Search

There are two major debates on the discussion of urban sprawl; those who maintain that it has positive implications on development and sustainability of cities and those who are otherwise. This study contributes to this intellectual debate by examining both sides of the phenomenon in a single investigation, based on the perspectives of urbanites of a secondary city. The mixed-methods research approach was adopted for the inquiry. Using Tamale Metropolis as a case, primary data were collected from 386 household respondents and three agencies for the cross-sectional survey and key informant interviews, respectively. The results revealed that urbanisation is rapid with a correspondingly high rate of sprawl. The majority of the respondents (98%) reported an increased urban concentration in the area over the past decade. There has been a 60.7% increase in population increase between 2010 and 2021. Land cover analysis revealed that in 2010, approximately 9% of the total land area of the metropolis was built up, attributed to increasing population and corresponding increased demand for land for development. This increased to 16% and 26% in 2016 and 2022, respectively. The sprawling phenomenon was largely associated with rapid population growth, economic growth, availability of automobiles, improvement in road infrastructure and family nuclearisation. Though the study unravelled some benefits associated with sprawl, Tamale is still not an exception in terms of the documented adverse implications of sprawl. Relevant recommendations were thus made for capitalising on the positive impacts of sprawl while mitigating the associated challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs an Olympic urbanism perspective on the transformation of Beijing's planning and development. For Beijing, holding the Olympic Games was not just about staging the city – and the nation – to the world as commonly understood. It was also about transforming the city through megaprojectification – the use of megaprojects like the Olympic Games to boost urban growth. The 2008 Summer Olympics played a critical role in growing Beijing in terms of the economy, population, fixed assets investment, infrastructure provision, and real estate development. Rapid but ill-planned growth within a decade exacerbated many pre-existing problems of the megacity. In the post-Olympic years, big city syndrome became Beijing's calling card: pollution, congestion, unliveability, and unsustainability. Since then, a post-growth discourse has been emerging, reimagining the capital's future in the context of balanced, coordinated development of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. These include the construction of a new city Xiong'an to decentralize Beijing. This post-growth discourse that influenced the 2022 Winter Olympics was a contrast to the growth discourse that had underpinned the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing presents an unusual case of holding two Olympics within a short timeframe but under two contrasting urbanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community science bioassessment has great potential to inform comprehensive stream management plans, but regional analytical tools are needed to evaluate macroinvertebrate data collected through community science programs. To this end, we modified a pre-existing professional index of biotic integrity (IBI) to create a community science IBI (CS-IBI), designed for stream macroinvertebrate data collected by community scientists with minimal training. We used data collected by both professional and community scientists to develop, calibrate, and validate the CS-IBI at 76 stream sites in the Puget Lowland and Willamette Valley ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. Community science data were taxonomically coarser and more variable than data generated by professionals; however, IBI scores and assemblage data were statistically similar between community science and professional data. Stream impairment categories classified by family-level CS-IBI scores matched genus-level professional classifications 65% of the time and never diverged by >1 category. CS-IBI scores were negatively related to the percentage of agriculture and land development in the watershed, although this relationship was weaker than for professional IBI scores. Despite increased variability in data generated by community scientists, our findings suggest the CS-IBI performs similarly to a professional IBI across a gradient of human influence. Although we do not advocate using the CS-IBI in regulatory settings, we believe the development of community science IBIs enhances, expands, and strengthens public partnerships, thereby supporting environmental managers' efforts to monitor and restore degraded streams and rapidly respond to pollution events. Our hope is that the CS-IBI will improve the applicability of community science bioassessment data and serve as a model for how agencies can develop regionalized macroinvertebrate IBIs for use in comprehensive watershed management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractHousing decisions are often constrained by practicality, while dream home aspirations remain unrestrained. This gap widens significantly in the housing industry, where boundaries blur, advertising fairytale-like estates while providing homes closer to reality than dreams. This study researches, proposes, and tests a framework to assist in making informed housing decisions between dreams and reality. Through a set of 24 themes and a three-step funnel, this paper carefully weighs the themes and their overlapping spatial, architectural, aesthetic, and contextual variables against a spectrum. Positioned as mediating the psychology of decision-making and the dynamics of housing in the market, the paper controls demographic variability by selecting a single context. In this study, 183 Egyptian participants act as a microcosm of the global phenomenon. The framework is proven to be statistically significant, and the findings are multidimensional, revealing nuanced differences of complex residential aesthetic preferences. At the boundary between modernized fairy-tale home aspirations and limited housing practicality, this framework holds the key to making dream homes come true by informing existing and future housing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term ecological time series provide a unique perspective on the emergent properties of ecosystems. In aquatic systems, phytoplankton form the base of the food web and their biomass, measured as the concentration of the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll α (chl α), is an indicator of ecosystem quality. We analyzed temporal trends in chl α from the Long-Term Plankton Time Series in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA, a temperate estuary experiencing long-term warming and changing anthropogenic nutrient inputs. Dynamic linear models were used to impute and model environmental variables (1959 to 2019) and chl α concentrations (1968 to 2019). A long-term chl α decrease was observed with an average decline in the cumulative annual chl α concentration of 49% and a marked decline of 57% in winter-spring bloom magnitude. The long-term decline in chl α concentration was directly and indirectly associated with multiple environmental factors that are impacted by climate change (e.g., warming temperatures, water column stratification, reduced nutrient concentrations) indicating the importance of accounting for regional climate change effects in ecosystem-based management. Analysis of seasonal phenology revealed that the winter-spring bloom occurred earlier, at a rate of 4.9 ± 2.8 d decade-1. Finally, the high degree of temporal variation in phytoplankton biomass observed in Narragansett Bay appears common among estuaries, coasts, and open oceans. The commonality among these marine ecosystems highlights the need to maintain a robust set of phytoplankton time series in the coming decades to improve signal-to-noise ratios and identify trends in these highly variable environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) models are a promising avenue towards gaining a better insight into land surface interactions and Earth's system dynamics. One such model developed for the academic and research community is the SimSphere SVAT model, a popular software toolkit employed for simulating interactions among the layers of vegetation, soil, and atmosphere on the land surface. The aim of the present review is two-fold: (1) to deliver a critical assessment of the model's usage by the scientific and wider community over the last 15 years, and (2) to provide information on current software developments implemented in the model. From the review conducted herein, it is clearly evident that from the models' inception to current day, SimSphere has received notable interest worldwide, and the dissemination of the model has continuously grown over the years. SimSphere has been used so far in several applications to study land surface interactions. The validation of the model performed worldwide has shown that it is able to produce realistic estimates of land surface parameters that have been validated, whereas detailed sensitivity analysis experiments conducted with the model have further confirmed its structure and architectural coherence. Furthermore, the recent inclusion of novel functionalities in the model, as outlined in the present review, has clearly resulted in improving its capabilities and in opening up new opportunities for its use by the wider community. SimSphere developments are also ongoing in different aspects, and its use as a toolkit towards advancing our understanding of land surface interactions from both educational and research points of view is anticipated to grow in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How land markets should be regulated is a fraught political question. This paper argues that the heterodox political economy of Karl Polanyi – underutilised in urban studies and planning scholarship – provides a useful language to analyse the role of urban planning in development land markets. We ground our analysis in the concept of embeddedness, building on Polanyi's core contention that economic behaviour is not, and cannot be, distinct from social, political and cultural relations. We juxtapose an account of the institutionalisation of urban planning in England during the mid-20th century with contemporary neoliberal reforms, analysing the dynamic reconfigurations in how development land markets have been differently embedded via the planning system in relation to a shifting political, ideological and economic environment. The paper foregrounds the co-constitutive nature of state regulation and markets, moving past the simplistic regulation-deregulation dichotomy frequently adopted to frame government intervention via the planning system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary exclusion fencing is used around development and remediation sites to protect amphibians. However, by focusing so closely on mitigating potential for harm to individuals, managers may not see the "forest for the trees" and inadvertently cause more harm than good for the populations they are trying to protect. Land developments are necessary, and managers need to be capable of selecting the most appropriate solution that does not impede work activities or animal welfare. Yet, we suggest that adapted fencing solutions or non‐fencing alternatives are not being explored that may reduce impacts on amphibians. Our focus is on project managers so that an open discussion can be had on the extent of fencing that is selected for each project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of real estate development has been widely accepted by all countries. Through early warning and avoidance of real estate financial risks, it can effectively promote the healthy and healthy development of the real estate industry, avoiding the impact of accidental factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and promoting the overall economic development. Based on multiple regression analysis and grey prediction methods, this article constructs a real estate financial risk estimation model, and the real estate financial risk is estimated using the relevant data of Liaoning Province from 2001 to 2020. Analyzing the research results of financial risks in Liaoning Province, we can find that the real estate financial risks reached the peak in 2013, and then the real estate financial risks gradually showed a slow decline trend. In general, the financial risks in Liaoning Province are controllable. The study of financial risks in Liaoning Province will help to judge the development of the real estate industry and promote the continuous improvement of the overall economy. The article, through the study of real estate financial risks in Liaoning Province, can promote the development of regional real estate in Liaoning Province and promote the overall economic development of Liaoning Province, which has strong practical significance. The study of real estate financial risks, relevant risk research theories can be enriched, the identification of financial risks can be improved, and the study of real estate financial risks can be strengthened. The article uses a combination of multivariate statistics and grey fuzzy theory to complete the study of real estate financial risks. Therefore, through the exploration of multivariate statistics and grey fuzzy theory, its application value can be elevated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As one of the agglomeration models targeting cluster-based rural development, cluster farming has been promoted in Ethiopia and it is already reported to have significant welfare implications, but participation rates are not as high as expected. This study examines the role of land as a constraint to the development of cluster-based development in Ethiopia both using extensive and intensive measures of cluster farming. The study further disaggregates farm households based on their farm size to better understand potential heterogeneities in the relationship between farm size and cluster farming. The paper also documents other household socio-economic and network characteristics that may matter in cluster farming. Methods: We use a large-scale farm household data from 3,969 households coupled with some expert insights on cluster farming in Ethiopia. Households in the study areas grow major staples such as maize, wheat, teff, malt barley, and sesame in four main regions of Ethiopia. We employ a double hurdle model to examine both the decision to participate and the extent to which households participate in cluster farming. By extent of participation, we refer to the amount of land and share of land farm households contribute to cluster farming. For robustness purposes, we also estimate the Tobit and Linear Probability Models. Results: We show a positive association between farm size and cluster farming both at the extensive and intensive margins. This relationship turns negative for large amounts of land. This shows that cluster farming increases with farm size up to a threshold beyond which it declines. We also find suggestive evidence that participation rates are lower for small-scale farms, but also declines for large-scale farms. In addition, we show that access to information and network characteristics also matter in enabling cluster farming. Conclusion: The findings of this study are relevant in the framework of plans to upscale the cluster-based development initiative in Ethiopia. Attention to landholding issues is key and may be an important area where policy action can be geared to boost cluster farming. Moreover, our results inform potential targeting plans that aim to increase the participation of small-scale farmers who are usually the intended targets of such programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture (SM) is essential for sustaining services from Earth's critical zone, a thin-living skin spanning from the canopy to groundwater. In the Anthropocene epoch, intensive afforestation has remarkably contributed to global greening and certain service improvements, often at the cost of reduced SM. However, attributing the response of SM in deep soil to such human activities is a great challenge because of the scarcity of long-term observations. Here, we present a 37 y (1985 to 2021) analysis of SM dynamics at two scales across China's monsoon loess critical zone. Site-scale data indicate that land-use conversion from arable cropland to forest/grassland caused an 18% increase in SM deficit over 0 to 18 m depth (P < 0.01). Importantly, this SM deficit intensified over time, despite limited climate change influence. Across the Loess Plateau, SM storage in 0 to 10 m layer exhibited a significant decreasing trend from 1985 to 2021, with a turning point in 1999 when starting afforestation. Compared with SM storage before 1999, the relative contributions of climate change and afforestation to SM decline after 1999 were -8% and 108%, respectively. This emphasizes the pronounced impacts of intensifying land-use conversions as the principal catalyst of SM decline. Such a decline shifts 18% of total area into an at-risk status, mainly in the semiarid region, thereby threatening SM security. To mitigate this risk, future land management policies should acknowledge the crucial role of intensifying land-use conversions and their interplay with climate change. This is imperative to ensure SM security and sustain critical zone services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated development of land urbanization and population urbanization is crucial for the advancement of new urbanization. The study applied the entropy weight method and coupling coordination degree model, taking Shaanxi—a province in China characterized by a moderate pace of economic development and volume, along with distinct geographic and demographic features within its region—as the subject. It assessed the coordination conditions of these two types of urbanization from both macro and micro scales during the years 2010–2022. Utilizing the Analytic Network Process (ANP), the study ranked and analyzed the causes of issues stemming from uneven development, thus connecting a crucial link from theoretical analysis to decision-making implementation. The results showed that: (1) The province's land urbanization index was between 0.075 and 0.203, whereas the population urbanization index ranged from 0.221 to 0.408, with the development of the former significantly lagging behind the latter. (2) The coupling degree between land and population urbanization ranged from 0.835 to 0.854, with a coordination degree between 0.148 and 0.306. This indicated that a close connection had been formed between the two, yet a benign coupling relationship had not been established, displaying a spatial distribution characterized by "high in the middle, low in the north and south". (3) The limitation on further urban expansion was identified as the primary issue to be addressed (with a weight of 0.324), followed by insufficient infrastructure (with a weight of 0.261). The extent of ecological environmental damage was comparatively lower (with a weight of 0.225), and the degree of social injustice was the lowest (with a weight of 0.191). Therefore, to alleviate the problems associated with the imbalanced development between land urbanization and population urbanization, measures such as optimizing land spatial layout, enhancing urban ecological service functions, and strengthening the central cities' radiating effect should be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This swift progression of urbanization has led to increasingly prominent conflicts over the use of land, particularly around its supply and demand. Researchers, both in China and internationally, have underscored the inherent interconnection between urbanization and land utilization. This relationship has gradually become more complex with the development of urbanization. With the implementation of the Yellow River Basin's strategy to preserve the environment while ensuring high-quality development, the Yellow River Basin has become a focal point of attention for numerous scholars. This study centers on the 57 county-level administrative divisions within the Gansu segment of the Yellow River Basin. We employed an extensive array of methodologies, such as GIS technology, the entropy method, data envelopment analysis, the coupling coordination degree model, and the panel vector autoregressive model. We established an index system and a measurement model to evaluate the degree of urbanization and the efficiency of land use. We also investigated the coupling coordinated dynamics between these two variables, to further explore the dynamic interplay between urbanization and land use and reveal their underlying mechanisms. The conclusions are as follows. The urbanization level and efficiency of land use in the Gansu section of the Yellow River Basin have exhibited a consistent upward trajectory, albeit at levels that are not particularly high, indicating substantial room for improvement in the future. The level of coupling coordination between urbanization and land use efficiency in the Gansu section of the Yellow River Basin has shown a generally upward trend. However, the overall coordination level remains relatively low, characterized by an imbalance, with "high coupling but low coordination". Regarding spatial distribution patterns, considerable disparities exist in the level of coordination development, which generally decreases from the eastern toward the western regions. A strong reciprocal and interactive relationship exists between the urbanization level and land use efficiency. An elevated level of economic urbanization can initially stimulate land use efficiency. Similarly, the improvement in the level of population urbanization, social urbanization, and ecological urbanization tends to exert a restraining influence on the augmentation of land use efficiency. Conversely, the enhancement of land use efficiency makes a distinct contribution to promoting the elevation of the urbanization level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: This paper sets out the events leading to the establishment of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. Methods: This paper is based on research into literature relating to the Albany region, government files and oral accounts relating to the area. Key results: Long known to the Noongar peoples, Two Peoples Bay was first mapped by Europeans in 1791 by Captain George Vancouver. The area was rapidly established as a base for the over-exploitation of natural resources. As the region became more developed and human population increased, recreational pressure on the area was such that the Western Australian Government surveyed Two Peoples Bay to establish a townsite. Just before the final surveys for the townsite were completed, the supposedly-extinct noisy scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus), was rediscovered there. National and international pressure on the WA Government from the conservation movement resulted in the reversal of the decision to develop a town in the area and led to the establishment of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in 1967. Conclusions: The establishment of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in the face of pressure for the development of a town on the bay, provides an interesting example of the needs of nature conservation over-riding real estate development. Implications: Although nature conservation values rarely stop real estate development, the Two Peoples Bay example demonstrates that nature conservation may prevail over real estate development, in this case involving the rediscovery of a species believed extinct. We describe the events leading to establishment of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. The area was long known to Noongar peoples. Mapping by Europeans in 1791 was followed by sealing and whaling in the 19th century, and after World War II plans were prepared for a townsite. After the discovery of the noisy scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus), hitherto believed extinct for 100 years, plans for the town were cancelled and the Reserve was established in 1967. This article belongs to the Collection The Natural History of Two Peoples Bay National Park, Western Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The City of São Paulo Improvements and Freehold Land Company Ltd (Cia. City) was founded in London in 1911 to promote subdivisions in the urban fringes of the city of São Paulo. By adapting to the real estate development market in the 1950s and 1960s to expand its market, Cia. City continued as a land developer, expanding its business within the state of São Paulo. This article provides an overview of this trajectory to analyze its performance in the 1970s, based on three projects that it carried out: City Nova Piracicaba, City Ribeirão and City Barretos. Based on the following analyses: the conception of garden suburbs, the relationship with the municipality and legal arrangements; registry practices; as well as designing projects and advertisements, this article presents evidence that shows the permanence of characteristics of its performance until 1970s. The analysis of the three projects demonstrates the company's concern with the urban design of the projects and preserving the brand. The article also reveals that while the idea of the garden suburb remained throughout the whole period, its layouts changed substantially, departing from the original organic parcelling pattern. Otherwise, the proximity and relationship with the pre-existing city determined its location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warmer temperatures and higher sea level than today characterized the Last Interglacial interval [Pleistocene, 128 to 116 thousand years ago (ka)]. This period is a remarkable deep-time analog for temperature and sea-level conditions as projected for 2100 AD, yet there has been no evidence of fossil assemblages in the equatorial Atlantic. Here, we report foraminifer, metazoan (mollusks, bony fish, bryozoans, decapods, and sharks among others), and plant communities of coastal tropical marine and mangrove affinities, dating precisely from a ca. 130 to 115 ka time interval near the Equator, at Kourou, in French Guiana. These communities include ca. 230 recent species, some being endangered today and/or first recorded as fossils. The hyperdiverse Kourou mollusk assemblage suggests stronger affinities between Guianese and Caribbean coastal waters by the Last Interglacial than today, questioning the structuring role of the Amazon Plume on tropical Western Atlantic communities at the time. Grassland-dominated pollen, phytoliths, and charcoals from younger deposits in the same sections attest to a marine retreat and dryer conditions during the onset of the last glacial (ca. 110 to 50 ka), with a savanna-dominated landscape and episodes of fire. Charcoals from the last millennia suggest human presence in a mosaic of modern-like continental habitats. Our results provide key information about the ecology and biogeography of pristine Pleistocene tropical coastal ecosystems, especially relevant regarding the-widely anthropogenic- ongoing global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities in the United States (U.S.) are increasingly developing sustainability initiatives to improve local economies while addressing environmental concerns. Since 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Brownfield Revitalization Program has encouraged the remediation of postindustrial sites to create new areas for real estate development. However, previous research demonstrates that industrial areas are more likely to be in predominantly poor and racial/ethnic minority communities. A central argument favoring redevelopment is that remediation helps mitigate environmental inequality and achieve environmental justice for aggrieved communities. Still, very little research examines if and how these communities benefit from these changes. This article examines this question by reviewing the related literature and applying insights to a quasi-experimental analysis of brownfield redevelopment's impact on racial/ethnic composition and income levels of neighborhoods. Publicly available data were acquired from the EPA Cleanups in My Community data portal and the 5-Year American Community Survey—released annually from 2006 to 2015—to examine demographic changes in neighborhoods where brownfield redevelopment occurred. The study implements a difference-in-differences model using two-way fixed effects regression models on a panel data set of 4,740 census tracts in 48 contiguous U.S. states (or Lower 48 states). This study's findings suggest that wealthier White and Latino populations are more likely to benefit from brownfield redevelopment than Black populations in affected neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimates the spatial changes in Minna's built-up areas. For change detection and urban growth analysis, the topographical map of Minna in 1972, the township map for 1979, and the satellite imageries covering 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2015 were all employed. These maps were georeferenced using ArcGIS 10.3. The study reveals as follows: 1972 (468.3 hectares); 1979 (893.7 hectares); 1986 (4,579.8 hectares); 1996 (5,205.4.5 hectares); 2006 (8,505.1 hectares); and 2015 (19,777.2 hectares). The land consumption rates were estimated as 0.0084, 0.0117, 0.0356, 0.0215, 0.0204, and 0.0273, respectively.We conclude that strategies birthed by systematic planning conclusions must guide cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural diversification and high-quality products deriving from sustainable crops such as hemp can represent a solution to revitalize marginal areas and reverse land abandonment. This study aimed at comparing four different hemp cultivars (Carmagnola Selezionata, "CS"; Futura 75, "FUT"; Felina 32, "FEL"; Secuieni Jubileu, "JUB") to provide information to select the best suited cultivar for cultivation in mountain marginal areas and for specific end-use applications. Hemp cultivars were cultivated in a single experimental field to compare their ecological and agronomic behavior (duration of life cycle phases, plant size and biomass allocation, and plant resource-use strategies). Through metabolomic analysis of both vegetative and reproductive parts of the plants we tested the presence of substances of nutraceutical interest and traced seed nutritional profile. The four cultivars had different ecological and agronomic behavior, and nutritional profile. We found several compounds with potential pharmaceutical and nutraceutical values in all parts of the plant (leaves, inflorescences, and stems). JUB resulted the most suitable for seed production while CS showed the highest content of bioactive compounds in flowers and leaves. FUT, showed the best suitability for multi-purpose cultivation, while FEL seemed to be not appropriate for the cultivation in mountain area. The multi-disciplinary approach we adopted was effective in distinguish across hemp cultivars and provided information to farmers for the selection of the best hemp cultivar to select. Hemp had a high potential for cultivation in marginal lands, demonstrating to be an economic resource due to its multi-purpose use and to the possibility to generate high-added values products. Our results could serve as a stimulus for the reintroduction of this culture in the study area and in other similar environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mumbai, along with a few other metropolitan cities in India, witnessed an unprecedented flow of finance capital toward the development of new real estate soon after efforts to liberalize the country's real estate sector took force in 2005. Fifteen years later, however, the reality on the ground looks bleak. Not only does the demand for housing remain as high as ever before in Mumbai, but hundreds of real estate projects lie unfinished, abandoned, and/or unsold. In its attempt to make sense of the city's real estate crisis, this paper brings to the fore important insights about the organizing logics of urban land markets. Drawing on an exhaustive database of real estate indicators combined with ethnographic fieldwork, the paper reveals a tendency among Mumbai developers to fight competition by chasing land irrespective of long-term financial prudency, which in turn hinders the development and sale of new real estate. The paper therefore proposes that the reproduction of capitalistic arrangements within Mumbai's land market is precarious because the very lands that are to be turned into commodities inevitably become entangled in new socio-legal encumbrances, just as the separation of "land from man" begins to seem plausible. By demonstrating how real estate activity is nevertheless, centered problematically, around this unceasing yet always incomplete pursuit of commodified land, the paper contributes to the scholarly project of developing a heterodox conceptualization of land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation and agricultural expansion are two of the most prevalent and intense forms of land use change worldwide and can have dramatic consequences on biodiversity and biotic community structure.Ants are extremely widespread, ecologically diverse and small ectotherms that are sensitive to changes from a wide range of environmental factors. Therefore, ants make an ideal study organism to examine the effects of anthropogenic land use change on biotic communities.In this study, we examined differences in ant species richness and community composition between urban parks, farms and forest fragments, and related these differences to environmental factors that vary among each of these three habitat types.We sampled 46 sites across Worcester County and found farms have significantly lower ant species richness than parks, and all habitat types had different ant community compositions. We also identified higher plant species richness is associated with higher ant species richness, and both plant species richness and air temperature are associated with differences in community composition.Our findings support that habitats affected by human land use will host different assemblages of ant species compared to those found in nearby natural habitats, as seen in our New England forest fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the adoption of geoinformation technologies has grown more crucial in determining the various characteristics that define the Earth's environment. GIS tools have evolved significantly to planning for environmental and urban development. This research examined various geoprocessing approaches employed by the ArcGIS MODELBUILDER to decide whether a site is suitable for a slum relocation procedure. Three potential relocation sites for a slum in Cairo were examined using 12 different criteria. Five degrees of suitability have been included for sites assessment. Results were applied according to the score for each site and the final degree of suitability was recorded for decision support of slum relocation. Comparing the proposed sites, Site 3 showed the highest level of suitability for the relocation of slums, scoring 4.246 (84%), followed by sites 1 and 2 with scores of 3.99 (79.8%) and 3.43 (68.6%), after the weighted ratings for each element were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study allowed us to understand the challenges and issues related to the problem of planning and land management in Sotouboua, Central Region, Togo, through the prism of the intervention of traditional chiefs. The nature of urban planning in Togo tends to be based on northern standards and methods but without significant impact. This study draws on recent empirical research that examines the activities of traditional leaders on urban land development. Although land use planning that is based on state control has limited practical impact, urban land tenure is physically structured and planned by urban dwellers who aspire to establish legitimate forms of tenure through customary authorities. Out of 75% of the subdivision operations in 2015 and 92% in 2022 that were carried outside the master plan, traditional chiefs are involved in 64% and 87.5% of land transactions, respectively. Therefore, chiefdom occupies a central place in land transactions. All land transactions are subject to the scrutiny of traditional chiefs, who become intermediaries in land exchanges. Therefore, the participatory approach to urban planning should be reshaped to involve traditional leaders in decision-making and even in conceptualization. The challenges range from the institutional and administrative frameworks of urban planning to land rights and contradictions that are inherent in land use planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization efficiency of land resources is an essential embodiment of economic development, social development, and ecological development and is a critical core to measure how to maximize the efficiency of land resources under limited conditions. The land is an important content and essential carrier of the research of tourism development level. This paper selects Panel Data from 2010 to 2019 to research the Guangxi regional tourism development. The entropy weight method and stochastic frontier production function (SFA) model were used to evaluate the development level of urban-rural tourism and the utilization efficiency of land resources in Guangxi. This paper uses the Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model to analyze the internal relationship between urban-rural tourism development. The results show that: (1) Guangxi has a good level of tourism development and a high land use efficiency. (2) There is a reciprocal causation relationship between the regional tourism development level and land use efficiency in Guangxi, with significant levels of 0.005 and 0.034 respectively, indicating high credibility. This indicates that there is a mutual promotion and interaction between the two, which rely on and drive each other, promoting the joint sustainability of tourism development and land use efficiency. (3). The tourism development level is greatly influenced by itself, with impact values all above 0.99. At the same time, land use also has a significant self-impact, with impact values all above 0.87. Their internal optimization system is solid and endogenous impetus is robust, which can drive their development. Establishing an effective strategy for developing and protecting land use is beneficial to promote the long-term effectiveness of sustainable tourism development, enhancing high-quality development of the tourism economy and improving people's living standards and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of remote sensing imagery for land cover and land use classification has made significant advancements in recent years. However, it becomes particularly challenging to enhance the semantic representation of high-resolution networks while dealing with uneven land categories and merging multi-scale data without compromising the accuracy of semantic segmentation. To tackle this challenge, this paper presents a novel method for classifying high-resolution remote sensing images based on a deep neural network that performs semantic segmentation of urban construction lands into five categories: vegetation, water, buildings, roads, and bare soil. The network incorporates a U-shaped high-resolution neural network and the advanced high-resolution network (HRNet) framework. The parallel storage of feature maps with different resolutions enables the exchange of information between them. The data pre-processing module addresses the issue of data imbalance in the semantic segmentation of urban construction lands, resulting in an increase in Intersection over Union (IoU) values for different land types by 3.75%-12.01%. Additionally, a target context representation module is introduced to enhance the feature representation of pixels by calculating the relationship between pixels and multiple target regions. Moreover, a polarization attention mechanism is proposed to extract the characteristics of geographical objects in all directions and achieve a stronger semantic representation. This method provides a novel approach to accurately and effectively extract information on construction lands and advance the development of monitoring algorithms for urban construction lands. To validate the proposed U-HRNet-OCR+PSA network, a comparative analysis was conducted with six classical networks, including DeepLabv3+, PSPNet, U-Net, U-Net++, HRNet, and HRNet-OCR, as well as the relatively new ViT-adapter-L, Oneformer and InternImage-H. The experiments demonstrate that the U-HRNet-OCR+PSA network achieves higher accuracy compared to the aforementioned networks. Specifically, the corresponding IoU values for the buildings, roads, vegetation, bare soil, and water in the multi-scale dataset are 89.79%, 90.05%, 94.89%, 85.91%, and 88.36%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural–urban fringe areas serve as crucial transitional zones within urban structures, and their spatiotemporal evolution holds significant reference value for scientifically planning urban configurations. The existing research predominantly focuses on large cities, overlooking the spatiotemporal evolution mechanisms of small- to medium-sized cities. This study employs nighttime light data as the data source to ensure continuous and consistent data, overcoming administrative boundaries. Taking Taizhou City as a case study, a combination of the threshold method and an improved Mann–Kendall algorithm is employed to reveal the evolution process of fringe areas. And a gravity model is utilized to unearth the interaction relationships among regions. The results indicate that from 2010 to 2020, the urban area expanded from 1097 km2 to 2791 km2, with fringe areas experiencing initial contraction followed by gradual expansion. The central urban areas of Jiaojiang, Luqiao, and Huangyan gradually merged, forming a concentrated region. Linhai maintained a high level of attraction, while spatial gravity weakened in other areas. This study quantitatively analyzes the expansion trends of fringe areas in small- to medium-sized cities, elucidating the attractive effects of time–cost distance and land resources on development and providing valuable support for subsequent spatial planning and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of aircraft during taxiing is an important issue in the development of landing gear and airworthiness certification. Incidents and abnormal problems consistently arise due to landing gear shimmy. The integration of a model involving tricycle landing gear and aircraft structure is a major advancement in addressing shimmy oscillations. A formulated nonlinear mathematical modeling approach integrates airframe motions with landing gear modes, which provides deep insights into their coupling effect. It effectively determines the critical speed region and types of shimmy oscillations that can occur. An increase in landing gear shimmy intensifies lateral forces on landing gear components, which affects the yaw motion of the aircraft. The optimization of aircraft mass, the critical value of torsional damping, and their influence on directional stability are investigated. This work is useful in the conceptual design of landing gears and in avoiding the potential risks associated with shimmy oscillations to extend the lifespan of landing gears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finland is undergoing an immense change in the execution of real estate development and construction projects. Since 2011 nearly 100 projects have already been launched in the country with the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) principle. The total value of the projects is close to 7.3 billion euros. The principles of integration are currently applied especially to project management contracts, but also to other traditional contract models with fixed content or fixed price. Implementation of the IPD models has triggered a change in work culture and practices across the whole construction field. Focus within the traditionally somewhat quarrelsome and fragmented industry has now shifted towards cooperation and continuous improvement - both important Lean principles. Experience from the integration of contracting authorities and service providers has shown the advantages to be achieved. The contracting authority can utilize the know-how of different parties from the start of the project, as designers and builders are planning ways of execution together. A joint development phase leads to better planning and more accurate budgeting as well as better commitment of different parties. The use of IPD models has also served as a significant basis for introducing Lean principles and tools in Finland. Without IPD models, especially the customers' awareness of the benefits of Lean methods would have remained low. Furthermore, the sharing of risks and benefits encourages the execution of projects with stricter adherence to budget and schedule. So far, all completed IPD projects have achieved the target schedule and budget. Despite minor shifts in the cost targets of the projects, all contracting parties have been satisfied with the achieved results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intertidal ecology has been considered the cradle of modern marine ecology with insightful investigations on the biological and ecological mechanisms allowing "life between the tides". Most of the early investigations focused on macrophytes (seagrasses and macroalgae) and benthic invertebrates inhabiting emerged intertidal substrata. However, tidepools also shelter a rich fauna, including fishes, which display a wide diversity and a variety of ecological interactions and functions. Here, we review the diversity, ecology, evolution and conservation of the American tidepool fishes, from definition to trophic roles, ecological vulnerabilities and societal importance that reveal an extraordinary biodiversity and the important roles fishes play in the coastal ecosystems. Tidepool fish studies increased sharply from the mid twentieth century onwards, but many geographic gaps still exist. Tidepool fishes connect marine and terrestrial communities via substantial predation upon insects and exporting energy to land as prey for terrestrial fauna. Sea-level rise driven by climate change will reduce or eliminate current intertidal habitats, where little or no space is available for landward accommodation in the supralittoral zone. Concurrently, tidepool habitat would be 'squeezed' to a narrow intertidal stripe by 'coastal squeeze' process. Endemic, habitat-restricted, and specialist species could be particularly affected by human-induced habitat loss on the coastal stripe. Tidepool fishes provide many ecological services, such as well-being, environmental awareness, outdoor recreation, and bioinspiration for ancient and current societies. The level of intertidal rocky shore protection varies among American countries, but in most cases rocky shores are included in the least effective protection categories allowing extractive activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northwest China has experienced dramatic changes in agricultural land area in recent years. The effects of these changes on carbon storage are unknown, and this ambiguity hinders land development policies related to carbon emissions. In this study, we evaluated the effects of annual cropland changes (expansion and abandonment) during 2000 to 2020 on carbon storage in Northwest China by using land use data, carbon density data, and statistical yearbooks using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method. The results indicated that the area of cropland increased by 1.47 × 106 ha from 2000 to 2020, in that the area of cropland expansion and abandonment are 3.58 × 106 and −2.11 × 106 ha, respectively. Cropland expansion was mainly from other land and grassland, and the conversion of cropland to grassland made up the largest proportion of cropland abandonment, followed by built-up land. The cropland changes resulted in a total carbon sequestration of 4.05 Tg (0.20 Tg C year−1), including a 17.66 Tg decrease and 21.71 Tg increase in carbon storage due to, respectively, cropland expansion and cropland abandonment, in which the conversion of forest to cropland (−8.60 Tg) and cropland to forest (11.16 Tg) were the main causes of the increase and decrease in carbon storage. Specifically, regional carbon storage due to cropland changes exhibited an increasing variation characteristic during 2000 to 2007, a gradually decreasing variation characteristics during 2007 to 2014, and fluctuated stabilization since then (during 2014 to 2020). In addition, the highest carbon emission was found in Xinjiang (−3.68 Tg), followed by Ningxia (−0.21 Tg) province, while Shanxi (3.44 Tg), Gansu (3.17 Tg) and Qinhai (1.33 Tg) had carbon accumulation. Overall, cropland changes acted as a carbon sink in Northwest China from 2000 to 2020. We suggest that the development of high-carbon-density lands or the conversion of low-carbon-density lands are critical to increasing future carbon sequestration due to cropland change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrians might face more dangers and sustain severer injuries in crashes than others. Also, the crash data has inherent patterns related to both space and time. Crashes that happened in locations with highly aggregated uptrend patterns should be worth exploring to examine the most recently deteriorative factors affecting pedestrian-injury severities in crashes. Therefore, applying proper modeling approaches is needed to identify the causes of pedestrian-vehicle crashes to improve pedestrian safety. In this study, an emerging hotspot analysis is firstly utilized to identify the most targeted hotspots, followed by a proposed XGBoost model that analyzes the most recently deteriorative factors affecting pedestrian injury severities. The overall accuracy of the best model on the hotspot dataset is 94.49%, which shows a relatively high performance compared to conventional models. Seven factors are identified to increase the likelihood of fatal injury, including "land development: farm, wood and pasture" (FWP), "interstate", "US route", "hit and run", "alcohol-impaired driver" (AID), "urban", and "alcohol-impaired-pedestrian". While for incapacitating injury, there are five significant factors including "work zone", "interstate", "US route", "curved roadway" and "alcohol-impaired-pedestrian". The results of this research could give a solid reference for the identification of contributing factors affecting pedestrian-injury severities to policymakers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolation of the Caribbean Sea from the tropical Eastern Pacific by uplift of the Isthmus of Panama in the late Pliocene was associated with major, taxonomically variable, shifts in Caribbean biotic composition, and extinction, but inferred causes of these biological changes have remained elusive. We addressed this through falsifiable hypotheses about how independently determined historical changes in oceanographic conditions may have been responsible. The most striking environmental change was a sharp decline in upwelling intensity as measured from decreases in intra-annual fluctuations in temperature and consequently in planktonic productivity. We then hypothesized three general categories of biological response based upon observed differences in natural history between the oceans today. These include changes in feeding ecology, life histories, and habitats. As expected, suspension feeders and predators became rarer as upwelling declined. However, predicted increases in benthic productivity by reef corals, and benthic algae were drawn out over more than 1 Myr as seagrass and coral reef habitats proliferated; a shift that was itself driven by declining upwelling. Similar time lags occurred for predicted shifts in reproductive life history characteristics of bivalves, gastropods, and bryozoans. Examination of the spatial variability of biotic change helps to understand the time lags. Many older species characteristic of times before environmental conditions had changed tended to hang on in progressively smaller proportions of locations until they became extinct as expected from metapopulation theory and the concept of extinction debt. Faunal turnover may not occur until a million or more years after the environmental changes ultimately responsible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current large-scale patterns of land use reflect history, local traditions, and production costs, much more so than they reflect biophysical potential or global supply and demand for food and freshwater, or--more recently--climate change mitigation. We quantified alternative land-use allocations that consider trade-offs for these demands by combining a dynamic vegetation model and an optimization algorithm to determine Pareto-optimal land-use allocations under changing climate conditions in 2090-2099 and alternatively in 2033-2042. These form the outer bounds of the option space for global land-use transformation. Results show a potential to increase all three indicators (+83% in crop production, +8% in available runoff, and +3% in carbon storage globally) compared to the current land-use configuration, with clear land-use priority areas: Tropical and boreal forests were preserved, crops were produced in temperate regions, and pastures were preferentially allocated in semiarid grasslands and savannas. Transformations toward optimal land-use patterns would imply extensive reconfigurations and changes in land management, but the required annual land-use changes were nevertheless of similar magnitude as those suggested by established land-use change scenarios. The optimization results clearly show that large benefits could be achieved when land use is reconsidered under a "global supply" perspective with a regional focus that differs across the world's regions in order to achieve the supply of key ecosystem services under the emerging global pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study focuses on Dhaka City and its impact on urban surface water. Cities, ecosystems, and agriculture need surface water. It is crucial for water resource planning and environmental preservation. The primary aim is to study how urbanization has affected surface water in Dhaka City over 30 years using satellite imagery. Methods: The study analyzed three decades of urban surface water shifts using Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine (GEE) with JavaScript code for water ratio index detection. To investigate water level changes, field observation surveys and secondary data analysis were conducted. This integrated methodology simplified surface water data extraction and analysis, making remote sensing easier and allowing cloud-based satellite data processing. Results: The study demonstrates that the amount of surface water in cities is going down, from 36.23 km2 in 1990 to 5.83 km2 in 2021, which is an enormous decrease. This means that about 20 square kilometers, or 45 percent of the water's surface, have been lost in the last 30 years. The main reasons for the drop are unplanned expansion of cities, accelerated real estate development, and more trade and economic activities in the study area. Conclusions: The GEE algorithms provide useful insights into surface water's maximum and minimum extent, enabling appropriate planning and management. These findings aid Dhaka City's water resource management and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-smart crop varieties (CSV) are vital in improving food security by enhancing productivity while reducing problems of climate change. However, there is a low adoption of these varieties by the farmers in the study area due to lack of awareness of their impact on food security. Therefore, this study was designed to analyze their impact on food security in southwestern Ethiopia. The data were collected from 385 randomly selected sample households using a semi-structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and econometric analyses were used to analyze the data. The propensity score matching (PSM) model was used to evaluate the impact of climate-smart crop varieties on food security. Descriptive analysis showed that about 59.74% of the respondents were adopters of climate-smart crop varieties. The PSM analysis result revealed that the adoption of climate-smart crop varieties had a significant positive impact on food security. This implies that the likelihood of being food secure would increase by a factor of 0.8 if the climate-smart crop varieties were adopted. Therefore, developing and disseminating the climate-smart crop varieties at the right time through educational improvement (strengthening collaboration) and allocating land for their development is suggested for policymakers to improve food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water availability at the Earth surface determines the portioning of the surface heat flux into its sensible and latent components, that is, the surface heat flux Bowen ratio. The two components affect differently the surface buoyancy flux and thus the development and growth of the convective boundary layer. As a result, the Bowen ratio has a strong impact on the daytime development of dry and moist convection over land. We use two canonical modeling test cases, one for the shallow convection and one for the shallow‐to‐deep convection transition, to document the impact of the surface Bowen ratio on daytime convection development. A simple approach is used where results from simulations featuring the original setup are contrasted with simulations where the surface‐sensible heat flux takes on values of the latent heat flux and vice versa. Such a change illustrates the key impact of the surface water availability without changing the total surface heat flux. Because of the larger surface buoyancy flux, simulations with the reversed surface heat fluxes feature faster deepening of the convective boundary layer and wider clouds once moist convection develops. Mean cloud‐base width of cumulus clouds increases with the boundary‐layer depth. For shallow‐to‐deep convection transition, comparison of simulations with the observed large‐scale flow that feature substantial lower‐tropospheric shear with simulations with no mean horizontal flow suggests that the organization of convective circulations within the boundary layer strongly affects initial size and organization of shallow convection, as well as the subsequent width increase once convection deepens and eventually transitions to deep precipitating convection. A simple explanation is provided of why a deeper well‐mixed convective subcloud layer results in wider clouds. The key is the larger width of boundary‐layer coherent updraft structures when the mixed layer is deeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the gradual change of climate, the organic matter and nutrients in the soil are constantly losing. It induces the creation of saltwater alkali land and quickens soil degradation, both of which further lower productivity. It will eventually lead to a serious food catastrophe. As as a consequence, the research conducted an experimental analysis on the effects of straw returning and biological carbon on saline alkali land development in northeast Jiangsu University, with the goal of addressing the issue of weak soil internal structure in some places of northeast China. The experiment analyzed the growth and photosynthesis dynamics, material accumulation and transformation, root activity, soil physical and chemical properties, and the spike characteristics of Kenjiandao 5, respectively. The experimental results showed that biochar and straw returning could effectively improve rice's growth rate and effective tillering. Among the biochar returning treatments, 4 treatments had the highest traumatic discharge, with an increased rate of 3.13–37.65%, and 6 treatments had the highest traumatic discharge, 29.96% higher than CK. At the same time, biochar and straw returning to the soil can effectively improve the organic matter in the soil and reduce its pH value. Compared with CK, the highest increase is 27.80%. In general, the use of biological carbon and straw return can effectively optimize the soil structure, increase the yield, reduce the waste of straw resources, and have a strong practical effect on the actual saline alkali land improvement in Northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the popularly adopted recent land development programme under 'increasing versus decreasing balance' policy in China to boost inclusive development of the urban and rural in the face of rapid urbanisation. We distinguish two types of increasing versus decreasing balance land programmes based on the different ways they manage land development rights and offer qualitative and quantitative evidence of the programme effects on village development and household welfare. We show that both programmes provide rural households with better access to urban-equivalent services and spaces, while different approaches to managing land development rights play different roles in market access and household income. To promote more inclusive urbanisation, governments and rural collectives should balance short-term economic benefits and long-term development potential and adopt proper land management programmes according to their own conditions. Practical policies are suggested for China and other developing regions faced with land use pressures under inevitable urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the connections between planning and land rent through a case study of density bonusing in Toronto, known as 'Section 37' – a form of land value capture. Density bonusing facilitates speculative bidding on future rents by private developers seeking 'highest and best' land uses – or efficient land uses – yet has implications related to equity when the unearned increment is extracted to recover value and invest in public goods. We situate land value capture within debates on the unearned income derived from land development in cities. We view the case of density bonusing through the lens of discretionary planning systems operating through flexible mechanisms. Specifically, we consider the direct role of planners towards balancing private interests with public goods in the face of shifting market and political contexts. The findings show that securing public goods from private land development through the unearned increment lacks consistency and predictability when the flexibility exercised by development actors drives planning decision-making. We conclude with a discussion on the implications for discretionary planning and land value capture in market-intensive, neoliberal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The requisition‐compensation balance is one of the important measures for farmland protection in China. During the development of cultivated land protection policies from traditional quantity protection to quantity‐quality‐ecology integration protection, few studies have examined future potential impacts of different requisition ‐compensation balance policies. Methods: We take Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province as an example to construct a multi scenario simulation model of land use change incorporating requisition‐compensation balance of arable land, design five simulation scenarios, namely, baseline scenario, quantity protection of cultivated land, quantity‐quality protection, quantity‐ecological protection and quantity‐quality‐ecological protection. Then we analyze the changes in quantity, productivity and habitat quality of arable land in 2030 under different protection strategies. Results: The results show that the requisition‐compensation balance policies will increase the quantity, grain yield and habitat quality of cultivated land by 7.2%, 0.63% and 0.70% on average compared with the baseline scenario. In the quantity quality ecological protection scenario, grain yield and habitat quality are likely to be higher than those in other scenarios, and their trade‐off relationships will be better reconciled. Conclusions: This work will provide solid support for evaluation of various requisition compensation balance strategies and adjustment of farmland protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional studies suggest that administrative division adjustment (ADA) is an effective way to facilitate domestic regional integration, but the process and mechanisms of regional integration led by a top-down ADA have not been fully investigated. Using a data set including millions of land transactions and manually coded city–county consolidation records in China, this paper documents that the layout of land development moves closer to the city center after city–county consolidation. In comparison with industrial and commercial land, residential land is more sensitive and generates approaches to city center in the short term. Only after the formation of population agglomeration over a long period does layout change occur for commercial land. This dynamic process shows that regional integration featuring resource layout is more easily achieved through state-manipulated resource allocation, while integration that features economic activities requires a longer-term shift of population. We test two mechanisms, namely, county push factors and urban district pull factors, and we find that the county push factors are more likely to be the reason for layout change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the real estate industry in China, urban air quality is inevitably affected. By using data of Chinese cities located in the Yangtze River Delta from 2009 to 2018, this paper is aim at examining the casual impact of house prices on air quality. By considering the endogenous problems, in this study, first, the birth rate of the previous six years and the area of state-owned land supply per capita in the previous year are taken as instrumental variables of house price. Second, the two-stage least squares method is used to assess the causal impact of house price on air quality. The findings of this study show that there is no significant relationship between urban house prices and air quality, and these results are obtained without considering the endogenous problem. While, after considering the endogenous problem, urban house prices showed a significant negative effect on overall air quality, especially for low administrative level cities. The increase in house prices has hindered the improvement of air quality mainly through the blind-scale expansion of real estate development investments and the inhibitory effect of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on marked the passing of several celebrated novelists, leaving an indelible void in the literary landscape. Topics include world of literature had a profound impact, and their absence was deeply felt in the literary community; and developments serving as a reminder of the enduring power of literature to shape and reflect our world.