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Introduction: Outpatient and inpatient hospice and palliative care services have been significantly expanded in Germany in recent decades and are increasingly being supplemented by day care services. However, the availability of these services varies greatly from region to region. The extent to which the availability of these care structures is matched by a regional need based on local population structures is as yet unknown., Methods: In four Poisson regression models, the relationship between population indicators from the areas of demographics, employment, income, education and health and the number of offers of outpatient and inpatient hospice work and palliative care is exploratively examined. The cumulated data at district level is drawn from the INKAR database of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development on living conditions in Germany and from the guide of the German Association for Palliative Medicine. By means of logistic regression, factors influencing the establishment of day care services will also be identified., Results: The analysis included 401 districts and cities in Germany. The number of inhabitants, settlement density, and the average age of inhabitants are the strongest predictors of the number of palliative care services. In metropolitan regions, both outpatient palliative care services and palliative care units tend to be more frequently available, while the number of outpatient hospice services and inpatient hospices increases in districts with a higher number of inhabitants regardless of settlement density. The regression model was unable to demonstrate a significant influence on the emergence of semi-inpatient care facilities, neither for the population indicators nor for the existing care structures., Discussion: Regional population structures can only partially explain the geographically uneven distribution of hospice and palliative care services in districts and cities in Germany. Despite an increase in hospice and palliative care services, fewer hospice and palliative care structures are available in low population density regions that tend to have a higher share of older inhabitants., Conclusion: Future health care planning should give more consideration to other population characteristics than to population size alone in order to improve care in regions with higher care needs that are, for example, due to a higher proportion of older residents. Subsequent studies should investigate which population characteristics can best describe the actual care needs., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Geodemographic classification, a process of categorizing neighborhoods into distinct groups based on their demographic, social, and economic characteristics to create summary profiles, has significantly expanded its applications over the last forty years, from its origins in urban sociology to fields such as health, transportation, and public policy. However, a fundamental issue associated with this classification is that decisions made based on neighborhood profiles are essentially applied not only to the geographic areas but to all residents, which risks marginalizing individuals and households whose characteristics deviate from the established profiles, leading to inequitable treatment in decision-making. This study evaluates whether neighborhood profiles resulting from geodemographic classification serve as fair representations of diverse racial and ethnic subgroups within these neighborhoods. The findings demonstrate that geodemographic classification often yields disparate representations for different racial and ethnic groups in different areas. Individuals and households that are not in the predominant racial and ethnic subgroups within a particular neighborhood consistently experience underrepresentation across a range of demographic, social, and economic domains. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift in neighborhood studies and a people-focused, individual-based approach to the dynamics of neighborhoods. • Evaluating both demographic and spatial fairness of geodemographic classification. • Geodemographic classification often yields disparate representations for different racial and ethnic groups in different areas. • Individuals and households that are not in the predominant racial and ethnic subgroups within a particular neighborhood consistently experience underrepresentation across a range of demographic, social, and economic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explicates and tests three network-based mechanisms whereby individuals' attitudes toward an integrated health information system may be influenced by the attitudes of proximate sources of social information. Estimates of the attitudes of generalized others are not convincingly associated with the actual attitudes of specified others. Overall, specific others' actual attitudes have only a small effect on one's attitude. Social information operates positively through communication and work-unit mechanisms (especially when weighted by importance), and negatively through the mean attitude of one's structurally equivalent position, but not through overall organizational proximity or spatial proximity. Differences in attitudes among occupational groups may have been due to implementation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the socio-spatial structures of the LEADER-Region Vorderland-Walgau-Bludenz in the Austrian federal state (Bundesland) of Vorarlberg. From the theoretical basis of suburbanisation and postsuburbanisation 13 indicators, based on population data on 250 x 250 m grid level, are derived and analysed through principal-component and cluster analysis. This analysis classified seven social-area types with specific characteristics that range from town centres to suburban and postsuburban quarters and neighbourhoods which represent social and ethnical segregation. The overall result of this social-area typification is that social and demographic change implies a lot of future challenges for all social-area types. This is especially true for the postsuburban social areas, which face a dynamic future needing much consideration from spatial planning. Furthermore the pressure on the edges of the settlements is ongoing, contradicting all objectives of special planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the conference held in Münster, Germany on March 14-15, 2019. Topics discussed include the end of the institution, public critique and deinstitutionalization, social and cultural history as well as regional and transnational approaches approach and change in processes in various areas of social care and in different types of calibration directions.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of socioeconomic and geographical variables on the percentage of teen births in Texas counties. Method:This study used vulnerability theory to select several socioeconomic and demographic variables for exploring the spatial distribution of underlying factors such as culture and socioeconomic status (SES). These factors, according to the socioecological model, are significantly associated with teen fertility. Factorial ecological methods were utilized to test the theoretical expectations of a socio-ecological model of Texas teen fertility. Most recent data for the study (from 2014) were obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. The unit of analysis was the county. The study examined the influence of the I-10 Highway on teen fertility rates at the Texas county level. The effects of population density and diversity on teen birth rates were also assessed using multilevel analysis. Results: Four underlying dimensions were identified: Latino culture, SES, minority stress, and population change percentage. Counties along the I-10 Highway connecting Mexico and Texas had significantly higher levels of teen birth rates than the other Texas counties. The effect of SES on teen birth rates varied significantly across selected clusters of counties. Conclusion: Our results suggest that teen fertility programs should consider that relevant macro-level social phenomena correlated significantly with teen fertility levels. Teen fertility studies should include relevant geographic variables along with other variables in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries minimum criteria for coastal access have been determined to ensure people's right of access. South Africa is no exception; the provision of coastal access is a legal requirement in terms of the recently promulgated Integrated Coastal Management Act (Act No. 24 of 2008). Unfortunately, as a result of working within a capacity vacuum, both human and financial, there still exists a knowledge gap pertaining to local coastal access and the provisions thereof. Given legislative requirements and public needs, this paper proposes a desktop assessment and costeffective approach to determining reasonable coastal access. The main aim is to provide coastal municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with a geospatial framework to support decision making through improved understanding of current and desired coastal access localities and quality. The KZN coastline varies substantially from a pristine northern coast to a highly developed southern coast. Because of this variability the type and density of coastal access routes along the coast differ and consequently require different management strategies. This paper proposes indices to inform coastal access management. The first is a proposed access route density index considering various social, recreational, and environmental indicators. The second index assesses the status of current coastal access via a desktop study, supported by ground truthing. The final index integrates the first two indices in quantifying the quality of coastal access and defining priority areas that require urgent management attention. Three major challenges are evident along KZN's coast: limited public access in less developed regions; private ribbon developments restricting public access in highly developed regions; and numerous inappropriate informal access paths crossing sensitive coastal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem field of the social being of the territorial community is analyzed. The purpose of writing the article is the philosophical understanding of the social being of the territorial community, the identification of obstacles to the process of their unification in modern Ukraine. The author emphasizes that the main purpose of the territorial community is the creation of a social space attractive to the full- fledged life of its inhabitants. The social existence of territorial communities in the process of change in Ukraine is characterized by the following problems: - inconsistency of definition of the basic concepts that make up the categorical network of the process of decentralization of power and the creation of united territorial communities; - the phenomenon of «patchiness» in the administrative apparatus of the regions, when there are communities next to the united communities that are not involved or refuse to join; - slow pace of the process of consolidation of territorial communities, lack of deadlines for completing this process; - lack of development of territorial communities by reformed social infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oud fragrance, a resinous mold produced by infected aquaria and gyrinops trees, is the ubiquitous scent of the Gulf, used to perfume homes, bodies, and public spaces. In the UAE, one could suggest that oud ought to be included in the roster of national emblems, along with the camel, the dala, and the Land Rover, because of its invisible visibility across the country's space. Dubai-based artist Raja'a Khalid has conducted the most prolific body of work on the spatial inclusion of oud into the public and its ecologically sourced networks. This artist intervention, prefaced by Ahmad Makia's "Olfactive Gulf and Atmospheric Hegemony," includes excerpts from Khalid's 2014 Oud Counter and 2015 Oud Aura works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study quantifies the effect of the most basic parameters that affect urban open spaces in Mediterranean climates. The analyzed parameters are addressed mostly on existing open spaces and can be easily adjusted through a space renovation. The study combines literature review, simulation of different scenarios and implementation of the methodology on the renovation of an open urban area in Rethymnon, Crete. The studied parameters are height to width ratio of an urban canyon, sky view factor, greenery percentage, pavement material properties. Each parameter is investigated both separately and in relation to all the rest ones. The results show a good correlation of certain parameters which have more or less the same effect, but also others that their effects are added. By this analysis, it comes clear for a designer that wants to bioclimatically renovate an urban area which should be the main directions for the design concept that will lead to a successful result with better microclimate conditions for the users. The area of implementation is measured in several points, during the whole renovation process and the final results show a reduction of the mean air temperature at the level of 1.80 m about 1.70 °C, a reduction of the mean surface temperature about 8.45 °C, improve on the thermal comfort index and minimization of the degreehours above 26 °C about 46%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Geographic and demographic variation in buprenorphine and methadone treatment use in U.S. cities has not been assessed. Identifying variance in opioid maintenance is essential to improving treatment access and equity.Purpose: To examine the differential uptake of buprenorphine treatment in comparison to methadone treatment between 2004 and 2013 in neighborhoods in New York City characterized by income, race and ethnicity.Methods: Social area (SA) analysis of residential zip codes of methadone and buprenorphine patients in NYC, which aggregated zip codes into five social areas with similar percentages of residents below poverty, identifying as Black non-Hispanic and as Hispanic, to examine whether treatment rates differed significantly among social areas over time. For each rate, mixed model analyses of variance were run with fixed effects for social area, year and the interaction of social area by year.Results: Buprenorphine treatment increased in all social areas over time with a significantly higher rate of increase in the social area with the highest income and the lowest percentage of Black, Hispanic, and low-income residents. Methadone treatment decreased slightly in all social areas until 2011 and then increased bringing rates back to 2004 levels. Treatment patterns varied by social area.Conclusions: Buprenorphine treatment rates are increasing in all social areas, with slower uptake in moderate income mixed ethnicity areas. Methadone rates have remained stable over time. Targeted investments to promote public sector buprenorphine prescription may be necessary to reduce disparities in buprenorphine treatment and to realize its potential as a public health measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transfer of science to the economy and widely understood social area is now, apart from the educational process, a priority for the activity of the academic institutions. It is anticipated by the business and social entities, and is strongly promoted in the European Union. When skillfully implemented it accelerates the development of civilization. At the same time, however, it is amenable to political influence and ill practices for financial gain. It also requires transparent and ethical regulations. The applied science achievements are implemented by the media - for their organization, products and tools. This largely contributes to the growth and attractiveness of the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The city state of Singapore is predicated on comprehensive urban planning, beginning with colonial rule in 1819 and continuing to the present day with the 2014 Master Plan – an urban planning map that is hyperlinked down to the smallest plot of land. This plan manifests the state’s pragmatic cartographies of power, which continually produce and fix Singapore’s spaces in a teleological capitalist matrix, regulating how they are experienced and consumed. Singaporean writers such as Alfian Sa’at have recently attempted to conceive of the city beyond the ever intensifying spectacle of pragmatic capitalism. Their work experiments with alternative ways of imagining and inhabiting the city through unconventional literary forms and focalizations. This article looks specifically at Alfian’s “flash fictions”Malay Sketches(2013) – very brief short stories that depict minority Malay life in Singapore. The reading foregrounds the agency of the fictional in the production of social space in the city, and the way it runs counter to the planned and overdetermined spaces of the Singapore state. Close readings, drawing on spatial theory, demonstrate how this dissident text resists the blueprint of Singapore as global capitalist success by reclaiming the affective, the indeterminate and the unquantifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is an activity that implies the geographical dimension for users (the tourists) providers and planners. Besides its spatial dimension, tourism involves aspects of social, economic and environmental implications. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is particularly developed for the management purpose as well as to study the spatial phenomena. More specifically, the GIS is employed for developing, storing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing the extensive amount of spatial and non-spatial data related to activities and resources. This paper is part of the "Development of Tourism Decision Support System (TDSS)" project of Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster (STRC) of Universiti Sains Malaysia. This paper focuses on a GIS-based spatial decision support system (SDSS) application that integrates GIS functions and SDSS designs with user friendly graphic user interfaces (GUI) in helping visitors of the Langkawi Island to choose and plan their activities more effectively, according to their personal preferences and constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the perceived social effects of tourism development on local communities from the perspective of local residents in selected locations near Kinabalu National Park. Local residents (n=378) were surveyed using a questionnaire and the collected data subjected to a series of descriptive analysis methods. Most respondents indicated that tourism, aside from being a stimulus for various cultural activities, had significantly increased their and other local people's pride in their national and local culture. Additionally, respondents indicated that community facilities had been improved as a result of tourism, and that their quality of life had also significantly improved. Paradoxically, the results indicated several negative effects, such as congestion and the exposure of anti-social behavior to the local community. However, the findings revealed that most local residents believed that the positive effects of tourism outweighed the negative. Obstacles to the sustainable Management of tourism in Kinabalu National Park must be overcome through the combined efforts of key stakeholders involved in tourism, including government and local authorities. The participation of the local community is an essential part of this bridging process because their involvement helps to protect and conserve the area as a tourist attraction. Moreover, participation can also help overcome negative social effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both previous research and anecdotal evidence have found the commonplace activity of kava-drinking to be 'a recreational activity for older males' and a complete 'waste of time'. This paper presents a summary of my Master's research, an exploratory study of the experiences and perceptions of a group of NZ-born Tongan males living in Auckland and their participation in the Tongan cultural practice known as the faikava. Further, it is hoped that their livedexperiences of the faikava and how they value this cultural practice generate and reinforce feelings of identity and security for other New Zealand-born Tongan males today and in the future. A methodological framework combining phenomenology and talanoa was employed. Twelve members of faikava clubs in the Auckland region were selected as research participants. The clubs they belonged to were mainly linked to churches, villages and old boys' associations. The talanoa was conducted in Tongan and English, and was recorded. Findings suggest that faikava plays a significant role in teaching, reinforcing and maintaining the Tongan culture and language for this group. Moreover, they referred to the faikava environment as a cultural classroom in which debates, songs and music rejuvenated and maintained Tongan culture and language. It can be said that the faikava is valued as an identity marker for New Zealand-born Tongan males in Auckland, New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encounters between strangers, as different users of public spaces, are one of the core subjects for discussion in relation to orders in the public space. The empirical material presented in this article illustrates power relations in public spaces of Sweden, which gives a specific national and nationalist framing. This article is based on interviews with 19 Muslim women, all of whom wear the hijab. The aim of this article was to illuminate the neglected violence Muslim women are exposed to and to investigate violent public encounters from the point of view of female Muslim citizens. This recounting of encounters strives to understand the ‘lived experiences of pain’ [Ahmed, S. (2001). The organisation of hate. Law and Critique, 12, 360] and what hate isdoingin terms of the effects of hate crimes. First, the concept of affect and economy of hate is elaborated on, after which the meaning of violence is developed in relation to place and space. By showing how frequent such gendered and Islamophobic violence is, in its different forms, while at the same time being largely an overlooked form of violence, the empirical material implicates that such acts of everyday violence work to establish and maintain a hegemonic social, spatial and political order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes a framework for practical social reasoning designed to be used for analysis, specification, and implementation of the social layer of agent reasoning in multiagent systems. Our framework, called the expectation strategy behavior (ESB) framework, is based on (i) using sets of update rules for social beliefs tied to observations (so-called expectations), (ii) bounding the amount of reasoning to be performed over these rules by defining a reasoning strategy, and (iii) influencing the agent's decision-making logic by means of behaviors conditioned on the truth status of current and future social beliefs. We introduce the foundations of ESB conceptually and present a formal framework and an actual implementation of a reasoning engine, which is specifically combined with a general (belief-desire-intention-based) practical reasoning programming system. We illustrate the generality of ESB through select case studies, which show that it is able to represent and implement different typical styles of social reasoning. The broad coverage of existing social reasoning methods, the modularity that derives from its declarative nature, and its focus on practical implementation make ESB a useful tool for building advanced socially reasoning agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Modern digital public spaces are evolving from being mostly the provider of ICT and internet connection to institutions that provide complex range of services and support for the community. With this shift in their focus new challenges are emerging, among others their sustainability. Methodology/Approach: We build on and extend the methodology of Digital Cooperatives project. Within this project, survey on 59 digital public spaces from 12 EU countries was conducted. These digital public spaces were examined in 21 areas, some of them relating to their sustainability. We further analyse the sustainability issue of these digital public spaces. Findings: We identified three main issues affecting sustainability of digital public spaces - budgeting, services and community. Digital public spaces mostly rely on public funding and have limited diversification of their funds, which increases a risk when one source of funding drops out. They also have to build a strong community of users, supporters, which will make use of their capacities and helps co-create new services and thus strengthen and improve the community itself. Originality/Value of paper: Research in this paper is based on the collection of best practices from various EU countries in the field of digital public spaces. Recommendations based on these practices could help the creation of new, and in current digital public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including sociology research in New Zealand, social area analysis and Pacific migrant population.

This article presents an extensive comparative review of the emergence and application of geodemographics in both the United States and United Kingdom, situating them as an extension of earlier empirically driven models of urban socio-spatial structure. The empirical and theoretical basis for this generalization technique is also considered. Findings demonstrate critical differences in both the application and development of geodemographics between the United States and United Kingdom resulting from their diverging histories, variable data economies, and availability of academic or free classifications. Finally, current methodological research is reviewed, linking this discussion prospectively to the changing spatial data economy in both the United States and United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to draw the disciplines of demography and housing research closer together and looks to social indicators for an insight into the level of house prices. Design/methodology/approach – A two-stage process was used to examine a global capital city. The first stage used social area analysis to examine household characteristics for at the suburb level, followed by stage two which examined the relationship between these demographic valuables and the level of house prices. Findings – While acknowledging the overall level of house values is also influenced by many other factors including economic and political variables, considerable differences in housing values between different suburbs can reliably be explained by demographic variables. Originality/value – These findings provide a new insight into the relationship between demographic variables and house prices at the neighbourhood level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To assess relationships between area level deprivation and drinking patterns among adolescents. Method: This study uses data from the national New Zealand Alcohol Survey 2004 comprising 1828, age range 12–19 years. A multilevel linear regression was conducted using NZDep2001 (a composite deprivation measure) as the exposure and alcohol use (quantity and frequency) as outcome. Results: A J-shaped association was observed between area level deprivation and quantity of adolescents’ alcohol use after controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, and individual socioeconomic position; where adolescents living in the most deprived areas consumed the heaviest quantities of alcohol. No association was found for frequency of drinking. Conclusion: This study found a J-shaped relationship between area-level disadvantage and increased quantities consumed, where adolescents living in the most deprived areas typically consumed the heaviest quantities of alcohol. However, our study has also highlighted that future research may better isolate an independent relationship between deprivation and consumption in adolescents by accounting for structural variables related to both deprivation and consumption, such as alcohol outlet density [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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In this paper, I outline and test a framework for analyzing control and freedom in urban public space. The framework, based on a model of the commons developed by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, assesses control across three layers: physical, code, and content. I deploy the framework in a case involving a controversial proposal to erect a six-foot-high iron fence around Philadelphia’s iconic Independence National Historical Park. The framework proves a robust conceptual and operational means for analyzing how intended actions impact personal and group freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bucharest development after the 1990 was brutal with new buildings trying to cover or replace the past. That is why the morphological evolution of the city wasn't too much modified. Though research on urban morphologies in Bucharest exists, they aren't connected to the renewal and development policies. The result is a complicated tissue and pseudo-functional political framework. In this context, new techniques may reveal some of the connections between the urban space and the population characteristics. The study is focusing on the spatial syntax in Bucharest for identifying those areas strongly affected by the communist intervention or by the neglected policies after the '90s. They are further analyzed when ESDA methodology is applied. Morphological transformations can be observed better and their spatial connectivity offer better insight for future solutions of urban developme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study about the interethnic and conceptions and interactions of immigrants men in public space. It mentions that the general concept of the social reaction literature is that a category of citizens who are vulnerable by the development of a new group of citizens with a different living scheme like people from lower class, youth, and immigrants, who will claim their status by humiliating the newbie and considering them as criminal.

In this theoretical article we propose an approach to the spatial implications of homeworking derived from the work of social theorist Henri Lefebvre. By highlighting the processes involved in the inherently contested and (re)constructed nature of space in the demarcated home/work environment we draw on Lefebvre to suggest a collapse of this demarcation. We consider the impact of such a collapse on questions relating to the rewards and challenges of home-based work for both workers and their co-residents. In contrast to our approach to the spatial implications of home-based work derived from Lefebvre, we argue that a traditional, Euclidean conception of space risks ignoring the important, symbolic nature of social space to the detriment of both the effective research and practice of homeworking. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social evaluation functions used in policy impact analysis can be viewed as real-valued functionals of the underlying outcome distributions. Influence functions may be used to identify the sources of variation in social outcomes in terms of individual or household characteristics. This chapter sets forth in clear terms the definition of the influence function and recentered influence function, and catalogs these functions for a wide range of distributional statistics, including measures of central tendency, inequality, and poverty and also measures of the degree of pro-poorness of a shock- or policy-induced change in income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]