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In some countries, all subnational units have the "right of legislative initiative" as one of the shared rule arrangements. However, despite equal opportunities within the country, regions demonstrate enormous differences in their legislative activity. Based on the calculation of the number of regional legislative initiatives for the period 2001–2020 in Russia and some other European countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland), we examine the impact of the specificity of individual regions, which is a consequence of the territorial heterogeneity of the country, on their activity in national lawmaking. Employing OLS regression analysis, we find that the distinctiveness of a region in terms of its geography, economy, and history generates special political interests and positively influences their activity in national lawmaking both in Russia and in other European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although still incomplete, the epidemiology of epilepsy shows substantial variations in the burden of the condition according to demographic, social and territorial characteristics. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of treated epilepsy and to investigate its demographic and spatial distribution in 2020 in France, a country where the nationwide epidemiological situation of the condition remains largely unknown. Methods: We used the French national health data system, which covers nearly the entire population residing in France (over 67 million of inhabitants in metropolitan and overseas departments). Prevalent cases were identified using long-term disease status, hospitalisation for epilepsy (ICD-10 codes G40 or G41), and reimbursements for antiseizure medications and electroencephalograms. Results: In 2020, we identified 685,122 epilepsy cases, corresponding to an overall prevalence of 10.2 per 1000 inhabitants [95% confidence interval 10.1–10.2], with similar rates in men and women. Estimates were found to increase with age, with an accelerated rise in the second half of the life, which occurred earlier in men than in women. We observed a monotonic gradient of variation with socio-economic deprivation (in non-military metropolitan subjects aged 18–54 years) as well as territorial heterogeneity, with the mountainous centre of France as well as some French overseas departments having the highest prevalence. Conclusions: Our results revise upwards the estimation of epilepsy prevalence in France, showing that it now ranks among the highest in developed countries. Our study also confirms the important socio-territorial heterogeneity of the condition that reflects health inequalities in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—To reveal the features of the distribution of birds in Northern Eurasia, the results of surveys carried out in the period from 1880 to 2019 (with interruptions and mainly since 1960) averaged over the first half of summer (May 16–July 15) were analyzed. Three hundred and fifty-four researchers participated in the collection of material (over 110 years). Data processing was carried out using multivariate statistics methods, including cluster analysis and linear qualitative approximation of the connection matrices. The classification of bird species by their distribution accounts for 42% of its similarity. The information content of representations decreased by only 10–15% (by 12%, on average) with twice as many species analyzed, with a significantly larger number of surveyed habitats and area of the studied territory (as compared to the previously surveyed East European and West Siberian plains and Altai). This level of explanation can be considered satisfactory (the correlation coefficient is 0.65). The summer distribution of bird species, as well as the heterogeneity of their distribution on the whole, is determined by changes in the hydrothermal regime in the zonal belt and provincial aspects. The heat-to-moisture ratio determines the type of vegetation and its productivity both on land and in aquatic and semiaquatic habitats. The specificity of the vegetation type in territories and water areas, taking into account the anthropogenic transformation, coincides with the heterogeneity of the bird distribution and the formation of ornithocomplexes as a whole. With the division of geographical space into zones, subzones, and especially physical-geographic countries, the variability in the distribution of birds and their communities is associated to a lesser extent, occupying the second and third places in the hierarchy of significance, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-existence among multiple coastal settlements (MCS) following diverse ecological, economic, and cultural traditions drives to examine the territorial and ontological dimensions underlying the development of heterogeneous worldviews within common coastal geographies. In the case of the coastal zone in Chile, cultural diversity is evident as a historical field of dispute, which in the current context of adaptation to climate change may be reproducing or moving to other new trajectories. Using a literature review specifically on the case of the Arauco province in Chile, this article aims to identify a typology of multiple territorialities and ontologies interacting and being sustained by common coastal environments, although embedded in frictions and both structural and historical inequalities. Through thematic analysis framed in poststructuralist political ecology, this review identified three categories of territorialities that develop in the study area (i.e. colonial, intercultural, and interstitial). Each one leads to recognising the power dynamics that underlie the interactions of practices and discourses on the territory, the sea, and the conservation of nature. Results show that the historical predominance of modern ontology has produced permissible ways of being and moving through this geography. In contrast, resistance has been generated by other ways of living based on relational, traditional, and contemporaneous ontologies with discourses aimed at socio-ecological equilibrium. The current challenge is understanding these ontological frictions and interstices wherein multiple territorialities configured in a common coastal geography can co-exist and co-participate in climate change governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in economic development between regions remain one of the most acute and debatable problems. The paper focuses on developing the tools for clustering the subjects of the Russian Federation according to their transport economic indicators in the railway industry, determining the transport economic potential of regions, and assessing the impact of specific regional factors behind this potential. Methodologically, the research relies on regional and spatial economics, and the theory of industrial markets. At the first stage, the authors cluster regions on the basis of the established comprehensive characteristics, and at the second stage, build explanatory multinomial logistic regressions for the objective function (transport economic potential) for each cluster. The objective function is the integral level of development of regions in a cluster, represented by a set of transport economic indicators. The most significant factors explaining the transport economic potential of a cluster are a level of urbanisation, market potential, and territory’s saturation with capital. The factors of average wages in a region, number of the employed in the processing industry, and the level of urbanisation reduce the probability of regions’ appearing in the clusters with low and medium transport economic potential. Of special interest is the fact that investment per person in the fixed assets decrease the probability of regions’ joining the cluster with low potential and are insignificant for the cluster with medium transport economic potential. The research findings favour a more complete account of the territorial specifics and socioeconomic situation in the regions while improving their systems of rail transport.

The purpose of the study is to test the hypothesis of the priority role of livestock breeding in the development of rural areas on the basis of an analysis of livestock industries and determine the degree of territorial heterogeneity of this phenomenon. The study was carried out on the example of 29 regions of the Non-Black Earth Zone of the Russian Federation. Methods of ranking, correlation and variational analysis were used. A noticeable correlation was established between the indicators of the development of the livestock industry and rural development (p = 0.5; 0.6). For poultry farming, this relationship is moderate (p = 0.3; 0.3), pig breeding - weak negative (p = - 0.1; - 0.1). Concrete calculations confirmed the lack of influence of the development of pig breeding on one of the important indicators of the development of rural areas - the growth of acreage. The features of territorial heterogeneity in the development of cattle breeding and rural areas have been consistently investigated on the basis of the same methodology. Three equal groups of regions with a relatively high, medium and relatively low level of their development were identified. It is shown that the group of regions with a relatively high level of development of cattle breeding in the Non-Black Earth Region accounts for about half of the volume of milk and 56% of the production of cattle for slaughter. Neighboring regions in group I form two, in group II - one, in group III - three areas. When comparing the results obtained for cattle breeding and rural areas, it was found that the composition of the regions in the corresponding groups coincides by 67-78 %. When calculating the correlation coefficient between the final ranks of the regions, established when determining the heterogeneity of the development of livestock breeding and the heterogeneity of the development of rural areas, a high tightness of the correlation was revealed (p = 0.7). The hypothesis being tested was confirmed.

The Italian small islands are characterized by high social and territorial distances from the mainland; however, on average, they do not seem affected by depopulation processes that, instead, characterize many other peripheral areas. On the other hand, the multifaceted nature and the tiny size of the Italian small islands call for political actions along multiple dimensions and pose unusual epistemological challenges. Against this background, a research gap is identified in the lack of a multidimensional analysis of the Italian small islands encompassing at least the main dimensions of local development. To narrow the gap, the research illustrates a multidimensional analysis based on the development of a composite index measuring the consistency of the territorial capital of the 33 insular municipalities located in the Italian small islands. The results suggest how the extreme heterogeneity of the insular municipalities and their social and economic vulnerabilities may negatively affect the digital transformation and the ecological transition of the Italian small islands. Consequently, the effectiveness of public policies may depend on the ability of policymakers to develop a transdisciplinary cognitive map of the local contexts and to codesign, with all local and external stakeholders, policies aimed at leaving (and keeping) no one behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with spatial disproportions related to human capital accumulation, as well as to the impact of human capital depending on the professional group. The author ddresses the data from a National Sample Survey conducted by the Federal State Institution of Science, Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science (spring 2017). In general, this study proves that special institutional environment in modern Russia, generates significant spatial disproportions of the impact of human capital of Russian workers. A regression analysis shows that living in megacities provides a 139% increase in personal incomes for people engaged in manual labor, compared to their counterparts working in rural areas. However, as the analysis suggests, inclusion of skill differences among workers allows us to reconsider modest estimates of inpact of their human capital obtained in previous studies. As a result, existence of redistribution institutions organized on meritocratic principles is suggested. Thus, high-level qualifications of workers (from the 5th category) leads to an increase in their incomes: by 36.3% in the centers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and by 23.7% in the district centers, when compared with the salaries of low-skilled workers employed in enterprises of the same settlements.

A key strategy for supporting destination competitiveness is to enhance endogenous amenities, and tourists are the best candidate to evaluate them at the destination. The analysis in this paper uses a comprehensive data set on foreign travellers to investigate their happiness at Italian destinations between 2005 and 2014. Using a theory-dependent approach to model happiness at the destination with respect to endogenous and exogenous amenities, personal characteristics and trip features, a great diversity in the mix of amenities affecting tourist happiness is shown. However, some clear spatial patterns emerge. The findings call for place-based policies targeted at the specific needs of each area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic space of the region is the medium of relations of economic entities located on its territory. It is characterized by heterogeneity, due to the structured interaction of endogenous factors of production and the asynchrony of economic processes. The territorial structure of the economic space can correspond to several models, but a centre-periphery model can be considered the most widespread. The research relevance consists in the essence of the heterogeneity of the economic space of the region as one of its main properties, reflecting its differentiation. The authors analyze the approaches to interpreting the heterogeneity of the economic space in the works of Russian and foreign economists and identify the main types of territorial models of the economic space. The algorithm for detecting the heterogeneity of economic space of a region based on a centre-periphery model is presented. A necessary and sufficient set of socio-economic indicators is proposed in the form of qualitative and quantitative indicators characterizing the region. The application of these indicators is justified in the context of the limited statistical base characterizing the socio-economic parameters of the region. The approbation of this method of revealing the territorial structure of the economic space is carried out according to the data of the socio-economic development of the Rostov region, in which three spatially expressed hierarchical units are distinguished: the center, the periphery, and the semi-periphery. The authors determine the composition and characteristics of each of these spatial zones and their relationship, reveal problem fields and prospects for their future development based on existing imbalances and current potential.

The article states that the socio-economic development of a region rests on the higher-than-anticipated growth of its infrastructure. Formation of the social infrastructure of a region is based on practical realisation of social priorities directed at a higher satisfaction of needs of the population in social services. One of the mechanisms in development of social infrastructure is the state-private partnership. The article provides theoretical and methodical aspects of development of instruments of managing investment activity in Russian regions and levelling of territorial heterogeneity of availability of social objects on the basis of use of the state-private partnership (SPP). The article conducts assessment of possibilities of use of SPP models in the social sphere, regional economy and management of state property.

The hierarchical classification was drafted and the spatial-typological structure of the winter and pre-spring bird assemblages is described for the northern macroslope of the Kyrgyz Ridge. The descriptiveness of the classification and structural representations, as well as an evaluation of the variability of communities in relation to environmental factors, are determined using a linear approximation of quality, structure, and organization of bird assemblages in these periods. In general, the heterogeneity of bird communities on the northern slope of Kyrgyz Ridge in winter and early spring periods is associated with the variability in heat and humidity, as well as the presence of built-up areas and single-crop agriculture. In winter, changes in avifauna are more gradual than in the early spring period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the political and socially constructed nature of territory (or, territories’ ‘constitutive properties’) and international politics has recently attracted substantial attention from scholars hailing from political science as well as political geography and critical international relations. The conversations across these scholarly traditions, however, leave a lot to be desired. The question then becomes, how can we, if at all, facilitate further interaction and cross-fertilization across seemingly disparate literatures? This study proposes a strategy of ‘pragmatic interaction’, which entails three steps: (i) establishing a simple conceptual framework that would be both recognizable and agreeable to scholars hailing from different perspectives; (ii) emphasizing a number of research topics that are of relevance to these scholars; and (iii) examining some of the recent entries from the relative literatures in the light of the identified research topics. The analysis suggests that there is much potential for interdisciplinary cross-fertilization over two broad research areas – ‘territorial heterogeneity’ of the past and present global territorial orders and the relationship between territory and power – also driving attention to potential research venues such as territorial interpretations of the anarchy/hierarchy problematique and the interaction between identity and territoriality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]