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AbstractUnderstanding the intricacies of fine-grained population distribution, including both predictability and uncertainty, is crucial for urban planning, social equity, and environmental sustainability. The spatial processes associated with the distribution of populations are complex, and enhancing their predictability involves revealing nonlinear interactions among various explanatory variables. Additionally, population distribution is influenced by various factors that are often challenging to quantify, thereby introducing uncertainty into predictive models. Although the development of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) helps identify underlying factors, the complex geographical processes and the special nature of spatial data present challenges for purely statistical-based explanation methods, leading to incomplete or incorrect explanations. To address these challenges, we introduce GeoVisX, a geospatial visual analytics framework integrated with XAI. GeoVisX integrates XAI with visual analytics to dissect the spatial processes. Through a case study of Munich, GeoVisX demonstrates its utility in analyzing spatial distribution and identifying key factors impacting population distribution at the 100 m grid level. Our findings highlight the GeoVisX’s capability to enhance understanding of geographical phenomena, contributing to more informed urban policy and planning strategies. This study not only validates the effectiveness of GeoVisX but also emphasizes the importance of incorporating visual analytics and explainable methodologies for addressing complex geographical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests an improvement to the performance of existing house price indexing methods and explores a way to improve their applicability. The proposed approach takes population distribution into account by integrating it with index prices. This approach is validated with two exemplary applications in Germany at different levels of aggregation. The generated population-weighted boxplots reveal previously hidden, human-centered insights that differ significantly from methods in which only index prices are examined. This standardized approach enables effective subject-matter discourse and resilient decision-making in urban affairs. It is applicable to a broad range of price-related metrics and issues, including affordability in housing, spatial planning, building, and urban development. Its novelty lies in comprehensively integrating population distribution into house price statistics, thereby uniquely connecting the disciplines of economics and spatial planning. It also aims to initiate new conversations that remain unexplored in urban affairs and the real estate industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine-grained inner-annual population data are instrumental in climate change response, resource allocation, and epidemic control. However, such data are currently scarce due to the lack of human-related indicators with both high temporal resolution and long-term coverage that can be used in the process of population spatialization. Here, we estimate monthly 1-km gridded population distribution across China in 2015 using time-series mobile phone positioning data. We construct a hybrid downscaling model to map the gridded population by incorporating random forest and area-to-point kriging. The estimated monthly population products appear to capture inner-annual population variations, especially during special periods, such as the festival, holiday, and short-term labor flow period, which are characterized by large-scale population movements. Additionally, compared with census data, the hybrid model-based results obtained exhibit higher consistency than popular global population products across all spatial extents. Our monthly 1-km data products for the population distribution across China in 2015 provide a credible dataset that can be employed in studies aimed at accurate population-dependent decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping population distribution remains a common need in various fields of studies. Several approaches and methodologies have been adopted to obtain high-resolution population distribution grids. The use of addresses data to obtain gridded population distribution maps emerges as one of the more recent and accurate approaches. The increasing dissemination and availability of geo-data and more specifically address data allow us to obtain updated, granular and high spatial resolution population distribution maps. This paper describes a bottom-up open addresses data mapping-based approach of gridded population distribution with a fine spatial resolution. Through a QGIS plugin, an adaptation of the housing unit methodology was implemented to obtain 500 m × 500 and 250 m × 250 m population grids for mainland Portugal. The results showed that the use of reliable addresses databases can generate gridded population distribution maps with a high degree of adjustment to reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of population distribution is crucial for numerous applications, from urban planning to epidemiological modelling. Using one-week data collected from open and multiple sources, including telecommunication activity, weather, point of interest, buildings, roads, and land use in Milan, Italy, we develop a hybrid method combining cellular automata (CA) and long short-term memory (LSTM) to predict population distribution with fine temporal and spatial granularity. Specifically, the convolutional autoencoder and LightGBM are applied to identify missing building types based on the pedestrian shed. The LSTM learns the transition rules of CA and Shapley additive explanations value is used for variable importance analysis. Results demonstrate that the combination of convolutional autoencoder and LightGBM is effective in building type prediction. The proposed model for population distribution prediction outperforms LSTM, the combination of CA and neural network, and the combination of CA and LightGBM by at least 5–10%. A variable importance analysis reveals that temporal variables are the most significant for prediction, followed by spatial and natural variables. The order of hour, housing-related variables, and types of precipitation are the most important variables in each category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human population is at the centre of research on global environmental change. On the one hand, population dynamics influence the environment and the global climate system through consumption-based carbon emissions. On the other hand, the health and well-being of the population are already being affected by climate change. A knowledge of population dynamics and population heterogeneity is thus fundamental to improving our understanding of how population size, composition, and distribution influence global environmental change and how these changes affect population subgroups differentially by demographic characteristics and spatial distribution. The increasing relevance of demographic research on the topic, coupled with availability of theoretical concepts and advancement in data and computing facilities, has contributed to growing engagement of demographers in this field. In the past 25 years, demographic research has enriched climate change research—with the key contribution being in moving beyond the narrow view that population matters only in terms of population size—by putting a greater emphasis on population composition and distribution, through presenting both empirical evidence and advanced population forecasting to account for demographic and spatial heterogeneity. What remains missing in the literature is research that investigates how global environmental change affects current and future demographic processes and, consequently, population trends. If global environmental change does influence fertility, mortality, and migration, then population estimates and forecasts need to adjust for climate feedback in population projections. Indisputably, this is the area of new research that directly requires expertise in population science and contribution from demographers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of population in the major metropolitan cities has again become prominent in public debate in Australia. Politicians and commentators have called for an increase in the population of rural areas by improving commuter access to metropolitan employment through infrastructure investments that facilitate commuting from regional places of residence to metropolitan places of work, referred to as metro-bound commuters. This article investigates the impact of commuter-based population growth on rural communities, and particularly housing markets. Increasing rural housing markets indicate a process of gentrification, calling into question policies that promote population redistribution not underpinned by rural employment growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of Eugene Romer, founder of Polish geography, was framed by his involvement in the national cause. TheAtlas of Poland, a key tool in his political activism, was completed during the First World War under the uncertain circumstances prevailing on the Eastern Front. It focused more on the issue of unification than on boundaries. Skilled in physical geography, Romer made use of a cartographical technique rarely applied to ethnographical maps, that of isopleths. In this article, we address the reasons for this daring innovation and consider Romer’s training in the Austrian and German schools of cartography before examining the reception of the atlas by geographers from the different academic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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We present a simple model to disaggregate age structured population census data to a 1-km grid for Hungary. A dasymetric approach was used to predict the spatial distribution of population in different age groups by distinguishing residential preferences (in relation to accessible social, economic and green amenities) for working age groups (15–29, 30–49 and 50–64) and population dependencies for children and the elderly (aged 0–14 and 65+). By using open-access land cover data and fine-level population census data as inputs, the model predicts the likely spatial distribution of population and age structure for Hungary in 2011. The resulting map and gridded data provide information to support spatial planning of residential development and urban infrastructure. The model is less data-demanding than most existing approaches, but provides greater power for describing population patterns. It can also be used to create scenarios of future demographic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until now, various acceptance reliability sampling plans have been developed based on different life tests of items. However, the statistical effect of the acceptance sampling tests on the reliability characteristic of the lots accepted in the test has not been appropriately addressed. In this paper, we deal with an acceptance reliability sampling plan under a ‘general framework’ and discuss the corresponding statistical effect of the acceptance sampling tests. The lifetime of the population before the acceptance test and that of population ‘conditional on the acceptance’ in the sampling test are stochastically compared. The improvement of reliability characteristics of the population conditional on the acceptance in the sampling test is precisely analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usual measure for the factorlandis the total area. But total area is a flawed measure because land is of unequal quality. To account for land quality, we use an alternative measure calledeffective area. Effective area is based on spatial population distribution which captures both natural conditions and human activity. Theoretically, effective area explains economic growth better than total area that biases the measure of total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Empirically on the basis of 40 years of panel data for the United States, an increase of 10% in effective area is associated with an economic growth of 5%, and the omission of effective area undervalues the growth of TFP by 8.1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild horse populations in the American West have been heavily managed to regulate horse numbers since the inception of the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. The Montgomery Pass Wild Horse Territory (MPWHT) on the California/Nevada border is unique in the absence of human intervention there across the past 30 years. This has provided the opportunity to observe long-term patterns in the natural relationship between wild horses and their environment and to examine environmental impacts on the horse population and its activities, movements and distribution on the range. In this study multiple variables in the physical environment and in horse behaviour were monitored seasonally across 25 years beginning in 1987. Distinct summer (higher elevations) and winter (lower elevations) range use was characteristic for more than 60% of the population during the first 7 study years, with subsequent gradual but marked reduction in use of summer range. While approximately 20% of the population continued to annually use the historical summer range, the majority divided into two geographically and functionally separate subpopulations that resided year round in the historical winter range and adjacent areas on opposite sides of the MPWHT. Mountain lion predation on foals was restricted to the summer range, and exodus of horses from the summer range resulted in increased foal survival where horse subpopulations eventually resided. The long-term consequences of increased horse numbers in the MPWHT remain under continued study. The present study has shown that wild horses are highly adaptive and individually varied in response to environmental pressures. It has also demonstrated the value of long-term monitoring of wild horse populations to reveal underlying dynamics and their potential management implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compactness of a congressional district is a traditional principle in adjudicating gerrymandering claims in political redistricting. During the last decade, many states have used compactness as an important criterion to constrain the presence of gerrymandering in the redistricting process. In this study, we conducted an array of spatiotemporal analyses aiming to evaluate the changes in compactness between the 112th and 113th Congressional districting plans in California and North Carolina, two states that have been well known for their heavy gerrymandering for years. We employed classic shape-based compactness measures, moment-of-inertia-based measures, and measures of partisan bias to assess the districting plans from multiple angles, including irregularity of district boundaries, spatial dispersion, population-weighted shape dispersion, and partisan symmetry. This new and combined use of spatial measures evidenced remarkable increases on the average compactness scores for California's Congress, suggesting general alleviation of the bipartisan gerrymandering in the previous plan. On the contrary, the partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina intensified in the current map, indicated by the substantial decline in the compactness scores for a majority of the districts. Analysis of partisan bias in the districting plans suggested a very slight bias toward Democrats in California in both districting plans. In North Carolina, the partisan advantage shifted from Democrats to Republicans during redistricting. Comparative analysis between the two families of spatial measures revealed the superiority of the moment of inertia family to the classic shape-based indexes for measuring compactness of congressional districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses data from the 2011 Australian census to test a spatial assimilation model of intergenerational concentration and dispersion involving 40 ethnic groups in Sydney and Melbourne. Multivariate statistical techniques are used to examine how acculturation and socio-economic characteristics predict ethnic residential concentration, measured by the index of dissimilarity. Findings support the thesis that ethnic clustering and dispersion reflect immigrant cultural and socio-economic adjustment to Australian life. Ethnic residential concentration is explained by Australian nativity, immigrant duration of residence, English proficiency, educational qualifications and unemployment. Findings are supported by a threshold analysis, which identifies a declining tendency, from the first to later generations, to live in areas of high coethnic concentration. An examination of outlier groups finds that unexplained factors appear to be slowing the spatial assimilation process for a few groups, consistent with a pluralism scenario. A major contribution of this study is its analysis of multiple ethnic groups across three generations and three time-of-arrival immigrant cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of the Krakatau eruption in August 1883 on the spatial distribution of population across residencies in Java. The analysis is based on historical data of the indigenous population at residency level covering the period from 1880 to 1928. Based on our empirical analysis we conclude that the Krakatau eruption had no permanent impact on the spatial distribution of the population across regions in Java. The evidence gives support to the locational fundamentals theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysing a cross-country panel of 53 countries from 2001 to 2009, we find that the age distribution of a population is related to entrepreneurial activity. More specifically, a high share of young people in a country positively influences nascent entrepreneurship, whereas a high share of older people has a negative influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the challenge imposed by the Chinese government's unprecedented amount of foreign exchange reserves. Our cost and benefit analysis reveals that political considerations are more important than economic factors. Given its choice of gradual appreciation, the Chinese government will face social unrest in the long term that differs from what it faces in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the growth in car use has been associated with trends of suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation. More recently in England, there has been a slowing and even a reversal of these trends. These coincide with a similar pattern in car use itself. This paper explores the extent to which these two trends are related. It utilises data from the Census of Population and the National Travel Survey since 1971 to identify the shifts in population between different area-types and their implications for per capita car use. The most recent decade has been distinguished by rapid growth in total population due to an increase in births and net international immigration. These increases are shown to be concentrated in London and certain other cities and have accelerated the changed trend in population distribution. The spatial dimension of contemporary demographic projections and their implications for future car use are identified as are the potential effects of the Coalition Government's policy to reduce net immigration. For convenience the neutral assumption is made that per capita car use by area-type remains constant, but this could be negated by a range of factors consequent on changed socio-economic conditions since 2008 including the Government's relaxation of previous planning policies which have contributed to the urban renaissance thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article examines the effect of population distribution on L1 (Italian) and L2 (German) acquisition in the multilingual context of South Tyrol, Italy. Population distribution is regarded as a central variable to assess the impact of two factors included in willingness to communicate (WTC) theory: (1) Fear of assimilation to the L2 community and (2) Intergroup Climate. The study examines whether the opportunity to communicate in the L1 or the L2 in the immediate living environment has an effect on L1 and L2 acquisition at a single point in time as well as over time. Data were from two different projects: Mivas and Invalsi. The Mivas project examined written competence in the Italian L1 and the German L2 on measures of Fluency, Grammatical Complexity and Lexical Complexity. The final exams of 8th grade multilingual students enrolled in Italian language schools were examined for the year 1979/80 (Italian L1 n=33, German L2 n=37) and 2005/6 (Italian L1 n=41, German L2 n=43). Students' competence in the Italian L1 was also assessed through the results of national standardised testing (Invalsi) carried out in 2009/10 with 2nd grade students (n=1007) in the region. Overall results showed no evidence that living in an environment with a high concentration of L2 speakers is associated to L1 loss either at a single point in time or over time. Also, repeated and frequent exposure to the L2 spoken in the community were found to have a positive effect on L2 acquisition only whenever speakers of the L1 in the immediate living environment were scarce. Opportunity to communicate then seems to have an effect on L2 acquisition but no effect on L1 acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, large-volume mobile phone call datasets are widely applied to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of human urban activity. This paper discusses several fundamental issues in estimating population distributions based on mobile call data. By adopting an individual-based call activity dataset that consists of nearly two million mobile subscribers who made over one hundred million communications over seven consecutive days, we explore the relationships among the Erlang values, the number of calls, and the number of active mobile subscribers. Then, the LandScan population density dataset is introduced to evaluate the process of estimating the population. The empirical findings indicate that: (1) Temporal variation exists in the relation between the Erlang values and the number of calls; (2) The number of calls is linearly proportional to the number of active mobile subscribers; (3) The proportion between the mobile subscribers and the actual total population varies in different areas, thus failing to represent the underlying population. Hence, the call activity reflects “activity intensity” rather than population distribution. The Erlang is a defective indicator of population distribution, whereas the number of calls serves as a better measure. This research provides an explicit clarification with respect to using call activity data for estimating population distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining an accurate depiction of population distribution for urban areas in order to develop an improved "denominator" is important for the calculation of higher-precision rates in GIS analyses, particularly when exploring the spatial dynamics of disease. Rather than using data aggregated by arbitrary administrative boundaries such as census tracts, we developed the CadastraI-Based Expert Dasymetric System (CEDS), an interpolation method using ancillary information to delineate areas of homogeneous values. This method uses cadastral data, land-use filters, modeling by expert system routines, and validation against various census enumeration units and other data. The CEDS method is presented through a case study of asthma hospitalizations in the borough of the Bronx in New York City, in relation to proximity buffers constructed around major sources of air pollution. The analysis using CEDS shows that asthma hospitalization risk due to proximity to pollution sources is greater than previously calculated using traditional disaggregation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

45, "Our study provides new information on walleye spawning behavior in impoundment tailwaters. Completion of Harry S Truman Dam (HST) in west-central Missouri, USA, in 1977 blocked a major walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) spawning migration and flooded the historic upstream spawning area. Creel survey data from 1981-1985, a tagging study, and population monitoring suggested problems with walleye recruitment. Our objective was to determine if walleye spawning movements were affected by fluctuating daily flows from peaking power operations. We used ultrasonic transmitters to monitor walleye movements intensively for eight weeks during spring 1991. We concluded that behavior of walleye in HST tailwaters during spawning season was influenced bywater releases, possibly affecting spawning success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]