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Examining the morphological evolution of ancient Jiande County (JD) over time, our research adopts a diachronic perspective to explore county-level spatial planning and its correlations with local governance during the feudal and republican eras. Utilizing historical records, including chronicles, geo-maps, and remote sensing images, to reconstruct urban ground plans, our findings unveil a historical shift in administrative management within the ancient Yanzhou region (YZ). In the Song Dynasty, feudal authority was distinctly manifested through a spatial hierarchy, diminishing in influence during the Ming-Qing Dynasty. In contemporary times, Meicheng Town (the ancient Jiande County) has departed from traditional urban layouts, relinquishing its central position in the local administrative hierarchy. JD’s historic transition in county-level urban planning and local governance paradigms provides evidence for examing its future development trajectories.

Efficient and equitable access to municipal services hinges on well-designed administrative divisions. It requires ongoing adaptation to changing demographics, infrastructure, and economic factors. This article proposes a novel transparent data-driven method for territorial division based on the Voronoi partition of edge-weighted road graphs and the vertex k-center problem as a special case of the minimax facility location problem. By considering road network structure and strategic placement of administrative centers, this method seeks to minimize travel time disparities and ensure a more balanced distribution of administrative time burden for the population. We show implementations of this approach in the context of Latvia, a country with complex geographical features and diverse population distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yongsheng Sun,1 ChengJiang Liu,2 Nianping Zhang,3 Debing Yang,4 Cungen Ma,5 Xi Zhang61Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Medical College of Shanxi Datong University, Datong, 037009, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Medicine, Affiliated Anqing First People’s Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui, 246000, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College of Shanxi Datong University, Datong, 037009, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Anatomy, Medical College of Shanxi Datong University, Datong, 037009, People’s Republic of China; 5Neurobiology Research Center, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinzhong, 030619, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Neurology, Second Medical Center, General Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, 100000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cungen Ma; Xi Zhang, Email macungen2001@163.com; zhangxiplagh@sina.comObjective: The common chronic non-communicable diseases and epidemiological characteristics of the forsaken elders over 60 in Guangling and Tianzhen were investigated and analyzed to provide reference for health resource allocation, hospital capacity establishing and health management of the forsaken elders in county-level regions.Materials and Methods: The data of 10,331 resident elderly over 60 in Guangling and Tianzhen of Datong Civil Affairs Bureau in the management system for disabled and semi-disabled elderly was collected. The gender, age, main diagnosis and coding of diseases, common chronic non-communicable diseases, and system diseases of the respondents were retrospectively analyzed.Results: The prevalence of the forsaken elders aged over 60 in Guangling and Tianzhen were different. Hypertension, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia and cerebral infarction are the top five common chronic non infectious diseases in Guangling, Tianzhen and the two counties. Among the top five common diseases in Guangling, Tianzhen and the two counties, arthritis or rheumatism, hypertension, diabetes or elevated blood sugar were found, which were different in the 60– 65, 66– 70, 71– 75 and 76– 80 groups, with the prevalence increasing with age. The top five diseases in Guangling, Tianzhen and the two counties were consistent, while the ranking changed slightly. The proportion of circulatory diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, connective tissue diseases and endocrine/nutritional and metabolic diseases in 60– 65, 66– 70 and 71– 75 groups increased with age, and was much higher than that in other groups.Conclusion: The prevalence and disease spectrum order of common chronic non-communicable diseases and systemic diseases in Guangling and Tianzhen are diverse, also in gender and age groups. As China’s county-level local administrative divisions have relatively independent administrative autonomy, medical and health resources can be better configured according to the information mined, accurately maintaining and promoting residents’ health. It is suggested to explore the disease management mechanism with county-level administrative divisions as database management units under the background of big data, so as to implement the interconnection and sharing of information among health-related departments in county-level regions.Keywords: chronic non-communicable diseases, system diseases, administrative division, disease spectrum, the forsaken elders

The paper explores the application of the gravity model, namely the delineation of the urban predominant influence areas via the generation of the multiplicatively weighted Voronoi diagram, to the socio-economic regionalisation and administrative territorial division of Ukraine, including the existing state of affairs and several proposals on their improvement. The research uses quantitative statistical data on interregional migration and rail passenger traffic within the country, processed via the Statistica analytics software, and a subsequent spatial analysis conducted by GIS. The findings suggest that the gravity model can serve as a tool for optimisation the administrative territorial division, as well as for the delineation of the planning regions and urban hinterlands. At the same time, it has certain limitations and should not be treated as a panacea for regional planning and development.

Copyright of Studies of the Industrial Geography Commission of the Polish Geographical Society / Prace Komisji Geografii Przemyslu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geograficznego is the property of Press of Pedagogical University of Cracow 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.)

The establishment of prefecture-level cities is a major spatial achievement of the social structure transformation in the process of modernization in China. The optimization of the layout structure of such cities is an inherent requirement for deepening supply-side structural reform and is of great significance to the construction of a scientific and reasonable urbanization pattern. Using the district similarity coefficient and standard deviation ellipse model, this study discusses the spatial characteristics and existing problems of prefecture-level city setting. The results reveal the following: 1) In terms of spatial characteristics, since the reform and opening-up, the setting of prefecture-level cities in China has been greatly affected by policy factors, exhibiting a gradual trend of advancing from east to west and from coastal to inland. 2) After reform and opening-up, the addition of prefecture-level cities is an adjustment on the basis of the original regional system, including the establishment of a city, the merger of a city, promotion of a county or county-level city to a city, and so on. 3) With the development of economy and society, the "space" problem of the prefecture-level city setting has become increasingly prominent, which is closely related to the difference in the mode of city setting, resulting in the administrative centers above prefecture-level setting too close, "small horse and big cart" and other problems to varying degrees. 4) The spatial distribution of prefecture-level cities in China is generated in regional administrative districts against the background of industrialization and urbanization, developed in the strategic transformation of urban-rural differences and cross-border cooperation, and faced with the innovative challenge of regionalization adjustment in the process of regional restructuring and scale restructuring. 5) The "space" problem leads to the increase of the system cost of economic and social development to varying degrees. Therefore, the layout of productivity should be comprehensively considered in a wider scope, and the adjustment of prefecture-level administrative divisions can be carried out when necessary. The possible contribution of this study to the literature is reflected in the application of the similarity coefficient of administrative districts to reveal that "the prefecture-level city is highly similar to the original region." Moreover, the problems existing in the current setting are related to this, such as too close distance and call for great importance to the significance of the adjustment of administrative divisions of the prefecture-level city. The possible shortcomings are that the logic of such city administrative division adjustment needs to be further explored, and the analysis of the thinking path of this adjustment is insufficient. In the future, the research on relevant issues in prefecture-level cities should be strengthened. Additionally, it is necessary to change the thinking of the adjustment of the overall construction system and the internal adjustment of prefecture-level government districts, consider the layout of productive forces from a broader perspective, consider the level of administration, the scale of government districts and the spatial structure as a whole, and take comprehensive measures to meet the actual needs of national and local development.

The paper explores the application of the gravity model, namely the delineation of the urban predominant influence areas via the generation of the multiplicatively weighted Voronoi diagram, to the socio-economic regionalisation and administrative territorial division of Ukraine, including the existing state of affairs and several proposals on their improvement. The research uses quantitative statistical data on interregional migration and rail passenger traffic within the country, processed via the Statistica analytics software, and a subsequent spatial analysis conducted by GIS. The findings suggest that the gravity model can serve as a tool for optimisation the administrative territorial division, as well as for the delineation of the planning regions and urban hinterlands. At the same time, it has certain limitations and should not be treated as a panacea for regional planning and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some of the existing districts of Çankırı cause waste of public resources as the reasons for their establishment have lost their validity. In order to use public resources in accordance with the economy of scale, criteria have been developed to measure the performance of districts. With the criteria developed in this context, the evaluation of the existing districts was made by applying the PCA method. Districts with low and high score values were determined as a result of PCA. By applying the Thiessen Polygon method with the ArcGis program, equidistant impact areas of the districts with high scores were determined. In this way, it has been determined how to combine low-scoring districts with high-scoring districts. Suggestions have been made for the unification of the villages, whose population has decreased considerably and which are very close to each other. These suggestions were made considering the minimum population limit of 150 people and the maximum distance of 10 km between settlements. As of 2021, Çankırı has 12 district administrative areas, three towns, and 371 village administrative areas. According to the research findings, the province should consist of 178 administrative units, including five districts, 10 towns, and 163 villages. This division was considered to be appropriate for the public interest.

The establishment of prefecture-level cities is a major spatial achievement of the social structure transformation in the process of modernization in China. The optimization of the layout structure of such cities is an inherent requirement for deepening supply-side structural reform and is of great significance to the construction of a scientific and reasonable urbanization pattern. Using the district similarity coefficient and standard deviation ellipse model, this study discusses the spatial characteristics and existing problems of prefecture-level city setting. The results reveal the following: 1) In terms of spatial characteristics, since the reform and opening-up, the setting of prefecture-level cities in China has been greatly affected by policy factors, exhibiting a gradual trend of advancing from east to west and from coastal to inland. 2) After reform and openingup, the addition of prefecture-level cities is an adjustment on the basis of the original regional system, including the establishment of a city, the merger of a city, promotion of a county or county-level city to a city, and so on. 3) With the development of economy and society, the "space" problem of the prefecture-level city setting has become increasingly prominent, which is closely related to the difference in the mode of city setting, resulting in the administrative centers above prefecture-level setting too close, "small horse and big cart" and other problems to varying degrees. 4) The spatial distribution of prefecture-level cities in China is generated in regional administrative districts against the background of industrialization and urbanization, developed in the strategic transformation of urban-rural differences and cross-border cooperation, and faced with the innovative challenge of regionalization adjustment in the process of regional restructuring and scale restructuring. 5) The "space" problem leads to the increase of the system cost of economic and social development to varying degrees. Therefore, the layout of productivity should be comprehensively considered in a wider scope, and the adjustment of prefecture-level administrative divisions can be carried out when necessary. The possible contribution of this study to the literature is reflected in the application of the similarity coefficient of administrative districts to reveal that "the prefecture-level city is highly similar to the original region." Moreover, the problems existing in the current setting are related to this, such as too close distance and call for great importance to the significance of the adjustment of administrative divisions of the prefecture-level city. The possible shortcomings are that the logic of such city administrative division adjustment needs to be further explored, and the analysis of the thinking path of this adjustment is insufficient. In the future, the research on relevant issues in prefecture-level cities should be strengthened. Additionally, it is necessary to change the thinking of the adjustment of the overall construction system and the internal adjustment of prefecture-level government districts, consider the layout of productive forces from a broader perspective, consider the level of administration, the scale of government districts and the spatial structure as a whole, and take comprehensive measures to meet the actual needs of national and local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Geographical Sciences / Coğrafi Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Cografi Bilimler Dergisi 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.)

Mobility plays a critical role in promoting rural development. However, the current knowledge regarding the factors that influence mobility between rural towns is limited. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of administrative division and regional accessibility on rural mobility to inform development policies and strategies. The administrative division is demarcated by district and city boundaries, and regional accessibility is assessed using various modes of transportation, including cars, high-speed railways (HSRs), and intercity commuter railways (ICRs). A flow-based geographically weighted regression (FGWR) method is employed based on mobile phone signaling data to quantify the associations and identify the local effects of these factors in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The findings suggest that both administrative division and regional accessibility significantly influence rural mobility. Specifically, the effects of district boundaries on commuting mobility are more pronounced in the central areas along the Pearl River, while the effects of city boundaries on non-commuting mobility between the core area and surrounding regions are more significant. With regard to regional accessibility, cars are the preferred mode of transportation for connections between the core areas of cities along the Pearl River, whereas HSR is favored more for non-commuting trips between the northwest and center regions. This study provides novel empirical insights into the understanding of rural mobility and has significant implications for promoting regional integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Ottoman Legacy Studies (OMAD) / Osmanlı Mirası Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Journal of Ottoman Legacy Studies 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.)

The administrative system during Iran's Safavid and India's Mughal empires had a complex structure. During that era, writing, recording, and dispatching of royal decrees as well as administrative, judicial, revenue figures, and rulings were carried out by three administrative divisions dealing with composition, execution, and judiciary. Such documents are exiting in two primary and secondary forms and their compositions are varied based on their themes. The components of documents are also distinguished in terms of their header, seal, and monogram. To prevent any type of forgery, they went through lengthy and complicated stages. These documents show the evolution of the bureaucratic system in both dynasties and were issued for purposes such as appointments, grants, exemptions, contracts, treaties, and so on. The research method applied in the present research is based sources extracted from library and archival materials and then the court documents of both Safavid and Mughals were compared and analyzed through the descriptive-analytical method. Research findings show that different administrative units were under the supervision of the minister (vazir), the second powerful figure after the King, who in fact led state, financial and judicial affairs. Although both dynasties had common roots, they created one of the most effective executive systems of their time by upgrading those prevalent in previous empires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a hierarchical and spatial approach to assessing the spatial dependence of data. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach and the potential for their combination are determined on the basis of a literature review.The results of the OLS, SAR, SEM, HLM, HSAR models are compared. Despite an interesting set of data (2285 municipalities in the context of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation), the emphasis in the work is not on identifying the relationship between the dependent variable and factors, but on comparing spatial effects that can be identified within each of the models under consideration. The calculations showed a significant influence on the dependent variable of the following factors: the share of the average number of employees in the resident population, the volume of investments in fixed assets per capita and the share of the urban population. This result was shown by all the constructed models. In the context of models, the identified spatial effects have their own characteristics. The inclusion of spatial matrices is possible at the upper (for example, the subject of the Russian Federation), lower (for example, the municipal level), or both levels simultaneously. In hierarchical models, spatial relationships are additionally taken into account by grouping the objects of observation on a territorial basis. Calculations have shown that the spatial lag is not significant in all models. Spatial error is significant at the municipal level in the SEM model and at the regional level in the HLM and HSAR models. Additionally, hierarchical models showed a significant influence of the region on the municipalities variation. In general, the results of modeling and evaluating modelsquality are ambiguous. Despite this, the potential for expanding spatial econometrics on the basis of a combination of spatial and hierarchical (multilevel) modeling approaches is noted, and the need to select a model for each case is substantiated, taking into account the significance of spatial and hierarchical effects

The long-term effects of administrative division adjustments on economic development in Dalian City, China, is presently unclear. Therefore, we employed a geographically and temporally weighted regression model to construct an index assessment system using the annual number of newly registered enterprises as the dependent variable. We empirically studied the effects of administrative division adjustments of townships in Dalian City from 2010 to 2020. The results showed that: (i) adjustments in townships administrative divisions negatively affected regional enterprise concentrations and economic development in general, whereas industrial and transportation factors demonstrated positive effects to variable degrees, and the effects of policy, location, and population factors were not significant. (ii) Over time, the effects of townships administrative division adjustments changed from positive to negative, and the negative effects displayed an increasing trend, revealing that (iii) the effect of administrative division adjustments in Dalian City was positive and negative over time. This further reveals the objective problem that administrative division adjustment in recent years was effective over the short term, but not over the long term. (iv) During the study period, administrative division adjustments positively affected regional enterprise concentrations and economic development solely during a short time frame and in a small geographical area. However, its negative effects increased extensively, which infers that maintaining a relatively stable administrative division is more beneficial for promoting economic development in Dalian City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to determine the leading trends in changing administrative boundaries in Poland. Based on 194 Regulations of the Council of Ministers concerning the changes of boundaries and granting city status, which covered a total of 1,383.8 sq. km, multidimensional analyses for the years 2010–2020 were conducted, and their results were referred to territorial reforms in Europe and Poland. The analyses provided the basis for selecting the leading trends, including: (1) the ‘new wave’ of the restitution of city status (from 2018 in the new fast-track mode), resulting in quantitative changes within 3rd-tier units, (2) a significant increase in the area of cities and city counties primarily caused by annexations in suburban zones and establishing new cities, and (3) the politicisation of the process of changing boundaries, especially in the years preceding local government elections. The trend of unit fragmentation observed in the 1990s has disappeared. The initiators of the changes of administrative boundaries are still predominantly local elites and rarely the inhabitants of communes.

Mobility plays a critical role in promoting rural development. However, the current knowledge regarding the factors that influence mobility between rural towns is limited. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of administrative division and regional accessibility on rural mobility to inform development policies and strategies. The administrative division is demarcated by district and city boundaries, and regional accessibility is assessed using various modes of transportation, including cars, high-speed railways (HSRs), and intercity commuter railways (ICRs). A flow-based geographically weighted regression (FGWR) method is employed based on mobile phone signaling data to quantify the associations and identify the local effects of these factors in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The findings suggest that both administrative division and regional accessibility significantly influence rural mobility. Specifically, the effects of district boundaries on commuting mobility are more pronounced in the central areas along the Pearl River, while the effects of city boundaries on non-commuting mobility between the core area and surrounding regions are more significant. With regard to regional accessibility, cars are the preferred mode of transportation for connections between the core areas of cities along the Pearl River, whereas HSR is favored more for non-commuting trips between the northwest and center regions. This study provides novel empirical insights into the understanding of rural mobility and has significant implications for promoting regional integration.

This article raises the issue of potential possibilities for an establishment of the district with the capital in Miastko, which is the town of ten thousand residents, located in Bytów district. Miastko was already a capital of the unit in the past, but this function was not restored in 1999 or later. Based on assumptions from the period of shaping the current administrative division and the functions of the centres in the rank of the capital of the district, distinguished in the literature, in confrontation with the contemporary role of Miastko in the settlement network and its range and strength of functional and spatial relations with surroundings, the level of provision of services for the local community (including administration) was determined as well as the strength of connections between this centre and the surrounding communes. For the purposes of the article, the indicator of communication linkages was constructed, which was used as one of the measures of the size of functional connections between neighbouring communes and Miastko. All the considerations are set in the context of the demographic potential of the possible unit and the regional distinctiveness of the Middle Pomerania, including administratively as the Middle Pomerania Province. The undertaking of this topic is related to the constant need to discuss the shape of the administrative division in Poland and the willingness of the scientific community to formulate recommendations for decision makers in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is the study of centre–periphery intraregional development disparities using Poland's largest and most diversified Mazovia Province (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) as an example. The economic downfall of the Radom subregion, in comparison with the booming Warsaw agglomeration, clearly illustrates the polarisation of this province. A research question was if the location of the Radom subregion in Mazovia Province is a significant factor of its relative regression. In order to answer this question, selected development indicators of Mazovian subregions have been compared with their counterparts from surrounding provinces. Research results have shown that a subregion's location in a big and diversified province is a significant factor of intraregional centre-periphery development discrepancies.

The administrative division of Poland changed several times over centuries, and the last decades witnessed a few significant border shifts. Socio-economic or political criteria usually created the foundations of proposed new administrative division, while historical criteria were generally ignored. The author postulates that borders’ historical durability itself should be evaluated higher than it was to date, because it supports the creation of objective regions, provides political stability and reinforces the formation of regional identity. The basis for the analysis was the overlapping of 21 maps showing the external borders of Poland and the borders of administrative units of the first order between 990 and 2020. The map-based comparison has revealed that a surprisingly high share of present borders follows former borders. This provides strong support to the postulate of ceasing further changes in Poland’s administrative division and border changes.

The activity of the Ufa governor Lev Yegorovich Nord is considered. The scientific novelty of the study is that the activities of the governor are covered on the basis of an analysis of unpublished sources. The author shows that the efforts of the Ufa governor L. Ye. Nord and local authorities implemented a set of measures, most of which had a positive effect on the socio-economic development of the region. It is shown that much attention was paid to the land issue, the preservation of the natural wealth of the Southern Urals, the rights of Bashkir patriarchs to freely alienate their lands. The successful work of L. Ye. Nord in lean years of 1890-1891 is emphasized. The article describes social activities: providing an opportunity for the starving population to earn money for food, introducing quarantine in the province in connection with the cholera epidemic, in particular the isolation of patients in specially designated barracks. It is reported that with the assistance of the governor, a highway was laid, the construction of an elevator in Ufa and a grain barn in Davlekanovo was started. The author comes to the conclusion that the activity of the Ufa governor was aimed exclusively at the good of the Fatherland, brought great benefits to the region, which caused respect for his contemporaries.

The reform of the administrative division of the USSR in 1923-1930 was an attempt to find the optimal balance of power between the Center and the regions. The consolidation of regions, primarily in the format of oblasts, led to the strengthening of regional political elites and the growth of their influence on the state of affairs within the country. As part of the reform, the Ural oblast was created in 1923 and existed until 1934. The article reveals the specifics of the Ural elite, which, on the one hand, was determined by the general patterns of social changes during the revolutionary upheavals of 1917-1920, on the other hand - by the peculiarities of the region (first of all, the need for effective management of mining and metallurgical enterprises and military plants). Based on the archival materials, the author traces the evolution of social characteristics and political behavior of managers who in 1923-1934 were part of the Ural Regional Committee (Uralobkom) of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), also known as the VKP(b). It is noted that the social structure of the Ural elite persisted throughout the period under study, but the party leadership constantly changed the top officials of the Uralobkom, trying to prevent the proliferation of patron-client relations in the region. The characteristic features of Moscow appointees are highlighted: emphasized distancing from their local environment; positioning loyalty to the Central Committee; readiness for repression against socalled "class-alien elements", etc. The conflicts between Moscow appointees and the local nomenclature are analyzed, as well as the reasons for the Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (January 17, 1934) on the division of the Ural oblast into three regions - Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Ob-Irtysh oblasts.

Quality of life is considered one of the main criteria for evaluating public policy. Monitoring of social processes is a tool for control the quality of life, as well as developing recommendations for its improvement. Appropriate monitoring involves a collection of data according to defined principles and the subsequent application of the information obtained to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of management goals or the use of funds received. Comprehensive monitoring should be increasingly used at the regional and local levels and provides the authorities with information about the problems of territorial development. Monitoring problems have been classified into the following groups: administrative and territorial, caused by the limited availability of official data, associated with low frequency or pronounced specificity of the process under investigation, those associated with the difficulty of unambiguous determination of indicators, caused by the so-called "human factor". Administrative reform can be followed with changes in the powers of the territorial authorities or its territorial basis. In some institutions and organizations at the regional level, statistic data are collected and published non-systematically. The monitoring is complicated by inconsistency conceptual and terminological apparatus or the methods of displaying statistical information. The human factor can manifest in a significant heterogeneity of the population within the studied group, social stigmatization of participants in events and processes, financial features, or the Free Rider Effect. The Polish experience in monitoring social processes provides important material for improving the methodology and methods of such studies in other countries.

The long-term effects of administrative division adjustments on economic development in Dalian City, China, is presently unclear. Therefore, we employed a geographically and temporally weighted regression model to construct an index assessment system using the annual number of newly registered enterprises as the dependent variable. We empirically studied the effects of administrative division adjustments of townships in Dalian City from 2010 to 2020. The results showed that: (i) adjustments in townships administrative divisions negatively affected regional enterprise concentrations and economic development in general, whereas industrial and transportation factors demonstrated positive effects to variable degrees, and the effects of policy, location, and population factors were not significant. (ii) Over time, the effects of townships administrative division adjustments changed from positive to negative, and the negative effects displayed an increasing trend, revealing that (iii) the effect of administrative division adjustments in Dalian City was positive and negative over time. This further reveals the objective problem that administrative division adjustment in recent years was effective over the short term, but not over the long term. (iv) During the study period, administrative division adjustments positively affected regional enterprise concentrations and economic development solely during a short time frame and in a small geographical area. However, its negative effects increased extensively, which infers that maintaining a relatively stable administrative division is more beneficial for promoting economic development in Dalian City.

The objective of the study is to determine the leading trends in changing administrative boundaries in Poland. Based on 194 Regulations of the Council of Ministers concerning the changes of boundaries and granting city status, which covered a total of 1,383.8 sq. km, multidimensional analyses for the years 2010-2020 were conducted, and their results were referred to territorial reforms in Europe and Poland. The analyses provided the basis for selecting the leading trends, including: (1) the 'new wave' of the restitution of city status (from 2018 in the new fast-track mode), resulting in quantitative changes within 3rd-tier units, (2) a significant increase in the area of cities and city counties primarily caused by annexations in suburban zones and establishing new cities, and (3) the politicisation of the process of changing boundaries, especially in the years preceding local government elections. The trend of unit fragmentation observed in the 1990s has disappeared. The initiators of the changes of administrative boundaries are still predominantly local elites and rarely the inhabitants of communes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austrian Land Cadasters in the Possession of Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lvov The paper outlines the most important sources for economic history of Galicia (Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) that are kept in the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lvov. The sources comprise tax fassus (statements) of 1772 and Galician cadasters, that is Josephin Metrics, made in 1795-89, and Franciscan Metrics, started in 1819-20, as well as Fixed Galician Cadaster, compiled in mid-19th century. The paper describes the place of storage of the documents in the Lvov Archives, their contests, and the ways they can be utilized. In addition, changes in administrative division of Galicia have been delineated to facilitate the search of the archive.

The administrative division of Poland changed several times over centuries, and the last decades witnessed a few significant border shifts. Socio-economic or political criteria usually created the foundations of proposed new administrative division, while historical criteria were generally ignored. The author postulates that borders' historical durability itself should be evaluated higher than it was to date, because it supports the creation of objective regions, provides political stability and reinforces the formation of regional identity. The basis for the analysis was the overlapping of 21 maps showing the external borders of Poland and the borders of administrative units of the first order between 990 and 2020. The map-based comparison has revealed that a surprisingly high share of present borders follows former borders. This provides strong support to the postulate of ceasing further changes in Poland's administrative division and border changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive aim of this study is to point to the optimum number of local government units and the optimum boundaries of spatial units in Poland with the assumption of minimizing the cumulated theoretical travel time to all settlement units in the country. The methodological aim, in turn, is to present the use of the ArcGIS location-allocation tool for the purposes of delimitation processes as exemplifi ed by administrative boundaries in Poland. The rationale for the implementation of this study is that number and the boundaries of units of all levels of Poland’s current territorial division are far from optimum in the light of minimization of accumulated theoretical travel time to all settlement units in the country. It may be concluded that it would be justifi able to increase the number of voivodships from the current number of 16 to 18. Besides it would be necessary to introduce modifi cations in relation to units with regional functions. In contrast, the number of districts and communes should be reduced. A continuation of this research may go in the direction of including analysis of public transport network in the research, creating in this way a multimodal set of network data. This would illustrate, apart from the potential itself resulting from the infrastructure, also the actually existing connections.

Land-use intensity (LUI) is one of the most direct manifestations of regional land use efficiency. The study of cross-administrative LUI in urban agglomerations is of great importance for the sustainable development of land, new urbanization, and territorial spatial planning. In this study, the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China was used as the case study area to explore the spatial spillover effect through the administrative division, underlying driving mechanism, and spatial interactions or constraints of LUI. First, LUI was measured using the index of the proportion of construction land to the total area of the administrative region. Second, the adjacency relationship of the county-level administrative units was identified on the basis of the queen-type adjacency criterion under the county-level administrative division system. Thereafter, spatial weight matrix for spatial modeling was constructed. Last, a spatial model using the “Spatial adjacency matrix” was devised to examine the influencing factors and the potential spatial interactions or constraints of administrative units. Results revealed that the level of LUI of different county-level administrative units were quite different, and the gap of LUI among county-level administrative units widened from 2010 to 2017. The fixed asset investment per land (FAIL), gross domestic product per capital (PGDP), and proportion of tertiary sector (PTS) are the driving factors of LUI. County-level administrative units not only had a significant and increasing spatial interaction effect based on the relationship of cooperation, but also had an influence of restraint mutually which was caused by the competition. The direct spatial spillover effect was remarkable. In the future, the effect of interaction among administrative units under the administrative division should be considered to promote the reasonable use and optimal layout of regional urban land to realize the optimal allocation of land resources.

Delivered politically and economically to themselves for several centuries, the Saharan territories of the Algerian South depended on local traditional powers made up of religious and notables until the arrival of French colonization where the beginnings of a new territorial organization were posed. This was a major step in their political and economic integration. But we must wait for Algeria’s independence to see the emergence of a multidimensional territorial dynamics (political, economic and social). The Algerian state reinvests these territories for strategic and geopolitical reasons. It quickly became the main actor in development, development and strengthening its political presence. The modernization of political organizations through the central state has failed to establish a model of modern governance at the local level that is based on «democratic» values. Thus, these territories are experiencing a crisis of governance at a time when the traditional bodies have been weakened and rejected.

Issues of the administrative division in the broader context of political and administrative reforms connected with democratization and decentralization are considered. Some historical aspects of the administrative division modeling in Ukrainian borderlands are analyzed. Goals, mechanisms and the course of the current reform of administrative division at the local level in the Volyn and Lviv provinces are presented. The specifics of wealthy communities – new administrative units at the local level are outlined. Features of budget decentralization based on the example of comparing the structure of local government revenue are characterized. The problems and threats faced by the organizers at the present stage of reform are revealed, and some solutions to problematic situations in implementation of the new administrative division are proposed.

The paper outlines the most important sources for economic history of Galicia (Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) that are kept in the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv. The sources comprise tax fassus (statements) of 1772 and Galician cadasters, that is Josephin Metrics, made in 1795-1989, and Franciscan Metrics, started in 1819-1920, as well as Fixed Galician Cadaster, compiled in mid-19th century. The paper describes the place of storage of the documents in the Lviv Archives, their contests, and the ways they can be utilized. In addition, changes in administrative division of Galicia have been delineated to facilitate the search of the archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive aim of this study is to point to the optimum number of local government units and the optimum boundaries of spatial units in Poland with the assumption of minimizing the cumulated theoretical travel time to all settlement units in the country. The methodological aim, in turn, is to present the use of the ArcGIS location-allocation tool for the purposes of delimitation processes as exemplifi ed by administrative boundaries in Poland. The rationale for the implementation of this study is that number and the boundaries of units of all levels of Poland's current territorial division are far from optimum in the light of minimization of accumulated theoretical travel time to all settlement units in the country. It may be concluded that it would be justifi able to increase the number of voivodships from the current number of 16 to 18. Besides it would be necessary to introduce modifi cations in relation to units with regional functions. In contrast, the number of districts and communes should be reduced. A continuation of this research may go in the direction of including analysis of public transport network in the research, creating in this way a multimodal set of network data. This would illustrate, apart from the potential itself resulting from the infrastructure, also the actually existing connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our paper “Estudo de dois Mapas do Geografo Robert de Vaugondy relativos ao Reino de Portugal do Século XVIII (1751)” (Study on two maps by Geographer Robert de Vaugondy representing the Kingdom of Portugal in the 18th century), published in Revista Semina: Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Vol. 34, Issue No 1, 2013, we tried to give an explanation for the administrative divisions that appear in those maps. After having studied a number of texts dedicated to the period in question and other related documents, we came to the conclusion that the most logic explanation for those divisions is that they represent ecclesiastical divisions. In this paper, we go further in our analysis and compare these two maps with some current maps of Portugal, taking into account its topography, hydrography, shoreline definition and settlements. Although there are some errors in his maps, we can conclude that Robert de Vaugondy’s work, in terms of his knowledge and geographic representation of Portugal, was the best anyone could do at the time, and we restate the idea that the two maps represent ecclesiastical divisions.

Geographical location words (GLWs) are words associated with geographical locations. GLWs are the significant foundation for text data processing and social network location inference. In this paper, we propose a framework for constructing high-precision general GLWs datasets, and a Chinese GLWs dataset (named GeoCN) is constructed. To some extent, GeoCN solves the problem of lacking a Chinese GLWs lexicon with diverse categories, high accuracy, and robust versatility. GeoCN consists of three parts: a) points of interest (POI) data collected based on the electronic map API, b) administrative division data constructed based on the national information platform, and c) GLWs data expanded and filtered by automated procedures and manual processing. We establish a GLWs glossary for each administrative region and map each GLW to its location. GeoCN covers 34 provincial-level administrative regions, 392 prefecture-level administrative regions, and 3,160 county-level administrative regions in China. The number of GLWs in GeoCN reaches 1,763,476, and the compressed file size is 117 MB. • A framework for constructing high-precision general GLWs datasets is proposed. • A Chinese geographical location word dataset (called GeoCN) is constructed. • GeoCN has more categories of location words, higher precision, and stronger universality. • GeoCN can support natural language processing and social network location inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the ethnic cleansings, deportations, forced assimilation, homogenization and partly due to the immigration of foreign-born population there is hardly any country in Europe which could be called ethnically homogeneous. This is particularly true in the case of the small „nation-states” of the Carpathian Basin (Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia etc). So, starting from the fact, that in ethnically diverse regions the territorial autonomies are one of the most eff ective tools of minority protection and confl ict solution, and are safeguards for ensuring the cultural survival and protection of collective rights of national minorities, this paper tries to outline the geographic background of existing (and missing) territorial autonomies in Europe (1st part) and, in more details, the historical predecessors and the geographical possibilities of ethnic based territorial autonomies in the Carpathian Basin (2nd part). Although the emphasis is largely laid on the contemporary situation, there are important sections devoted to the historical development of the ethnic based territorial autonomies in this geographic work as well.