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Rags used in the papermaking as raw materialis collected from garbage or second hand cloths from households. In the nineteenth century, the paper production technology developed and it simultaneously caused an increase in the demand for rags. The domination of England and the USA in the paper industry also made them the largest importers of the material. As a result of the competition between the two countries, the rag prices increased in Europe and some European countries prohibited the rag exporting for protecting their paper industries. Therefore the two countries turned towards the Ottoman port cities. This study primarily aims to examine the papermaking and rag sector in the Ottoman Empire and to understand how the internal market was affected and fluctuated after the Western countries' interest in the Ottoman rag market. Afterwards it aims to follow how this sector transformed and organized in the cities with the capital inflowing. In addition, the paper puts forward some views on the formal and informal line of papermaking industry and rag pickers, relationship between the sector and municipal sanitary reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The studies that explore the impacts of national intellectual capital on informal economy are scant. Moreover, the effect of an external factor such as institutional quality that moderates this relationship has largely been neglected in previous studies. Institutions are considered important pillars to accumulate national intellectual capital and reduce shadow economy. As such, this paper aims to investigate how institutional quality moderates the effects of national intellectual capital on informal economy in 17 Asian countries from 2000 to 2018. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the generalized method of moments techniques, which allow cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity in panel data, to examine the moderating role of institutional quality on the relationship between national intellectual capital and informal economy. Various tests are conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings. Findings: Empirical findings from this paper indicate that an increase in national intellectual capital and institutional quality declines the informal economy. Interestingly, better institutional quality aggravates the negative effects of national intellectual capital on reducing the size of informal economy. The author also finds that enhancing international trade and economic growth results in a decrease in the informal economy in Asian countries. Practical implications: Empirical findings offer policymakers an indication of the relationships between national intellectual capital, institutional quality and informal economy, pointing out that national intellectual capital and institutional quality should be strengthened to allow Asian countries to limit the informal economy. Originality/value: This study provides a conceptual model through which the moderating role of institutional quality on the national intellectual capital–informal economy nexus can be recognized. This approach has thus far not been investigated in the existing literature. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study makes an original contribution to the empirical of national intellectual capital and informal economy nexus and produces new insights into the fields of the moderating effects of institutional quality on this nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This paper examines the acquisition and dissemination of harm reduction information among people who inject drugs, as well as preferred sources of information. Methods: Data were obtained from 862 people who inject drugs, recruited from Australian capital cities for the 2021 Illicit Drug Reporting System. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to assess potential factors associated with knowledge sharing. Results: Almost two‐fifths (37%) reported that they had received information about how to keep themselves safe when using drugs within the past 6 months. Reporting on their last occasion of receiving information, participants stated that it was commonly about injecting practices (56%), overdose prevention (26%) and injection‐related injuries (22%), and was mostly received from an alcohol and other drug worker (54%), followed by other health professional (24%) and social network (18%). Among those who reported receiving information, 50% shared this information with other people, predominantly with their social network: no factors were found to be significantly associated with sharing information. The majority reported that peer workers and/or people with lived experience would be the first person they would talk to for information about a range of topics (e.g., injecting/harm reduction practices, overdose prevention). Discussion and Conclusions: Two in five participants had recently obtained information about how to keep themselves safe while using drugs, with half sharing this information with their social network. Peer workers were the preferred source of information, suggesting that the peer educator workforce should be expanded to embrace the capacities and expertise of people who inject drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that existing quantitative studies mistakenly assume that all nuclear states can impose nuclear destruction on opponents by simply distinguishing nuclear states from non-nuclear states. This practice, however, does not capture variation in 1) nuclear states' possession of delivery capabilities, 2) the range of deployed nuclear delivery systems, and 3) the geographic distance between nuclear states and their dyadic counterparts. Instead of this monadic nuclear statehood approach, I propose the dyadic nuclear reach approach, which uses a new dyad-specific measure of states' strategic nuclear delivery capabilities. It codes whether a nuclear state can launch a nuclear strike against a given opponent by using the information about the estimated range of each nuclear state's strategic nuclear delivery platforms, nuclear operation bases, and states' capital cities. An empirical application shows that using an appropriate measure of nuclear capabilities does significantly alter existing empirical knowledge of nuclear weapons and international conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian City Statute, from 2001, has institutionalized urban planning instruments at the federal level, comprising an amalgamation of design, law, planning, and economics. This regulation has established just principles, whose interpretation and application in spatial planning land use parameters are the municipalities' responsibility. The paper introduces interpretations of the Statute and practices in three Brazilian cities of different scales: a national economic capital, a state capital, and a regional metropolis. Considering that urban planning today is determined more by economic logic than by urban principles, we ask: what's urban planning in the Brazilian 21st Century? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a mixed method and comparative case study approach, this paper has analyzed the formulation process of mobility policy strategies and plans and their implementation in four Asian cities. The key findings are: (1) there was some evidence on leadership shown by mayors, governors, public transport administrators and police in all four cities; (2) limited stakeholder engagement in the whole process of policy formation to implementation and some forms of donor influence were observed in three capital cities that resulted in follow-up projects or studies; and (3) the implementation of policies and plans faced many challenges relating to leadership, resources, prioritization, and coordination among various organizations. There was much focus on the formulation of mobility policies and plans and the users could not feel a meaningful improvement to urban mobility services despite the implementation of large urban mobility projects. A comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed and used to evaluate the whole process of improving urban mobility from policy formulation to implementation. There seems to be much preference for large urban transit projects vis-à-vis infrastructure for active mobility and low-cost solutions. The research also indicates the need for meaningful public engagement so that the mobility plans take a citizen-centric approach that reflects the needs of the urban residents, rather than taking a modernistic approach with solutions more suitable for middle-income groups. Delays in the implementation of major projects also suggest that more realistic planning, scheduling, and improvement in project management and coordination is necessary. • Reviews and assesses the whole process of mobility polices and plans in Asian cities. • There was some evidence of leadership shown by mayors, governors, public transport administrators and police. • Limited stakeholder engagement in the process of policy formation to implementation and some donor influence observed. • There was much focus on the formulation of mobility polices and plans and without much improvement to mobility services. • A comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed to evaluate mobility polices and plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Countries worldwide aim to improve their comparative advantages by efficiently using scarce resources for economic growth and development. While many studies have been conducted to measure intellectual capital at the firm's level, measuring it at the national level has been under-examined. In addition, while the important role of national intellectual capital in economic growth has been theoretically recognized in literature, this important link has largely been ignored in empirical analyses. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the newly developed index of national intellectual capital from Vo and Tran's (2022) study to examine its effects on national economic growth in the long run. The dynamic common correlated effects technique and the pooled mean group estimation are used on the sample of 23 economies in the Asia–Pacific region from 2000 to 2020. Findings: Findings from this study confirm the positive and significant contribution of the national intellectual capital to economic growth in the region. The authors also find that, as a feedback effect, economic growth will also enhance and improve the accumulation of national intellectual capital. Practical implications: The findings of this paper provide valuable evidence and implications for policymakers in managing and improving national intellectual capital in the Asia–Pacific region. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the impact of national intellectual capital on economic growth in the long run in the Asia–Pacific economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In low‐ and middle‐income countries, significant differences in fertility beliefs between rural and urban areas arise from the differential timing and pace of fertility declines. Demographers have long hypothesized about the diffusion of these beliefs and behaviors from urban to rural areas, potentially via temporary rural–urban labor migration. In this paper, we investigate the association between temporary internal migration from rural Senegal to the capital city, Dakar, and differences in the fertility and contraceptive beliefs and preferences of migrants and nonmigrants. We test socialization, selection, and adaptation hypotheses by comparing the fertility ideation of current and returning migrants with that of nonmigrants and future migrants from their place of origin. Our results support selection effects, explaining half of the differences between nonmigrants and migrants. Once selection effects are removed, significant differences remain between nonmigrants and current or returning migrants. These differences are largely explained by two complementary measures of adaptation: years lived in Dakar and the number of ties to residents of that city. The results indicate that adaptation is as important, if not more so than selection in explaining differences between migrants and nonmigrants. This holds true even for returned migrants five years after their last migration spell. Of the two potential adaptation mechanisms explored, the time spent in Dakar generally explained adaptation better than ties to nonmigrants in Dakar. However, our complementary analyses do not rule out the importance of urban networks on fertility, as they contribute to migrant selection. [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]

The present paper aims to describe the process of creating CHARG—Corpus de Habla Radiofónica de Guayaquil (the Guayaquil Radiophonic Speech Corpus). It is the first systematized spoken corpus for this rather under-researched variety of Spanish. Guayaquil is the most populated city of Ecuador, while its capital city is Quito. Therefore, Ecuador is a rare case of a Spanish-speaking country with two major urban centers that belong to two separate dialectal zones, offering a very peculiar sociolinguistic context. CHARG is a corpus composed of Guayaquil radio programs. Its structure is organized by non-linguistic criteria (program type) in order to ensure a representative and balanced sample. The paper describes the design of the corpus (defining the study population, sample and stratification) and its construction (recording procedure, speakers and speech style coding, transcription and annotation). As a result, CHARG consists of 24 h of transcriptions and annotations of recordings from 142 speakers. The paper's potential use is twofold: since it presents a step-by-step procedure of corpus construction that can be replicated, the readers might be interested in both the procedure and the corpus itself as a research material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about studying social cohesion in functional urban areas (FUA). These territorial units become an important stakeholder and recipient of urban policy. Therefore, it is important to study problems of their development, including social cohesion. In the paper it is understood in spatial terms, i.e. it occurs when the differentiation of specific territorial units in terms of selected social indicators is reduced. In the research was studied the sigma convergence related to functional urban areas of vovodeship's capital cities in five least-developed regions of Poland (so-called the Eastern Poland). The aim of this article is to investigate whether social cohesion is increased in the FUA of the Eastern Poland. The obtained results showed that only in three FUA in the analyzed period was sigma convergence but it was very slow process. In two FUA, no sigma convergence was identified. At the same time, it was observed that in all the analyzed areas there was an improvement in the social situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing global temperature has increased awareness of enhancing Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC). OTC has become a primary indicator for the effectiveness of urban environments, which directly affects inhabitants' health, comfort, and quality of life. Consequently, many thermal comfort indices were developed to quantify outdoor thermal comfort; among them was the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), which is one of the broadly used thermal indexes in evaluating OTC. As another axis of this awareness, several computer-aided design (CAD) software have worked on developing their techniques to increase the accuracy of their outdoor simulations and climate measurements. The paper concerns exploring the potential of the Ladybug as a tool for measuring UTCI through an algorithmic script designed with the Ladybug (ver. 1.6.0) in the Grasshopper interface within Rhinoceros 3D software. The script was applied to two urban neighbourhoods in different climate zones of Egypt, Cairo (an inland city and the capital of Egypt) and New Damietta (a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea), to investigate its capabilities in simulating and measuring the UTCI of different climate zones in the extreme hot week of the year as an examination period. Results showed that the maximum UTCI value in the coastal neighbourhood decreased from 32.93°C to 31.64°C, while its minimum value decreased from 28.79°C to 27.28 °C compared to the inland neighbourhood. The maximum and minimum UTCI values, hourly data, and the percentages of UTCI heat stress categories for six test locations in each neighborhood were also calculated and compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of the sports industry has garnered extensive attention worldwide. In this study, after a rigorous explanation of the connotation of the sports industry development resilience coefficient (SIDRC), the Topsis model and exploratory spatial data analysis were comprehensively employed to evaluate and visualize the SIDRC of 285 cities in China. Additionally, a spatial econometric model was constructed to explore the influencing factors of SIDRC. The major conclusions drawn from this study are as follow: (1) While the SIDRC has improved significantly over the study period, it still remains overall at a low level of resilience with a widening gap between cities. (2) A strong spatial imbalance exists in the distribution of SIDRC, with coastal regions demonstrating greater resilience compared to the central and western regions, and provincial capital cities faring better than other cities. (3) Policy support index, economic development level, structural diversity of the sports industry, and social participation play crucial roles in promoting SIDRC. Finally, social participation has a positive impact on SIDRC in neighboring cities by facilitating resource sharing, market expansion, and extending the industrial chain. The paper concludes by offering recommendations such as increasing the construction of sports markets and public participation, which can optimize the layout of the sports industry and enhance industrial development resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an exposé of the life and work of Anatoliy Yevgenyevich Geynts, in Norway known as Anatol Heintz. Heintz was born and raised in St Petersburg, became a Russian refugee after the revolutionary events in Russia in 1917-1918, and ended up in Norway with his family. Later Heintz became renowned in the world of science as a Professor, Academician, and one of the founding fathers of Norwegian palaeontology, as well as a well-known promoter of scientific knowledge among the common people in Norway. At the same time, he was an active participant in and organizer of scientific expeditions to Spitsbergen (Svalbard) in search of fish fossils, but he also became one of the pioneers in the protection of wild animals and establishment of natural parks on this Arctic archipelago. Heintz's life is examined against the background of social and cultural processes that Russian emigrants faced in this so-called "first wave" of emigration in the twentieth century, processes of socio-cultural adaptation and integration into their new country of residence. The conditions for finding oneself and ways of preserving one's Russianness in the large colonies of the Russian diaspora, which appeared in Berlin, Prague, and Paris, are compared with the conditions in the northern periphery of Europe and a small country like Norway. The paper focuses on what Anatol Heintz did to preserve his Russian identity, and how he simultaneously struggled to become fully recognized as a Norwegian citizen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how the data shows the readiness of Kalimantan candidates for capital city before the establishment of East Kalimantan as a new capital. This type of research is descriptive qualitative using interview and documentation methods. The findings of the research from the three regions studied are the municipalities of Palangka Raya, Katingan Regency and Gunung Mas Regency that the three regions have made some preparations in responding to the discourse of moving the capital as did the city of Palangka Raya in the form of building road expansion, expansion and renovation of city parks and expansion Airport area. While the Katingan district, is preparing candidates for airports, ports and areas of forest conservation, production forests, agriculture and offices. The same thing is also done by Gunung Mas who has poured in the regional spatial plan for 2014 - 2034, it can be said that the availability of land for the construction of office infrastructure and other development areas has shown adequate readiness and can meet the expectations of the community in service development, so that the availability of the land meets the expectations and discourse of moving the capital of the Republic of Indonesia to Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City managers search for new concepts of city development in order to satisfy growing demands and manage risk. The research assumes that city management requires the combination of ideas of sustainable development, a smart city and resilience. These three concepts are the components of the so-called "Fundamental Power of the City". The aim of this paper is to present and test the operationalization of the new hybrid approach to city development through the index named the Fundamental Power of the City Index which includes 80 variables. The research applies six linear ordering methods to investigate the functionality of the Index. These are used to investigate each city's performance and compare it with other cities by ranking them according to a chosen measure. The research considers 18 voivodship capital cities of Poland. The research draws attention to different approaches of development assessment although analysis shows that most linear ordering methods produce similar rankings. Investigation shows that human and social capital factors contribute to high positions in the ranking which is consistent with the development strategies formulated by the leading cities. The results of the analysis also identify the most urgent problems of the municipalities. The research confirms that the Fundamental Power of the City concept, by including the requirements for sustainable, smart and resilient cities, fills the gaps between them and provides a holistic approach to city management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Carolingian conquest of the Lombard Kingdom in 774, the Duchy of Benevento became an independent principality. Duke Arechis (758–787) proclaimed himself princeps gentis Langobardorum, thus opposing the political authority of the new King of the Lombards, Charlemagne. During the second half of the 8th century, Arechis refounded Salerno as the second capital city of Lombard Southern Italy by building a palace which stood as a marker of his political authority within the urban landscape. When the competition between two factions of the Beneventan aristocracy led to a civil war (839–849), Salerno became first a gathering place for members of the faction opposing Prince Radelchis and then the capital city of a new Lombard principality. By considering both written and archaeological sources, this paper focuses on the social and political aspects that led to the urban development of Salerno and challenged the role of Benevento during the 8th and 9th centuries. Some final considerations contextualise the rise of Capua as a third capital city in Lombard Southern Italy during the 9th and 10th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers archaeological evidence for various aspects of early Christian church building and comes to the conclusion that diversity was an essential quality of late antique Christianity. The diversity in question is ill-attested in written sources, but becomes apparent when the material record and everyday life are taken into consideration (cultural/material/pictorial/iconic turn). Church buildings looked and functioned differently in various regions and provinces of the late Roman empire. The diversity does not appear to have been accidental, but was cultivated throughout late antiquity. It was sometimes related to, but did not depend on, differences in liturgical practice, nor was it a matter of knowledge, ability, and workshop tradition alone. Provincial diversity was maintained even when and where the metropolitan alternative was manifestly known and available and although secular art and architecture continued to uniformly emulate the capital cities. A combination of written and material evidence suggests that the diverse formal repertoire of early Christian art and architecture was chosen and decided individually, but tended to form local/provincial/regional clusters. The decision makers seem to have been guided by religious conventions as well as by personal or political allegiances, many of which appear to have been determined locally, each province or region onto itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the management of municipal housing stock as an area of public management in an urban municipality, taking into account the legal, institutional and market conditions in Poland. In order to achieve this aim, the author examined relevant literature and pertinent legislation and employed an analysis of source (organizational) documentation on the management of municipal housing stock in provincial capital cities. The paper begins by discussing the essence, distinctive characteristics and concepts of public management as a sub-discipline of management sciences. Subsequently, it outlines the specificity of public management in a municipality as a local government unit. Against this background, the author goes on to identify the management of municipal housing stock from the standpoint of public management in an urban municipality by formulating its definition in a broad and narrow sense, followed by a synthetic characterization of this management in a functional and institutional approach, considering its basic organizational models. The research demonstrated that the management of municipal housing stock is subject to progressive marketization and tends to be shaped by such public management mechanisms as hierarchy, market and network. These mechanisms cause this management to operate in practice in a hybrid system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive re-use is essential for the sustainability of heritage buildings. It ensures cultural and socio-economic benefits through morphing conservation to the regeneration of the urban environs. The rehabilitation of historic covered markets erected in cast/wrought iron in European capitals reinforces this philosophy. Through the critical assessment of case studies on the restoration and adaptive re-use of covered markets in Malta, Spain, and Bulgaria, this paper identifies themes relevant to their conservation. Based on the Nara Document of Authenticity, the artistic, historic, social, and scientific dimensions of each heritage building were identified. The paper contributes (i) an analysis of the adaptive re-use of historic covered markets in urban conservation areas and (ii) highlights the socio-economic success of such heritage markets through minimal private investment. All the case studies involve the adaptation of former covered markets for uses associated with culinary arts and products, and in each case, a degree of tampering was observed which could be said to affect the buildings' cultural significance in terms of authenticity. However, the new interventions were predominantly reversible and thus the overall preservation of national heritage was, in all cases, ensured and protected for posterity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the joint dynamics of foreign direct investments (FDI) and output growth in European regions by using spatially augmented systems of equations modeling framework that incorporates third‐region and spillover effects. The joint framework is used to study the dynamic impacts of regional human capital endowments, which demonstrates the importance of explicitly accounting for an endogenous relationship. The relationship is highlighted in a stylized projection exercise, where the long‐run impacts are pronounced in Eastern Europe and capital cities. Overall, ignoring the relationship of regional economic performance and FDI distorts the implied transmission mechanism, which is of utmost importance for policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to examine the discourse on moving the new state capital in Indonesia. The relocation of the national capital city was highly controversial, with many significant indicators of displacement according to the level of interest in it. The new capital city of Indonesia will be located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency and Penajam Paser Utara Regency. This study looks at the discourse of moving the national capital from a political economy perspective. This study uses qualitative research methods, with a literature review and NVIVO12 analysis. The discourse on moving the state capital explained many interests of the government and people in East Kalimantan Province. This discourse has pros from a political and economic point of view considering the benefits it could bring and cons from a judicial and academic perspective on the reasons and urgency behind relocating the state capital. It is assumed that the development of the National Capital will be evenly distributed, although in fact the management of urban planning has not been carried out properly. This study recommends that a more in-depth study is needed so that the relocation of the capital can provide greater benefits to the people of Indonesia in accordance with national goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the uneven geography of foreign direct investment in Africa, this article examines political, demographic and infrastructural factors that have led six countries – Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe – to be the least attractive territories to the external capital. This paper investigates the extent to which political stability, qualification of labor, potential consumer market, regional integration, and infrastructure play a central role in attracting investments. It also debates Geography's role in investigating African countries' particularities to avoid common generalizations, which are still disseminated by Afro-Optimism and Afro-Pessimist perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the challenges posed by the early discourse of the creative city in the case of Patras, a regional city of Greece and European Capital of Culture in 2006 before the prolonged economic crisis in Greece. We focus on the relevance and the forms of cultural creation and artistic networking for the creative city rather than on innovation hubs and technological creativity. We develop a qualitative study of culture creatives in the city to examine the potential of local cultural and artistic agents, social groups and institutions to enhance networking and clustering in the urban milieu, which is also influenced or distorted by city planning capacities and politics. The culture management study identifies several constraints and frictions related to the potential transformation of cultural networks to clusters and analyzes the relevance of cultural lag in the literature of creative cities and urban regeneration. The constraints are discussed within a framework of cultural and institutional lag, which characterize city stakeholders. The study identifies practices that enable organizational facilitation and capacity for proactive culture creation, creative networking and potential clustering. Those activities support culture-led socio-economic urban regeneration planning and inspire the potential making of a creative city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Vietnam's capital city Hanoi, the growing popularity of application based (app‐based) motorbike taxis has offered many inhabitants new opportunities to pursue a mobile livelihood with ride‐hailing platforms. Nonetheless, as this influx of app‐based drivers has hit the city's streets, specific livelihood and mobility frictions have emerged, notably with informal, 'traditional' motorbike taxi drivers, or xe ôm. In this paper we analyse these evolving sites and moments of friction and their impacts on driver livelihoods and mobilities for both driver groups. We draw conceptually on debates regarding mobility, platform economies, and urban livelihoods, while specifically interrogating the concept of friction to highlight three possible analytical applications. Methodologically, we interpret static and ride‐along interviews completed with over 130 drivers. We highlight a range of tactics 'traditional' and app‐based motorbike taxi drivers have employed to respond to rising frictions, defend their 'turf', and maintain their street‐based livelihoods. Driver responses reveal differing access to distinctive forms of social capital and social networks, and contrasting levels of agency regarding their mobilities. By conceptually teasing apart the notion of friction, we wish to expand and deepen understandings of the experiences of vulnerability, precarity, and other impacts of platformisation for different motorbike taxi driver cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal what is the current position of gardening as a leisure activity for urbanites, in general and in competition with other hobbies, and how the space of the urban domestic garden is perceived in this regard. To gather data, a questionnaire survey of 302 urban domestic garden keepers was conducted. The survey took place between April 2019 and November 2019 in the capital city of Prague, Czechia, and in 8 locations in other Czech cities and towns as a control sample. The results show that the importance of outdoor relaxation in evaluating one's garden prevails, but the possibility of creating something with one's own hands, to produce own food, or to form a more beautiful place are also highly appreciated. In the perception of Czech gardeners, work and leisure often intertwine. Similarly, gardens act as a multifunctional environment, which can be changed in particular phases of the human life cycle. Since gardens were often declared as vital components for many people, it is probable that there is a future for gardening as a leisure activity, although it may be construed rather as a 'light' version of gardening, adapted to one's busy schedule and other hobbies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the price behavior of Phase III (2013–2020) EU-ETS emission allowances of CO2 by focusing on the dynamics of daily auction equilibrium prices and on the changes of the volatility of the underlying stochastic process. The paper derives the main testable statistical hypotheses (particularly that about the determinants of the conditional variance of prices) on the results derived in a model of optimal bidders' behavior given the ETS auction rules. Tests are conducted by estimating various versions of GARCH models for both mean and variance equations of price return. Results show that the price dynamics is affected by factors including a measure of excess demand/offer and the number of winning bidders and that, contrary to expectations, reforms of the auction rules introduced at the end of Phase III explain a great part of the increased price volatility. The increased volatility is also positively associated with the bid spread and negatively associated with the number of bidders active in each auction round. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on print media coverage of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) in the two years until its federal review and loss of funding. Through applying Altheide's theories of the 'problem frame' in mass media, articles from the 13 national and capital cities papers were analysed to ascertain the dominant productions surrounding the SSCA, and how these framed gender and sexuality diversity within and outside schooling environments. Analyses illustrated that print media dominantly constructed the programme using three 'problem frames'. These relied on fear productions of the possible threat towards childhood innocence, heteronormativity, and cisnormativity. Depictions of threats to 'freedom of speech' also emerged. These findings produce new evidence that in this context, gender and sexuality diversity at school was overwhelmingly constructed as problematic. We argue that these constructions contributed to broader national discourses of gender and sexuality diversity as being dangerous or risky, especially for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of local living, whether in the form of 10-, 15-, 20- or 30-minute cities or walkable and healthy neighbourhoods, has become a central theme of Australian planning strategies. It is used to achieve a number of important objectives ranging from sustainability, public health, community and economic development. Despite the common use of this catch-all phrase, there are inconsistencies in its definition, underlying assumptions and objectives, its shaping of planning policy and the instruments used to measure its successful implementation. This paper provides a comparative international overview of the ways in which these more broadly-framed local living policies have been framed, and how they have been incorporated into strategic metropolitan plans for Australia's capital cities. It is evident that approaches differ greatly, in terms of policy aims, objectives, their relationships to planning practice and other sectors and measures used to assess the success of implementation. The paper examines the salient differences and commonalities in these methodologies with a discussion of their implications for policy and research within varying socio-cultural and spatial contexts. It concludes with a discussion of the need for more specific and target-oriented strategies to overcome the implementation challenges in countries with car-dominated cities such as Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand uses the ballot paper in the general election since 1933. In the present day, technology has been involved in daily basics. This study aims to explore the hypothesis of the election system in Thailand which can use the technology in the election process name as electronic voting (e-voting) or still need to use the traditional method. Before implementation, it should study in terms of the area that is ready to implement the new method and where still need to use the current one. This study takes the relevant factors to analyze with the data of each area collected from various sources. The clustering method used in this study is k-means. Then to find the acceptable k cluster the silhouette method is used. The result is 2 cluster is a perfect fit with the 11 factors that used in this study. The first cluster is Bangkok which is the capital city to be matched with the e-voting method and the second cluster is the remainder province in Thailand (76 provinces). This can be used for the next study in terms of supply chain design for e-voting and developing the ballot paper logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phone usage has increased at an unprecedented rate across the Pacific over the past 10–15 years, radically transforming the way communication takes place. The catalyst for this transformation is generally attributed to the breakdown of monopolies previously held by national telecom corporations over their own domestic markets, and the entrance of one particular new provider, Digicel. This paper examines the strategies through which Digicel has managed to insert itself into the visual landscape of the urban spaces of Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga. Through multimodal analysis of digital photographs from the landscapes of these countries' capital cities, the paper shows how the global company makes use of a range of techniques to establish its own place and identity as a local network. These techniques include the demonstration of largesse and dominance over competitors, slogans that stake a claim to belonging, and the use of local language terms and images that juxtapose the local with the global. Through these techniques, Digicel manages to position itself simultaneously as the provider both of fast and reliable global communication technologies and of a truly local, national service, while also radically transforming the physical spaces of our cities as it has made itself at home here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: National intellectual capital is generally considered a strategic advantage for national competitiveness. However, the measurement of intellectual capital across countries for comparison purposes appears to receive little attention. This study aims to use a new index of national intellectual capital (INIC) to examine the relationship between national intellectual capital and national competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the INIC, developed by Vo and Tran (2021), to measure, compare and contrast differences in the level of national intellectual capital across 104 countries. INIC comprises the most crucial intellectual capital components: human capital, structural capital and relational capital. Various economic and social indicators are used as the proxies for these components of intellectual capital. Principal component analysis is used to derive INIC. Findings: The results indicate that during the study period the level of national intellectual capital gradually increased. Europe has attained the highest level of national intellectual capital, whereas Africa has achieved the lowest level. This study's findings confirm a close relationship between the national intellectual capital level and the national income level. Among the ten biggest countries, the USA achieved the highest national intellectual capital level, and China has significantly improved its cumulative level. Finland achieved the highest level of national intellectual capital in the world. National intellectual capital enhances a country's competitiveness. Practical implications: Findings in this study shed light on an international comparison of intellectual capital across countries and understanding how national intellectual capital contributes to and improves national competitiveness. Policymakers can consider and use these findings to support the accumulation of national intellectual capital and boost national competitive advantage, especially low-income countries and emerging markets. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to estimate a degree of national intellectual capital around the world and examine its impact on national competitiveness based on publicly available data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the pattern of the urban greenhouse gas (GHG) budget and its influencing factors is the basis of promoting urban low-carbon development. This paper takes Beijing and Shenzhen—the capital city and the most rapidly developing city in China, respectively—as case studies, comprehensively accounts their GHG budgets from 2005 to 2020, and investigates and compares the factors affecting their GHG budgets. The total GHG emissions in Beijing were lowest in 2005 (160.3 TgCO2 equivalents) and peaked at 227.7 TgCO2 equivalents in 2019, and then decreased to 209.1 TgCO2 equivalents in 2020. Meanwhile, the total GHG emissions in Shenzhen gradually increased from 36.0 TgCO2 equivalents in 2005 to 121.4 TgCO2 equivalents in 2019, and then decreased to 119.1 TgCO2 equivalents in 2020. The energy activity sector was the greatest contributor to GHG emissions in this period, accounting for 82.5% and 76.0% of the total GHG emissions in Beijing and Shenzhen, respectively. The carbon sink of the ecosystems of these two cities could absorb only small parts of their emissions, and the neutralization rates of sinks ranged from 1.7% to 2.3% in Beijing and from 0.3% to 1.5% in Shenzhen. The enhancement of population, economic product, and consumption increased the greenhouse gas emissions in both cities. A 1% increase in population size, per capita GD (gross domestic product), and residential consumption level would increase total GHG emissions by 0.181%, 0.019%, and 0.030% in Beijing, respectively. The corresponding increases in Shenzhen would be 0.180%, 0.243%, and 0.172%, respectively. The household size had opposite effects on the two cities, i.e., a 1% increase in household size would increase GHG emissions by 0.487% in Shenzhen but reduce them by 2.083% in Beijing. Each 1% increase in secondary industry and energy intensity would reduce GHG emissions by 0.553% and 0.110% in Shenzhen, respectively, which are more significant reductions than those in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Old Dongola, with a history reaching back to the 5th century AD, was originally the capital of Makuria, one of the three medieval Nubian kingdoms. After the collapse of Makuria, its capital city saw migratory movements and political changes that resulted in the emergence of new power relations. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was the seat of a local ruler subordinate to the Funj Sultanate. New communities that emerged in this setting inhabited the city until the colonial era. This paper examines the ways in which Funj-period households, as fundamental social units in Old Dongola, were mutually constitutive with houses, engaging with their spatiality and materiality through social practices. The authors investigate domestic labour, which was an essential factor in the negotiation of social differences and identities within the household. Differences in building techniques are analysed to compare various ways in which dwellers engaged with houses and to assess their implications for social differentiation within the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A very few studies have been conducted to measure a degree of national intellectual capital for selected groups of countries. This paper is conducted to construct a new index of national intellectual capital (INIC) which is simple, quantifiable, relevant and comparable for countries around the globe. Design/methodology/approach: The styudy's new INIC uses various indicators which are proxies for fundamental aspects of intellectual capital, including (1) human capital, (2) structural capital and (3) relational capital. These indicators are publicly available for many countries. The principal component analysis is utilized to derive the INIC. Various tests have also been conducted to ensure that the new index is appropriate and fit for purpose. Findings: Findings from this paper confirm that the new INIC has a strong correlation of 0.80 with an index developed by Lin et al. (2014) (the LECB index), an advanced INIC to date. The LECB index has been infrequently updated and covered selected countries due to data and information unavailability. In addition, the study's tests indicate that a high correlation of 0.75 is observed between the study's index and GDP per capita. The new INIC represents an advancement in relation to its simplicity, quantification, relevance and international comparison across nations. Practical implications: The estimates of national intellectual capital using the approach in this study will open a new strand of theoretical and empirical studies in relation to national intellectual capital and other economic and social issues of interests. This novel and innovative approach will provide policymakers with a valuable framework to formulate and implement relevant policies to enhance and improve national intellectual capital. Originality/value: To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study of its type, which is conducted to measure national intellectual capital based on publicly available data. Required data cover an extended period of years and a majority of countries. As such, an INIC will enhance transparency and feasibility for international comparison across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is one of the significant environmental issues. It can cause adverse health effects such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and high mortality rates. High population density is a huge contributory factor of air pollution in cities and urbanized areas. Other sources of air pollution are transport, local heating, and possibly a pollution transfer from neighboring industrial regions. Information about the opening and closing of industrial plants, stubble burning, and fireworks can be considered an added value to this work. In recent past years, among the Delhi/National Capital Region. The pollution level has been raised multiple times during November and March months. The most significant root cause of this trouble is stubble-burning air pollution in the neighboring cities like Punjab and Haryana. Another concern is the burning of fireworks in these months due to Diwali and other festivals in the cities. This research paper aims to perform a data-based analysis on the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration levels of the past six years month-wise from the authenticated sources to find out the causes of extreme air pollution levels. This research paper deals mainly with long-term time series, including air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, and other meteorological variables. It models and analyzes the PM2.5 and PM10 values for 2014–2018. The present research work also deals with the facts and methods to handle the high air pollution rate in Delhi/NCR caused by stubble burning and analysis the effect on the environment by the call of Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri Narender Modi Ji for the illusion of candles as a symbolic fight against COVID 19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the factors that induce people of so-called North-East India to collectively identify themselves as Northeasterners. It also examines the factors that lead them to be categorised by others as Northeasterners. This is done against the backdrop of a geometrical error in ascertaining the direction of so-called North-East India with reference to the present national capital, Delhi. The colonial project of categorisation of its subjects in the 'north-east frontier of Bengal' and sustained categorisation and identification of the same in free India is understood within the framework of social identity theory. Theoretically, the paper extends the social identity theory by adding the aspects of social validation and social invalidation to understand the materialisation and non-materialisation, respectively, of perceived social identity with respect to a group. To address the issues arising from the erroneous categorisation of places and people with a colonial arbitrary term 'North-East', the author proposes principles of individualisation and human rights. The principle of individualisation offers a possibility towards respecting the unique individual identity of the constituent groups of so-called North-East India and thus allows the ceasing of violation of human rights of the people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the determinants of the shadow economy plays a vital role in formulating policies for economic growth and development, particularly for the Southeast Asian countries–a new economic force for a global economy. The key drivers of a shadow economy, such as institutional quality, taxation, government expenditure, are widely examined. However, the effect of national intellectual capital, which affects macroeconomic indicators, on the shadow economy has largely been ignored in the existing literature. Our paper examines this critical link and its causality relationship for eight Southeast Asian countries from 2000 to 2017. This paper uses the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), which allow cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity in panel data analysis. Empirical findings from this paper indicate that national intellectual capital impacts negatively and significantly the shadow economy size. This finding implies that enhancing national intellectual capital reduces the shadow economy size. These two forces lead to enhanced economic growth. Our Granger causality tests confirm a bi-directional relationship between national intellectual capital and the shadow economy. As a result, policies targeted to reduce the shadow economy size can now include the accumulation of national intellectual capital, particularly for Southeast Asian Countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of ethnic diversity on the fostering of productive capacities and structural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The fact that ethnically diverse countries in SSA are lagging behind other developing countries in productive capacities and structural transformation is a confirmation of the endogeneity of ethnic polarisation in the development process. The paper shows that SSA performs poorly on the Productive Capacities Index (PCI) and other socio-economic indicators both in cross-country and inter-regional comparisons. It argues that accumulation of "national capital", as opposed to "ethnic capital formation", bonds societies, bridges ethnic divisions and fosters productive capacities and structural economic transformation. It provides conclusions and policy recommendations to maximise the developmental impact of ethnic diversity through national identity-based politics. Viewed from this perspective, the problem in SSA is not ethnic diversity per se but how political regimes, governance and elite institutions of the region manage ethnic diversity. The paper concludes that political elite and state institutions have primary responsibilities in managing ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity. Therefore, it suggests that there is an urgent need to seriously consider the ethnic dimension of development as an integral part of policy formulation and implementation in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitous presence of cross-cultural contact and multilingualism in the globalised world is reflected in a wide range of linguistic landscapes, and linguistic barriers are typically bridged using translation, resulting in multilingual signage. The paper explores the role of translation and the interplay of monolingualism, bilingualism and multilingualism in Slovenia, in the linguistic landscape of two conservation areas, one located in an officially bilingual area and the other located in the non-bilingual settings of the capital city. Analysing signage from the perspective of language use and translation, variation in approaches to bridging cross-cultural gaps is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural reforms over the past several decades have seen the institution of local government in Australia become progressively less local. Primarily as a result of municipal amalgamation, the average population of Australia's local governments has more than doubled since the early 1990s. The democratic implications of this de-localisation, however, have been severely understudied. This article addresses this gap by analysing the effect of municipality size on several modes of local political participation in the mainland capital city regions of Adelaide and Perth. Drawing on a quantitative analysis of primary survey and electoral data, this paper presents evidence of a negative relationship between municipality size and participation – as size increases, rates of voting, candidacy, contact with local representatives, and council meeting attendance decrease. The implications for local government's input legitimacy and its role as a training ground for democracy – as well as options for 're-localising' local politics – are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominance of capital cities (urban primacy) is an enduring characteristic of Australian states. There has been limited empirical research examining the drivers of primacy in states despite some being extreme examples of the phenomenon, both in magnitude and scale. In light of institutional theories of settlement patterns, we developed a profile of Australian urbanization using a century of time-series data, descriptive statistics, and an empirical model of city populations. In Australian states high measures of primacy have endured with little evidence of disruption despite the enormous size of these states, their wealth, and population growth – factors associated with declining and low primacy. Statistically, state capital city status has a significant effect on city population size variation, with results suggesting primacy in states is in part a product of Australian federalism. This contrasts with views that suggest Australia's scarcity of large non-capital cities is due to isolation, low population, and environmental determinism. The findings in this paper have major implications relative to national and/or state strategies that aim to decentralize population away from the primate cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colven traces how urban land transformations fueled by financial speculation shape flood risk and water insecurity on mainland Jakarta. The way we tend to conceive of speculation, not surprisingly, is very much tied to the operations of finance: the futures it anticipates, and the chances taken on those futures for the sake of capital accumulation. In directing our attention to Jakarta's water crisis, [6] adds to the conceptual vocabulary of speculative urbanism through exploring environmental speculation by the state and developers. Yet as this collection of papers demonstrates, all focused primarily either on Jakarta, Indonesia, or Bengaluru, India, reducing speculative urbanism to the nexus of finance and real estate would be a limited and limiting move. [Extracted from the article]

As a central component of the "green city" narrative, urban agriculture is gaining importance in urban planning and global sustainability agendas. In Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, the "green city" is core to the state's urbanisation agenda, with a green corridor envisioned as part of the city's Master Plan for 2030. We investigate the patterns and processes of small-scale urban agriculture underway in this green corridor to better understand whether this type of agriculture actually intersects with, and is supported by, state plans. We frame our paper in conceptual debates around food safety and everyday governance, while supporting our analysis with data from interviews with resident gardeners and officials, as well as the mapping of urban gardens in seven wards in and alongside the green corridor. We pay attention to practices and motivations of residents who maintain small-scale vegetable and fruit plots (the most prevalent form of urban agriculture), and the challenges and constraints they face. Our work reveals the temporary and interim status of urban agriculture in Hanoi, highlighting the contradictions within Vietnam's "green city" discourse. Nonetheless, urban residents still undertake urban agriculture, negotiating or compromising with state officials, to meet their demands for fresh and safe food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research on new cities is emerging across African cities, focusing on housing, infrastructure, and service provision, little is known about walking accessibility for residents within and outside these new cities. Using the national capital of Ghana as a case study, the purpose of this paper is twofold: (a) it measures walking accessibility within and outside new cities in Accra; and (b) it compares walking accessibility to urban amenities between residents in and outside new cities. Publicly available data on the location and distribution of various urban amenities in Accra were obtained, and accumulated distance and spatial autocorrelation statistics were used. Our findings demonstrate that while at the metropolitan level, less than 50% of residents have walking accessibility to the nearest parks, schools, and new job opportunities within 15 min' walk, those in new cities were significantly disadvantaged in terms of walking accessibility to parks, job opportunities, schools, and public transport stops compared to residents outside. The findings show that the location of new cities does not consider walking accessibility in Accra. This finding underscores the uncoordinated and splintering phenomenon that epitomizes the spatial location of new cities and their contribution to unsustainable urban forms. Given that new cities are rapidly emerging in African cities, we recommend a more coordinated and balanced provision of urban amenities within walking distance in new cities and peripheral areas of African cities to generate efficient, livable, and sustainable urban forms. • This paper examines walking accessibility for residents within and outside new cities. • Walking accessibility to six work and non-work activities is computed. • Findings indicate new cities are disadvantaged in terms of walking accessibility to amenities. • It recommends a more coordinated and balanced provision of amenities within walking distance in new cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the cross-sectional data of 40 large-scale international airports in China in 2019, this paper introduced natural and social factors into the calculation of airport operating efficiency and constructed a BCC-SFA-BCC-Tobit 4-stage analysis framework. Combining with the connotation of the "green, smart, humane, and safe" airport high-quality development, the paper applied the Tobit model to quantitatively analyze the influencing factors of the operating efficiency of airports, and the research shows that (1) the overall operating efficiency of the study airports is 0.734; in terms of the region, the operating efficiency of airports located in southwest and northwest regions is greatly affected by natural factors, while the operating efficiency of airports located in North China is mostly affected by social factors. (2) Under the perspective of human-earth relationship, the impact of natural factors on the operating efficiency of airports is greater than that of social factors, wherein PM2.5 and relative humidity have negative impact, while the actual foreign capital utilization of the city and domestic and foreign tourists have positive impact. (3) The regression results of the Tobit model indicate that green, smart, and safe indicators can promote the high-quality development of airports, while the humane indicator restrains the high-quality development of airports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As planners and policymakers in cities around the world struggle to attract and retain public transit users, this paper explores strategies to promote transit adoption in contexts where the odds are stacked against transit. Using travel behavior data from India's National Capital Region – one of the most congested metropolitan areas globally that is experiencing unprecedented growth in personal vehicle ownership and plummeting transit ridership – this study analyzes the choice of intra-urban (metro) rail over personal car for commute trips within a specific population sub-group that is fast adopting the personal car and exiting the transit market. The objective of this mode choice analysis that employs both logistic regression modeling and the propensity-score matching technique is to identify multi-modal service quality/performance factors that determine metro rail vs. car choice, and thereby recommend efficient and effective interventions for inducing car-to-transit switches in addition to retaining existing transit riders. Results suggest that increasing metro rail's travel time competitiveness relative to car (particularly for long distance commuters), service frequency and safety level, and raising car parking cost at the destination can increase the likelihood of choice of metro rail over car in the study context. Interestingly, increase in traffic congestion and travel time unreliability of the car mode are not expected to automatically boost the demand for metro rail use, all else equal. As the momentum towards more car adoption continues, this study shows that deteriorating traffic conditions may not push drivers out of cars; rather, public transit has to step up and pull drivers out of cars. For planners and policymakers, this study indicates that rather than passively waiting for driving conditions to worsen, they should proactively invest in transit service quality improvements. This study also highlights the importance of communicating service changes to the traveling public in order to efficiently translate interventions to behavior changes, given the dissonance between travelers' perceptions of multi-modal travel conditions and actual travel conditions. This paper further demonstrates that analysis of travelers' perception errors, including variation in error across travelers, is important for accurately modeling travel behavior changes in response to interventions. The findings add to the literature on mode choice analysis, and provide strategic advice for transit agencies in India and across other comparable contexts globally. • This study suggests ways to promote car-to-transit switches in fast-growing economies. • Regression analysis and propensity-score matching used to determine drivers of transit choice. • The importance of investing in fast, frequent and safe transit, and the role of parking cost are highlighted. • Traffic congestion and unreliability will not automatically boost transit demand. • Value of information communication and recognizing travelers' perception errors are underscored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]