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Thermal comfort studies in India are very much at an emerging stage. According to Indian codes, in the summer, the comfortable temperature range for residential buildings is 23–26 °C. The recommended Indian residential comfort range does not consider the impact of India's enormous cultural and geographical heterogeneity. Additionally, there seems to be very little effort to conduct a thermal comfort field survey in India's rural regions. In recent years, houses in rural India have been converted from kutcha (mud houses) to pucca (concrete houses). This work is aimed at proposing an adaptive thermal comfort model for the premonsoon season in the rural area of Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. The model was achieved using a field study survey conducted in 80 rural area houses in the months of June and July. Regression analysis, the Griffiths method, and the Fanger method have been adopted to analyze thermal comfort. Based on the regression analysis, the comfort band (voting −1 to +1) is established in the range of 28.39 °C to 32.31 °C, with 30.30 °C as the neutral temperature. The study has been carried out to assess the influence of gender, age, controls, and fan usage on thermal comfort perception in rural households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The decreasing residual efficacy of insecticides is an important factor when making decisions on insecticide choice for national malaria control programmes. The major challenge to using chemicals for vector control is the selection for the development of insecticide resistance. Since insecticide resistance has been recorded for most of the existing insecticides used for indoor residual spraying, namely, DDT, pyrethroids, organophosphates and carbamates, and new chemicals are necessary for the continued success of indoor residual spraying. The aim of this study was to assess the residual efficacy of Actellic 300CS, SumiShield™ 50WG and Fludora®Fusion by spraying on different wall surfaces. Methods: One hundred and sixty-eight houses with different wall surface types (mud, cement, painted cement, and tin) which represented the rural house wall surface types in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were used to evaluate the residual efficacy of Actellic 300CS, SumiShield 50WG and Fludora®Fusion with DDT as the positive control. All houses were sprayed by experienced spray operators from the Malaria Control Programme. Efficacy of these insecticides were evaluated by contact bioassays against Anopheles arabiensis, a vector species. The residual efficacy of the insecticide formulations was evaluated against a susceptible insectary-reared population of An. arabiensis using WHO cone bioassays. Results: Effectiveness of the three insecticides was observed up to 12 months post-spray. When assessing the achievement of 100% mortality over time, SumiShield performed significantly better than DDT on mud (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.72–3.04) and painted cement wall types (OR 3.52, 95% CI 2.36–5.26). On cement wall types, Actellic was found to be less effective than DDT (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.37–0.82) while Fludora®Fusion was less effective on tin wall types (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.47–0.95). When compared to the combined efficacy of DDT on mud surfaces, SumiShield applied to each of the mud, cement and painted cement wall types and DDT applied to the cement wall types was found to be significantly more effective. These insecticides usually resulted in 100% mortality for up to 12 months with a delayed mortality period of 96–144 h, depending on the insecticide evaluated and the surface type sprayed. Conclusion: Field evaluation of these insecticides have shown that Actellic, SumiShield and Fludora®Fusion are suitable replacements for DDT. Each of these insecticides can be used for malaria vector control, requiring just one spray round. These insecticides can be used in rotation or as mosaic spraying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Triatoma garciabesi and T. guasayana are considered secondary vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi and frequently invade rural houses in central Argentina. Wing and head structures determine the ability of triatomines to disperse. Environmental changes exert selective pressures on populations of both species, promoting changes in these structures that could have consequences for flight dispersal. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between a gradient of anthropization and phenotypic plasticity in flight-related traits. Methods: The research was carried out in Cruz del Eje and Ischilín departments (Córdoba, Argentina) and included 423 individuals of the two species of triatomines. To measure the degree of anthropization, a thematic map was constructed using supervised classification, from which seven landscapes were selected, and nine landscape metrics were extracted and used in a hierarchical analysis. To determine the flight capacity and the invasion of dwellings at different levels of anthropization for both species, entomological indices were calculated. Digital images of the body, head and wings were used to measure linear and geometric morphometric variables related to flight dispersion. One-way ANOVA and canonical variate analysis (CVA) were used to analyze differences in size and shape between levels of anthropization. Procrustes variance of shape was calculated to analyze differences in phenotypic variation in heads and wings. Results: Hierarchical analysis was used to classify the landscapes into three levels of anthropization: high, intermediate and low. The dispersal index for both species yielded similar results across the anthropization gradient. However, in less anthropized landscapes, the density index was higher for T. garciabesi. Additionally, in highly anthropized landscapes, females and males of both species exhibited reduced numbers. Regarding phenotypic changes, the size of body, head and wings of T. garciabesi captured in the most anthropized landscapes was greater than for those captured in less anthropized landscapes. No differences in body size were observed in T. guasayana collected in the different landscapes. However, males from highly anthropized landscapes had smaller heads and wings than those captured in less anthropized landscapes. Both wing and head shapes varied between less and more anthropogenic environments in both species. Conclusions: Results of the study indicate that the flight-dispersal characteristics of T. garciabesi and T. guasayana changed in response to varying degrees of anthropization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing concerns over family separations draw renewed attention to temporary work migration and the factors shaping it. We leverage the randomized timing in a Chinese re-housing initiative, the Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) program, to shed light on the impact of rural living conditions on temporary labor migration. Applying a difference-in-differences framework to three waves of panel data (2016, 2017, 2019), we estimate impacts of re-housing on labor out-migration. Results reveal that improved housing decreased the propensity to send out migrant workers, particularly for young parents and households with dependents, with important implications for the rural left-behind. • China's Poverty Alleviation Resettlement is used in a quasi-experimental design. • Improved rural housing decreases the propensity to send out migrant workers. • Young parents and households with dependents drive the impact. • Migration rates in households with children drop by 10-20pp. • Improving rural living conditions may mitigate issue of "left-behind" children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern New Mexico was uniquely vulnerable to the COVID‐19 pandemic and its fallout. Its Hispanic majority, aging population, and decreased access to healthcare put many of the communities in this area of the United States at risk. Taos County was particularly at increased risk of impact from COVID‐19. The county was also more vulnerable to the economic consequences of a pandemic due to reliance on tourism; this meant major impacts for individual households. As unemployment and poverty increased—and pandemic relief program rollouts floundered—the consequences meant precarity for many families. One of the most visible impacts of the pandemic was the inability to access affordable housing. This paper, based on 58 in‐depth interviews and 5 months of participant observation, explores experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity among an already vulnerable population during the pandemic, illustrating the ways in which many people struggled. Importantly, this paper explores differences in patterns of housing insecurity among rural White and rural Hispanic participants during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition, this paper advocates the importance of looking at nuanced patterns of dealing with housing precarity in the rural setting as the ways in which different populations cope impact the forms of help that are needed when housing becomes a problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evictions are commonplace in the United States, and their negative consequences are broad and severe. However, research on evictions to date has focused primarily on urban areas, and thus has not addressed the impact evictions have on rural renters. This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of evictions in rural communities, where the number of renters has been increasing in recent decades. We use Eviction Lab's national eviction database to study the approximately 220,000 evictions filed in rural counties each year. While the majority of rural evictions affect families with a white head of household (57 percent in 2010), eviction filing rates are four times higher among rural Black renters than among rural white renters. Eviction filing rates are highest in heavily Black counties in the rural southeast. While eviction filings are somewhat lower in rural majority‐Hispanic counties, these communities experience low‐quality informal housing and overcrowding. Eviction rates are also higher in rural counties with higher rent burdens and where more households include children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underprivileged people in many parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America use earthen dwellings because of environmental and economic advantages. However, such non-engineered structures often encounter unacceptable risks from various natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, etc. The 3rd January 2017 moderate earthquake in Tripura (NE India) is prime evidence of severe damage to earthen houses in rural Tripura. The present research focuses on enhancing the seismic strength of traditional earthen houses through mechanical stabilization with locally available low-cost sustainable natural fibers (i.e., jute and straw) and stabilizing materials (i.e., clay and lime), respectively. Primarily, the shear and flexural strength of both stabilized and unstabilized model rammed earthen wallettes are investigated experimentally. Thereafter, a 3D finite element (FE) numerical model is developed to verify the sanctity of the experimental findings. The study reveals that fiber-reinforced earthen wallettes, especially jute fiber-reinforced wallettes, exhibited significant improvement in shear and flexural strength including ductility behaviour whereas, clay and lime-stabilized wallettes offered improvement in strength exhibiting brittle failure. Finally, the seismic response of a prototype fiber-reinforced rammed earth wall is evaluated through 3D FE-based numerical modelling considering the input motion of the 2017 Tripura earthquake which also indicated significant improvement compared to the unimproved one. However, from the viewpoint of sustainability, it is concluded that carbon emissions of approx. 38% may be reduced in the case of natural fibers such as jute and straw compared to synthetic stabilizing agents (i.e., lime). Hence, the study promotes the use of low-cost sustainable fibers with a lower carbon footprint and minimum energy consumption in earthen houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In regions of China experiencing severe cold, the duration of the winter heating season significantly contributes to elevated heating energy consumption in rural dwellings. This study focuses on typical brick-and-concrete rural homes in the Wusu area. Utilizing the Rhino–Grasshopper parametric modeling platform, it aims to minimize heating-related carbon emissions and the overall costs associated with retrofitting. The approach involves improving the insulation properties of the building envelope to reduce energy requirements. Additionally, the study incorporates solar photovoltaic systems atop rural homes, building upon low-carbon, passive, energy-efficient design principles. By examining the influence of various factors on rural housing energy consumption, the research employs the entropy weight method to identify the most effective design solutions. The goal is to explore strategies for the energy-efficient retrofitting of rural dwellings in areas faced with harsh winter conditions, aligning with the objectives and preferences of Applied Sciences. The simulation results reveal the following: (1). In comparison with the baseline scenario, 42.2% of the optimized solutions within the Pareto frontier satisfy the current standards for 75% energy savings in energy-efficient residential design. (2). The lowest recorded thermal consumption index for the buildings can reach 12.427 W/m2, at which point the rate of energy savings is elevated to 79.5%. (3). Within the solutions identified by the Pareto frontier, 80% exhibit initial investments that are lower than the cost savings over the lifecycle due to reduced energy consumption ( d C g < 0), demonstrating the economic feasibility of the proposed retrofitting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of VLC Arquitectura is the property of VLC Arquitectura 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.)

Urbanization progress in developing countries is reflected in the urban living conditions of their rural migrants. Housing quality, in particular, is linked to migrants' social integration and development of human capital. In China, where urban housing is highly stratified by urban citizenship via the "hukou" or household registration system, improving housing quality is a top priority for the central government in its pursuit of human-centered urbanization. Despite some social and economic elements affecting migrants' housing quality being documented, few studies have analyzed the determinants of rural migrants' housing quality from the perspective of rural landholdings or possession of use rights of rural lands, which is endowed by the land system of China. Using large micro-data from the China Migrant Dynamic Survey (CMDS), this study investigates the association between hometown landholdings and rural migrants' housing quality in their host cities. The empirical results suggest that possessing rural landholdings in their hometown is negatively correlated with rural migrants' housing quality in their host cities, wherein rural migrants' hukou transfer intention is found as an intermediary factor. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the relationship across demographic characteristics and regions was investigated. In addition, short-term revenue derived from hometown landholdings is also verified to have a very limited positive effect on migrants' housing quality. Land transfer policies customized for subgroups of rural migrants across sociological attributes and urban stratification are concluded finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the issues and challenges of rural areas and providing logical solutions for them is one of the fundamental steps towards sustainable rural development. Nowadays, rural areas face numerous problems and obstacles, with the risk of floods being one of them. To mitigate the effects of this event, a resilience approach has been proposed. The aim of the research is to elucidate the physical resilience of housing in rural areas, focusing on flood risk, using structural equation modeling. This study is practical in terms of its objective and descriptive-analytical in nature, based on field surveys. The structure of housing resilience is reduced to 5 components: spatial resilience, legal resilience, structural resilience, functional resilience, and mental imagery resilience, using 33 indicators in a quantitative Likert spectrum. After initial exploratory studies, 9 villages with the highest vulnerability to floods in the county were identified and examined as case studies. These villages had 2590 residential units in the year 1401, with 127 units determined as samples using the Cochran formula. The research tool was completed with the help of household heads residing in these villages, resulting in a questionnaire reliability of 0.812. The results indicate that the measured reliability of each of the five measurement models on housing resilience and the second-order five-factor model for examining housing resilience were acceptable. In conclusion, the structural resilience index had the highest impact at 0.69, followed by legal resilience at 0.49, spatial resilience at 0.44, functional resilience at 0.32, and mental imagery resilience with the least impact at 0.26 on housing resilience. Additionally, the obtained influence coefficient between housing resilience and the flood variable is -0.78, indicating a strong indirect relationship between floods and housing resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing practice in rural areas, particularly in developing countries is vulnerable to natural risks. The provision of risk-resistant rural houses requires individual awareness of risks and related mitigations. However, policymakers and other stakeholders need to intervene to rescue the situation. The September 2016 earthquake that struck the Kagera region measuring 5.9 on the richer scale was large and caused heavy damage to buildings and human lives compared to the previous region's experience. This study explores the influence of users' culture, awareness, and construction techniques on rural affordable and earthquake-resilient homes. The study conducted field surveys in Kagera rural areas that were hit the worst by the disaster. A total of 75 homeowners were purposively sampled from three villages of Ishozi, Bwanjai, and Maruku among villages with many homes severely damaged. Furthermore, it performed structural analysis using SAP 2000 software to analyze earthquake characteristics of existing popular house types. Findings revealed that most homeowners likewise local builders had relatively an understanding below average about issues of safer construction in earthquake-prone areas. Also, building construction practice in the study area is not guided by building regulations leading to compromised earthquake-resilient housing standards revealed by field survey and SAP 2000 structural analysis. The results revealed that 4% of 75 interviewed house owners from the three villages had an understanding above average on earthquake matters in building structural safety and skills as compared to 32% moderate and 64% below average. During the earthquake, the rationalized Banda and modern houses revealed serious structural failures compared to other house types due to low skill capability by the builders. The attention from stakeholders is required to conduct a community sensitization programme for earthquake-resilient housing construction models. This goes in line with establishing clear guidelines that integrate the strong bond of the culture of Kagera villagers (communal help and self-help) to support rural housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evictions are commonplace in the United States, and their negative consequences are broad and severe. However, research on evictions to date has focused primarily on urban areas, and thus has not addressed the impact evictions have on rural renters. This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of evictions in rural communities, where the number of renters has been increasing in recent decades. We use Eviction Lab's national eviction database to study the approximately 220,000 evictions filed in rural counties each year. While the majority of rural evictions affect families with a white head of household (57 percent in 2010), eviction filing rates are four times higher among rural Black renters than among rural white renters. Eviction filing rates are highest in heavily Black counties in the rural southeast. While eviction filings are somewhat lower in rural majority‐Hispanic counties, these communities experience low‐quality informal housing and overcrowding. Eviction rates are also higher in rural counties with higher rent burdens and where more households include children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern New Mexico was uniquely vulnerable to the COVID‐19 pandemic and its fallout. Its Hispanic majority, aging population, and decreased access to healthcare put many of the communities in this area of the United States at risk. Taos County was particularly at increased risk of impact from COVID‐19. The county was also more vulnerable to the economic consequences of a pandemic due to reliance on tourism; this meant major impacts for individual households. As unemployment and poverty increased—and pandemic relief program rollouts floundered—the consequences meant precarity for many families. One of the most visible impacts of the pandemic was the inability to access affordable housing. This paper, based on 58 in‐depth interviews and 5 months of participant observation, explores experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity among an already vulnerable population during the pandemic, illustrating the ways in which many people struggled. Importantly, this paper explores differences in patterns of housing insecurity among rural White and rural Hispanic participants during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In addition, this paper advocates the importance of looking at nuanced patterns of dealing with housing precarity in the rural setting as the ways in which different populations cope impact the forms of help that are needed when housing becomes a problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The province of Yalova, located in the northwest of Turkey, has a unique architecture of traditional rural housing, but struggles to survive and be maintained due to industrialization. From this point of view, the study investigates the spatial configuration and discuss its relationship with culture by emphasizing the sustainability of the traditional rural dwellings of Yalova. For this purpose, space syntax analysis techniques are used as a method to examine the spatial topology of the architectural plan of eight samples selected from four different villages. Accordingly, in the two-storey houses examined, the halls and the interior stairs are the most integrated areas, while outdoors spaces have an important place in the social life of the residents. Due to privacy, the most secluded spaces are mostly toilets and bathrooms. The houses, with their homogeneous organization, have a weak genotype and have similar planning features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's urbanization process continues to accelerate and the price of traditional commercial property continues to rise, a number of small property rights houses without construction permits and approvals have appeared on rural land. Although small property rights housing does not have the validity of property rights or the legal attributes of ordinary commercial housing, and the Chinese government has repeatedly introduced corresponding laws and regulations to regulate its purchase and sale, small property right housing is still purchased by many consumers because of its price advantage, and the number of disputes arising from its purchase and sale is on the rise every year. In addition, the phenomenon of developers building on rural land in violation of the law and real estate agents guaranteeing property without authorization has led to a waste of judicial resources and the infringement of property rights. This paper analyzes the actual situation and the main problems surrounding the governance of small property rights housing and constructs a quadrilateral evolutionary game model with the government, consumers, developers, and real estate agents as the main players. By analyzing various equilibrium points corresponding to different stages of small property rights housing governance, a simulation analysis is conducted using Matlab2016a software to examine the strategic choices of each stakeholder. By adjusting and simulating various parameters, this study investigates the key factors influencing the governance of small property rights housing. This study revealed the following points: (1) at different stages in the governance of small property rights housing, the choice of a strategy by each subject is affected by the expected benefits and costs; (2) the relevant government fines will regulate the strategic choices of developers and real estate agents; (3) consumers' purchasing tendency is affected by the price of small property rights housing and the risk estimation; (4) the governance of small property rights housing needs a long-term standardization of practice, and the government not only needs to improve the reward and punishment mechanism but also needs to provide positive guidance to the consumers. Through numerical simulation, we explore the impact of the main parameters of the current small property rights housing governance process on the strategic selections made by the game players, which is of great significance for the current policy and future governance of small property rights housing. This paper contributes additional insights to the existing body of theoretical literature through quantitative analysis. Nonetheless, there is a need for the further refinement of the parameter settings used in the study. Additionally, while the simulation analysis provides valuable perspectives, it is somewhat subjective and possesses certain limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. 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.)

How does the riskiness of an ageing population change with house price dynamics of rural areas? Why do rural house prices increase faster than cities despite their ageing populations? Life cycle theory predicts working age households have higher demand for housing than retirement households. An issue that has seen much less attention in the literature is that rural house prices have been increasing despite their populations age rapidly. To answer these issues, our paper introduces an empirical cointegration-based framework designed to be flexible for empirical settings. Our cointegration framework reveals crucial information about rural housing and ageing which has not been found previously: the short-term deviation of house prices from cointegration restrictions is a strong predictor of future rural house prices and migration rate from 1 to 4 year ahead. This is not the case for urban areas nor where cointegration restrictions are being ignored. Rural house prices, not urban ones, are the key to understand this cointegration restriction. Our framework is pertinent to most ageing societies with available housing and demographic data. When a government formulates macroprudential policies internalizing these cointegration restrictions and supporting rural developments, migration into rural areas and population increases are possible. Our evidence highlights the importance of cointegration-based long-run ageing risks for rural housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults living in subsidized senior housing tend to be at risk for poor psychological well-being related to their advanced age and low income. This study aims to explore multilevel factors affecting perceived quality of life (QoL) among non-urban subsidized senior housing residents and to compare these factors between rural and suburban communities. Community/residential-level data were collected from the interviews with residential service coordinators (RSC) of five subsidized senior housing communities in the New England region: two rural and three suburban communities. Individual- and interpersonal-level data came from the survey with 82 residents. A mixed-methods approach was utilized. We used thematic content analyses for the interview data and multivariate ordered logit regression for the survey data. Our results showed that rural residence was positively associated with QoL (OR = 4.913, p<.01) even after controlling for all the individual-, interpersonal-, and community/residential-level factors. From RSCs' perspectives, four main themes emerged, which could potentially contribute to better QoL among senior housing residents: access to services, social spaces for residents, inequitable connections to community resources, and social engagements among senior housing residents and with RSCs. Our findings contribute to the development of strategies to improve QoL among older adults living in rural/non-metropolitan subsidized senior housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local cuisine is one of the foundations for how Serbian rural communities are presented to tourists. The desire for regional cuisine has recently increased, which has created opportunities for the promotion of regional and, most importantly, traditional production. The changing behaviours of travellers, who are becoming more conscious of the value of authenticity and quality when travelling, offer opportunities for rural areas to thrive while also creating a new horizon for tourism centered on the discovery of traditional cuisine and rural communities. This kind of travel can be compared to slow travel, which was developed in conjunction with the Slow Food movement. The Slow Food movement is a political and cultural movement with the goal of opposing the industrialisation of food production, promoting locally made, high-quality, sustainable food, and making a significant contribution to rural areas. Three guiding principles – good, clean, and fair – define what food should be and form the foundation of this movement. The major objective of this paper is to present the driving elements that have the biggest impact on tourists’ enthusiasm to visit rural tourist houses in Serbia. The research also seeks to determine how much the respondents’ desire to return to Serbia’s rural tourist households is influenced by motivating factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This preliminary survey of house dust mites was carried out in two districts in Northern Kerala i.e., Malappuram and Kozhikkode. The study was conducted from December 2021 to November 2022. Collection of dust samples was done from a total of 160 houses, which were randomly selected 40 rural houses and 40 urban houses from each of the districts. A total of 6382 mites were collected from 147 houses. The most abundant species obtained from all the collected sites was the Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart) (67.69%) followed by the species Blomia tropicalis Bronswijk, Cock & Oshima (27.5%). Other species obtained were Sturnophagoides sp., Cheyletus eruditus (Schrank), Cheyletus malaccensis Oudemans, Glycycometus sp., Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank), Chortoglyphus arcuatus (Troupeau), Suidasia sp. The mean number of mites present in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts showed a statistically significant difference. Also, the mean number of mites present between urban houses and rural houses differed significantly. A statistical test (Fischer's exact test) was performed to analyze the influence of weather parameters, viz., temperature and relative humidity on the presence of mites in the surveyed houses revealed that the mite population is dependent on relative humidity and independent of temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber internet expansion represents a path to improved economic vitality for Americans, but it is unclear who benefits from it and by how much. We examine the effects of subsidized fiber internet expansion on home prices and homebuyer demographics using data from Wisconsin and an IV approach to correct for fiber network endogeneity. We find fiber internet increases urban and rural housing values by 1.83% ($3,462) and decreases the likelihood a homebuyer is white by 2.88%, but in urban areas only. Fiber internet therefore does not appear to drive minority homebuyers away but may contribute to the urban‐rural racial divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work analyzes an inventory of the touristic resources of the province of Burgos (Spain) and identifies with it the municipalities with the greatest touristic attraction, thus identifying the target points that facilitate the planning of the fieldwork process to obtain the opinion of tourists. To provide an analytical approach, this study adopts a quantitative technique by constructing a weighted synthetic index following a hierarchical process. The results show that the province of Burgos stands out for its high natural or landscape heritage, with access through minor roads and with a high offer of hotels and rural houses as well as restaurants and cafeterias. Fairs declared of interest, access by rail and the offer of hostels, apartments and campsites offer fewer outstanding values. The work proposes the realization of around 383 observations in each of the eight target points identified. The results obtained are clear enough to motivate decision-makers to address their efforts and investments in improving and adjusting their strategies to increase the quality of offer and demand in the touristic sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The amount of separately collected bio-waste, its composition and selected properties are subject to seasonal variations. • Food waste is the main component of bio-waste from each tested site. • Substantial part of contaminants (e.g. plastics, glass) was found in the waste stream. • Waste collected in containers in multi-family housing area the most contaminated. • Heavy metals content of tested samples varied, both in terms of location and season. The progress of civilisation contributes, among other things, to an increase in the mass of waste produced in households. A significant part of it is bio-waste (about 31% in Poland). It is generally agreed that bio-waste is a suitable substrate for valorisation through fermentation with biogas production. Designing new and optimising existing facilities, however, requires precise data on the composition of bio-waste and its properties, which is challenging due to seasonal variability, place of origin (single- or multi-family housing, urban or rural) and collection method. This paper presents the method adopted for conducting the study and the results of an annual, monthly analysis of the morphological composition and selected properties of bio-waste from source-segregated households from 4 rural municipalities and 4 cities, from neighbourhoods with single-family and multi-family housing in Poland. In household bio-waste, the proportion of food waste content ranges from 36.7 to 47.6% (annual average values). The proportion of edible food waste in relation to the total weight of food waste is 5 to 7 times lower. The yearly percentage of garden waste varied from 35.8 to 52.8%. A considerable amount of impurities (such as plastics, glass, and stones) is present in the bio-waste stream. The waste collected in containers in urban areas with multi-family houses is the most polluted (16.6%). The proportion of pollutants in bio-waste collected in bags (rural areas and cities with single-family housing) does not exceed 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupant behavior is among the main causes for the mismatch between simulated and in-use energy performance of buildings. One of the strategies considered capable of reducing user's behavior induced energy consumption, while increasing indoor environmental quality is the application of Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS). In this study, three building user's profiles have been considered depending on their energy consumption. The energy savings due to BACS class increase have been calculated, and a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) has been performed to evaluate the feasibility of different scenarios. Additional co-benefits perceived by the individuals have been accounted for in the form of willingness-to-pay (WTP). The methodology is applied to two case studies: a nearly zero-energy building (NZEB) rural single-family house and a recently renovated dwelling in an apartment block. The results show that the main reductions are achieved by the users' behavior alone, and the adoption of BACS is economically feasible only when an incentive program is in place, and the WTP is repeated as a recurrent co-benefit over the years. In particular, relying only on energy reduction due to higher BACS class introduction is not economically desirable. The greatest savings are achieved by the behavioral change of the user when coupled with BACS, supporting their potential role in improving user's energy literacy. Finally, incentive schemes are necessary to reduce the investment costs of such projects, being these the most influential variables in the feasibility of BACS applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change impacts on housing are an essential concern for Alaska Native communities. Adaptation literature has largely ignored the role of inter-organizational coordination networks in supporting housing adaptation. To address this gap, we surveyed 26 organizations and 36 participants from organizations working regionally in rural Alaska on housing service, construction, and engineering projects. We employ social network analysis (SNA), including Logistic Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (LRQAP), to explore the influence of network centrality on an organization's ability to enact housing adaptation. Results indicate that when two organizations have similarities in their network centrality, or how connected an organization was in the network, the less likely they are to have similar, positive views in their ability to enact housing adaptation. With a limited capacity to prepare for climate change impacts and integrate adaptation into existing programs, it is important for organizations and governments to mobilize the entirety of inter-organizational coordination networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the cold regions of China, the existing rural houses are widely distributed and in large numbers. There are widespread problems such as low thermal performance of building envelopes, high building energy consumption, and poor indoor thermal environments. Reducing the energy consumption of building heating by reforming the envelope structure can reduce the environmental pollution caused by heating. In this paper, the existing rural houses in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province are taken as the research object, and EnergyPlus software is used to calculate building heating energy consumption, and the schemes are compared and selected via the entropy value method. Based on a comprehensive benefit evaluation, the best scheme for the renovation of building envelopes of rural houses in Tongchuan City is put forward. The research results show that the energy saving rate of buildings can reach more than 50% after renovation. In the evaluation of energy saving, incremental cost, return on investment, carbon emission reduction and unguaranteed hours, the weights are 0.1915, 0.2104, 0.2312, 1755, and 0.187, respectively. The best renovation scheme for rural housing is as follows: the thickness of the XPS board is 90 mm for exterior wall insulation; the thickness of the XPS board is 80 mm for roof insulation; the window-to-wall ratio of additional sunspace is 0.6; and the type of exterior windows is a broken-bridge hollow aluminum window of 6 + 12A + 6 (mm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In search of sustainable development this study gives the vision of evolutionary growth in construction industry. As said by Buckminster Fuller "You never change things by fighting the reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. "The dream of having a house is a challenging task for low and moderate-income earners in developing countries. Low-cost housing techniques can be adapted to achieve an environmentally friendly and innovative construction to overcome the problem. The materials like Bamboo and Polypropylene band (PP) have been considered as sustainable building materials for the replacement of steel in this present research. Bamboo is a construction material that has been used for a long period for rural housing techniques. Many researchers have determined that bamboo has high tensile strength properties and is also easily available. It is possible to lower the cost of the construction by using bamboo as the main reinforcement. Polypropylene (PP) band, which is rarely used as a building material in India which is strong has heat resistance, and is lighter in weight. The main objective of this study includes that, strength parameters such as flexural strength, compressive strength of the reinforced concrete beam can be achieved by using bamboo as the main reinforcement and Polypropylene band as vertical stirrup that can reduce the cost by 85% and also helps to achieve lightweight structure. The establishment of stable analytical model proves to be cost effective by reducing the number of test specimens for experimental work. This research targets to compare experimental investigations with FEA approach. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is carried out using ABAQUS for model geometry to observe experimental study. MATLAB application has been used to validate the structural behaviour through parametric studies like shear force and bending moment diagram using 3-point loading beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neglecting the values of vernacular housing types in contemporary rural constructions and the deterioration and destruction of vernacular housing as a threat in historical contexts make it necessary to pay attention to the recognition and analysis of architectural types and sustainability criteria of vernacular houses. The present research studied the village of Roeen in North Khorasan Province. Despite the valuable texture and types of rural architecture, until now, researchers have not extracted and analyzed the architectural patterns of the valuable vernacular houses of the Roeen village. Therefore, the current research seeks to identify the vernacular housing patterns of the Roeen village in Esfarayen and to analyze and rank their sustainability in two stages. First, it compared the architectural features of vernacular Roeen houses in three macro, meso, and micro scales and extracted architectural partial patterns. Then, it identified seven ultimate patterns of housing architecture based on partial patterns. It ranked the final patterns based on the sustainability of vernacular rural housing, including cultural, social, environmental, and economic components through the analytical network process (ANP). According to the results, the most important distinct aspects of the patterns were the lighting of the living spaces, the number and relative size of courtyards on the ground floor, the orientation of the building, the mass form on the first floor, and its arrangement around the courtyard. Pattern two with a frequency of 22% with the main lighting of the living spaces and porch from the southwest and the L shape on the first floor was the most sustainable. Finally, the research has presented the design strategies of contemporary housing in Roeen Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the problems of housing policies in Japan in the context of a post-growth society. The authors argue for a shift in Japan's housing policy, emphasizing the importance of the second-hand housing market and the utilization of existing housing rather than new construction. They explore the causes of housing problems in Japan, such as the increase in vacant houses, and examine the political and economic circumstances that contribute to these issues. The authors also discuss the impact of post-growth society on housing conditions, including the shrinking housing market, housing inequalities, and the housing pathways of young people. They highlight the relationship between a post-growth society and low fertility rates, gender issues, and population aging. The book provides insights into the housing situation in Japan and offers suggestions for addressing housing problems in a post-growth society. [Extracted from the article]

The current research is descriptive-analytical in terms of its practical purpose and method. The data collection tools are questionnaires and interviews from a selected sample of 362 households. The selected sample was selected from the statistical community of rural households involved and not involved in Warza Jang, Koch Safhan district, Belsabneh district (N = 5819) using Cochran's formula and quota sampling method. Independent t-test and structural equation modeling test were used to analyze the data. The results of the independent t-test showed that the economic effects of gambling among the households involved in the war were more than the non-involved households, and indicators of financial helplessness with an average of 3.16, unusual distribution of money with an average of 3.10, and debt with an average of 2.87 It has had the greatest effects on rural households. Also, the results of the structural equations show that the component of random wealth with an impact factor of 0.83 has received the greatest impact from gambling, and indicators of financial helplessness with an impact factor of 0.76, financial problems with an impact factor of 0.60, and financial instability with an impact factor of 59. 0.0 has had an indirect effect on the unstable economic conditions of rural households affected by gambling, and the p value of all lambda parameters in the above model confirms all relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In order to create a balanced and sustainable development, it can be of special importance to examine living conditions and peace and prosperity both in cities and in villages. The purpose of this research is to study people's participation in the improvement of rural environments. The context of this study is to investigate the effect of reverse migration on the improvement of rural environments. Method: The research method is ground theory. The data is the result of a semi-structured interview with 15 informed people, including the village council, village trustees and benefactors, school principals in Mehrabad village, Ardestan city. The method of selection is targeted and accessible and determining their number is to reach the saturation stage. Research findings: two central paradigm models "textural-structural changes" and "elderly reverse migration" were chosen as two central phenomena. The selected paradigm of this research is "participatory development". Participatory development means the participants' understanding and lived experience of village improvement and the positive points of the phenomenon of reverse migration. The feeling of belonging to the village and the utilitarian and profit-oriented choice are considered to be the main causal conditions in the phenomenon of participatory development. Providing government support and allocating loans with low interest rates are the conditions that intervene in this phenomenon. According to the participants, the quantity and quality of participation in the improvement of the village can be increased by clarifying the financial sums of participation, as well as by appreciating and thanking and highlighting the participants through the virtual networks of the village. Conclusion: Villagers have a positive view of reverse migration and people's participation in these migrations. According to them, improvement in villages is done by increasing the population and increasing people's contributions, both financially and non-financially, as well as by attracting government support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, the price of a house changes due to different aspects, so accurately estimating the buying and selling price is a problem for real estate agencies. Therefore, the research work aims to build a Machine Learning (ML) model in Azure ML Studio and a web application to predict the buying and selling price of two types of houses: urban and rural houses, according to their characteristics, to minimize the forecast error in prediction. Following the basic stages of machine learning construction, we build the prediction model and the Rational Unified Process (RUP) methodology to build the web application. As a result, we obtained a model trained with a linear regression algorithm and a predictive ML model with a coefficient of determination of 95% and a web application that consumes the prediction model through an Application Programming Interface (API) that facilitates price prediction to customers. The quality of the prediction system was evaluated by expert judgment; they evaluated efficiency, usability, and functionality. After the calculation, they obtained an average quality of 4.88, which indicates that the quality is very high. In conclusion, the developed prediction system facilitates real estate agencies and their customers the accurate prediction of the price of urban and rural housing, minimizing accuracy errors in price prediction. Benefiting all people interested in the real estate world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the dreams for the future of young adults in Midden-Noord-Brabant and Zeeland, the Netherlands. Through 274 qualitative surveys and focus groups with 12 participants, it explores their dreams for the future, the obstacles they foresee in realising these dreams, and the influence of these obstacles on their stated life plans. The findings reveal a preference for areas outside settlements in residential dreams. Limited housing and career opportunities are identified as foreseen obstacles. These obstacles shape participants' stated life plans, which become more urban-oriented. Removing these obstacles can facilitate the realisation of rural residential dreams and promote rural areas as attractive areas to settle for new generations.

In recent years, with the transformation of China's economy and social development, solving rural problems and achieving rural revitalization has become an urgent task. The development of information technology, specifically the advancements in deep learning technology, has provided new solutions for rural revitalization. This article aims to optimize the spatial structure of rural residential areas and investigate models for optimizing spatial design layouts within the context of rural revitalization utilizing deep learning techniques, specifically convolutional neural networks (DeepLab v3+). This article conducts in-depth research on the DeepLab v3+model and finds that it has good feature extraction ability in processing spatial information such as rural residential houses and ancillary land. By introducing an attention mechanism in the encoding region, we improved the feature extraction accuracy of the model. On the ImageNet and CoCo2017 datasets, the accuracy indicators PA, IoU, and F1 of the DeepLab v3+model performed well, reaching 98.25 %, 75.61 %, and 86.49 %, as well as 98.31 %, 74.91 %, and 85.49 %, respectively. Furthermore, it was discovered that as the training frequency approached 20, both ResNet50 and DeepLab v3-SE exhibited a generalization accuracy of 86.83 % and 89.26 %, correspondingly. This shows the effectiveness of our model in acquiring and utilizing knowledge during the training. The study further investigated the performance of the model in processing images with noise. When the noise standard deviation is 25, the mean SSIM of the O-DeepLab v3+network reaches 0.943, which is 0.53 % and 1.95 % higher than the DeepLab v3-SE network and traditional DeepLab v3+network, respectively. When the noise standard deviation is 50, the SSIM mean of the O-DeepLab v3+network reaches 0.82, which is 0.61 % and 1.49 % higher than the DeepLab v3-SE network and traditional DeepLab v3+network, respectively. This suggests that our model exhibits robustness when processing noisy images. In summary, the spatial design layout optimization model based on deep learning in the context of rural revitalization studied in this article has high accuracy and stability in processing spatial information such as rural residential houses and ancillary land. This is of great significance for optimizing rural land use, promoting urban-rural land allocation, and achieving rural revitalization. Therefore, this study has certain application value.

Housing resilience is one of the important issues that is based on improving the quality of life of villagers in order to prevent possible damage and make villages livable. Building suitable housing and improving its indicators will increase stability and livability and increase the motivation of the village population to stay and the resistance of rural buildings against threats. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of housing resilience on livability in rural areas. In terms of practical purpose, this research is based on analytical and exploratory nature and its governing approach is qualitative-quantitative. The statistical community is the central part of Ardabil city. In order to examine the issue, the opinions of 30 experts and specialists related to the present issue were used in a targeted manner. The results based on the experts' point of view to identify the driving components of housing resilience after four rotations showed that among the 30 components, 12 are key resilience components. Also, the results of Pearson's correlation coefficient showed that there is a positive relationship between the components of resilience and livability. The results of multivariate regression also showed that the resilience components had an effect on livability and explained 0.610 of the total variance of rural livability. Therefore, paying attention to the livability of these areas in the form of improving and modernizing the village and increasing welfare can provide the grounds for the sustainability of the population in rural areas, and for its development, physical problems and an unfavorable environment must be eliminated first.

housing in rural areas has a special role in meeting basic human needs. Considering the diverse functions of rural housing, it is important to study the effect of various factors on its resilience. Many components can play a role in that change. The purpose of the current research is to explain the paradigm model of rural housing resilience with emphasis on the rural economy. The current research is of a qualitative type and in terms of Morse's typology, it is a "parallel single method". The meta-composite method was used in data collection. The data collection method is document study and semi-structured interview. Nvivo software was used for qualitative data analysis and coding. Based on documentary studies and the use of meta-composite method, the theoretical framework of the research and the initial conceptual model of resilience were presented. The main components are: "optimal governance", "social justice", "endogenous growth", "sense of belonging" and "social vitality". Also, content analysis method is used to explain the components of the final conceptual model of rural housing resilience. Based on the questions raised in the interview process, 757 referrals were provided. With multiple revisions and integration of codes based on similarity during several stages of data summarization, 35 primary codes and 17 core codes were extracted. Based on the components presented in the conceptual model, interview questions were formulated and after summarizing the data, the spiral conceptual model was presented as the final model.

In regions of China experiencing severe cold, the duration of the winter heating season significantly contributes to elevated heating energy consumption in rural dwellings. This study focuses on typical brick-and-concrete rural homes in the Wusu area. Utilizing the Rhino–Grasshopper parametric modeling platform, it aims to minimize heating-related carbon emissions and the overall costs associated with retrofitting. The approach involves improving the insulation properties of the building envelope to reduce energy requirements. Additionally, the study incorporates solar photovoltaic systems atop rural homes, building upon low-carbon, passive, energy-efficient design principles. By examining the influence of various factors on rural housing energy consumption, the research employs the entropy weight method to identify the most effective design solutions. The goal is to explore strategies for the energy-efficient retrofitting of rural dwellings in areas faced with harsh winter conditions, aligning with the objectives and preferences of Applied Sciences. The simulation results reveal the following: (1). In comparison with the baseline scenario, 42.2% of the optimized solutions within the Pareto frontier satisfy the current standards for 75% energy savings in energy-efficient residential design. (2). The lowest recorded thermal consumption index for the buildings can reach 12.427 W/m2, at which point the rate of energy savings is elevated to 79.5%. (3). Within the solutions identified by the Pareto frontier, 80% exhibit initial investments that are lower than the cost savings over the lifecycle due to reduced energy consumption (dCg < 0), demonstrating the economic feasibility of the proposed retrofitting strategies.

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are a significant public health concern in India, accounting for 15–30% of all fatalities among children younger than 5 years. Aims and Objectives: This study estimated the prevalence of ARI and its association with sociodemographic variables and housing conditions in under-five children in rural Jhansi, Bundelkhand region. Materials and Methods: This community-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the selected Anganwadi Centers in Badagaon Block, Jhansi. Data for sociodemographic factors and housing conditions were collected by interviewing parents or caretakers of under-five children using a semi-structured predesigned and pretested pro forma during a house-to-house visit. The sociodemographic factors considered were the educational status of the parents, occupation of the father, religion of the child, socioeconomic class of the family, age of the child, type of family, and sex of the child. The parameters of housing conditions evaluated were overcrowding, ventilation type of chulha, and type of house. Results: The overall prevalence of ARI was found to be 48.88%. Significant sociodemographic factors for ARIs have been the educational level of the mother (χ²=18.69, P<0.001) and father (χ²=12.02, P<0.001), the working status of the fathers (χ²=17.95, P=0.001), the type of family (χ²=23.88, P<0.001), and the gender (χ²=16.57, P<0.001) of the studied children and the significant environmental housing factors associated with ARIs were overcrowding (χ²=13.61, P≤0.001), ill-ventilated houses (χ²=54.63, P<0.001), type of chulha (χ²=164.31, P≤0.001), and type of house (χ²=4.69, P=0.030). Conclusion: The prevalence of ARI as observed in this study is noteworthy. The study’s findings underscore the significance of enhancing sociodemographic indicators and housing conditions as effective measures for preventing ARI in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]