commissions or exemplifies the principal-agent problem where effort is based on potential earnings. Fixed bonuses were used predominately for parcels under $62,234, likely to provide a minimum earnings amount. However, surrounding the median, it seems they may differentiate a property. Practical implications: This research provides insight for practitioners on the impact of different variables, including cooperative commissions, on sale price and time-on-market. For example, cooperative commission increased for properties in the outer deciles implying that agents may be compensating for suspected difficulty. Additionally, the seasonality findings imply that agents can determine when to list and when to provide a fixed bonus to solicit attention. Results also suggest that practitioners will find it beneficial to market at an appropriate price rather than list high to create negotiating room. Originality/value: This paper follows only one paper that covered a similar topic. However, this paper uses twenty years of multi-unit property listings from a major US city from 1996 to 2015. The focus on multi-unit properties is an effort to focus on a more sophisticated group of buyers that may be more experienced and make decisions more rationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malawi has one of the highest incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in the world. Despite a national strategic plan and the roll-out of VIA and screen-and-treat services, cervical cancer screening coverage in Malawi remains far below the national target.Using a nationally representative sample of women enumerated in the Malawi Population-based Impact Assessment (MPHIA) survey we estimated the prevalence and spatial distribution of self-reported cervical cancer screening as a proxy for uptake in Malawi. Methods: MPHIA was a nationally representative household survey in Malawi, targeting adults aged 15 and above, that employed a cross-sectional, two-stage, cluster design. The primary aim of MPHIA was to assess the regional prevalence of viral load suppression and the progress towards achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals among adults aged 15 and above. The survey was carried out between January 2020 and April 2021. Prevalence of self-reported cervical cancer screening by different characteristics was estimated accounting for the survey design using the Taylor series approach. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression approaches to examine associations between the prevalence of cervical cancer screening and demographic characteristics. Findings: A total of 13,067 adult (15 years and older) female individuals were surveyed during the MPHIA 2020 to 2021 survey, corresponding to a weighted total of 5,604,578. The prevalence of self-reported cervical cancer screening was 16.5% (95% CI 15.5–18.0%), with women living with HIV having a higher prevalence of 37.8% (95% CI 34.8–40.9) compared to 14.0% (95% CI 13.0–15.0) in HIV negative women. The highest prevalence of screening was reported in the Southwest zone (SWZ) (24.1%, 95% CI 21.3–26.9) and in major cities of Blantyre (25.9%, 95% CI 22.9–29.0), and Lilongwe (19.6%, 95% CI 18.0–21.3). Higher self-reported screening was observed in women who resided in urban regions ((22.7%; 95% CI 21.4–24.0) versus women who resided in rural areas (15.2%; 95% CI 14.0–16.8). Cervical cancer screening was strongly associated with being HIV positive (aOR 2.83; 95% CI 2.29–3.50), ever having been pregnant (aOR 1.93; 95% CI 1.19–3.14), attaining higher education level than secondary education (aOR 2.74; 95% CI 1.67–4.52) and being in the highest wealth quintile (aOR 2.86; 95% CI 2.01–4.08). Interpretation: The coverage of cervical cancer screening in Malawi remains low and unequal by region and wealth/education class. Current screening efforts are largely being focussed on women accessing HIV services. There is need for deliberate interventions to upscale cervical cancer screening in both HIV negative women and women living with HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western liberal media theories often neglect to recognize "news translation" as one of the journalistic practices. This paper problematizes this dominant understanding of journalistic practice and expands the Bourdieusian media sociology project beyond western media systems by applying it to Indian agency journalism. A case study of the United News of India Urdu (UNIU) serves as the basis for this examination, drawing on an ethnography of news production practices, and supplemented with in-depth interviews conducted with Muslim journalists from 2018 to 2020 across four major Indian cities. Through this investigation, the paper asserts that "news translation" is indeed a vital but contested component of media work within the sphere of Indian-language journalism. The paper uses "media work" as a key concept to demonstrate that UNIU's journalists are anchored in the field of journalism, as is evidenced by their institutional-cum-organizational location and their application of the elements of journalistic practice to their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using publicly available data, this paper investigates the diffusion of COVID-19 across neighborhoods in two major cities, London and New York. We link neighborhood demographics to incidence, and we investigate patterns of change over time in conjunction with changing policy responses to the pandemic. By comparing and contrasting these two cities, we are able to exploit surveillance and policy differences, demonstrating how each contributes information to the other. We conclude that better coordination can be translated into improved health policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, aiming at the nonlinear equations, a new two-step Levenberg–Marquardt method was proposed. We presented a new Levenberg–Marquardt parameter to obtain the trial step. A new modified Metropolis criterion was used to adjust the upper bound of the approximate step. The convergence of the method was analyzed under the Hölderian local error bound condition and the Hölderian continuity of the Jacobian. Numerical experiments showed that the new algorithm is effective and competitive in the numbers of functions, Jacobian evaluations and iterations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expanding footprint of urban Asian settlements and increasing living standards have put pressure on cemetery sites. Public health narratives and the sanctity associated with death matters in Asian urban landscapes have fed into the rhetoric of cemeteries as undesirable heritage spaces. Often lacking protection, many cemeteries have been exhumed, cleared, and relocated to allow room for new developments and infrastructure, risking the survival of this quiet element of the urban cultural patrimony. Within an Asian context, synergies between nature and cultural heritage preservation are not prevalent in major cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok. In light of increasing recognition of urban cemeteries as multi-valued sites with both natural and cultural heritage values, this paper turns to deconstructing the nature–cultural binary and the concept of entanglement to frame an investigation of collaborative interactions. A focused study on Asian urban cemeteries follows, examining existing trends and adapted mix uses and highlighting the region's unique conservation challenges. The analysis reveals three major typologies encapsulating the region's current nature–cultural heritage entangled preservation approaches: sustainable compromises, memories, and everyday sustainability. To conclude, the paper distils respectful alternative futures for these spaces to be better integrated into the modern textures of the cities, unlocking functional recourses to destruction or oblivion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the midst of global efforts to curb the spread of infectious diseases, researchers worldwide are striving to unravel the intricate spatial and temporal patterns of disease transmission dynamics. Mathematical models are indispensable tools for understanding the dissemination of emerging pathogens and elucidating the evolution of epidemics. This paper introduces a novel approach by investigating city transmission networks as a framework for analyzing disease spread. In this network, major cities are depicted as nodes interconnected by edges representing disease transmission pathways. Subsequent network analysis employs various epidemiological and structural metrics to delineate the distinct roles played by cities in disease transmission. The primary objective is to identify superspreader cities. Illustratively, we apply this methodology to study COVID-19 transmission in Saudi Arabian cities, shedding light on the specific dynamics within this context. These insights offer valuable guidance for decision-making processes and the formulation of effective intervention strategies, carrying significant implications for managing public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Australian population is highly diverse in terms of cultural heritage, languages spoken, and geographical dispersion. Health outcomes are often worse among these culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse populations, and this is reflected in rates of physical activity participation, with people from these groups often engaging in insufficient physical activity for health benefits. This research aimed to investigate if physical activity intervention studies conducted in Australia were (1) designed to recruit culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse participants and (2) recruiting culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse participants. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of physical activity intervention studies conducted in adults in Australia between 2015 and November 2022. Information relevant to inclusivity in study recruitment methods and diversity of recruited participants was extracted. Results: We identified and extracted data from 371 studies, of which 98 were protocol papers for which no follow-up data was available. Only 26 studies (7%) included methods to recruit culturally or linguistically diverse participants. Most studies (189, 51%) recruited participants from major city locations, with few studies recruiting from more remote locations. No studies included recruitment from very remote regions. Information on cultural, linguistic, or geographic diversity of participants recruited to physical activity studies was provided by 109 studies (40% of studies including results) with the majority recruiting White, English-speakers from major cities. Conclusions: Few Australian physical activity studies are designed to recruit culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse participants. Due to limited reporting of the diversity of participants, comparisons with population-representative data are unreliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfred Gong is one of the German-speaking Jewish Authors from Bukovina, who survived deportation and the Holocaust. At the End of the 40s, he succeeded in emigrating from communist Romania to Vienna and afterwards with the help of a refugee organization he reached the USA. The present paper follows two layers of analysis. The introductory part follows a biographical approach which is meant to bring up his considerations, thoughts, or inner conflicts towards the USA as a newcomer. For this part, Joseph Strelka's or Joachim Herrmann's works are the most relevant, for they published and brought up various passages from the author's archive. The second part of this paper focuses on the analysis of a couple of poems, which are dedicated to the American metropolis. The main purpose of this analysis is to present the meaning of this literary topoi in Gong's literature and the way such topoi are regarded by the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve sustainable urbanization development, it is crucial to enhance social well-being within limited ecological resources. Industrial agglomeration (IA) and technological innovation (TEI) are considered as important factors affecting eco-efficiency. This paper constructs a two-stage Super-NSBM model to measure the ecological welfare performance (EWP) of 48 major cities in the urban agglomerations of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta from 2009 to 2018, a PVAR model is also constructed to explore the relationship between industrial agglomeration (TEI), technological innovation (IA) and ecological welfare performance. The results show that: Ecological welfare performance increases year by year, and the ecological welfare performance of the production development stage (EWP1) is lower than that of the welfare development stage (EWP2). Technological innovation and industrial agglomeration have a two-way interaction, and the effects of both on ecological welfare performance have regional differences. In the short term, industrial agglomeration most significantly inhibits the ecological welfare performance of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, while technological innovation promotes the ecological welfare performance of the three major urban agglomerations; In the long term, the promoting effects of industrial agglomeration and technological innovation on ecological welfare performance gradually weaken, which are very obvious in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta. This study has practical implications for optimizing industrial agglomeration patterns, improving technological innovation capacity and ecological welfare performance, and achieving high-quality sustainable development of urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the understudied relationship between nature conservation and climate control in botanic gardens. Drawing on research conducted at Kew Gardens in West London, we analyse how the relations between climate control, techniques that allow the creation of particular microclimatic conditions in volumetric enclosures, and ex‐situ—out of nature—botanical management have changed over time. The paper shows how climate‐controlled conservation works through three spatial‐technological modes—acclimatisation, climate simulation, and climate security—that reconfigure in‐situ and ex‐situ relations. These modes increasingly transcend local environmental conditions, creating the possibility of conservation without natural climate. The paper extends existing geographies of climate control by focusing on the role of technology in permitting plant life to be moved between different geographical contexts, in enabling ex‐situ and in‐situ natures to become increasingly entwined, and in constructing enclosed conditions decoupled from local climate. Secure climate‐controlled conservation now strategically transforms ex‐situ botanic gardens into the actual sites, and in some cases the last remaining sites, of these natures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The road’s infrastructure is crucial for growth, development, and forming the backbone of any country's economy. The accurate detection and classification of road defects for optimal road maintenance is a challenging task due to the varied types of road defects of different severity. This paper presents a transfer learning model for the detection and classification of road defects based on types of defects (cracks and potholes) and severity. A new local dataset was introduced consisting of road surface images (defects and non-defects) of Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria. The types and severity of the defects were grouped as non-defect, low-pothole, low-crack, moderate-pothole, moderate-crack, highpothole, and high-crack. The model was developed by extracting the features using pretrained VGG19 and EfficientNetB3. The extracted features were concatenated and evaluated on the locally gathered datasets. The pretrained EfficientNetB3 achieved an accuracy 98.1% higher than the 97.9% accuracy of VGG19. The concatenated model (VGG19+EfficientNetB3) achieved 98.5% accuracy, which outperformed the two pretrained models, VGG19 and EfficientNetB3. This study demonstrated the benefit of combining the strengths of VGG19 and EfficientNetB3, for improved performance and efficiency in road defect detection and classification tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational city networks have generally been portrayed as a more inclusive and egalitarian mode of international organizing. However, recent research has questioned these assumptions and highlighted the dynamics of power, domination and control at the heart of the functioning of these networks. These studies have also suggested a North–South power dynamic in global city networks, which seems to deny any significant agency to Global South cities in these networks. In this paper, I seek to qualify this view by analysing the manifestation of agency by an African city in a major transnational city network. I show how, despite finding itself at the bottom of the global city hierarchy, the City of Johannesburg was able to capitalize on the visionary leadership of its Mayor and a favourable domestic political alignment to direct the affairs of the United Cities and Local Governments and in the process shape global discourse on urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the increasing building demands in Turkey, particularly in the metropolitan area of Istanbul, followed by other major cities such as Ankara and Izmir, the expansion of construction zones has led to the emergence of tall towers as a pragmatic solution. The design and implementation of tall buildings require newer technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration in aspects such as facade installation, vertical circulation solutions, and fire systems, compared to low-rise buildings. In spite of the proliferation of skyscrapers, there is a noticeable lack of thorough study on space efficiency in Turkey's tall buildings. This article aims to fill this significant gap in the literature. The research method employed in this study focuses on a case study of 54 modern towers constructed in Turkey between 2010 and 2023, ranging in height from 147 to 284 m. Key findings are as follows: (1) residential use, central core, and prismatic forms are the most prevalent architectural preferences; (2) the most preferred structural material and system are concrete and the shear-walled frame system, respectively; (3) average space efficiency and the percentage of core-to-gross-floor area (GFA) were 78% and 19%, respectively, with measurement ranges varying from a minimum of 64% and 9% to a maximum of 86% and 34%. This paper will provide insight for construction stakeholders, especially architects, for sound planning decisions in the development of Turkish tall buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has dramatically affected financial markets, economies, and societies worldwide and exposed pre-existing inequalities in cities. This work aims to understand the inequalities in some cities worldwide, their reasons and circumstances, and impacts to drive lessons for future prevention, intervention, and post-catastrophe/ hazard plans such as COVID-19 that would raise resilience and decrease damages. Six major cities were included in the analysis and contrasted based on specific assessment criteria. The study included the impact of the pandemic on the economy and the government's responses global crisis. Additionally, newfound measures and technologies developed to control the hazard, including the community's response and cooperation to solving the issue were explored. The outcomes of this work shed a light on problems to be addressed in the future towards enhances the resilience of cities pre- and post- global crisis. Through the comparisons made in this paper, conclusions regarding the cities' successful combat against COVID-19 were drawn. According to the comparative analysis, it became apparent that poverty, culture, and governance are primary factors that control the success of states under emergency. Moreover, it is understood that technology is a significant factor in combating pandemics and health emergencies as large as COVID-19, especially for tracking and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the challenges brought about by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic in China and the Chinese government's increasingly stringent regulatory policies, this paper poses the following research questions: During the pandemic and in interactions with the government, why did some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) survive while others were shut down, although most of those that survived were small and medium-sized NGOs? In addressing this question, this paper delves into the strategies adopted by small and medium-sized NGOs to cope with COVID-19. Using data drawn from three years of field observations and research in six major cities in China, this paper finds that four types of small and medium-sized NGOs resorted to different strategies that followed degree of competitiveness and scope of main business. The scarcity of resources resulting to the pandemic plunged NGOs into a competitive survival posture; thus, the strategies for the four types of small and medium-sized NGOs achieved three levels of effectiveness, namely good, medium, and poor. The findings of this paper shed significant light on the diversity and complexity of the survival and development of NGOs under the authoritarian regime of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia's major cities the new apartment approvals and number of apartment residents has increased over recent years. However, there remain concerns regarding the poor design quality of apartments and the living experiences of families with children. This paper examines the floor plan of 368 apartments in Sydney, including floor areas and number of bedrooms. Different typologies of spatial layout were determined using space syntax. Separate interviews were undertaken with (1) architects and developers to explore their strategies for apartment development and (2) families with children to examine their needs and whether these are met in recently delivered apartment layouts. Results show that two-bedroom apartments dominate the Sydney market, as do layouts without a hall/corridor. The reason is developers are focussed on meeting the needs of investor-purchasers, as opposed to the desires of families with children. This results in developers preferring one-and-two-bedroom apartments and standardised layouts. In contrast, parents desired a more diverse range of apartment layouts, in terms of privacy, supervision and shared spaces, notably influenced by the age of children. The paper concludes by examining the opportunities for flexible layouts as a mechanism to both meet developers' needs, whilst also addressing the diverse desires of families with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the origins and expansion of Christianity in Antioch, a major metropolis of the Roman Empire known for its cultural and religious diversity. The paper examines the initial introduction of Christianity by Judeo-Christians during the diaspora, highlighting the significant role of key figures such as the Holy Apostles Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. It delves into the establishment of the first Christian community in Antioch, the successful integration of Gentile converts, and the city’s role as a pivotal center for the spread of Christianity to the Gentile world. The study also discusses the Council of Jerusalem’s decisions on the inclusion of Gentiles and their implications for the Christian mission. Antioch is portrayed as a melting pot where new religious ideas, including Christianity, thrived, contributing to the city’s transformation into a hub for the dissemination of the Christian faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamophobia, as a form of cultural racism, can take different forms in different contexts. Previous research suggested that there is a perception among some Muslims that anti-Muslim racism is higher in areas where there is a high density of Muslim residents such as Glasgow. In contrast, some others suggest that ethnic minority people are at greater risk of racism in less racially diverse areas because of less community support and less police protection. This paper draws on a research which involved 10 semi-structured interviews with Muslims in different Scottish towns and small cities. The data is collected from marginal contexts that are typically overlooked or neglected in mainstream studies. To discuss the importance of the low or high density of Muslim communities, and any other possible factor, in the experience of Islamophobia the result of this research is compared to the experiences of 33 Muslim participants in Scottish major cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not only disrupting industries and businesses, particularly the ones have fallen behind the adoption, but also significantly impacting public life as well. This calls for government authorities pay attention to public opinions and sentiments towards AI. Nonetheless, there is limited knowledge on what the drivers behind the public perception of AI are. Bridging this gap is the rationale of this paper. As the methodological approach, the study conducts an online public perception survey with the residents of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and explores the collected survey data through statistical analysis. The analysis reveals that: (a) the public is concerned of AI invading their privacy, but not much concerned of AI becoming more intelligent than humans; (b) the public trusts AI in their lifestyle, but the trust is lower for companies and government deploying AI; (c) the public appreciates the benefits of AI in urban services and disaster management; (d) depending on the local context, public perceptions vary; and (e) the drivers behind the public perception include gender, age, AI knowledge, and AI experience. The findings inform authorities in developing policies to minimise public concerns and maximise AI awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the moderating effect of Islamic financial education on the relationship between information management and customer perception regarding the increase in investments at Bank Syariah Indonesia, using conventional sampling techniques for data collection from respondents in Yogyakarta. A closed questionnaire comprising 35 items was prepared and tested before the commencement of the study. Path analysis in PLS was utilized as the primary tool to analyze the 141 respondents who completed the survey. The research revealed that the moderating factors have both direct and indirect moderation effects on customer financial investments in Bank Syariah Indonesia, indicating that information management and customer perception are crucial factors in enhancing customer investments. Accordingly, the study was limited to the collection of quantitative data using a semi-structured questionnaire from Yogyakarta, and there is an opportunity to test these findings in other major cities, including those in other developing countries. From a practical perspective, this study elucidates that Islamic financial education plays a significant role in increasing the value of customer investments in Bank Syariah Indonesia, thereby potentially expanding the market share of Islamic banks in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 10 major cities in the West Bank (WB), Palestine—Nablus, Ramallah and Al-Bireh, Jenin, Qalqilia, Salfit, Tubas, Jericho, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, and Hebron—are experiencing rapid urban transformation and changing land cover. This study explores the relationship between land cover (built-up and unbuilt areas) and soil type in these cities across benchmark years 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2021. In addition to the former, the paper argues that the expansion and increase of the built-up area and the change in soil type of the aforementioned cities in the West Bank, Palestine, are leading to changes in the land surface temperature (LST). This conclusion was reached through a methodological framework that was developed to measure the relationship between the changing land cover (built-up and unbuilt-up areas), soil type, and LST in the 10 major cities in the region. The framework relies on data retrieved through remote sensing in the years from 1995 to 2021. The results of the analysis conducted through this methodological framework showed that there is an inverse relationship between the increase in built-up areas and LST; however, LST is less inside the built-up areas than in the surrounding areas (open spaces) due to different land cover (unbuilt area with grass and shrubs) and different soil type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise architecture (EA) modelling is understood as a system of architecture defined in ISO42010 and EA is intended to ensure a holistic view of business organization. This study analyses the goal-oriented approach to EA development. Justification of selection of this topic results from studies on EA modelling methods. Enterprise architects mainly focus on process modelling as well as on the application of UML language. There is still an open question of what the goals of EA modelling are. This paper presents an application of ArchiMate language and i* notation for goal-oriented EA modelling. The paper methodology covers a literature survey as well as a case study presenting ArchiMate and i* models for goal-oriented EA development by example of metropolis system architecture modelling. In this paper, a metropolis is defined as a consortium of cooperative communities and it is considered as a business organization for which the system architecture is modelled. The paper aims to develop the metropolis architecture model consisting of system components, i.e. business issues, data, software and hardware. The metropolis architecture models are provided to support development of a metropolis strategy. The main findings include the identification of business goals and EA goals, goal mapping, and specification of the key performance indicators (KPIs) to control the achievement of th [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a significant dearth of knowledge regarding changes in intra-metropolitan local labor markets in former socialist countries, which encompass extensive parts of Eurasia and where industrialization and urbanization were centrally controlled by the state. This paper aims to contribute to the existing body of research by (a) illuminating and explaining changes in the spatial structure of urban regions in Poland during the transition from 'extensive' to 'intensive' socialist urban development (1973-1983), and (b) investigating changes in commuting patterns and their socio-demographic composition during the transition to 'mature' socialism. We selected four major city-regions for analysis: gdański, katowicki, łódzki, and warszawski. These regions were carefully chosen to represent different types of polycentric development and diverse economic profiles. The main findings of our paper are as follows: (a) despite the substantial population growth and the unprecedented rate of new housing development in the four city-regions, the overall impact of the socialist transition to intensive urbanization on their spatial structure was relatively minor, (b) the intensification of urbanization process in Poland contributed to the reduction in commute distance for all socioeconomic and demographic groups of workers. • The impact of the socialist transition to intensive urbanization on the spatial structure of urban regions was relatively minor. • Intensification of the urbanization process in Poland in the 1970s had a significant impact on commuting patterns. • Irrespective of the impact of central planning on urbanization, there were significant differences between the study regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (SDR/LEXJ) is a success story among Europe's small regional airports. This success is due, among other factors, to: 1) the commitment to the promotion of connectivity and tourism by the successive regional governments of Cantabria, one of the 17 regions making up Spain; 2) the management of the infrastructure carried out by Aena, with intense modernisation and expansion of the airport; and 3) the commitment of the airlines to Cantabria through the development of a large network of air routes, especially Ryanair, but also Air Nostrum, Vueling, Iberia, Volotea, Wizz Air and Binter. In the last 20 years, the airport's traffic volume has quadrupled from 250.000 passengers to one million. The number of destinations has increased from just a few frequencies to Madrid and Barcelona to 30 destinations covering the whole of Spain and providing connectivity to the main European capitals and major cities. This paper will analyse some of the factors, including supply and demand, that have given rise to this success. It will also discuss the economic impact of the airport on the region and some of the main opportunities and challenges it will face throughout the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the treatment of deposed emperors, defeated usurpers, and other political malcontents in Late Antiquity. During the period, such individuals, or their corpses, were occasionally displayed before the public in some of the major cities of the Roman Empire. While this phenomenon has attracted comparatively little attention in the historiography, this paper demonstrates that it can tell us much about late antique society. By studying these displays in detail, it explores the traditions and practices from which they emerged, how their nature and functions evolved over time, and the extent to which they affected the empire's inhabitants. Ultimately, the paper argues that their development during the period reflects a more autocratic political culture but one which still valued and solicited popular participation in the legitimization of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities function in people's minds as reservoirs of opportunities and possibilities. For many people, living in a city seems an attractive and logical life choice compared to areas perceived as provincial. However, the reality of the modern city is also associated with numerous nuisances. The occurrence of these disadvantages has led to the development of mechanisms intended, at least in principle, to counteract the ills of urban life. One such mechanism is the phenomenon of suburbanization. The outpouring of urban functions beyond its boundaries occurs all over the world. However, this phenomenon also entails exacerbating transport bottlenecks, requires a lot of local investment, contributes to the deterioration of the environment, and disrupts household time budgets. This paper addresses population change as one of the demographic aspects of suburbanization. The trends characterizing the outflow of population from cities and the inflow of population to suburban areas has been examined. The study covers several of Poland's largest cities using data from the 2011 and 2021 National Censuses. The main objectives of this study are to assess the scale of suburbanization in large and medium-sized Polish cities, so as to determine whether suburbanization occurs similarly regardless of city size. To identify those urban centers where the population change in neighboring municipalities is particularly high so as to raise the awareness of decision-makers and real estate market participants in relation to the challenges posed by suburbanization. In addition, using one city as an example, an assessment of how the influx of population affects number of transactions on selected real estate market was carried out. The results of the study may be useful in analyzing investment needs for various types of infrastructure, including roads and technical infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging technological means for managing free-float bike-sharing parking, electronic fences have attracted increasing attention in major cities as a solution to the challenges posed by disorderly parking of free-float bikes. Existing research has predominantly focused on employing clustering methods from the perspectives of free-float bike-sharing companies and users to plan and deploy electronic fences. However, the results often deviate significantly from the actual phenomenon. Therefore, scientific location selection is particularly important to fully harness the effectiveness of electronic fences. This paper proposes a multiscale clustering method based on free-float bike-sharing parking features to determine the optimal locations for electronic fences. A multiobjective mixed-integer programming model is established to address the location planning problem of electronic fences, determining the planning positions, quantities, and areas of electronic fences. A case study is conducted using a local area free-float bike-sharing dataset from Shenzhen city to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Comparative results with traditional approaches solely relying on K-means or DBSCAN methods demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves efficient location selection, through multiscale fusion site selection in the study area of 1.5 ∗ 1 km, and only 25 electronic fences need to be planned and deployed, covering a total area of 1691.88 square meters, which can provide rational placement solutions and better utilize the effectiveness of electronic fences. This method can thus offer decision-making support for the planning and location selection of electronic fences in free-float bike-sharing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The road transport system is expanding considerably in developing countries. Villages are connecting to major cities for business, education, health, and many other reasons because of road development and smooth transportation. There has been a rise in the number of road accidents observed, caused by abruptly appearing dividers on roads and a lack of required signage systems. This paper discusses scenarios of accidents due to such abruptly appearing dividers and offers a strategy to design appropriate signage to avoid road accidents in the future. It has been observed that permanent or movable arbitrary fixtures, such as a barricade or a small partition block wall, are installed to separate lanes, in addition to white-colored stripes that are typically employed for lane separation on roads. These fixtures, although they are intended as lane-dividing solutions on roads, cause serious, and at times, fatal accidents, due their sudden, uninitiated appearance on the road. To address this problem, alternative signage designs were designed and tested on Indian roads, based on human cognitive responses and visual attention analysis on signage using an eye-tracking method. In addition, the semantic quality and legibility of alternate signage designs were evaluated using a questionnaire to judge their overall efficacy. Hence, the best signage design solution is proposed for implementation near or before occurrences of road dividers to avoid accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The development of higher learning institutions (HLIs) is considered a strategy to trigger urban space development – and it is the economy in most developing countries. HLIs can develop and maintain pace with the experience economy in the current urban economy, particularly in the services sector. This paper seeks to evaluate the influence of HLIs on elements of the experience economy in the urban services sector in Bandar Baru Bangi (BBB), a knowledge-based city. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopted a purposive sampling technique and engaged 382 urban community respondents in BBB, Malaysia. The study used four elements (education, gastronomy, health, and the retail sectors) to assess the experience economy performance. Findings: The results show that the local community is the "active users" of the services, and the active users have enjoyed the existence of the experience economy. Findings reveal a preference for education and health over gastronomy and retail sectors. Of these four sectors, the education sector experience had the most prominent effect, thereby showing that the higher learning institutions around this city served a major role in the sector development of urban services. Research limitations/implications: The research used a purposive sampling method and engaged 382 respondents in BBB, Malaysia. The restriction of the study area to BBB is a limitation component. Future studies should explore a large-scale investigation to evaluate better and validate the results. Practical implications: The research has shown that the city's higher education institutions have affected the development of the experience economy in the four sectors. Originality/value: The study shows that the framework of the experience economy and the establishment of HLIs can stimulate the experience economy within the urban services sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the convergence hypothesis of House Price Index (HPI) in the case of 18 major Indian cities for the period 2014–2019. Design/methodology/approach: To attain the authors main goal, this study applies a clustering algorithm advanced by Phillips and Sul. This test creates a club of convergence based on the growth of the cities in terms of HPI. Findings: The study findings show the existence of two convergence clubs and one non-convergent group. Club 1 includes the cities with high HPI growth, whereas club 2 comprises of cities with least HPI growth. Cities belonging to the non-convergent group are neither converging nor diverging. Practical implications: This study findings will benefit home buyers, sellers, investors, regulators and policymakers interested in the dynamic interlinkages of house price (HP) among Indian cities. Originality/value: The majority of the studies are conducted in the case of China at the province or city levels. Furthermore, in the case of India, none of the studies has investigated the HP club convergence across Indian cities. Therefore, the present study fills this research gap by examining the HP club convergence across Indian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid renewable energy sources are sustainable and eco-friendly and challenge the alternative sources of conventional energy production facilities. Pakistan's present energy dilemma is a serious impediment to its economic progress. This paper proposes a techno-economic analysis of commercial-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems for commercial agricultural farms in Punjab, Pakistan. A survey was conducted to gather the load data of the farms from major cities of north, center, and south Punjab. For the PV system design, the K-means approach was used to cluster data from 93 farmers into nine clusters with similar electrical consumption. A complete technical, economic, and environmental study is undertaken of the PV systems deployed in five selected cities. The most practical locations are Attock and Multan, which have the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy at 5.52 and 5.37 cents/kWh, respectively. PV installations are nevertheless technically, economically, and environmentally feasible for all cities. Throughout its lifespan, the planned PV system has the potential for Faisalabad and Chiniot to minimize 154 metric tons of emissions, resulting in a greener environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the sharp rise of research interest in linguistic landscapes worldwide, little attention has been given to the multilingual urban discourse of Kazakhstan. Being first in the investigation into the multilingual practices characteristic of the linguistic landscape in the western region of Kazakhstan, our study adds to the number of linguistic landscape analyses through a translanguaging lens. This paper explores translingual practices on local "bottom-up" commercial public signs by the example of four major cities in the region: Aktau, Aktobe, Atyrau and Uralsk. The study uses a mixed method research design combining qualitative and quantitative analysis of multilingual urban texts accompanied by semi-structured ethnographic interviews with owners of commercial establishments. In our analysis, we specify various dynamic and creative forms of mixing the state Kazakh, interethnic Russian, international English and/or other local languages such as Uzbek and Arabic. We demonstrate how these languages are involved in the creation of symbolic meanings and attraction of potential consumers and contribute to the construction of the urban space of the western region of Kazakhstan. We provide illustrations of the ever-growing presence of English in multilingual written urban texts of the region as a symbol of modernity, high quality, innovation, technical progress and prestige. We also show the indexical potential of the Kazakh and Russian languages as markers of local affiliation and tradition, and the Uzbek and Arabic languages as symbols of the Turkic and Islamic cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores teacher perceptions of agriculture and the subsequent influence of these perceptions on student career pursual in the sector. This quantitative study used a post-workshop survey to evaluate 185 Technology Mandatory teachers' knowledge, experience and perceptions of the agricultural sector. Participant's connection to agriculture was related to their childhood and current school locations. Childhood upbringing in a town or rural setting also impacted participants having an agriculture-related qualification, the likelihood of encouraging students to consider a career in agriculture, and an increased understanding of the job opportunities in the sector. This study highlights the importance of direct experiences with agriculture to increase teacher knowledge and perception of the sector and to encourage agriculture as a potential career for students, particularly if a teacher's childhood or school location is in a major city. The findings of this research provide preliminary evidence that formative learning experiences, exposure and education has an impact on perceptions of agriculture and these in turn are associated with teacher endorsement of careers in this area to their students. There are limited studies that highlight the current perceptions of teachers in Australia about agriculture as a career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Geo UERJ is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)